Creature Bones Discovered in Search for Girl Who Vanished Fifty-Five Years Ago
The "area of interest" flagged in a community-driven investigation for the body of a British girl who went missing in the land down under 55 years ago has proven to be a mistaken lead, New South Wales Police said.
A volunteer team who used specialized canines in the search for the missing child had believed their finding would mark a major development in the investigation, which has remained a unsolved puzzle since she vanished in 1970, when she was just three years old.
But bones that were uncovered in the location belong to an non-human creature, police stated in reply to questions, noting that the search had "ended."
Authorities believe the young girl, who had moved from Bristol with her family, was abducted from Fairy Meadow beach in Wollongong in January 1970.
Recent Search Efforts
The recent operation happened in Balgownie, on a small pocket of forest referenced in a admission made by a teenage boy.
In 2019, a court case of the accused, known only by a alias, Mercury, who'd been charged with Cheryl's abduction and murder, ended abruptly. The man, in his sixties then, had rejected any wrongdoing.
Legal authorities later withdrew accusations against him as a court official disallowed the statement he made as a minor.
Ongoing Mystery
Authorities have conducted many investigations in the years since Cheryl went missing, but have found few leads as to what happened to her.
Local officials have offered a one million Australian dollar incentive for tips on Cheryl's abduction and suspected murder.
Relatives' Views
Her sibling Ricki Nash, 62, has openly discussed what he believes are mistakes in the official inquiry dating back to the time she went missing.
Mr Nash was seven years old then. He final sighting of his sibling in the locker area at Fairy Meadow on the day she vanished.
Public Response
A petition asking the local government to set up an investigation into missing persons investigations overseen by the police force, such as Cheryl's, gathered more than ten thousand signatures this season.
It was debated in parliament, but in a letter addressing those who signed, officials made no promise to conducting an inquiry.
