Family handoutThe brother of Cheryl Grimmer, who disappeared in Australia when she was three years old, has completed a life-changing pilgrimage.
Cheryl disappeared from a beach’s changing rooms on 12 January 1970, when her brother, who had been taking care of her, turned away for a few seconds.
The family had just emigrated from Knowle, Bristol, to New South Wales.
Ricki Nash, 61, says completing the 1,100km Camino de Santiago pilgrimage across Spain has allowed him to forgive himself.
Cheryl disappeared close to the beach at Fairy Meadow, about an hour’s drive south of Sydney. She was never seen again.
Despite a huge police operation and much publicity, she was never found and the case has never been solved.
Seven years ago a man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was charged with Cheryl’s murder.
But before the trial commenced, a judge ruled a confession made in the 1970s could not be admitted as evidence and the case was dropped.
“I have struggled all my life to find some peace, and on this pilgrimage I found it,” Mr Nash said.
“I’m not spiritual in any way, but I did find something there that was deep.
“I made a terrible decision 54 years ago – leaving her in the toilets, I should have sent one of my brothers to get mother that day. I’ve struggle with that decision all my life.”
Talking about the Camino pilgrimage, Mr Nash described it as an “incredible journey”.
Along the route, he laid rocks with Cheryl’s name written on for other walkers to see.
“The Camino brings so much to so many people – around 3,000 now walk parts of it each year,” Mr Nash said.
“The beauty of the Spanish countryside is just breathtaking.”
He first started the route in 2017 before returning this year, taking 49 days to complete the trek.
On the pilgrimage, Mr Nash says, he was able to “forgive himself”.
“Cheryl is always with me – I’ll never give up the fight to find justice until they put me to bed,” he said.
“I see her in the birds, the trees – it’s the only place I’ve found that makes me feel like that.
“She is always with me there – every step of the journey.”