Cold case of British girl who vanished half a century ago could FINALLY be solved

She disappeared after spending a morning at the seaside with her mother and three brothers.

The body of the child, originally from Bristol, has never been discovered.

A suspect, who was a teenager at the time of the incident, was charged with the toddler's abduction in 2017 after police discovered a confession from 1971.

But key evidence was ruled inadmissible and the charges against the teen, known only under the name "Mercury", were dropped.

A judge ruled the man’s interview with police from April, 1971, could not be used in court because there had been no parent, adult or lawyer accompanying him, local media reported at the time.

However, there could be fresh hope for Ms Grimmer's family as Sally Dowling, director of public prosecutions for NSW, has suggested the possibility of reopening the case.

Ms Dowling said she could revisit the case based on evidence from 2019 or "fresh evidence" which has been collected by the victim's family.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, she wrote to the family: "I also note your reference to fresh information received by your family from potential witnesses which you consider relevant or potentially relevant.

"I would invite you to consider whether you wish to progress with a review... which would be based on the brief of evidence available at the time of the initial decision to discontinue proceedings, or whether you would prefer to refer the fresh information that your family has received to the NSW Police for investigation.”

The Grimmer family said police in Britain "may be called on" to support the investigation.

Australian politician Jeremy Buckingham used parliamentary privilege at the end of last year to reveal Mercury's identity and called for a new investigation into Ms Grimmer's disappearance.

He said: “The family of Cheryl Grimmer have been through so much anguish over such a long period of time."

On the 50th anniversary of her disappearance, NSW Police upped the reward on the cold case to one million Australian dollars (£522,000) for information leading to arrest and conviction.

A coroner in 2011 found the child had died – but her cause and manner of death remained undetermined, the force said.

Speaking at the time of the anniversary, her brother, Ricki Nash, said the Grimmer family were hopeful the reward will help close the case.

“There are no words to describe the pain of losing a sister and the impact Cheryl’s disappearance has had on our entire family,” he said.

“Every day we are reminded of the tragic way she was taken from us and we hope this reward is what is needed to bring justice for Cheryl.”

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