The case of the missing Beaumont children, 52 years ago, changed the way Australian parents supervised their children forever.
Australia day, in 1966, little Jane, 9, Arnna, 7 and Grant 4, mysteriously vanished from Glenelg Beach in South Australia. Their bodies were never found.
Today, a dig will begin at the New Castalloy factory in North Plympton in Adelaide, after Flinders University found an anomaly underground.
The area was first excavated in 2013, but investigators found nothing.
The mystery made National news.
South Australian Police have addressed the media ahead of the dig, asking that people temper their expectations as there are explanations for the anomaly.
“Clearly the parent’s of the three Beaumont children have suffered significantly over the past 52 years. We have our fingers crossed, we hope for the best, but we do want to temper expectations,” Detective Inspector Chief Hudgens explained to the press.
He refused to comment on what the Beaumont children’s parent
Investigations have been ongoing since the initial disappearance 52 years ago.
In 2016 major crime detectives in South Australia revealed they were investigating a new lead in the missing Beaumont children mystery.
In an effort to inject life into the case, the police made the official file public.
Superintendent Des Bray is the Major Crimes Detective who led the investigation into the death of two year old ‘suitcase’ murder victim Khandalyce Pearce-Stevenson. He said police never closed the Beaumont case and were following a new lead involving a now-dead suspect.
“We had a phone call to the office from somebody who had been told something by somebody about who committed this offence,” Bray told ABC radio.
“They firmly believed that the person they’re nominating has done it, so we’ve sent investigators to investigate those claims.
“Whether it comes of anything or whether it’s like the hundreds of people who’ve been put forward before and it amounts to nothing remains to be seen.”
Bray notes that it was a “credible” tip.
“It’s a person who’s died and that makes some of our inquiries hard when people are nominated who are already deceased because obviously they’re not there to interview,” he told the Nine Network
Documents from the police file into the Beaumont kids case. Photo: Campbell Brodie.
Despite that lead and the current dig, time may be running out.
Bray said that while dozens of people are still considered persons of interest in the case, the passage of time means the window of investigation is closing, because witnesses die and lose their memories.
Police believe the Beaumont children case may be connected to the disappearance of Joanne Ratcliffe, 11, and four-year-old Kirste Gordon, who went missing from Adelaide Oval in 1973.
