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compared to the five-level multi-million dollar stadium it is today in the 1970s adelaide oval was a
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relatively small and quaint sporting ground the oval itself was framed by a white picket fence
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and a manually operated heritage scoreboard kept tally of match progress cricket
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and australian rules football were primarily played there with crowd numbers reaching over 60 000
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during momentous games or grand finals the ground's humble size ensured that it always felt packed and busy
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spectators were mostly crammed shoulder to shoulder in the standing areas around
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the boundary line those who attended big games were willing to endure anything to
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keep their place in the crowd if they were to leave their position for any reason someone else would step
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forward and claim it therefore many spectators would arrive early secure their spot and remain there until
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the final siren blew others opted to sit along the timber bench seating within the vintage
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grandstands on the western side of the oval on the afternoon of saturday august 25
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1973 thirteen-year-old anthony kilmartin was working as a mobile concession vendor had adelaide oval
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around him twelve thousand spectators were eagerly watching a south australian national football league match between
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the north adelaide roosters and the norwood red legs during the game's third and penultimate
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quarter anthony was in the sir edwin smith grandstand when two young girls emerged from the
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crowd and bounded down the steps towards ground level one was a preteen while the younger of
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the pair looked barely five years old anthony stepped aside to let them pass he then moved on to the neighbouring
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john creswell grandstand while passing through the concourse directly underneath the stand
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anthony spotted the two girls again they were being followed by a man wearing eyeglasses and a wide brim to
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kubra style hat once he caught up to the girls he snatched the younger one and carried her towards the oval
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southern gate the older girl appeared frightened she immediately grabbed the man's coat and
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began kicking him in the shins the man called her a [ __ ] and told her to bug her off his glasses
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fell off during the scuffle and when he bent over to pick them up the man grabbed the older girl by the
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arm he then pulled her towards the southern gate while keeping her younger companion
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secure under his left arm the trio left via the gate still in conflict anthony assumed he had just witnessed a
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father wrangling his two unruly daughters and didn't give it any more thought les and cath ratcliffe and their two
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children thirteen-year-old david and eleven-year-old joanne were dedicated red leg supporters
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they attended most games during footy season including the 1973 round 20 clash against the roosters in that day
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les parked their car near what was then the river torrens police station and to jolly's boat ramp and to the
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group and made their way across to adelaide oval shortly before the game commenced at 2
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10 pm the ratcliffe family took a seat in row l of the sir edwin smith grandstand
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there they ran into friend and fellow red legs fan rita huckle reader like the radcliffs
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was part of the usual crowd of red legs supporters she had brought along her four-year-old
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granddaughter kirsty gordon for the first time despite their seven year age gap joanne
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took an immediate shine to kirsty it was their first time meeting but the girls quickly became friends
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they spent the majority of their time playing together and with other children in the
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grandstand while the adults watched the game australian rules football games are
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divided into four 30-minute quarters quarter time refers to a six-minute break that occurs
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at the end of the first and third quarters there is also a 20-minute break halfway through the
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match les and cath ratcliffe didn't allow their children to wander off during these breaks or the game's final
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quarter this was so they would avoid getting caught up amongst the crowds rushing to
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use the toilets buy snacks or leave early early in the game kirsty needed to use
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the bathroom and at the ratcliffes let joanna escort her to the nearest toilet block
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roughly 300 meters away les and kath trusted their daughter entirely joanne was mature for her age always
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followed their instruction and knew what to do in case of emergency the nearest toilets were located in a
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thoroughfare under the john creswell grandstand next to where the ratcliffe's and rita huckle
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were seated multiple busy walkways led there including the one that circled the perimeter of the oval
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joanne and kirsty returned from the toilets without incident later they went to find straws for their
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drinks at approximately 3 45 pm during the third quarter of the match kirsty needed to use the bathroom again
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given there was still plenty of time until the break the radcliffs allowed joanne to escort
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kirsty once more 20 minutes passed and joanne and kirsty still hadn't returned to their seats
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as three-quarter time drew closer les ratcliffe went in search of the pair he expected to find them playing on
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route to the toilets but didn't spot either girl on the short walk he reached the toilet block under the
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john croswell grandstand he asked a woman to check the female toilets on his behalf
