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Thursday's news in 5 minutes.

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1. Two months after the mysterious disappearance of a strip club waitress, the sad truth has emerged.

At 4:42 am on January 15, 20-year-old college student Toni Anderson texted her friend, “OMG just got pulled over again.”

It was the last time any of her friends or family would hear from her.

Almost two months after she went missing, Toni Anderson’s body was found in a car that had been pulled from the Missouri River. Police told PEOPLE magazine it appeared her car had accidentally plunged into the water and that detectives found nothing to suggest foul play was involved in her death.

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In the weeks following her disappearance, speculation was rife that Toni had been kidnapped and murdered by police, or by someone impersonating an officer.

Toni’s mother, Liz Anderson, feared her daughter – who worked as a waitress at an adult entertainment venue in Kansas City, Missouri – was a victim of human trafficking.

When Toni’s boyfriend of two years, Pete Sanchez, started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for a private investigator, internet sleuths accused him of being involved in her disappearance and attempting to profit off the case.

Others accused Toni of faking her own disappearance in pursuit of internet notoriety.

After Toni’s body was found, Liz Anderson said she was “relieved” that her daughter’s death was “nothing more than a tragic accident” and the mystery behind her disappearance had been solved.

“[Toni] had no broken bones, and there was nothing on her body that would indicate any type of a struggle,” she told PEOPLE.

“It is horrible. But they finally found her, and now we have a bit of closure.”

Police believe Toni became confused when her GPS may have directed her to drive the wrong way down a boat ramp, which was icy at the time.

“The police told me that her window was down and that her seat belt was off, so they figure she was trying to get out,” Liz said.

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“The current of the river was too strong and the cold water rushed in just too quick for her to escape. That’s what the police have determined.”

2. Major cold case arrest over the abduction and murder of a toddler who went missing 47 years ago.

One of NSW’s longest running mysteries has had a major breakthrough with police arresting a man for the abduction and murder of a toddler in Wollongong 47 years ago, AAP reports.

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Cheryl Grimmer was just three when she disappeared from outside a Fairy Meadow Beach shower block on January 12, 1970, but no trace of her has ever been found, despite an extensive search.

Victoria Police and NSW detectives, acting on fresh information, arrested a 63-year-old man at Frankston, southeast of Melbourne on Wednesday, with Cheryl’s kidnapping and murder.

The man – who would have been 16 at the time – is being extradited to NSW, and is expected to be formally charged on Thursday and face Wollongong Local Court on Friday.

Police will hold a press conference in Wollongong at 10am on Thursday.

Detectives from Strike Force Weasel began re-examining the case last year.

Last December Cheryl’s three older brothers, who’d been at the beach when she disappeared, urged the abductor to come forward after police said they had identified a suspect for the crime, who’d now be in his 60s.

In January they said they’d like to speak to former staff or residents of Mount Penang Training School, a NSW government-run home and juvenile justice centre for boys, who may have information about the crime.

3. Police reveal new lead in case of missing 22-year-old Brisbane childcare worker, feared murdered.

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Police are hoping the driver of a white Chrysler 300 may be able to help solve the mystery disappearance of Queensland man Sam Thompson.

CCTV footage released on Wednesday showed the vehicle driving closely behind the 22-year-old’s orange Ford Mustang on Tuesday, March 7, the day he went missing.

Detective Inspector Tim Trezise said police wanted to speak to the driver of the Chrysler or anyone who may have seen the car in the Bald Hills area, north of Brisbane.

Sam’s car was found in the Deep Water Bend Reserve nearby later that day, but by Thursday night it had been abandoned in Wooyung in northern NSW.

Det Insp Trezise said police hold grave fears for the Albion resident, whose disappearance was out of character.

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“Every day it makes it more unlikely Sam’s just going to innocently pop up,” he said on Wednesday.

Sam’s parents Bruce and Debbie and his sister Courtney also made an emotional plea for information about his whereabouts.

Mr Thompson urged anyone with information, no matter how trivial, to contact police.

“Someone knows where Sam is,” he said.

“Please help us find our boy.”

More than 50 police officers, including homicide detectives, have been tasked with trying to find Sam.

