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. ||||| Image copyright NSW Police Image caption Cheryl Grimmer disappeared when she was three years old 
 
 A man has been arrested over one of Australia's longest-running mysteries - the suspected murder of a UK-born toddler nearly 50 years ago. 
 
 Three-year-old Cheryl Grimmer went missing from a shower block at a New South Wales beach in 1970. 
 
 A 63-year-old man, originally from Britain, was arrested in Melbourne on Wednesday. Detectives said he would be charged with abduction and murder. 
 
 Despite the breakthrough, police doubt Cheryl's body will ever be found. 
 
 When was she last seen? 
 
 Cheryl disappeared from Fairy Meadow beach in Wollongong, a city south of Sydney, on the afternoon of 12 January 1970. 
 
 She was there with her mother, Carole, and her brothers Ricki, seven, Stephen, five, and Paul, four. 
 
 The family had only recently emigrated to Melbourne from Bristol, in south-west England. 
 
 When the weather worsened, Mrs Grimmer sent the children to shower at the public block about 100m (328ft) away. 
 
 Image copyright NSW Police Image caption Fairy Meadow surf club in the 1970s 
 
 Image copyright NSW Police Image caption Cheryl with her late father, Vince Grimmer 
 
 Moments later, Ricki ran back and reported Cheryl would not emerge from the girls' change room. She was never seen again. 
 
 "She was gone in just a minute or two," Ricki Grimmer said last year. 
 
 "It's something I still live with every day." 
 
 Cheryl's parents have since died, never knowing what happened. 
 
 How did police make the arrest? 
 
 Cheryl's disappearance sparked a massive search at the time, but it failed to provide a breakthrough. 
 
 Last year, detectives re-examined the case and revealed they had a new clue. Three witnesses had said they saw a teenager "loitering" near the scene. 
 
 On Wednesday, detectives held a man in custody after he went to a police station in Frankston, in outer Melbourne, for questioning. 
 
 Image copyright NSW Police Image caption Cheryl's brother, Stephen Grimmer, returned to Fairy Meadow Beach with witnesses 
 
 Originally from the UK, the man would have been 16 in 1970. 
 
 Det Insp Brad Ainsworth, from Wollongong police, confirmed the man "was a person of interest" in the initial investigation almost 50 years ago. 
 
 The detective said he doubted Cheryl's body would ever be found. 
 
 "I'm not going to get into the specifics, of the actual details of the offences but I can say that they are quite horrific," he said. 
 
 The man in custody is expected to appear in a Wollongong court on Friday. ||||| 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
– Nearly 50 years after a 3-year-old girl disappeared from an Australian beach, police may have finally cracked the case. In January 1970, Cheryl Grimmer visited Fairy Meadow beach in Wollongong with her mother and three young brothers, the BBC reports. As the visit wound down, the children went to shower off. Cheryl never returned from the girls' changing room. Her brother, Ricki Grimmer, says she was only gone for a few minutes. "It's something I still live with every day," he says. A massive search for Cheryl proved fruitless, and her body has never been found. Her parents both died without knowing what happened to her, and her brothers didn't want the same thing to happen to them, according to ABC. Then, on Wednesday, police made an arrest. The unnamed 63-year-old suspect was a "person of interest" during the original investigation. Police, who revisited the case last year, say new clues—including three witnesses who saw a teen "loitering" in the area of Cheryl's disappearance—allowed them to confirm some details of the original investigation and make the arrest. The suspect was a 16-year-old student at a reform school in 1970, the Illawarra Mercury reports. Police say he spoke about Cheryl's disappearance at the time. He's now charged with her abduction and murder. "I'm not going to get into the specifics ... but I can say that they are quite horrific," one detective tells the BBC. Cheryl's brother, Stephen Grimmer, tells the Sydney Morning Herald the arrest has been "unreal" and "really emotional." (A 1984 newspaper clip led police to missing sisters.)