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neither joanne nor kirsty were inside at 409 pm the three-quarter break commenced hundreds of spectators flooded
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the concourses leading to the toilets and concession stands as was customary the iron gates at the
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southern entrance of the oval were opened this allowed the general public to bypass the turnstiles and enter the
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ground free of charge to watch the end of the match when the game entered its final quarter
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at 4 17 pm joanne and kirsty were still nowhere to be seen although the roosters
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were well ahead before the break the red legs made a comeback the nail-biting spectacle
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drawing in more spectators and rolling up those already present the energy at adelaide oval was intense
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derby munn the secretary of the south australian cricket association was overseeing the match in the oval
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secretary's office when a panicked kath ratcliffe arrived she informed mun that joanne and kirsty
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were missing and requested that an announcement be made over the public address system
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munn refused citing a rule that prevented mid-game announcements in case it disrupted play
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he told kath to inform a police officer though made no attempt to alert the officer that happened to be sitting in
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his office at the time munn then instructed kath to return to her seat confident that the girls would make
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their way back soon the radcliffs and rita huckel spent the remainder of the game
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searching for joanne and kirsty at 4 49 pm the final siren rang signaling the end of the game there was
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still no sign of the girls as the crowd dispersed the rat cliffs returned to the secretary's office and demanded
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an announcement be made this time dubby munn obliged five minutes after the game had ended
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munn said into the public address system joanne ratcliffe in adelaide oval come back to your mother and father
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the loud noise generated by the thousands of spectators shuffling towards the exits
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drowned out the announcement it was highly unlikely that joanne had gotten lost as she had been to adelaide oval dozens
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of times reader suggested that the girls might have left at the oval after mistaking the three-quarter time
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siren for the one signaling the end of the game the ratcliffs dismissed this possibility
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joanne had been attending footy games since she was five years old and was familiar with how it all worked
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even if she had thought the game was over les knew his daughter was far too responsible to leave the oval
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quote on her own steam it was also unlikely that joanne was playing a prank on her family
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she followed her parents instruction and was only mischievous when the time was right she also had no
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reason to act out or test boundaries joanne was caring and sensible the type of child to help her mother
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with housework buy her brother treats and handcraft a gift for her parents rebellion wasn't in her nature
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above all else the ratcliffes knew that joanne took her duty to look after kirsty
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seriously and would never leave her side the radcliffs and rita exhaustively searched the oval and its car park
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as well as the adjacent lawn bowls area and tennis courts with little else left to do les used a
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public pay phone and called the police they arrived at the oval near 10 minutes after the final
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siren but the majority of the spectators had already left they walked through the grounds and
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questioned those still lingering about the oval's assistant curator ken walling believed he had seen joanne and kirsty
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at around 4 p.m nearly 10 minutes before three quarter time they were trying to coax some kittens
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out from underneath a parked car in an equipment shed behind the john creswell grandstand
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there had been an influx of stray cats around the oval in recent times and children often played with them
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joanne would have been drawn to the kittens in particular as she loved animals and had a pet cat
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of her own she would dress it up in doll's clothes wheel it around the yard in a pram
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and sneak at treats when her mother wasn't looking she had a way with animals in general
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that could have the most vicious looking dog eating out of the palm of her hand ken saw a man approach the girls from
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behind and offered to get the kittens out he saw him again a short time later walking towards the
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southern gate with the girls following closely the trio turned to the band and to can
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lost sight of them the man was aged in his forties five foot eight inches tall walking with
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a slight stoop he was wearing a sports coat brown trousers and a wide brimmed country style hat
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there were also reports of a man dressed in women's clothing seen lingering near
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the female toilets underneath the john creswell grandstand he was tall with a protruding jaw and a
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large nose he was wearing a brown pants suit green shirt patent leather boots a brown
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wig silver nail polish and carrying a handbag police were doubtful that this individual was involved in the girl's
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disappearance as they didn't believe a perpetrator would draw attention to themselves in
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such a manner with all the counts pointing to a possible abduction a full-scale investigation commenced
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police established roadblocks on the city's outskirts while patrol cars swept nearby streets
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the search radius extended outside adelaide oval to its surrounds covering the north adelaide parklands
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the banks of the river torrens and a nearby golf club and railway yard when darkness fell a search boat cruised
