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The "area of interest" flagged in a volunteer-led investigation for the body of a English child who went missing in the land down under 55 years ago has proven to be a mistaken lead, New South Wales Police said.

A volunteer team who used specialized canines in the search for the missing child had hoped their discovery would mark a breakthrough in the case, which has remained a unsolved puzzle since she disappeared in 1970, when she was three.

But bones that were found in the location belong to an animal, law enforcement said in response to queries, noting that the search had "ended."

Authorities suspect Cheryl, who had moved from her UK hometown with her family, was abducted from a coastal area in Wollongong in the start of 1970.

Latest Investigation Steps

Thursday's search took place in a local suburb, on a tiny section of woodland mentioned in a admission made by a young male.

In 2019, a trial of the suspect, known only by a alias, the pseudonym, who'd been indicted with Cheryl's abduction and murder, collapsed. The individual, in his sixties then, had rejected any involvement.

Legal authorities later withdrew accusations against him as a judge disallowed the statement he made as a juvenile.

Ongoing Mystery

Authorities have conducted many searches in the years since she disappeared, but have uncovered few leads as to what occurred to her.

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

Family's Perspective

Cheryl's brother Ricki, sixty-two, has publicly highlighted what he thinks are errors in the official inquiry going back to the time she disappeared.

Mr Nash was seven years old then. He last saw his sibling in the changing rooms at Fairy Meadow on the day she disappeared.

Public Response

A petition asking the local government to set up an investigation into cases of disappeared individuals overseen by the police force, such as Cheryl's, collected more than 10,000 signatures this summer.

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