4. A hero shelter dog that endured years of abuse has saved the life of a three-year-old girl.

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When Peanut (then named Petunia) arrived at the Delta Animal Shelter in Michigan last April, she had two broken legs, broken ribs and a stomach full of carpet. Her previous owner was convicted of animal abuse.

Now, almost one year later, Peanut has been credited with saving the life of a three-year-old girl.

In a post on the animal shelter’s Facebook page, Peanut’s owner shared that Peanut “started going crazy” around 11am one morning.

“She was running up and down the stairs, barking and yelping,” the owner wrote.

When Peanut was finally let outside, she went “barreling into the field behind our house at full speed.”

“My husband followed her and to his surprise, he found a naked, shivering, three-year-old girl curled up in a ball. He scooped her up, wrapped her in a sweatshirt and brought her inside.”

When ambulance and police arrived, the three-year-old girl could only say one word: “Doggie”.

The girl and her sibling have since been removed from their home, with Deputy Steve Kositzky telling Fox TV 6 the child was “fine and is well and is in good hands”.

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5. Grandmother also charged with manslaughter in ‘slapping death’ of six-year-old Sydney boy.

The grandmother of a six-year-old diabetic boy who died after attending a self-healing conference almost two years ago has been charged with manslaughter, along with the child’s parents, AAP reports.

The boy was found unconscious at a hotel in Hurstville, in Sydney’s south, after his parents took him to a self-healing conference at a nearby clinic in April 2015. He died at the scene.

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The child’s father, 56, and mother, 41, were last week charged with manslaughter over his death, and police have now charged his 64-year-old grandmother with the same offence.

The mother reportedly had taken the boy, who can’t be named, to a week-long course run by the self-described Chinese ‘healer’ Hongchi Xiao, who travels the world promoting a type of ‘slapping’ and fasting therapy, at the Tasly Healthpac medical centre.

It’s understood police will allege the parents and grandmother, who was looking after the boy before his death, were “grossly negligent” in allowing fasting and insulin deprivation, Fairfax Media reports.

The parents were granted conditional bail and were both due to appear before court on separate dates. The 64-year-old is also on strict bail conditions and is due to face Downing Centre Local Court on May 11.

The boy suffered a cardiac arrest, it was reported at the time of his death.

Police say inquiries into the incident are continuing.

6. “Monster of depravity” who abused 22 young girls sentenced to minimum 10 years behind bars.

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Fabian Roy Meharry was a “monster of depravity” who would contact girls on social media, befriend and flatter them, then engage in sexually-explicit conversation and request images of them naked.

Then after he had the pictures of a victim, he would threaten to publish or send them to her family or friends unless she performed further sex acts for him live on webcam.

The 28-year-old Swan Hill BMX rider and businessman was sentenced in the Victorian County Court on Wednesday to 12 years’ jail with a minimum 10 for his abuse of 22 girls aged between 11 and 17.

He pleaded guilty to 62 child sex offences including rape, grooming and child pornography which spanned nine years.

Judge Liz Gaynor said Meharry would pester those girls he contacted until they succumbed to his “perverted” demands.

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In some cases he created aliases such as “BMX Chick” or “USA Girl” to present as “friends” of his who would help bully and harass the victim into compliance.

On one occasion a victim asked to stop their Skype session to attend her own birthday party, but he told her: “OK have fun because all your friends will see the videos and pics with your face in it … so you either spare five mins or I will never delete them and I’ll send the pics to your mother right now … you have two mins to reply or I’ll send them.”

Following a complaint, police raided Meharry’s home in January 2015 and arrested him in August that year.

Meharry told a psychiatrist he knew his behaviour was wrong, but “most of the time I was just horny … I didn’t care who I talked to”.

Judge Gaynor said Meharry’s demands on the girls ranged from bestiality, to incest and ordering them to insert foreign objects.

“It would not be unfair to classify you as a monster of depravity,” she said.

The judge did not accept Meharry’s claims of remorse, saying he had ample time to stop offending after police raided his house, and instead continued at a greater rate.

Most of the victims suffer anxiety and depression among many other ills as a result of their trauma, she said.

Do you have a story to share with Mamamia? Email us news@mamamia.com.au

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