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up and down the torrence shining a spotlight on the water les ratcliffe spent the night wandering
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adelaide's inner city streets meanwhile rita huckle prepared to make a difficult phone call
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300 kilometers away in the riverside town of renmark greg and christine gordon had just sat
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down to dinner they were visiting friends for the weekend and had taken their two-year-old
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daughter catherine with them they planned to return home that saturday morning but decided to
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extend their stay another night christine's mother rita agreed to look after the couple's
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eldest daughter kirsty for one more day as they began their meal the manager of the restaurant announced there was a
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phone call christine excused herself to take it on the other line her mother sobbed as
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she broke the news that kirstie was missing the gordons immediately set out on the
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three-hour drive back to adelaide scanning the radio the entire time for any updates
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there still hadn't been any sign of joanne or kirsty by the following morning of sunday august 26th
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as soon as daylight broke les ratcliffe returned to adelaide oval to walk investigators through his
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daughter's last known movements emotionally drained les wept uncontrollably before falling to his
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knees and passing out on the concrete when he regained consciousness he told investigators that joanne was very
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intelligent and safety conscious if she had been abducted les was sure she would have dropped some of her
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belongings like breadcrumbs to lead them to her location the southern end of adelaide oval backs
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onto the river torrens an 85 kilometer long waterway that winds from its source in the adelaide hills
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across the adelaide plains it flows past the city center before emptying into gulf saint vincent
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between henley beach south and west beach two busloads of police cadets scoured the riverbanks around at the cbd
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on their hands and knees they cut back the thick reeds using machetes nothing of
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significance was found speculation that joanne and kirsty had fallen into the murky water and
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drowned was also ruled out by the police aqualung squad who searched the river the torrens was also partially drained
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but to no result a five thousand dollar reward for information authorised by south
00:20:04
australian premier don dunstan was deemed woefully inadequate by the adelaide people
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community laborers selflessly donated a day's wages increasing the amount by an extra four
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thousand dollars descriptions of the girls were broadcast throughout australia eleven-year-old joanne was four foot two
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inches tall of medium build with blue eyes and dark brown hair tied into pigtails
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she was last seen wearing a white blouse black tank top with white and mustard banding
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black jeans white and blue striped shoes and white socks she was also wearing a watch
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and an imitation gold chain and medallion four-year-old kirsty was three foot four
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inches tall of medium build with blue eyes very fair skin with freckles and shoulder-length honey blonde hair
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with a fringe she also had a slight scar above the bridge of her nose and a birthmark at the base of her spine
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and to just below her hairline kirsty had been wearing a white pleated skirt purple jumper white pantyhose and brown
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lace-up shoes on the morning of monday august 27 police searching the railway yards off
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the morpher street bridge made an intriguing discovery the road bridge was a short walk from
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the southern end of adelaide oval and spanned the river torrens into the northwest corner of the cbd
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in a train carriage stored at the yard were two empty fanta soft drink cans and a half-eaten pastry that appeared to
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have child-sized bite marks fanta was kirsty gordon's favorite drink meanwhile a composite sketch of the
00:22:12
suspect ken walling had seen leaving adelaide oval with girls believed to be joanne
00:22:17
and kirsty was widely circulated superintendent n.r lenten of south australia police
00:22:25
didn't sugarcoat the situation and asked the public to report sexual deviants they might know
00:22:32
specifically those capable of molesting children he remarked we don't want this to become
00:22:40
another beaumont case the beaumont comment was in reference to another high-profile missing children's
00:22:48
case that had occurred in south australia seven years earlier on january 26 1966 siblings nine-year-old
00:22:58
jane seven-year-old anna and four-year-old grant beaumont disappeared under mysterious
00:23:04
circumstances from the beachside suburb of glenelg as covered in episode 100 of case file
00:23:13
the beaumont children vanished in broad daylight from a grassy reserve near the glenelg waterfront during
00:23:19
australia day celebrations police at the time were more inclined to believe that the trio had gotten lost
00:23:28
or suffered an accident than met with foul play it's now widely accepted that jane anna
00:23:35
and grant were likely abducted and murdered proving that kidnappings can occur at any time any place or in view
00:23:44
of anyone south australia police had learned a lot since the beaumont investigation
00:23:52
and no longer took a conservative approach to missing children's cases they were up against someone with the
00:24:00
intelligence to wait until the final quarter of the football game to confront the girls
00:24:05
knowing the crowd's attention would be completely focused on the field superintendent lenten told the press
00:24:14
we do not know whether joanne and kirsty are dead or alive we cannot look into the future
00:24:22
we can only hope the beaumont children had left behind a national legacy of paranoia and fear
00:24:31
that reignited the moment joanne and kirsty disappeared both cases shared similarities including
00:24:39
the offenders modus operandi of targeting unsupervised children in populated areas during the middle of the
00:24:46
day some people also believed that the adelaide oval suspect resembled a sketch of the
00:24:54
unidentified man witnessed interacting with the jane anna and grant beaumont shortly before their disappearance
00:25:03
glenelg was just over 10 kilometers or a 20-minute drive southwest of adelaide oval there was
00:25:11
also a tram line that went from the city to glenelg yet the police were unconvinced that the
