NSW Police
It has been nearly half a century since three-year-old Cheryl Grimmer disappeared.
That day, in 1970, the toddler had enjoyed a swim at the beach with her three older brothers, Stephen, Ricki and Paul. Afterwards, she followed them into a changing room to dry off. One moment she was with them; the next, she had vanished.
For decades afterwards, Cheryl’s parents searched for her in vain.
Meanwhile, her brothers carried a heavy burden of grief and guilt.
At a press conference last May, Ricki told reporters: “[The] decisions I made on the day were wrong. I shouldn’t have left… Everyone says this wasn’t your fault. Come and stand where I’m standing. See what it feels like.”
Today, police finally made an arrest in the case.
A 63-year-old man in Frankston, Melbourne, has been arrested over her abduction and is expected to be extradited today to appear in Wollongong Local Court on Friday. Sydney Morning Herald reports that he will be charged with Murder and Detain for Advantage (abduction).
Stephen Grimmer spoke to The Sydney Morning Herald today, saying ““It’s unreal after all these years, 47 years, it’s great… Between the three of us, it’s really emotional at the moment for us.
“I’m a big boy, but I get emotional. I’ve been listening to the radio and I watch it on TV and I get tears in my eyes.”
Tragically Cheryl’s parents are no longer alive to witness the arrest.
Police have revealed that the man who will front court tomorrow was originally interviewed in 1970. They have also told reporters that they believe that Cheryl died within an hour of her disappearance. He would not provide any more information but said that the details were “quite horrific”.
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Ricki Grimmer was only seven years old when Cheryl disappeared. The siblings, along with their brothers Paul and Stephen, had been swimming with their mother Carole when the weather turned cold. They were sent to the change rooms to shower and change. Only Cheryl disappeared when the boys’ backs were turned.
In 2016 detectives followed a new lead, believing she was abducted by a teenager – aged only 16 or 17 – with brown hair and blue eyes.
Ricki thinks of his sister every day, and torments himself with thoughts of what he could have done to protect her. “Heartache… decisions I made on the day were wrong. I shouldn’t have left,’ Ricki said told a press conference at Fairy Meadow Beach on Monday, where Cheryl was last seen.
“Everyone says this wasn’t your fault. Come and stand where I’m standing. See what it feels like,” he added.
“Just let us know where she is. Give us something that we can go and mourn.”
Cheryl’s disappearance ripped the local community apart and led to an exhaustive but fruitless search.
Witnesses at the time reported seeing a man pick up a child, wrap her in a towel and flee. Others said they saw a man in the car park holding a blonde child and driving away in a white sedan.
The three brothers promised their mother on her deathbed last year that they wouldn’t stop til they found out what happened to her only daughter.
“Mum was hanging on and when I told her we would continue to find out the truth about what happened to Cheryl she relaxed,” said Stephen, who was only five when his sister was taken. He told The Daily Telegraph. “A few minuted later she passed away”.
