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A specific zone identified in a volunteer-led investigation for the remains of a British child who vanished in Australia fifty-five years ago has turned out to be a false alarm, New South Wales Police said.

A group of searchers who used specialized canines in the search for the missing child had believed their finding would represent a major development in the investigation, which has remained a unsolved puzzle since she disappeared in 1970, when she was just three years old.

But skeletal fragments that were uncovered in the location belong to an animal, police said in response to questions, noting that the search had "concluded."

Investigators suspect the young girl, who had moved from Bristol with her relatives, was abducted from Fairy Meadow beach in the city in the start of 1970.

Recent Search Efforts

The recent operation happened in a local suburb, on a small pocket of forest referenced in a admission made by a young male.

In the year 2019, a court case of the suspect, known only by a alias, Mercury, who'd been indicted with the crimes against Cheryl, ended abruptly. The individual, in his 60s then, had rejected any involvement.

Prosecutors later dropped charges against him as a judge excluded the confession he made as a juvenile.

Ongoing Mystery

Authorities have conducted many searches in the years since Cheryl went missing, but have found few leads as to what occurred to her.

Local officials have offered a one million Australian dollar reward for tips on Cheryl's abduction and suspected murder.

Family's Perspective

Her sibling Ricki, 62, has openly discussed what he thinks are errors in the official inquiry going back to the time she disappeared.

He was seven then. He last saw his sister in the changing rooms at the beach on the date she vanished.

Public Response

A formal request asking the state parliament to set up an inquiry into cases of disappeared individuals handled by the police force, such as Cheryl's, collected more than ten thousand signatures this summer.

It was debated in parliament, but in a letter addressing those who signed, officials made no promise to conducting an review.