00:25:18
two crimes were connected at 5 55 pm on monday evening the gordon family was sitting in their
00:25:27
home in the outer metropolitan suburb of hackem when the phone rang kirsty's father greg
00:25:35
answered and a man with a thick australian accent said if you want to see your daughter alive i
00:25:43
want 25 000 by thursday greg asked for proof that the caller had joanne and kirsty but the caller replied never mind
00:25:54
the proof before hanging up greg contacted the police and attempted to have the call traced
00:26:04
but their efforts were unsuccessful almost an hour later at 6 50 pm the same man phoned the gordons again
00:26:14
and repeated his demand once again police weren't able to trace this call the mystery caller never made any
00:26:24
further contact it was believed that the extortion attempt was just a hoax following the police appeal for
00:26:36
information close to 400 calls came through from the public each one was recorded evaluated and then
00:26:45
assigned to special patrols to be followed up at 9 45 the night joanne and kirsty
00:26:52
disappeared a witness passing through adelaide railway station noticed two girls that apply card
00:27:01
the station was on the southern side of the river torrence with adelaide oval a short walk away the railway yard where
00:27:10
the cans of fanner and half-eaten pastry were found was less than 400 metres down the road
00:27:17
no one came forward to identify the girls seen at the pie cart a motorist reported a holden sedan
00:27:26
carrying two young girls one in the front passenger seat and the smaller of the two
00:27:31
in the back at 5 00 am the day after the abduction the vehicle had victorian license plates
00:27:40
it was driving down port road a major thoroughfare connecting the city with its north-western outskirts
00:27:49
three days later joanne and kirsty's disappearance were still making headlines a woman read about the case in the daily
00:27:57
paper and alerted her teenage son anthony kilmartin of the crime he had worked at adelaide
00:28:05
oval that afternoon selling drinks and lollies and witnessed two girls being dragged out the southern
00:28:11
gate by a man anthony contacted police and reported what he had seen anthony's description of the
00:28:22
confrontation was consistent with how joanne would react to such a threat she was protective of others especially
00:28:31
younger children one time she hid an older boy with a plank of wood when she caught him
00:28:37
bullying her brother the ratcliffes knew that if kirstie was being harmed joanne would sacrifice her own safety to
00:28:46
try and save her if someone were to take kirsty away they would also need to do so by force greg and
00:28:55
christine gordon said that their daughter was extremely shy and would never have
00:29:00
gone off with a stranger in fact she was so shy that she often hid behind the couch when visitors came
00:29:08
to their house and refused to show her parents the highland dance moves she was learning
00:29:14
at kindergarten anthony's description of the abductor matched the man ken walling had seen helping the girls
00:29:23
lure strike kittens out from underneath a car the green keeper of the nearby adelaide
00:29:30
bowls club also saw this man loitering around the oval between 11 and 11 30 on the morning of the
00:29:38
abduction requests for the man in the white brimmed hat to come forward to eliminate
00:29:44
himself from the investigation went ignored police did question 12 men in relation to the crime but all were
00:29:53
released without charge then a call came through to police from a catholic priest
00:30:02
a man had phoned him earlier wanting to clear his conscience he identified himself as a countryman
00:30:10
who had been in adelaide on an end-of-season footy trip at the time of joanne and kirsty's
00:30:15
disappearance his mates dared him to attend the roosters vs red legs football game dressed as a woman he donned a wig
00:30:26
a pantsuit with boots and painted his nails and was witnessed near the toilet block
00:30:31
under the john creswell grandstand he allegedly told the priest it was a joke for a bet which went wrong
00:30:41
tell the police it has nothing to do with this case and to let them get on with their
00:30:48
investigation les ratcliffe appeared on national television to appeal to his daughter's
00:30:56
captor he requested that joanne be dropped off on a street corner as she would do the right thing and go
00:31:03
to the nearest trustworthy person for help les said if you have any decency in you
00:31:11
and respect for these children who are only 11 and 4 who have never done any harm to
00:31:17
anybody whatsoever if there is more than one of you i would like the both of you to sit down
00:31:24
and talk it over les then addressed his daughter directly saying if you happen to listen to this
00:31:34
love or you happen to get hold of the newspapers i think there is a chance that we can sort this
00:31:40
out and get you back without any harm your first duty is to protect kirsty with whatever you can
00:31:48
do not leave her if possible if you do don't go too far away i want you and this little girl back with us your
00:31:58
mother she's holding up pretty good she's got every faith in you you know we all love you
00:32:08
greg and christine gordon were reluctant to speak publicly about kirsty's disappearance addressing the
00:32:14
media from their home greg said we have to try to keep up a front if we let our emotions get the best of
00:32:24
this it won't do anyone any good christine added it might seem to some people that we're trying to remain as
00:32:33
detached as possible from all this but i can assure you it is only a front it is something we have to do for our
00:32:41
baby catherine as well as ourselves by the end of the first week police had received over 1400 calls from the public
00:32:53
with 200 sexual deviants named as persons of interest a 19 year old man named michael mitchell
00:33:01
crossed their radar after it was discovered he had recently escaped from a mental health facility
00:33:09
the teenager had been convicted of murdering six-year-old cheryl hutchinson and hiding her body
00:33:15
underneath the corrugated iron sheet on the banks of the river torrens but investigators stressed they weren't
00:33:23
directly linking mitchell to the incident at adelaide oval the amount of information provided to
00:33:31
police was overwhelming and they struggled to keep up two weeks later police were informed of
00:33:42
a sighting of two girls believed to be joanne and kirsty in the city fringe suburb of theberton
00:33:48
less than three kilometers west of adelaide oval the pair were seen with a man on port
00:33:55
road at 5 pm on the saturday of the football game the man was holding the younger girl
00:34:02
while the older one attempted to fight him off the older girl then turned and walked
00:34:09
towards the city at which point the man let go of the younger child and grabbed the older one by the arm
00:34:16
he then held both children by the forearms and dragged them onwards with the older girl
00:34:22
appearing to be in distress the man was described as having an athletic build a mustache and sideburns and was dressed
00:34:32
in a blue shirt and a wide brimmed hat another witness in theberton saw a man matching this description
00:34:41
carrying a young girl outside the southwest hotel on the corner of port road and phillips
00:34:47
street at around 5 15 pm the older girl was spotted at the same time with another man
00:34:55
further down the road the two girls were then seen at 6 00 pm on north parade in the neighbouring
00:35:02
suburb of torranceville the times and locations of these sightings fit the timeline of joanne and
00:35:11
kirsty's abduction it was all part of a connected route that started with adelaide oval
00:35:17
and moved across the river to the pie cart at the adelaide railway station from there they progressed down the
00:35:25
street to the railway yard that backed onto port road which led to theberton and torrensville although the thebarton
