Animal Bones Found in Search for Girl Who Vanished Fifty-Five Years Ago

A specific zone identified in a volunteer-led search for the remains of a English girl who went missing in Australia fifty-five years ago has turned out to be a false alarm, 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 case, which has stayed a unsolved puzzle since she vanished in 1970, when she was three.

But skeletal fragments that were found in the location belong to an animal, law enforcement stated in reply to questions, adding that the search had "concluded."

Authorities suspect Cheryl, who had moved from Bristol with her family, was taken from Fairy Meadow beach in the city in the start of 1970.

Recent Search Efforts

Thursday's search took place in Balgownie, on a tiny section of forest referenced in a admission made by a young male.

In the year 2019, a court case of the accused, known only by a codename, the pseudonym, who'd been indicted with the crimes against Cheryl, collapsed. The man, in his sixties then, had rejected any wrongdoing.

Prosecutors later withdrew accusations against him as a judge excluded the statement he made as a minor.

Unsolved Case

Authorities have conducted numerous searches in the decades since Cheryl disappeared, but have found few clues as to what happened to her.

NSW authorities have announced a one million Australian dollar reward for information on the case of Cheryl's disappearance and presumed death.

Family's Perspective

Her sibling Ricki Nash, sixty-two, has openly discussed what he believes are errors in the official inquiry dating back to the time she disappeared.

Mr Nash was seven then. He final sighting of his sister in the locker area at the beach on the day she disappeared.

Community Action

A formal request asking the local government to set up an inquiry into cases of disappeared individuals overseen by NSW Police, such as Cheryl's, gathered more than ten thousand supporters this summer.

It was debated in parliament, but in a response addressing those who signed, officials made no promise to conducting an inquiry.