The Missing Beaumont Children: 50 Years of Mystery and Misery

The case of the "Missing Beaumont Children" has been forged into Australia's psyche and soul like no other crime. A crime so shocking that it has often been described as a defining moment in this country's history. After 50 years of intense police investigation the whereabouts of Jane (9), Arnna (7) and Grant Beaumont (4) is still a mystery; Australia's most famous unsolved crime. On the morning of January 26, 1966 the three children set off from their Somerton Park home on a bus to Glenelg to enjoy a brief excursion at Adelaide's most popular beach. Apart from a brief sighting from the family postman early on that afternoon, there has been no other confirmed sightings of the children since. The 'mystery' of the children's disappearance has often overshadowed the 'misery' the Beaumont parents have had to endure. This book takes the reader inside the trauma of Nancy and Grant; from the panic and heartbreaking first few days to the utter despair in later years. Only seven years after the Beaumont disappearance, two girls Joanne Ratcliffe (11) and Kirste Gordon (4) were abducted from Adelaide Oval during a football match. Were the two abductions connected? How could they not be? Author Michael Madigan delves into the sordid world of the numerous 'persons of interest' that have at times been suspects in this case and forensically answers the question 'who could do such a thing?'