Australia Australia - Joanne Ratcliffe, 11, & Kirste Gordon, 4, Adelaide, 25 Aug1973

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New search for South Australian girls abducted in 1973


Police investigating the abduction of two girls from the Adelaide Oval 41 years ago have been re-examining sites in South Australia's mid-north.

Joanne Ratcliffe, 11, and Kirste Gordon, 4, disappeared from the crowded oval during an Australian Rules football match on August 25, 1973.

Major Crime detectives, STAR Group officers, SES workers and forensic investigators have been inspecting several sites at a property at Yatina, including two wells, one of which has been excavated.

http://www.9news.com.au/national/20...sa-girls-abducted-in-1973#Bpd23jIKrGZk2tD5.99
 
Detectives search property linked to South Australian missing girls cold case

Major crime detectives have swarmed on a remote area of South Australia’s mid-north after receiving new information in the hunt for young girls Joanne Ratcliffe and Kirste Gordon, who disappeared from Adelaide Oval more than four decades ago.

The previous owner of the property, Stanley Arthur Hart, has an uncanny resemblance to the image of a suspect in the case and was interviewed multiple times by police before his death in 1999.

After Hart died allegations started to be made against him by his own grandson Mark Trevor Marshall.

A convicted pedophile, Marshall was three years old when the girls went missing.



http://www.9news.com.au/national/20...n-missing-girls-cold-case#HfmYCpCIuqxf6fCe.99

oh my, the grandson of Hart is a convicted pedophile.
 
More bones found at Adelaide golf club

NINE more bones have been found at an Adelaide golf club after the discovery of two bones believed to be human.

OFFICERS from the Sturt branch, special tasks and rescue group, and major crime investigation branch found the further nine bones on Saturday during a ground search at the Adelaide Shores Golf Park.
It comes after a first bone was discovered last weekend, and a second was discovered on Friday.

http://www.news.com.au/national/bre...elaide-golf-club/story-e6frfku9-1227079834834

This is the first case that came to mind, when I read that article...
 
More bones found at Adelaide golf club

NINE more bones have been found at an Adelaide golf club after the discovery of two bones believed to be human.

OFFICERS from the Sturt branch, special tasks and rescue group, and major crime investigation branch found the further nine bones on Saturday during a ground search at the Adelaide Shores Golf Park.
It comes after a first bone was discovered last weekend, and a second was discovered on Friday.

http://www.news.com.au/national/bre...elaide-golf-club/story-e6frfku9-1227079834834

This is the first case that came to mind, when I read that article...

This is major news and a great breakthrough, it might be Joanne and Kirste!
 
TY Tootsie, from your link, there definitely is a resemblance.

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176750-95693586-c792-11e4-b315-22a5c9651e5e.jpg
 
Hi :)
1st post, have been looking a bit tho.
Hart does look very much like the sketch, and also quite a bit like the description of the person last seen with the beaumont children.
I have been trying to trace the family link between hart and his grandson mark marshall but haven't had much luck. Just wondering if anyone else has looked into this?
I really hope they find the girls at the house in prospect so the family can lay them to rest
 
thebigcookie; See Investigations Editor Bryan Littlely's article in the Adelaide Advertiser 21/5/15/ page 27...
"Hunt for a Predator"
where both cases, Beaumont Children and Oval Abductions are under current discussion. There's been some progress and things are beginning to take shape. The article can be found on line. Perhaps someone could put up the link please.
 
Ummmm, what? This seems like it should be 10 articles, but the information is condensed into one. I have so many questions I don't know where to start.
First of all, how is Mr. McIntyre so knowledgeable of so many crimes? The article says he has inside information in numerous high profile crimes that he passes on to the police. His on wife was found murdered? He was a suspected kidnapper? The Beaumont children were incinerated in his yard?
 
Ummmm, what? This seems like it should be 10 articles, but the information is condensed into one. I have so many questions I don't know where to start.
First of all, how is Mr. McIntyre so knowledgeable of so many crimes? The article says he has inside information in numerous high profile crimes that he passes on to the police. His on wife was found murdered? He was a suspected kidnapper? The Beaumont children were incinerated in his yard?