00:35:34
man didn't precisely match descriptions of the perpetrator witnessed at adelaide
00:35:39
oval investigators couldn't dismiss the possibility that he had changed clothes or had an accomplice they appealed for
00:35:49
anyone who had been walking along port road with two girls at this time to come forward
00:35:55
but no one did seven detectives and 30 uniformed officers commenced a week-long search of
00:36:04
thebertons parks cemeteries backyards and riverbanks they also door knocked thousand nearby
00:36:12
homes their inquiries led to an abandoned house in theberton identified as a possible hiding spot for
00:36:20
the girls kidnapper an extensive search of the location came up empty despite reaching a dead end
00:36:30
investigators considered deciding in debiting their strongest lead to date in the following months
00:36:38
the reward for information was increased to ten thousand dollars angered by the possibility that
00:36:45
the girls had been killed the public called for the death penalty to be reinstated for convicted child
00:36:52
murderers premier don dunstan denied their request in the gordon household there were
00:37:02
reminders of kirsty everywhere from her pink toothbrush to the toys next to her bed
00:37:10
christine and greg gordon prayed every night for their daughter's safe return but couldn't help but feel they'd never
00:37:17
see her again two-year-old catherine gordon missed her older sister and often asked where kirsty was
00:37:27
one day catherine awaited kirsty to return home thinking she was at kindergarten
00:37:35
when the afternoon came and she still hadn't returned catherine asked her mother
00:37:42
kirsty's gone hasn't she mum there are only two types of people in the world those of us who brush and
00:38:03
floss every day and to those who just might start thanks to quips new refillable floss pack you know quip
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promo code case file may 1974 marked to nine months since the disappearance of joanne ratcliffe and
00:45:04
kirsty gordon police continued to receive around seven calls a week regarding the case
00:45:12
to maintain the public's attention les ratcliffe had photographs of the missing girls
00:45:17
screened at drive-in movie theaters around the city he spent his saturday nights walking the
00:45:24
streets of theberton and torranceville with family and friends looking for clues
00:45:30
both suburbs consisted of close-knit working-class communities that would notice anything out of place
00:45:38
but there were no further alleged sightings of joanne or kirsty in july of that year assistance was
00:45:47
sought from renowned dutch psychic gerard croissant he was often used by police to help
00:45:54
locate missing persons in 1966 croisette had been flown to adelaide to assist in finding the beaumont children
00:46:05
a media frenzy had ensued but his attempts to locate the children were unsuccessful
00:46:12
although croisette's overall success rate in other cases was deemed no better than
00:46:17
chance many continued to believe in his psychic abilities adelaide journalist dick wordley
00:46:25
traveled to holland to discuss joanne and kirsty's disappearance with croiszat the psychic was now elderly and in ill
00:46:34
health after suffering from stomach ulcers croisette said that his son 36 year old
00:46:42
gerard croisette jr had inherited his psychic abilities and would be happy to help
00:46:49
croisette jr told dick he knew where joanne and kirsty were buried and who was responsible for their deaths
00:46:58
he also claimed that the killer would strike again quote somewhere in australia during the
00:47:04
current cycle of the moon croissant senior added that a farm a red bus and a high chimney were also significant
00:47:14
clues 1974 ended with both the ratcliffe and gordon families welcoming new arrivals
00:47:25
in august christine gordon gave birth to her third daughter alyssa two months later kath ratcliffe had her
00:47:32
second baby girl susie by 1977 four years had passed with no breakthroughs in the case the radcliffs
00:47:46
sought compensation from the south australian government under the criminal injuries compensation
00:47:51
act les acknowledged that no amount of money could replace a hair on any of his family's heads
00:47:59
the purpose of the lawsuit was to address the family's dissatisfaction with the state government's handling of
00:48:05
the case they also wanted to offset the costs for the ongoing search for joanne and
00:48:12
kirsty if successful they stood to receive a maximum of 52 000 dollars in compensation
00:48:20
the family ultimately received six thousand dollars sometime after this a woman named sue
00:48:29
laurie contacted the police to make a belated statement a memory had haunted her since she first
00:48:36
learned of joanne ratcliffe and kirsty gordon's abduction she had been hesitant to report it until
00:48:43
years later when her husband finally convinced her to do so on the day of the abduction a teenaged
00:48:52
sue had been visiting the adelaide zoo the zoo was nestled on the city side bank of the river torrens
00:48:59
less than one kilometer east from adelaide oval on the opposite side of the water
00:49:05
sue and her father had been walking in the direction of the oval in the late afternoon she looked across
00:49:12
the river and saw a young girl being carried by a man whom she assumed to be the girl's
00:49:18
grandfather the girl was crying and an older pre-adolescent girl was chasing after
00:49:25
them she was thumping the man while crying out we want to go back the man was aged in his fifties of thin
00:49:37
build with high cheekbones and hollow cheeks he had been wearing a checked coat and a
00:49:44
wide brimmed hat she was certain about the time of the sighting as she remembered hearing the
00:49:50
siren blair from adelaide oval signifying either the beginning or end of the third quarter
00:49:58
the men and girls were heading in the opposite direction to where police had searched immediately following joanne
00:50:05
and kirsty's abduction sue told reporters the only other thing i need to say is the parents of joanne
00:50:15
should take heart that their little girl did everything she could to protect her little friend
00:50:24
desperate for answers les ratcliffe reached out to clairvoyance for help with his blessing in july 1978
00:50:34
the channel 10 television network paid to fly gerard croisette jr to adelaide their intention was to make a
00:50:43
documentary about his search for joanne and kirsty kreuzet jr visited adelaide oval
00:50:51
and claimed that a man had approached the two girls outside of the toilets he had convinced
00:50:58
them to follow him to the river to play with the ducks there croisette jr said the abductor wasn't
00:51:06
wearing a wide-brimmed hat but a grey suit with square patterns a striped shirt and a floral tyre
00:51:15
he was 42 years old and driving a blue car croissant junior claimed the abductor
00:51:23
had taken the girls to one of the old adelaide city glass houses near the oval where he
00:51:29
killed them he then disposed of kirsty's body at the wingfield dump 15 kilometers north of adelaide joanne
00:51:38
was then buried 100 kilometers further north near an old cellar in the country town
00:51:43
of bowmans investigators descended on the alleged to dump site in bowman's anxious yet dubious about what they
00:51:53
might uncover they dug for remains but nothing was found croissant junior declared that searching
00:52:04
the wingfield dump for kirsty's remains would be useless just like his father's trip failed to
00:52:12
locate the beaumont children in 1966 croisette jr's so-called visions didn't bring the police any closer to finding
00:52:21
joanne and kirsty in july 1979 the ratcliffe family called for a coronial link quest to be
00:52:34
held in relation to joanne and kirsty's disappearance it was conducted by state coroner kevin r hearn
00:52:43
he openly criticized the derby man the secretary of the south australian cricket association
00:52:49
