The disappearance of three-year-old Cheryl Grimmer from Fairy Meadow Beach in 1970 has haunted Australia for more than five decades. But the impact of that crime didn’t stop on the sand dunes that day — it rippled through generations of one family.

In this episode of Real Crime, Adam Shand speaks with Melanie Grimmer, Cheryl’s niece and the daughter of Cheryl’s brother, Ricky. Melanie shares what it’s like to grow up in the long shadow of an unresolved crime — carrying inherited guilt, fear, anger and grief for an aunt she never knew.