Deceased/Not Found Australia - Cheryl Grimmer, 3, Fairy Meadow Beach, NSW, 12 Jan 1970

PrimeSuspect

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 15, 2014
Messages
10,586
Reaction score
19,651
Police launch new hunt for suspect 46 years after disappearance of Illawarra toddler Cheryl Grimmer

http%3a%2f%2fprod.static9.net.au%2f_%2fmedia%2f2016%2f12%2f05%2f05%2f03%2f161204_grimmercoldcase.ashx


“As a result of that reinvestigation and examination of all the information in the files, we are looking at a particular suspect originally missed on the day little Cheryl Grimmer was taken from the beach,’’ Detective Sergeant Damian Loone said.

"We now believe the person responsible would be in his early 60s, and it’s quite possible that he (is) still alive.’’

http://www.9news.com.au/national/20...sw-toddler-cheryl-grimmer#B417QcZpMuGuy1eZ.99

I haven't read about this little girl's disappearance before. Cheryl's parents died without knowing what happened to her, it's another sad and shocking cold case. :cry:
 
Mum-of-four Carole had told Ricki to take his two brothers — Stephen, 5, and Paul, 4 — and his three-year-old baby sister Cheryl to change out of their wet swimmers in the nearby block.
Carole was just metres away on the sand when Ricki went to ask for her help to get Cheryl out of the toilets.
It took just 30 seconds, but by the time they got back to the block Cheryl was gone, never to be seen again.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/ch...e/news-story/bed6771509814eaa84c6f4f646f39182
 
Breakthrough in 47yo cold case of toddler Cheryl Grimmer, who disappeared from NSW beach

Updated Mon Dec 05 11:58:47 EST 2016
Posted Mon Dec 05 09:58:31 EST 2016

'Police investigating the disappearance and presumed murder of New South Wales toddler Cheryl Grimmer almost 50 years ago say they believe her suspected killer could still be alive.

Key points:

  • Cheryl Grimmer, 3, disappeared from Fairy Meadow beach in 1970
  • Witnesses say they saw a youth aged about 17 or 18 near the surf club pavilion that day
  • Cheryl's brother Ricki says he has never forgiven himself
Cheryl was just three years old when she was abducted outside the public change rooms at Fairy Meadow beach in Wollongong on January 12, 1970.

The toddler's disappearance sparked a massive search but she has not been seen since.'


'Detective Inspector Brad Ainsworth said almost half a century later, witnesses have given police a description of a man they believe could be Cheryl's killer.

"Police are now making an appeal for the identity of a person of interest," he said.

"He was about 17 or 18 at the time, so with our calculations we'd say he'd be in his sixties or early sixties now.

"It's a big burden to carry around for nearly 50 years."

Witnesses told police they believed the man was about 5'10" or 180 centimetres, with a medium build, brown hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion.

Detectives received this crucial piece of information when they staged a re-enactment of the toddler's disappearance a fortnight ago.

Detective Inspector Ainsworth said several witnesses, who were aged nine, 10 and 12 when Cheryl disappeared, returned to the scene and all mentioned the person of interest.

"He was just seen loitering here and he was seen here in the morning and the afternoon," he said.

"He was there, he stood out, he wasn't doing anything really overt that stood out."'

'It was a beautiful summer's day'

'An inquest into the death five years ago found the toddler died sometime after her disappearance.

However, the cause was undetermined.

Following the inquest, the investigation was picked up by Wollongong police and the Unsolved Homicide Team.

"They've gone through hundreds and hundreds of statements, running sheets and interviews," Detective Inspector Ainsworth said.​

"You've got to remember this all took place in 1970. Under the old format, the old style of investigation recording.

"So all of that has been reviewed, it's been transcribed and put into the investigation computers and the systems, so that's how it's come about."'
 
