A man in his 70s has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of a schoolgirl more than 50 years ago. 
 
 The police investigation into the death of Elsie Frost, 14, in West Yorkshire in 1965 was re-opened last year after a series of reports on BBC Radio 4. 
 
 Police say a 78-year-old man was held in Berkshire. The BBC understands his name is Peter Pickering. 
 
 Elsie was stabbed to death in a tunnel beneath a railway line in Wakefield on 9 October 1965. 
 
 She had been on her way home from her school's sailing club, close to the River Calder and the Calder and Hebble Canal. 
 
 A large police operation followed. The area was searched for the murder weapon, which was never found and hundreds of people were interviewed but no-one was ever convicted of her murder. 
 
 As the 50th anniversary of her death approached, her older sister, Anne Cleave, contacted BBC Radio 4's PM programme, which started to look at what had happened. 
 
 As a result, police launched a new investigation. It has involved a team of 14 and thousands of pages of written evidence have been examined. 
 
 'New information' 
 
 In a statement, West Yorkshire Police said: "Officers from West Yorkshire Police`s Homicide and Major Enquiry Team (HMET) arrested a 78-year-old man in the Berkshire area on Tuesday 27 September on suspicion of the murder of 14-year-old Elsie Frost. 
 
 "The man is now in custody at a police station within the Thames Valley force area and will be questioned by West Yorkshire officers". 
 
 Image copyright West Yorkshire Police Image caption Elsie's body was found on 9 October 1965 beneath a railway line in Wakefield 
 
 It is only the second arrest since the killing. The first was in 1966 when a 33-year-old man was charged with her murder. The case was thrown out in court after a judge instructed the jury to find him not guilty. 
 
 Reacting to the arrest, Elsie Frost's younger brother, Colin said: "As a family, we're very pleased. All we wanted was to be taken seriously. 
 
 "We were aware that mistakes were made in 1965 but we've been impressed with the commitment of West Yorkshire Police in the reinvestigation - the number of officers involved, the number of agencies involved. 
 
 "We wanted the re-investigation to be re-opened and that's what we've achieved." 
 
 Det Supt Nick Wallen, who is leading the investigation, said: "We have received significant numbers of calls and emails from members of the public offering new information, and have generated new lines of inquiry which officers have been progressing ever since." 
 
 He praised Elsie Frost's family for their perseverance and said they are being kept fully informed. ||||| Police officers investigating the murder of a schoolgirl who died more than 50 years ago have arrested a man in his 70s. 
 
 Elsie Frost, a 14-year-old school prefect, was walking alongside a canal towpath in her bright red jacket, floral skirt and new shoes when she was stabbed in her back and head on 9 October 1965. 
 
 A new investigation into Elsie’s murder was launched in 2015 by West Yorkshire police, involving a team of 14 police officers who examined thousands of pages of written evidence. 
 
 On Tuesday, officers from the force’s homicide and major inquiry team arrested a 78-year-old man in Berkshire – named locally as Peter Pickering – on suspicion of her murder. He is now in custody at a police station in the Thames Valley and will be questioned by West Yorkshire officers. 
 
 Although Elsie was murdered more than half a century ago her family never gave up hope of finding her killer. 
 
 
 
 The horrific events that Saturday afternoon in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, left scars on the close-knit community: Elsie’s parents, railway worker Arthur and his wife, Edith, died without seeing anyone brought to justice for their youngest daughter’s murder. 
 
 
 
 But last year the case was reopened when her siblings 69-year-old Anne Cleave, who was 18 at the time of the murder, and 58-year-old Colin, who was six, contacted the media calling for a fresh investigation. 
 
 Elsie’s sister said the family would continue to push for justice. “It has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride. We were aware that there had been mistakes in the early days, but the police have worked really hard on our behalf to get this far in the past year,” she said. 
 
 “You are never quite aware what you will feel like when these announcements are made. We have both felt queasy and a bit stressed when we found out about the arrest. The bigger step will come if he is charged.” 
 
 While the family did not know how the case would develop, she added that the police had been “amazing” at keeping them informed. 
 
 “When you have got something you are looking for, and that’s justice, then you have to keep pushing for it. We want justice for Elsie.” 
 
 Speaking about the new arrest, Detective Superintendent Nick Wallen, senior investigating officer, said: “A re-investigation into Elsie’s murder was launched in 2015 by West Yorkshire police, backed by a publicity campaign on the 50th anniversary of her death. 
 
 “Since then we have received significant numbers of calls and emails from members of the public offering new information, and have generated new lines of inquiry which officers have been progressing ever since. 
 
 “Following those inquiries we have now arrested a 78-year-old man in the Berkshire area and will be interviewing him under caution to progress our investigation.” 
 
 Colin Frost told the BBC: “As a family, we’re very pleased. All we wanted was to be taken seriously. 
 