who had refused to broadcast an announcement during the football match when the girls were first
00:52:55
noticed to be missing coronary hearn also criticised the man for instructing the ratcliffes to return
00:53:03
to their seats saying that the cricket association should have notified the police of the
00:53:09
situation right away it wouldn't have been a difficult task considering an officer was in the
00:53:16
secretary's office at the time cath ratcliffe was present coroner hearn was unable to uncover any
00:53:25
new information he concluded what was already known that the girls were most likely taken by
00:53:32
force or under duress by a man whose identity hadn't yet been established ahern believed that the suspect would
00:53:41
eventually be apprehended and made to answer for his quote heinous crime the radcliffs were satisfied with the
00:53:51
findings of the inquest with les telling the media i intend to keep searching until i die or
00:53:59
i catch the bastard whichever comes first the following year les was diagnosed with cancer this prompted him to pen an
00:54:11
open letter to the people of adelaide which read do not forget the adelaide oval abduction of august
00:54:20
1973 the men is still loose and there are still children on the streets as a parent i could not wish for anyone
00:54:30
to live through what i have had to live through after joanne disappeared it took me
00:54:35
years to get back to three parts of what i was before we lost her i smiled but i was crying inside
00:54:45
one has to go on however difficult it is i do not want sympathy my family does not want sympathy
00:54:55
the illness has caught up to me just when i was beginning to accept joanne was gone forever despite it all
00:55:03
i am happy now two weeks later les ratcliffe passed away at the age of 46. by the early 80s the investigation into
00:55:20
joanne and kirsty's disappearance went cold then a few years later a new person of
00:55:27
interest emerged on sunday june 3 1983 fifteen-year-old richard kelvin was walking approximately 300 meters from
00:55:38
his family home in the affluent city fringe suburb of north adelaide neighbours heard several raised voices
00:55:48
followed by car doors slamming and the sounds of a car with a loud exhaust speeding away
00:55:55
after that richard was never seen again richard was the son of local television personality
00:56:04
rob kelvin and his abduction received extensive media attention a wide-scale search ensued and a reward
00:56:13
was announced just over seven weeks later a family was searching for moss rocks in the town of
00:56:21
kursbrook 36 kilometers northeast of adelaide they made their way down a dirt airstrip
00:56:28
where they came across richard's body an autopsy revealed that richard had likely been kept alive
00:56:37
and held captive for up to five weeks the presence of alcohol and a variety of sedatives in his system
00:56:45
indicated he'd been drugged he'd also been beaten and subject to brutal sexual abuse
00:56:56
several months later accountant bevan spencer von ninem was arrested for richard's murder
00:57:03
it's speculated that von arnhem acted with a group of other high-profile and influential men known as the family
00:57:11
who may be responsible for the unsolved murders of at least four other young men
00:57:17
von arnhem went to trial in 1990 during a committal hearing in the lead up a crown witness told the court that
00:57:26
von oneum allegedly confessed to abducting two children from the football this lead was taken seriously as he had
00:57:35
been living in theberton at the time of joanne and kirsty's disappearance vananam also claimed to have killed the
00:57:44
beaumont children and dumped their bodies in the maiponga reservoir 60 kilometers south of adelaide
00:57:52
the house in debating had since been demolished but a large-scale search of the reservoir commenced
00:58:01
police divers from the underwater recovery unit entered the 28 mega liters of water
00:58:09
their vision compromised by the fine silt and depths of up to one hundred meters
00:58:16
they searched for days but failed to uncover any evidence linking von on to either case
00:58:28
in 1998 another suspect emerged when an arrest was made over a cold case murder in queensland
00:58:37
on august 26 1970 five-year-old susan mckay and her seven-year-old sister judith
00:58:44
disappeared from a bus stop on their way to school in the coastal city of townsville
00:58:50
three days later their bodies were found 25 kilometers away in a dry creek bed both sisters had been raped and stabbed
00:59:00
three times in their chest susan had died by strangulation while judith had been suffocated
00:59:08
by sand their school uniforms had been neatly folded and placed in their school bags nearby
00:59:18
townsville police worked tirelessly to catch the sisters killer but to no avail 28 years later
00:59:27
a sexual assault survivor came forward to report her suspicions about the man who had molested her
00:59:33
as a child arthur stanley brown an investigation ensued with police uncovering circumstantial evidence to link brown to
00:59:43
the murders of susan and judith mackay he was arrested and charged with his photo circulated on
00:59:51
national news bulletins in the picture he was wearing his signature wide-brimmed hat
01:00:00
many noticed that even in his old age brown bore a striking resemblance to the suspect
01:00:07
sketch from the adelaide oval abductions when sue laurie saw brienne's photo on television
01:00:14
she screamed he looked just like the man she had observed on the afternoon of august 25
01:00:21
1973 carrying a girl away from the adelaide oval area while another fought him off even down
01:00:29
to his wide-brimmed heart although brown lived in queensland he had travelled interstate frequently over
01:00:38
the years during the 1960s and 70s he worked for the queensland public works department
01:00:46
his employment records were no longer available so it couldn't be confirmed whether or
01:00:52
not he was away from work in august to 1973 efforts were made to determine whether
01:00:59
brown had passed through south australia at that time but accommodation operators
01:01:05
and banks were only required to keep their records for seven years any documents that might have confirmed
01:01:12
his presence were long gone by the time brown was arrested for the murders of susan and
01:01:21
judith mackay he was suffering from alzheimer's disease and dementia and was ruled unfit for trial
01:01:29
he passed away in 2002 without ever being convicted following his death it was determined he
01:01:38
may have lied to investigators about his mental capacity and successfully duped them into
01:01:44
thinking his health was more deteriorated than it really was south australian police were unable to establish any
01:01:53
links or evidence to indicate that brown was connected with any offences in adelaide
01:02:00
they confirmed that brianne had been ruled out as a suspect in joanne ratcliffe and kirsty gordon's abduction
01:02:13
in mid 2000 former senior inspector colin lehmann called for joanne and kirsty to be declared illegally dead
01:02:22
having initially led the investigation into the girl's disappearance he told reporters
01:02:29
being involved in the case as i was you've got to try to tell the family something
01:02:35
so they don't give up you have to tell them something will come up but sometimes
01:02:41
it does not during national missing persons week in august 2002 a special plaque commemorating the loved
01:02:51
ones of missing south australians was unveiled in rymill park on the northeastern edge of adelaide's
01:02:57
cbd embedded into a bench had aimed to provide a place for the friends and relatives of missing people to reflect
01:03:10
speaking publicly for the first time in many years kirsty's mother christine gordon said
01:03:18
it will not bring closure but it will provide us with a place we can go we don't have a cemetery or burial site
01:03:27
this is all we've got time does not make it worse but it does not get any better
01:03:33
either it just takes any little memory to trigger things we always wonder what kirsty's first day
