Lindy Chamberlain became famous in
Australia in 1980 for claiming "
a dingo ate my baby." Her infant daughter,
Azaria Chamberlain, went missing while the family were camped near
Ayers Rock.
In days following the disappearance, evidence, including
blood in the family car, and the
Baby's clothes, folded and
buried under a rock, caused the journalists to assume that Lindy and her husband were guilty. They family were, in retrospect, harshly treated by the
Australian press, since the
satanic ritual theory of the disappearance sold more papers than the
dingo story.
Lindy was convicted, and in the early 90s Lindy was found innocent, released from
jail, and paid
compensation for her
wrongful imprisonment. The 1988 movie
Evil Angels made the story famous internationally, compounded by references in
The Simpsons and
Seinfeld.