A petition asking the state parliament to set up an inquiry into missing persons investigations overseen by NSW Police, such as Cheryl’s, attracted more than 10,000 signatures this summer.
It was debated in parliament, but in a letter responding to petitioners, the state’s minister for police and counter-terrorism made no commitment to holding an inquiry.
NSW Police said all the information it received, including potential eyewitness accounts from the BBC, was properly assessed. They said it was not the case that everyone who contacted them would be interviewed.
“Each submission is evaluated on its merits, and decisions regarding subsequent action are made in accordance with investigative standards and the relevance of the information to the established facts.”
They added that they met members of Cheryl’s family last September for a three-hour discussion about the police review in which “all known and verified facts were clearly outlined”.
In 2020, 50 years after Cheryl disappeared, NSW Police offered a reward of one million Australian dollars (£529,000) to anybody who had information that led to a successful conviction.
Ricki told us: “You offer a million dollar reward, people come forward, you don’t speak to them. Why offer the reward?
“Was that just to appease our family, appease the public, just to make yourselves look good – look like you’re doing something? In actual fact, you’re doing nothing.”