 “We were aware that mistakes were made in 1965, but we’ve been impressed with the commitment of West Yorkshire police in the reinvestigation – the number of officers involved, the number of agencies involved. 
 
 “We wanted the investigation to be reopened and that’s what we’ve achieved.” 
 
 On the day of her death, Elsie had gone to watch her friends learn to sail at a water-filled gravel pit known as Millfield lagoon near her home in the suburban area of Lupset, on the south side of Wakefield. 
 
 According to one version of events, she chose a different route home to her friends along the towpath to avoid getting her new shoes muddy. As she entered a 30ft tunnel beneath a railway embankment she was struck from behind and stabbed. 
 
 A post-mortem examination found she had been stabbed five times – twice in the back, twice in the head, once through the hand – with the fatal blow piercing her heart. 
 
 Despite her terrible injuries, Elsie managed to stumble through the tunnel to the bottom of what locals called the “ABC steps”; a steep flight of 26 steps up to the main road. 
 
 She was found dying at the bottom of the steps by a local man, Thomas Brown. 
 
 Brown, who had taken his three-year-old daughter, Beverley, five-year-old son, Martin, and their dog Pip for a walk, saw Elsie face down and assumed she had fallen down the stairs. 
 
 Within minutes, others appeared on the scene and waited with her body while Brown ran to call for an ambulance and the police. They included lock-keeper Ralph Brewster and John Blackburn, one of the sailing instructors from the lagoon. 
 
 Back at Elsie’s home in Manor Haigh Road, her parents received a visit from the police, who informed them that their daughter had died. 
 
 A clear motive was never established by police. The pathologist who examined the Snapethorpe high school pupil’s body gave the cause of death as “shock and haemorrhage due to multiple stab wounds”. 
 
 The hunt for the killer made national news for weeks. West Yorkshire police combed the area for clues and divers searched the river and lagoons for the murder weapon. Scotland Yard detectives joined the investigation. 
 
 Police officers went from door to door interviewing every man living in the area. About 12,000 men were questioned by police, including members of her own family. 
 
 While the police investigation continued, an inquest was opened and adjourned by the Leeds and Wakefield coroner, Philip Gill. 
 
 One arrest was made at the time of the murder, but a judge cleared Ian Bernard Spencer, who was 33 at the time, of any involvement. ||||| THERE is one man who will be terrified of the news that cold case detectives have made a stunning breakthrough in the Cheryl Grimmer abduction and suspected murder. 
 
 For almost 47 years, the question of who abducted Cheryl has hung over her family and police trying to solve one of Australia’s most disturbing child cold cases. 
 
 In January 1970, the toddler was ripped away from her family in a daylight abduction from Fairy Meadow Beach, Wollongong, NSW. 
 
 At the time it was reported a man was seen carrying a blonde girl wrapped in a towel as he ran towards the car park. 
 
 The three-year-old was never seen again, but now detectives have announced a major breakthrough — they believe whoever took Cheryl that day is still alive. 
 
 A breakthrough in the case came two weeks ago during a re-enactment of the incident, where several witnesses corroborated the presence of a teenage boy, aged between 17 and 18. 
 
 Police said the re-enactment had been staged as a matter of course five years after Cheryl was declared dead but missing by the coroner. 
 
 “(Our view) has been strengthened because of the witnesses returning here to the scene and they’ve mentioned this person a number of times,” Detective Inspector Brad Ainsworth told reporters. 
 
 He said detectives from Wollongong are dedicated to the case and have gone through hundreds and hundreds of statements, running sheets and interviews. 
 
 “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’s been reviewed, it’s been transcribed and transposed put onto our current investigation computers and our systems, so that’s how it’s come about.” 
 
 Police said the suspect was caucasian, about 152cm with brown hair, blue eyes and fair complexion and, if alive, he would be in his early 60s. 
 
 The Daily Telegraphreported a review of the case exposed a major failing in the original investigation with a suspect being missed. The strike force officers’ renewed investigations are focused on that person. 
 
 There was no sign of Cheryl after she was taken from a toilet and shower block at Fairy Meadow Beach on January 12, 1970. That hot summer’s day she was at the beach with her mother and brothers. Her mother, Carole, was just a few metres away on the beach when her older brother Ricky left her alone in the toilet to get his mother to help her out. 
 
 The family had only just moved to Australia from England the year before. Her father John was in the army and based at the barracks in Penrith. 
 
 Cheryl, said to be a bubbly, happy child, just laughed when Ricky told her he was going to get their Mum to help her, he told the Telegraph. 
 
 She was by herself less than 30 seconds — but that is all it took for someone to strike. 
 
 Now the family are closer than ever to having answers. 
 
 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. 
 
 Cheryl’s brothers say they’ve never stopped thinking about “the tiny, bubbly little thing”. 
 
 “I ride past here, I walk past here and I always look, it’s always on your mind,” Stephen said. 
 