01:03:41
of school would have been like we always wonder what could have been by 2006 joanne and kirsty had been
01:03:51
missing for 33 years as the anniversary of their disappearance approached joanne's
01:03:58
younger sister susie spoke publicly about the case for the first time having been born 14 months after joanne
01:04:07
went missing susie remarked i may not have been born when joe disappeared but i know i would
01:04:15
have loved her all the same after enduring years of anguish susie said her mother
01:04:23
and older brother david had resigned to the fact that they would never find a joanna
01:04:28
alive they just wanted her body found so that she could be laid to rest as a teenager susie had a strong desire
01:04:39
to find the person responsible so she could make him suffer the way her family had
01:04:46
as she got older her need for revenge subsided and was replaced by the need to properly
01:04:52
grieve she urged quote i no longer care who it was the main thing i want is not to know why
01:05:02
but to have closure for my family it would lay joanne's soul to rest and that of my father
01:05:10
i think that even though dad has been dead for a number of years he is still out there still looking
01:05:18
i really want that closure for him so his soul can lay at peace as a result of susie's plea for
01:05:28
information 19 new reports were made to the police one came from a woman identified as mrs
01:05:36
f who had been nine years old at the time of the girl's disappearance mrs f told police that on saturday
01:05:45
august 25 1973 she had been playing on the steps near a toilet block at adelaide oval
01:05:53
a man had approached turned to begin asking inappropriate questions such as if she had ever kissed a boy or
01:06:01
had sex this went on for about 10 minutes before mrs f's father noticed the interaction and
01:06:09
called his daughter back to her family as soon as joanne and kirsty's abduction made headlines
01:06:16
mrs f's parents reported this incident to the police they were told an officer would be sent
01:06:23
over to speak with them right away but no one showed up and the report was never followed up on
01:06:33
given the time that had passed all mrs f and her father could recall was that the
01:06:38
man had been about 30 years old clean-shaven with light brown hair and a dress in a sports jacket
01:06:47
he hadn't been wearing a hat nor did he match the composite sketch of the man witnessed leaving adelaide oval with two
01:06:54
girls believed to be joanne and kirsty mrs f still found it difficult to visit the
01:07:02
area surrounding the oval as it gave her the eerie feeling that something bad had happened
01:07:12
there the following year in 2007 south australia's sexual crimes investigations branch
01:07:20
conducted an unrelated investigation into the abuse of children in state care as part of what was titled the mulligan
01:07:29
inquiry convicted pedophile mark trevor marshall submitted a 40-page handwritten document
01:07:38
marshall was serving infinite jail time for committing various sexual assaults on children
01:07:45
authorities had declared him unable or unwilling to control his sexual urges in the document marshall claimed to have
01:07:55
knowledge of multiple crimes including the abduction of joanne ratcliffe and kirsty gordon
01:08:02
although he was only three or four years old at the time of their disappearance he claimed to have been present when the
01:08:09
girls were kidnapped by his grandfather known pedophile stanley arthur hart marshall alleged that hart who worked as
01:08:20
a butcher at the time donned an apron and then killed the girls before burying their bodies in
01:08:26
barrels he referenced two locations including a property in the rural town of yatna approximately
01:08:35
220 kilometers north of adelaide the other was the pekina dam a further 28 kilometers north
01:08:45
marshall also provided hand-drawn maps and descriptions of the burial site he claimed there were two wells located
01:08:54
on the property major crime investigators said the documents would be reviewed but ultimately dismissed the claims as
01:09:04
nothing more than marshall's sexual fantasies he had submitted similar allegations over the years which
01:09:13
further investigations had proven to be false furthermore police confirmed they had
01:09:20
interviewed hart immediately following joanne and kirsty's abduction and there was no evidence to link him to
01:09:27
the crime he had since passed away in 1999 private investigators working on behalf
01:09:38
of the ratcliffe and gordon families looked into marshall's claims they believed that the documents contained
01:09:45
credible information which was being ignored by the police not only was hart known to abuse
01:09:53
children he also physically resembled the prime suspect in the ratcliffe gordon case
01:10:00
he was also a north adelaide rooster supporter who regularly attended games during the
01:10:06
70s in 2009 the private investigators visited the pekina reservoir formed in the early 1900s the reservoir
01:10:19
served as an early irrigation system to supply water to surrounding farms access is granted via a long dirt road
01:10:29
that leads down to the water's edge it's an isolated place hidden at the base of the rolling
01:10:36
oreroo hillside and framed by thick bushland although the dam is no longer in use
01:10:44
it still fills with water during wet seasons at other times the water dries and recedes
01:10:51
exposing the dam's sloping bank and muddy base following the maps provided by marshall
01:11:00
the private investigators came across a concealed and submerged tunnel carved into the reservoir wall
01:11:09
after trudging some distance into the dark passage they eventually came across a set of
01:11:14
sealed metal gates further in they discovered two fuel barrels stamped with the acronym usaf
01:11:24
united states air force inside the barrels was a reddish honeycomb-like substance it was independently tested
01:11:36
and came back positive for traces of blood and acid they also found a girl's shoe
01:11:45
arthur stanley heart's former yetna property was located 30 kilometers south of the reservoir
01:11:53
a search of this location uncovered a stained butcher's apron with matching butcher's pants
01:11:59
a medical book newspaper clippings related to joanne and kirsty's disappearance and a wide brimmed a kubra style hat
01:12:10
the evidence was handed to the police a few days later the private investigators received a
01:12:17
letter from the attorney general asking them not to pursue the case later police went to yatna and conducted
01:12:25
their own searches of the property they also ran their own forensic tests on the substance found in the barrels
01:12:33
but only found a quote weak to very weak trace of blood that couldn't be confirmed to be human
01:12:43
while police weren't ruling hard out as a suspect they were satisfied that nothing
01:12:49
uncovered at his property was related to joanne and kirsty's disappearance they dismissed marshall's claims there's
01:12:57
nothing more than a fabrication of his imagination in 2012 susie ratcliffe launched an
01:13:09
online appeal for information this prompted a former neighbor of the ratcliffes to come forward to implicate
01:13:16
her father in the crime she also claimed to know where the girl's bodies were buried
01:13:24
the woman provided certain information about the rat cliffs that gave police reason to believe
01:13:29
that this lead was credible they investigated the claims further until it was revealed
01:13:37
that the woman's father had been friends with the joanne's grandfather she had often overheard the two men
01:13:44
discussing the case over the years she had convinced herself that her dad was involved
01:13:51
but it turned out to be nothing more than a child's wild imagination as the 40-year anniversary of joanne and
01:14:01
kirsty's disappearance approached in 2013 police once again appealed for witnesses
01:14:07
to come forward as a result 73 year old robert mcmahon reached out to adelaide based in newspaper the
