Family of British toddler speaks out as Australian inquiry into cold case disappearances begins

Grieving families have delivered scathing testimonies on the opening day of a New South Wales parliamentary inquiry, accusing police of decades of incompetence, arrogance, and systemic failure in handling the cases of long-term missing persons and unsolved murders.

The inquiry, which is examining historical cases—including several with suspected links to notorious serial killer Ivan Milat—heard emotional accounts from relatives who say police inaction has condemned them to a lifetime of unanswered questions.

'We Would Have Known the Truth Years Ago'

Among those testifying was Ricki Nash, the older brother of Cheryl Grimmer, a three-year-old British toddler who vanished from Wollongong’s Fairy Meadow Beach in January 1970. Despite a suspect being charged in 2017, the case collapsed when the suspect's teenage confession was deemed inadmissible in court. Prosecutors subsequently dropped all charges, and the suspect, legally referred to as "Mercury," has maintained his innocence.

"If [the police] had done their job in 1971, we would have known the truth years ago," Nash told the inquiry, urging officials to remember the human cost of their past failures. "Cheryl was not a case file, she was an amazing, funny little girl."

Dismissed as Runaways

The inquiry also highlighted a recurring pattern of historical police apathy. Kevin Docherty, the twin brother of Kay Docherty, who disappeared from the Wollongong area in 1979 at age 15, recalled how authorities initially dismissed his sister as a mere runaway.

Because of that snap judgment, Docherty testified, virtually nothing was done to find her in the critical early stages of the investigation. He told the inquiry that the prolonged agony shattered his family, stating that their parents "virtually died of a broken heart" without ever learning her fate.

The Shadow of Ivan Milat

Several cases under review by the parliamentary committee are being investigated for potential ties to Ivan Milat, the serial killer responsible for the infamous "Backpacker Murders" in the Belanglo State Forest between 1989 and 1992.

The family of Keren Rowland, who vanished from Canberra in February 1971 while five months pregnant, presented a submission outlining their belief that she may have been Milat’s earliest victim. Dr. Andrea Hughes, Rowland’s cousin, fiercely criticized the investigation, citing more than 50 years of "ignorance, poor leadership, parochialism, and arrogance" by law enforcement.

"When [Milat's] sister died and he lost control of his personal life, he compensated by killing." — Dr. Xanthe Weston, Forensic Criminologist

Providing expert context to the panel, forensic criminologist Dr. Xanthe Weston described Milat as highly "egocentric." Dr. Weston testified that the serial killer's violent escalations were often triggered by a need to regain control, noting that a personal loss, such as the death of his sister, appeared to catalyze his deadly impulses.