News / Behind the Headlines podcast

The story of Cheryl Grimmer

By Betty Woolerton  Friday Mar 11, 2022

When she was three, Cheryl Grimmer disappeared from a beach in New South Wales, Australia.

Cheryl was the daughter of Carol and Vince, who emigrated as family from Knowle in 1968 to a migrant hostel on Fairy Meadow beach in search of a better life.

Her disappearance from the beach’s changing rooms sparked a massive search at the time, but no trace of the Cheryl was ever found.

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This is the story Jon Kay, BBC journalist in Bristol, delves into in the Fairy Meadow podcast series. He set out to find what happened to the Cheryl when she went missing 52 years ago.

Jon tells us the story of Cheryl Grimmer and her family in an episode of the Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast:

At the heart of the story is the tragedy of Cheryl’s brother, Ricki, the last person to see her alive.

Having wrestled with guilt and now in his fifties, Jon speaks to Ricki and tracks down others involved in the case, taking him on a journey from Bristol to Australia.

All eight episodes of Fairy Meadow are available to listen to on BBC Sounds, Apple podcasts and Spotify.

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Main photo: BBC

Read more: 42 Things to do in Bristol in March 2022

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