Michael Chamberlain, father of baby taken by dingo in Australia, dies

Michael Chamberlain, whose nine-week-old baby was snatched by a dingo from an Australian campground in a story made into an Oscar-nominated film starring Meryl Streep, has died.

The 72-year-old, who fought for decades to prove a native wild dog took the infant and his wife did not kill her, passed away reportedly after suffering complications from acute leukaemia.

“Given Michael’s death was unexpected, I would ask that the media please consider that Michael’s wife and all of his children are deeply grieving and need some space,” his now ex-wife Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton said in a statement.

Azaria disappeared from a tent near Uluru, or Ayers Rock, in 1980 in an incident that sparked decades of debate in Australia over whether her mother Lindy, who was jailed for murder, was responsible for the death.

She always insisted a dingo grabbed the baby, but her version was widely doubted by the Australian public until a coroner finally ruled in 2012 that a wild dog did take the child.