I saw Cheryl's brothers and their devastation on the news tonight. So heartbreaking :(

http://www.skynews.com.au/news/national/nsw/2016/12/05/breakthrough-in-nsw-cold-case.html

Ricki was 8, Stephen, 6, and Paul, 5, at the time.
The three brothers joined police at a press conference on Monday at Fairy Meadow Beach, where Cheryl was last seen.
'Come forward please, let us know. We really want to know,' Stephen said.
Ricki says he has 'never forgiven' himself for his sister's abduction.
'Everyone says it wasn't my fault but come and stand where I'm standing, see what it feels like,' he told reporters.
'Just let us know where she is, give us something so we can mourn. It's cost me and my family everything.'
- See more at: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/nati...gh-in-nsw-cold-case.html#sthash.mepaNkWe.dpuf
 
https://forgottenillawarra.wordpress.com/2014/01/28/the-disappearance-of-cheryl-grimmer/

The Grimmer family migrated from England to Australia in 1969, and settled into the Fairy Meadow hostel. The family was made up of 24year old John, his 26 year old wife, Carol, 3 sons Ricki (7), Stephen (5) and Paul (4), and 3 year old daughter Cheryl.
Corporal John Grimmer worked with the army in Penrith and was home only on weekends, leaving Carol to bring up the children. As the hostel was only a 15 minute walk from Fairy Meadow beach, Carol and the children spent most of their spare time at the beach, avoiding the hot weather. Fairy Meadow beach was quite isolated, cut off from North Wollongong beach by sandhills and a swamp.
On Monday Jan 12 1970 it was a hot, humid day. It was the middle of school holidays, so large crowds from the hostel went to the beach, including the four Grimmer children. After a beautiful morning, the weather changed in early afternoon, creating cruel winds. At 1:30pm, Carol Grimmer went down to beach and told her children it was time to go home. The wind was bitterly cold, so the children quickly agreed.
Carol began to collect their things, and sent the children to shower and change in the changing pavillion. After about 10 minutes later, her sons returned to tell her that Cheryl was still in the men’s shower. Carol sent Ricki to collect her, but he came straight back saying “mum, she won’t come.”
Carol spent a few minutes gathering up their belongings before heading to the pavillion to collect her 3 year old daughter, but when she got to the pavillion there was no sign of Cheryl. After searching around the pavillion, Carol decided that perhaps Cheryl had returned home. So she collected her son’s and headed back to the hostel. Upon arriving home, it took only a few minutes to ascertain that Cheryl was not there. Staring to feel concerned, Carol ran back to the beach to search again, and ran into a lifeguard. The lifeguard encouraged her to call the police, and at 4pm that’s what she did. It had been 2 hours since Ricki told Carol that Cheryl wouldn’t leave the shower.
When the police arrived, Carol was confused but not upset. She was adamant that there were so many people at the beach that someone would have heard Cheryl scream if there was any trouble – and she had only been out of sight for a few minutes. But while Carol wasn’t concerned, the police definitely were – there had been an increase in sexual assault over the last few years, and Cheryl had last been seen in the men’s shower wearing only a bathing suit.
While speaking to people on the beach, police encountered two boys, aged 9 and 11, who recalled seeing Cheryl. After the three Grimmer boys went to fetch their mother, the boys claimed that Cheryl walked out of the pavillion, naked, wanting a drink. She was too short to reach the bubbler so the boys helped her have a drink, before watching the naked girl walk into the sand dunes, carrying her swimsuit and towel. The boys watched her go, concerned that she was unaccompanied, and they are unanimous about what happened next..
As Cheryl walked down the beach, a man ran over to her, wrapped her in a towel and ran with her under his arm into the area between the showers and the surf club building. They followed the man to the clubhouse, but lost sight of him. After losing sight of him, they agreed that he was probably Cheryl’s father, and returned to playing.
Peter Goodyear, a hostel resident, was passing the changing room when he saw a man running fast with a fair haired girl wrapped in a white towel under his arm, and recognised the man as one he had spoken to outside the changeroom earlier. He watched the man run across carpark, climb into old Holden and drive away. Thinking nothing of it, Mr. Goodyear returned home.
It is uncertain whether Cheryl was alive when Mr. Goodyear saw her, as there was a lag between this and the boys seeing her grabbed.
The police released details about the suspect based on Mr. Goodyear’s description:
The police have never found a trace of Cheryl.. All believe she is dead, except for Carol. Cheryl’s bedroom still looks the way it did the day she disappeared. Family have moved from Fairy Meadow. Police released a description of man based on boys and Goodyear’s description: 30-40 years old, slim build, thin face and dark olive complexion. Spoke good English, but believed to be southern European. Wearing orange swimming trunks and black and vbrown beach coat and black felt hat. Driving Holden sedan 1956-1958, off-white colour with rusty mudguards. Car in poor condtion.
Four days after her disappearance (January 20) a note was delivered to a random house, whose inhabitants had no knowledge of the Grimmer family. The handwritten note was passed onto police and had the following message on it:
“your daughter Cheryl is OK but I’m not so sure about another kid who will be knocked off if you don’t do as I say. I want $10,000 and a complete pardon in exchange for Cheryl. On Saturday morning my two friends are going to pick up the first young kid they see. When that is done I will take Cheryl to the front of .. (address of stranger who received note)… will give me the $10,000. I’ll be quite safe. Because if you grab me, the young kid will die. If you let me go, the young kid will be let free a couple of days later unharmed I hope. See you around 11am on Saturday”
Sadly, no one arrived at the house that day, and police believed the note to be a cruel hoax.
The Grimmers also received phone calls from a man describing how he had murdered and raped Vicki Barton almost exactly a year earlier. A friend pointed out that Cheryl’s disappearance was 5 years to the day since the Wanda beach murders. Police have always wondered – was there a serial killer in our midst?
Cheryl Grimmer was never found.
 