01:14:16
sunday mail claiming to have seen the girls on the day they went missing at the time robert had lived in a
01:14:25
boarding house on vine street in the inner northern suburb of prospect the house was less than four kilometers
01:14:33
north of adelaide oval which could be reached in a five-minute drive depending on traffic
01:14:40
robert said he was watching footy on the television when one of his housemates came inside
01:14:46
with two young girls he claimed were his grandchildren he was a scottish man aged in his
01:14:53
forties whom robert knew only as scotty the older girl attempted to say something but scotty
01:15:01
told her to shut up scotty showed the girls off to his housemates and then locked them into a cream-colored
01:15:09
van that was parked at the back of the house robert found the incident so unsettling
01:15:16
that he had taken notes and drawn sketches of the girls which he then placed in a sealed
01:15:21
envelope when he later learned of joanne and kirsty's abduction he recognized the pair as scotty's
01:15:29
supposed to grandchildren he reported the incident to the police but they didn't get back to him he tried
01:15:39
again the following week as well as on the first anniversary of the abduction but the police never responded and
01:15:48
robert eventually gave up out of sheer frustration for the first time since 1973
01:15:57
robert opened the sealed envelope in front of reporters for the sunday mail the sketches of the girls within were
01:16:06
labelled taller girl and little girl taller girl had hair just below her ears and a distinct short fringe that
01:16:14
barely covered her forehead robert had taken note that she had light hair the little girl sketch depicted a
01:16:24
younger looking child with short curly hair that robert had noted was dark taller girl and a little girl looked
01:16:33
eerily similar to joanne and kirsty robert described scotty as being about 165 centimeters tall
01:16:43
with a broad scottish accent and distinct limp major crime detectives collected the
01:16:50
documents and interviewed robert but nothing further came from this line of inquiry
01:16:58
susie ratcliffe questioned why police had dismissed certain pieces of evidence over the years
01:17:04
and failed to follow up on particular leads she called for further investigations to
01:17:11
be made stating we seem to be left in the dark it might be 40 years to police and just another case but to us it is 40
01:17:23
years of us not getting to watch joe grow up that's 40 years of not having a daughter a sister
01:17:31
an auntie the following year in february 2014 the south australian government offered
01:17:40
a 1 million dollar reward to solve 13 of the state's highest profile missing person cases
01:17:47
including that of joanne ratcliffe and kirsty gordon the reward was meant to be a strong
01:17:54
inducement for any reluctant witnesses to come forward but the money went unclaimed
01:18:06
in 2015 south australia police took inspiration from a crime solving strategy used in the united states and created a
01:18:15
bespoke deck of playing cards that were distributed to prisons throughout the state each of the 52
01:18:23
cards detailed a specific south australian cold case along with a photo of the associated
01:18:30
victim or victims the cards were given to prisoners to play with and were accompanied by a
01:18:37
letter offering various incentives for information prisoners could benefit from potential
01:18:44
immunity from prosecution a reduction to their current sentences financial rewards
01:18:50
and assistance with personal safety joanne ratcliffe and kirsty gordon were featured on the ace of hearts
01:19:01
in that same year susie ratcliffe and journalist brian littley founded lever light on
01:19:09
the organisation aims to raise awareness of cold missing person cases in australia
01:19:14
while also providing help to affected families the name was inspired by the ratcliffe
01:19:21
family's habit of leaving their porch light on every night to help joanne find her way back home
01:19:29
suzy explained that families of missing people are often disappointed with the way
01:19:34
investigations are handled with evidence often going missing and police failing to follow up on certain
01:19:41
suspects and witnesses oftentimes it's the families themselves who are left to investigate potential
01:19:49
leads she said you struggle to be able to deal with this on an everyday basis dealing with grief and anguish of losing
01:19:59
a loved one in this sort of situation but to have that added torment of doing things
01:20:05
that realistically the police should be doing adds to that pain in 2016 the otherwise private gordon
01:20:16
family released a statement explaining why they had chosen to avoid the media spotlight
01:20:22
in the years following kirsty's abduction they described enduring a rollercoaster
01:20:29
ride of emotions including some lows of extreme intensity refusing to let kirstie's abductor take
01:20:38
them as collateral victims the gordon stated it was important to us to be independent
01:20:47
and to feel in control of our lives for the sake of our family two years later in 2018 another
01:20:57
potential burial site was explored in the suburb of north plympton approximately eight kilometers south
01:21:04
west of adelaide oval it was the former casterloy factory site which had once been owned by prominent
01:21:12
businessman harry phipps two brothers had come forward claiming phipps had paid them to dig a large hole
01:21:20
there three days after the beaumont children went missing in 1966 phipps had lived in adelaide in 1973
01:21:30
and resembled the sketch of the main suspect in joanne and kirsty's case prompting speculation that he might also
01:21:38
have been involved in the adelaide oval abductions a major excavation of the site was
01:21:46
conducted but nothing was uncovered to link fips to either of the unsolved crimes
01:21:56
on march 13 2019 kath ratcliffe passed away announcing the death on social media
01:22:05
susie said my mum took her last breaths this morning and gained her angel wings joining my stepdad dad and joanne
01:22:18
i know she is now at peace free from her pain and suffering the answers she has longed for finally
01:22:25
in reach as of 2020 joanne ratcliffe and kirsty gordon still haven't officially been declared dead
01:22:36
and the investigation into their disappearance remains open the lever light on foundation which is
01:22:44
still run by susie ratcliffe is calling for the creation of specialist missing person units in every
01:22:51
state and territory the organization wants long-term missing persons to be automatically reported to the national
01:22:59
register greater cooperation between states and territories equal rewards for information and all
01:23:07
evidence for long-term missing person cases to be retested for dna each year on october 21 the organization
01:23:18
asks that people across the country leave their porch lights on or burn a candle in memory of the many
01:23:24
missing persons across australia and as a symbol of hope for their loved ones susie has inherited several treasured
01:23:35
gifts that joanne either handmade or bought for her family among them is a wonky clay ashtray and a delicate
01:23:43
christmas candle which she plans to one day hand down to her own daughter as a gift
01:23:49
from her auntie joanne she keeps a photo of joanne on her desk as a constant reminder of the sister she
01:23:58
never met who has helped raise awareness of many other missing people through lever light on
01:24:06
susie has stated i am so incredibly proud of joe because i know she fought she fought so hard to get
01:24:16
kirsty back from that man people say to me why didn't she run away but she was given a responsibility that
01:24:26
day to look after kirsty and to not let her out of sight under any circumstances and she stuck
01:24:33
with it she had a temper like you wouldn't believe so she would have given him hell
01:24:41
she fought to try and keep kirsty safe you