 Ricki said 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.” 
 
 Cheryl’s parents John and Carole Grimmer died never knowing what happened to their little girl. 
 
 “Mum and dad are never going to know. Please get it off your mind and let us know,” Stephen said. 
 
 After she vanished there were a few theories as to what happened, and who could be to blame. The most sensational was a ransom note sent to Cheryl’s parents Carole and John three days later. The chilling note demanded $10,000 for the safe return of Cheryl. 
 
 Undercover police waited at the drop-off point but no one came to make the pick up, leaving it unknown whether it really was the abductor, a hoax or a cruel scheme to make money off the back of a tragedy. 
 
 There was other speculation. A young girl was seen in a white car speeding away from the beach, while a mystery figure in orange swimsuit was supposedly seen grabbing her and running off. 
 
 Police hope the conscience of the person who took Cheryl will be enough to compel them to come forward. And if not, they are confident they are on the right path to finally ending one of NSW’s most enduring mysteries. 
 
 Know more? Email: andrew.koubaridis@news.com.au ||||| This article is over 1 year old 
 
 Police urge suspect, who would now be in his 60s, to come forward after finding information missed in original investigation 
 
 New South Wales police have made a breakthrough in the unsolved abduction of a three-year-old girl from a Wollongong beach almost 50 years ago. 
 
 Cheryl Grimmer disappeared from outside a shower block on 12 January 1970 but no trace of her was found despite an extensive search at the time. 
 
 Police believe they have now identified a suspect – a teenager who would be in his 60s now – after finding information that was missed in the original investigation. 
 
 Detective sergeant Damian Loone, who is leading the investigation, appealed for the suspect to come forward. 
 
 “It’s time to come clean and absolve yourself and tell us what happened on that day – and, more importantly, for the family,” he said. “If not for yourself, do it for them,’’ he said. 
 
 Her parents, John and Carole, died without knowing what happened to their daughter. 
 
 Cheryl was kidnapped while she was spending the day with her mother and three brothers. Witnesses at the time reported seeing a man leaving the beach with a child wrapped in a white blanket. 
 
 Police believe they have now identified a suspect – a teenager aged between 17 and 18 who would now be in his 60s – after finding information that was missed in the original investigation. 
 
 Detectives say the suspect was Caucasian, about 152cm with brown hair, blue eyes and fair complexion, and may still be alive. 
 
 Brothers Stephen, Ricki and Paul joined police at a press conference on Monday. 
 
 “Come forward please, let us know. We really want to know,” Stephen said. 
 
 Ricki says he he has “never forgiven” himself for his sister’s abduction. 
 
 “Just let us know where she is, give us something so we can mourn. It’s cost me my family and everything,” he said before walking off in tears. 
 
 Cheryl’s parents John and Carole Grimmer died never knowing what happened to their little girl. 
 
 “Mum and dad are never going to know. Please get it off your mind and let us know,” Stephen said on Monday. 
 
 A Coroner’s inquest at Wollongong Coroner’s Court in May 2011 concluded that Cheryl was deceased; however, who murdered the girl remains a mystery. 
 
 The NSW government has offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. 
 
 Detective Sergeant James Dark said the reward had been announced with the hope of giving Cheryl’s family closure. 
 
 “It happened over 40 years ago and Cheryl’s family still suffer from the pain of not knowing. 
 
 “This was a child snatched from her family during broad daylight on a busy beach. Someone must have seen something at the time, and we are urging them to come forward,” Detective Sergeant Dark said. 
 
 “Cases like this are never closed until we find out what happened. Any information, no matter how small, can help put the puzzle together and bring us closer to a result,” Detective Sergeant Dark said.
– When 14-year-old Elsie Frost was found dying of multiple stab wounds in a tunnel under a West Yorkshire train overpass in October of 1965, the news of her vicious murder "caused widespread shock and revulsion" across England, reports the Telegraph. But in spite of police questioning 12,000 men, only one suspect was ever arrested in the intervening five decades, and the case against him was ultimately thrown out for lack of evidence. Elsie's parents both died without learning who had killed their daughter, and her older sister and younger brother say that after all these years they want justice, and "didn’t want to die thinking we had not done anything." Now, finally, police say there's been a break in the case. A year after Elsie's siblings asked police to reopen their investigation—which they did following a BBC Radio 4 series on the murder—authorities say they've arrested a 78-year-old man, reports the BBC. Peter Pickering, who was born in Manchester, apparently had links to Yorkshire, where Elsie was murdered, and would have been in his mid-20s in 1965. Though a murder weapon was never found, Elsie, who was said to have taken a different route home from school because she didn't want to get her new shoes muddy on her usual route, was found stabbed twice in the back (one pierced her heart), twice in the head, and once through the hand, reports the Guardian. (Forensic evidence helped solve this 43-year-old cold case.)