I read about Cheryl's case tonight what a terrible tragedy I feel so sorry for her brother and family. Hope the monster comes clean, shows where Cheryl's remains are and is arrested.
 
What a terrible burden the brother has had to endure over the years. Such a sad case :(

Sent from my SM-P550 using Tapatalk
 
The case is covered in the Daily Wail today:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...veals-mother-s-anguish-didn-t-live-again.html

I'm guessing the family were Ten Pound Poms. Several families I knew went Down Under under the scheme around the same time.

From your link Mel, the Grimmer family emigrated in 1969 and Cheryl was abducted in January 1970:

'Cheryl Grimmer and her family emigrated to Australia from the UK in 1969.'

'Carol [Cheryl's mother] died three years ago, and on her deathbed made the brothers promise to find out what happened on the fateful day on January 12, 1970.'


Brother of three-year-old British girl abducted from Australian beach in 1970 in Madeleine McCann-style case reveals mother’s anguish she didn’t live to see her again

Nice 'Welcome to Country' huh?

When I was a child, my family 'sponsored' a family of four from the UK. It was around the time Cheryl went missing. They stayed with us in Sydney for a while, moved to Perth and decided to go home. I think they missed their families.
 
What a terrible burden the brother has had to endure over the years. Such a sad case :(

Sent from my SM-P550 using Tapatalk

Yes, he quite obviously needs some trauma counselling. It wasn't his fault, he was just a child. It wasn't his mother's fault either. The only person who needs to shoulder the entire burden of responsibility for Cheryl's abduction and probable murder is the perpetrator themselves.
 
So the new3 suspect isn't the man the witnesses at the time talked about?
 
So the new3 suspect isn't the man the witnesses at the time talked about?

Yes, that stumped me too El. The man originally suspected of abducting Cheryl in this newspaper article from the time was reported to be much older than a teenager:

'Today, police received their first real lead, when two boys reported seeing a man pick up a little girl answering Cheryl's description and carry her away. Police describe the man they are seeking as 35 to 40, about 5 feet to 5 feet 2 inches tall, slim build, dark complexion as though Italian or Spanish, speaking with an Italian accent, and small-faced.

He was wearing brown or orange cotton-type shorts, a plain creamy-white shirt with short sleeves, thongs or sandals, and the floppy hat, similar to army-style jungle wear.


Police seek man with big hat

He must've subsequently been ruled out of the investigation.
 
I'm not saying the two cases are connected, just a thought, but police are looking for a suspect that was a teenager at the time Cheryl went missing - Alfred Jessop was 15 when he abducted and murdered 8yr old Vicki Barton.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_major_crimes_in_Australia
8 May 1969 – 15-year-old Alfred James Jessop strangled eight-year-old Vicki Barton after she refused to have sex with him at a vacant block in Lawson, NSW. He then used his bicycle trailer to carry her body to bushland where he buried her; he was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1978 and was paroled in 2003

And the Grimmers did receive phone calls from someone describing how he had murdered Vicki.

https://forgottenillawarra.wordpress.com/2014/01/28/the-disappearance-of-cheryl-grimmer/
The Grimmers also received phone calls from a man describing how he had murdered and raped Vicki Barton almost exactly a year earlier.
 
