'That's when I made the fatal mistake': Cheryl Grimmer's brother reveals his life-long guilt for leaving the three-year-old alone for 90 seconds - when a sexual predator snatched and killed her
- The brother of a toddler who was snatched from the beach has revealed his guilt
- Cheryl Grimmer vanished from a Wollongong beach on January 12 1970
- Ricki Nash, who was seven, recalled begging his mum to take them to the beach
- He left Cheryl at the change rooms for 90 seconds and has lived with guilt since
Cheryl Grimmer's brother has revealed his life-long guilt for leaving the toddler alone for 90 seconds - when she was snatched by a sexual predator and killed.
The three-year-old toddler vanished from outside a surf club at Fairy Meadow Beach in Wollongong, south of Sydney, on January 12, 1970 and her body was never found.
Ricki Nash, who was seven at the time, begged his mother to take the children to the beach for a summer swim, The Australian reported.
An afternoon storm forced Ricki, Stephen, five, Paul, four, and Cheryl from the water and the siblings went to the beachside shower block.
Ricki Nash (centre), who was seven at the time, begged his mother to take the children to the beach for a summer swim
Cheryl Grimmer (right) vanished from outside a surf club at Fairy Meadow Beach in Wollongong, south of Sydney, on January 12 1970 and her body was never found
Mr Nash, who can still see it 'crystal clear', said Cheryl was being her cheeky self and wouldn't leave the female change rooms, despite his requests.
He walked away for 90 seconds to get his mother Carole but when he returned the playful toddler was no where to be seen.
'I just didn't want to go into the ladies' toilets. That's when I made the fatal mistake of leaving and going to get my mother,' Mr Nash said.
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He can still remember the 'sheer terror' on his mother's face as the frantic search for Cheryl began.
'I can remember the beatings I copped — the hatred my father had for me because he blamed me for leaving her,' Mr Nash said.
'And he's right: I shouldn't have left.'
Mr Nash (pictured with two brothers), who can still see it 'crystal clear', said Cheryl was being her cheeky self and wouldn't leave the female change rooms, despite his requests. He walked away for 90 seconds to get his mother Carole (second from right)
Mr Nash's younger brother Paul Grimmer agreed that something in their father had changed after Cheryl's disappearance.
Mr Grimmer said he didn't think his father had ever forgiven them for losing Cheryl.
He added that it was not his brothers fault and they were all partially to blame for walking away.
When Mr Nash was 13, he learned the man he knew as his 'dad' was not his biological father and instead came into his mother's life when he was aged one.
As an adult he made the choice to go by his mother's maiden name.
'I can remember the beatings I copped — the hatred my father had for me because he blamed me for leaving her,' Mr Nash said of his father (pictured with Cheryl)
He has since written to a man believed to be his biological father but is yet to hear back.
Cheryl's father died in 2004 and Carole died in 2014, when Mr Nash promised he would continue the search for the toddler's body.
In March 2017, a man who was 15 at the time of Cheryl's death and can't be named, was arrested in Victoria, extradited to New South Wales and charged with murder.
The now 65-year-old pleaded not guilty in September 2018 to murdering the three-year-old.
But the murder charge was dropped earlier this year following a judge's ruling that his 1971 police interview was inadmissible and could not be used at his trial which was due to start in May.
Brothers Stephen, Paul and Ricki address the media in Wollongong in 2016
The accused, who was 17 at the time of the police interview, confessed to Cheryl's abduction and murder but the court ruled the juvenile should have had an adult with him, despite no such legal requirement existing in 1971.
During the interview, the then-teenager told two detectives he'd seen children come up from the beach to the toilets and correctly described Cheryl's swimming costume.
He told them he grabbed the little girl, picked her up and used a hand to cover her mouth before walking away.
He intended to sexual assault Cheryl but when she screamed he panicked and strangled her.
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