A coroner ruled Tuesday that a dingo , a wild dog native to Australia , caused the death of a baby more than 30 years ago . Azaria Chamberlain was just 2 months old when she disappeared from a tent during a family holiday to Uluru , also known as Ayers Rock , sparking one of the country 's most sensational and enduring murder mysteries . `` The cause of her death was as the result of being attacked and taken by a dingo , '' Elizabeth Morris , coroner for Northern Territory , announced to Darwin Magistrates court early Tuesday . `` Dingos can and do cause harm to humans . '' The girl 's mother , Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton , long maintained that a dingo took her baby , even as she was sentenced to life in jail for her daughter 's murder , a conviction that was later quashed . During the trial , a witness recounted the then 32-year-old mother 's cries of a `` dingo 's got my baby , '' which was immortalized in the 1988 film `` A Cry in the Dark '' starring Meryl Streep , who earned an Oscar nomination for the role . Outside the court Tuesday , Chamberlain-Creighton said she and her family were `` relieved and delighted to come to the end of this saga . '' 2004 on CNN.com : Child staves off stalking dingo . `` No longer will Australia be able to say that dingoes are not dangerous and will only attack if provoked , '' she said . Evidence produced at the fourth inquest into Azaria 's death in February included reports of attacks by dingoes and dogs assumed to be part-dingo or crossbreeds . The coroner heard that in 2001 a 9-year-old boy died as a result of a dingo attack on Fraser Island in the Australian state of Queensland . Years later , two girls , each around two-years-old , died in separate attacks by dogs believed to be part-dingo in the states of New South Wales and Victoria . In her findings , Morris said no other disappearance exactly like that of Azaria had been recorded . However , she said , `` it is clear that there is evidence that in particular circumstances , a dingo is capable of attacking , taking and causing the death of young children . '' It is a scenario that was unthinkable in 1980 when mother-of-three Lindy Chamberlain , then married to Michael Chamberlain , sparked a frantic search of a remote campsite in central Australia after claiming that a dingo took her baby . So unbelievable was the idea that dingo would enter a tent to snatch a two-month-old that suspicion soon turned to the couple . The mystery was compounded by the lack of a body . Azaria 's was never found , although her heavily blood-stained singlet , jumpsuit and nappy were discovered near the campsite one week after she disappeared . Overheard on CNN.com : 'Shame it took so long ' for dingo ruling to be reached . The first inquest into Azaria 's death in 1981 found that the baby died as a result of being taken by a dingo . However , the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory quashed the finding later that year and ordered a second inquest into Azaria 's death . At the second inquest Lindy Chamberlain was committed to trial for murder . Her husband Michael was charged with being an accessory after the fact . The prosecution alleged that Chamberlain slit her daughter 's throat with a pair of scissors before hiding her body , possibly in a camera bag , before she and her husband Michael buried her somewhere in the vicinity of the campsite . The 35-day trial created a media frenzy in Australia as commentators picked apart the intricacies of the case , while a fascinated public speculated wildly as to how and why Azaria had died . The jury returned its verdict in 1982 ; Lindy Chamberlain was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in jail . Her husband Michael was given a suspended sentence . Chamberlain served four years of her sentence before the Northern Territory government ordered her release in 1986 after the discovery of new evidence ; a baby 's jacket , believed to be Azaria 's , found half-buried near a dingo lair at Uluru . In 1988 , a Royal Commission set up to review the evidence formally quashed convictions for both husband and wife . Despite the finding that the couple was not to blame , a third inquest into their daughter 's death returned an open verdict in 1995 . It was that verdict that the couple sought to overturn with a fourth inquest this year .
Azaria had disappeared from a tent more than twenty years ago . Mom Chamberlain - Creighton discovered her baby had been killed by a dingo . She convinced a jury she was guilty of murder ; conviction later quashed . Mom 's response : ` ` Relieved and delighted to come to the end of this saga ''