Alan Maxwell McIntyre is, apparently, responsible for, or intimately connected to, every major cold case in the state, according to Ruth Collins. Even though the police cleared him of any involvement in the Beaumont case back in 2007, that has not stopped Ruth spamming up the internet far and wide with accusations against him (and getting many great case discussions shut down because of her relentless trolling), I think at one point he even got a restraining order out on her.

So I am highly curious as to how, at age 85, he's suddenly the incredibly cooperative center of this alleged vigilante hunt for some other guy, who can't be named. And why, as he's apparently put across as evil incarnate by Collins for year after year, forum after forum, she's suddenly happy to work alongside him. And why, as the man Ruth alleges in several forums is responsible for the murder of her mother, he's suddenly wanting her death looked into. It sounds a lot to me like Ruth talking, not her dad. Unless he's hoping to get himself investigated...

The entire thing has been very weird indeed for many years. I hope that reporter did his homework.

Though I do hope the persons responsible for these murders and all the rest come to justice, and I don't wholly discount the chance that this story is not a pile of wack, I won't be surprised either if it is just that.
 
Ausgirl - Thanks for the rundown. The article now makes sense, but the story it tells does not.
Why would Mr. X, who is described as, "one of the most evil pieces of work that ever drew breath," and as a, "flamboyant man about town," stop by the McIntyre household with the bodies of the three Beaumont children in the boot, and incinerate them while at at least ten other people were in the vicinity?
I wonder if Mr. McIntyre's mental health is also deteriorating? The things he says sound as if he's been brainwashed or is trying to make an untrue story agree with his previous statements.
Not sure what sent this entire family flying off the tracks, but I would love to read their family history and know what happened to the mom.
Or maybe there is some truth to this story and Mr. McIntyre wants to confess his knowledge and make amends with his daughter...
 
There's a remarkable resemblance and there's a backstory that fits. Perhaps Police need some time to pull the various threads together before excavating Prospect. Rather than say 'never'... maybe it's a case of 'just not right now'.
 
See follow up article 3/7/15 Investigative Journalist Bryan Littlely..."S.A. paedophile found running Asian orphanage". This targets Mr. X. and has gained National Media coverage. There are people that can help resolve these cold cases (missing children) and we expect S.A.P.O.L. and Aust. Federal Police to round them up.
 
The more I think about it, the more likely it is that the abductor had an accomplice or accomplices. If it was only one person by themselves, they would find it harder to control two victims who could easily escape. Kirste and Joanne were probably forced into a windowless van or something like it.
 
Paedophile were already well organised and networking together as far back as the 60's. That's before the Internet and mobile phones. If lucky enough to have a phone, it was a fixed landline with your name, address and phone number listed for all to see. Your phone number only changed if you moved house and out of that area / Exchange zone. It wasn't much different by 1973 that I recall. So paedophiles wanting to share their perverse interests had to physically meet, gather together to share and exchange material / victims. So they knew each other personally. When these 2 girls disappeared some would have held suspicions towards associates surely. Same applies to 1966 abductions. Not all paedophiles are murderers obviously, and I doubt they'd want their secret activities put under the spotlight either.

Re- the windowless van suggestion. It's stated in reports that Mr. Hart was a part-time butcher, so it's possible he used a vehicle suited to that purpose. I don't know how strict regulations were back then, but you'd expect a butchers van to be refrigerated. If it's a part-time business, perhaps not totally legitimate, licenced etc.. You wouldn't be throwing sides of beef on the back seat or in the car boot though as they'd spoil, but ice could be used in a van, no windows. Maybe Motor Vehicles Dept. still hold records to check.
 
the book Death Mask by Kathryn Fox - the protagonist character has a little sister who disappeared at an Australian Rules football match. From the description, the little sister is clearly meant to be Kirste Gordon under a different name.

God knows what more pain, fiction authors will give to the Ratcliffe and Gordon families.
 

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