I'm not saying the two cases are connected, just a thought, but police are looking for a suspect that was a teenager at the time Cheryl went missing - Alfred Jessop was 15 when he abducted and murdered 8yr old Vicki Barton.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_major_crimes_in_Australia
8 May 1969 – 15-year-old Alfred James Jessop strangled eight-year-old Vicki Barton after she refused to have sex with him at a vacant block in Lawson, NSW. He then used his bicycle trailer to carry her body to bushland where he buried her; he was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1978 and was paroled in 2003

And the Grimmers did receive phone calls from someone describing how he had murdered Vicki.

https://forgottenillawarra.wordpress.com/2014/01/28/the-disappearance-of-cheryl-grimmer/
The Grimmers also received phone calls from a man describing how he had murdered and raped Vicki Barton almost exactly a year earlier.

Great sleuthing symbah. Jessop could have holidayed down at Fairy Meadow Beach.

Found this article from 2009, Jessop should still be in prison imo!

A CONVICTED child killer - dubbed a "time bomb" by authorities - has built a replica of a bicycle trailer he used to carry the body of his eight-year-old victim 40 years ago.
Alfred Jessop has been spotted cycling through western Sydney streets, raising fears over his intentions.

The Daily Telegraph can also reveal the 55-year-old sexual psychopath is intent on tracking down his step-grandchildren through a television program by using aliases.
Corrective Services Commissioner Ron Woodham said he was seriously worried about Jessop's actions.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...b/news-story/4bc2ce98a795695681f73fb7974a309e
 
I'm not saying the two cases are connected, just a thought, but police are looking for a suspect that was a teenager at the time Cheryl went missing - Alfred Jessop was 15 when he abducted and murdered 8yr old Vicki Barton.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_major_crimes_in_Australia
8 May 1969 – 15-year-old Alfred James Jessop strangled eight-year-old Vicki Barton after she refused to have sex with him at a vacant block in Lawson, NSW. He then used his bicycle trailer to carry her body to bushland where he buried her; he was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1978 and was paroled in 2003

And the Grimmers did receive phone calls from someone describing how he had murdered Vicki.

https://forgottenillawarra.wordpress.com/2014/01/28/the-disappearance-of-cheryl-grimmer/
The Grimmers also received phone calls from a man describing how he had murdered and raped Vicki Barton almost exactly a year earlier.

Great sleuthing symbah. Jessop could have holidayed down at Fairy Meadow Beach.

Found this article from 2009, Jessop should still be in prison imo!


http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...b/news-story/4bc2ce98a795695681f73fb7974a309e

Good thoughts but according to The Daily Telegraph article by Mark Morri on December 4, 2016, Jessop was never connected to Cheryl's case:

'There were a number of confessions that never checked out, and one particularly cruel phone call to the Grimmers from a man saying he strangled Cheryl the same way he had killed Vicki Barton in the Blue Mountains 18 months earlier.

A man arrested for Vicki Barton’s murder was never connected to Cheryl’s case.'


Australian Missing Persons Register 'Cheryle GRIMMER'
 
Great sleuthing symbah. Jessop could have holidayed down at Fairy Meadow Beach.

Found this article from 2009, Jessop should still be in prison imo!


http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...b/news-story/4bc2ce98a795695681f73fb7974a309e

I agree PS, how is this thing walking?
I do agree with Ron Woodham in his assessment of Jessop.
I know in the past that Jessop has not been connected to Cheryl's disappearance.
But now police are saying we have to understand that the investigation back then was old format.
Like I said, I'm not saying the two cases are connected but I'd like to know when Jessop was discounted from this.
 
I agree PS, how is this thing walking?
I do agree with Ron Woodham in his assessment of Jessop.
I know in the past that Jessop has not been connected to Cheryl's disappearance.
But now police are saying we have to understand that the investigation back then was old format.
Like I said, I'm not saying the two cases are connected but I'd like to know when Jessop was discounted from this.

I suppose you could do some sleuthing and see if you can connect Jessop to The Illawarra-Wollongong region, symbah. It certainly wouldn't hurt.
 

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
82
Guests online
1,042
Total visitors
1,124

Forum statistics

Threads
589,170
Messages
17,915,116
Members
227,745
Latest member
branditau.wareham72@gmail
Back
Top