Suspect in Toddler’s Disappearance Named 55 Years After She Vanished from Beach

The suspect accused of killing a 3-year-old girl after allegedly abducting her from a beach south of Sydney, Australia in 1970 has been named.

Cheryl Grimmer disappeared from Fairy Meadow beach in Wollongong over 50 years ago; however, her disappearance has remained unsolved for decades.

In 2017, a man identified as Mercury (which is not his real name) was arrested and put on trial after police uncovered a 1971 confession that he made, but the case was dropped after a judge ruled it was inadmissible, per the BBC.

On Thursday, Oct. 23, Australian politician Jeremy Buckingham — who is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council — used parliamentary privilege to name the man, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

PEOPLE cannot name the man for legal reasons.

Mercury, who says he is innocent, gave a confession about killing Cheryl a year after her disappearance when he was 17, the BBC reported. The outlet stated the suspect is still legally protected now, as he was a minor at the time of the confession.

Cheryl was last seen running into a dressing room on Jan. 12, 1970 after spending the day at the beach with her family.

The BBC reported that Cheryl had run into the dressing room and refused to come out, before her older brother, Ricki, went to get their mom to help. They returned just 90 seconds later, but the toddler had vanished, the outlet stated.

A fresh police investigation was opened in 2016, identifying the man after his confession was discovered in police archives, the ABC noted. He was charged with murder, but the confession was ruled inadmissible after child interview protection laws were applied in 2019, and the case was dropped.

A New South Wales (NSW) Police post stated, “Despite extensive searches at the time and over the years, she has never been found.”

“A Coronial Inquest conducted in 2011 found Cheryl had died but her cause and manner of death remained undetermined. Her body has not been located,” police added.

Australian MP Buckingham said on Thursday, “The family of Cheryl Grimmer [has] been through so much anguish over such a long period of time,” per a parliament document obtained by PEOPLE.

“[Mercury] is a free man living with his identity suppressed from his [neighbors] and no one has been punished for Cheryl Grimmer’s abduction and murder,” he added, according to the outlet.

The suspect, now 69, immigrated to Australia from the U.K. as a child and has been living in Melbourne since, The Times noted. Cheryl vanished shortly after her family moved to the country from the U.K. city of Bristol.

Buckingham read Mercury’s 1971 confession aloud in parliament on Thursday, breaking down crying multiple times, according to the ABC.

“I came around from the back of shower block and grabbed the little girl, I took her by the hand and put one hand around her mouth and carried her around to the sand hills,” the politician read, according to the parliament document obtained by PEOPLE.

“I then continued up to Bulli Pass where I took the little girl. She started to scream when I got her up there. She would not be quiet. So I put my arms around her throat and strangled her,” he added.

“I left her lying on the ground at the side of a tree. I covered her up with bushes and leaves and threw some dirt on top,” Buckingham read from the confession.

The teenager had allegedly told police that he did not know Cheryl personally, other than seeing her on the beach that day, telling officers that she’d been in a swimsuit at the time, per the document. The ABC reported that he was 17 at the time of the confession.

The suspect allegedly told police that he’d intended to sexually assault the victim, but didn’t because she was screaming, according to the confession, per the parliament document. He said he’d told her to “shut up,” adding to officers that he’d later burned the 3-year-old’s swimsuit in an incinerator in the Wollongong suburb of Corrimal.

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Cheryl’s family, some of whom were in the public gallery on Thursday as the suspect was named, have been pushing for a fresh inquiry for years, per the BBC. The family gave Mercury an ultimatum last week, urging him to explain how he knew the information included in his confession, or he’d be publicly identified.

The family said in a statement read by Cheryl’s brother Paul’s wife Linda on Thursday, “[Mercury] has been given the opportunity to declare his innocence or guilt, yet he has chosen to remain silent. The details of Mercury’s confession have caused our family immense heartache; however, we are not seeking to harm Mercury or his family. What we want is now the truth,” per The Times.

The New South Wales (NSW) government is offering a $1 million AUD (around $650,000) reward for any information that could help solve Cheryl’s case, per the NSW Police post.

New South Wales Police didn’t immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for additional information.