The three brothers of a little girl who vanished from a Wollongong beach change room 47 years ago hope the case is closer to being solved after a 63-year-old man was arrested to face abduction and murder charges.
The man, who was arrested in Melbourne on Wednesday, was 16 when he allegedly snatched the three-year-old from outside a Fairy Meadow Beach shower block on January 12, 1970.
The blonde-haired toddler had been at the beach with her brothers when the weather changed in the early afternoon and their mother, Carole, sent the children to shower at a toilet block near the surf club.
Ricki was seven, Stephen, five, and Paul, four, at the time.
Police on Thursday revealed Cheryl died within an hour of the abduction although her body has never been found.
The 63-year-old man was a person of interest in the long-running mystery, Detective Inspector Brad Ainsworth said in Wollongong on Thursday.
"I'm not going to get into the specifics of the actual detail of the offences but I can say that they're quite horrific and they'll be unfolding in court," Detective Inspector Ainsworth said.
Watch: Police press conference on the arrest made in the cold case murder of toddler Cheryl Grimmer
It's now believed Cheryl was taken from the front of the surf club, not the back, as originally thought.
The accused man, who now uses a different name from when he was a teenager, went voluntarily to be interviewed by detectives at Frankston police station on Wednesday, Detective Inspector Ainsworth said.
As a teenager he was interviewed by police after Cheryl's disappearance but charges were not laid.
The Grimmer brothers have never given up hope of finding their little sister and made an emotional appeal in December for the abductor to come forward.
Ricki Grimmer said he has "never forgiven" himself for his sister's abduction.
"Everyone says it wasn't my fault, but come and stand where I'm standing, see what it feels like," he said in late 2016.
"Just let us know where she is, give us something so we can mourn. It's cost me and my family everything."
Cheryl's parents died not knowing what happened to their little girl.
Three detectives dedicated to Strikeforce Weasel began re-examining the case last year and have gone through hundreds of statements, running sheets and interviews since Cheryl disappeared.
In 2011, Cheryl was declared dead but missing by a coroner.
The Grimmer brothers were "buoyed" by the news an arrest had been made, Detective Inspector Ainsworth said.
"But in saying that, the investigation moves into a whole other sphere now ... it's something that's not going to be resolved soon."
Police in January said they wanted to speak to former staff or residents of Mount Penang Training School who could have information about the crime.
The 63-year-old man has been extradited to NSW and formally charged with murder.
He's scheduled to appear in Wollongong Local Court on Friday.
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