Most intriguing unsolved non-JtR serial killer cases

[Harry D]

I assume they had cadaver dogs back then.

Strange that a memorial service was held for the boys only a month after they disappeared.

[sdreid]

I assume they had cadaver dogs back then.

[sdreid]

True Harry - I was assuming that the search was as thorough as they said.

[Harry D]

So murder is the only reasonable conclusion.

Not necessarily. If says the two of them went off to explore WW2 bunkers, they could've got lost and fallen down a pit or something. Without knowing what the camp site was like, I couldn't say for certain but I don't believe murder is the ONLY possibility here.

[sdreid]

So murder is the only reasonable conclusion.

[sdreid]

That is really intriguing. If the search was as extensive as indicated then the likelihood has to be that they were taken or murdered.

From what I see, virtually no chance they ran away either

[Mayerling]

Shouldn't this discussion continue in the 'Great Disappearances' thread? The missing Beaumont kids etc. aren't serial killer cases.

I've lost entire days browsing the cases on the Charley Project.

Two boys, Mark Peal (10) and Kevin Lee Connor (13) both went missing at the campsite in Agate Crescent in 1971. They both went to explore WWII bunkers in the area and were never seen again despite an extensive search.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/p/peal_mark.html

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/conner_kevin.html

I suppose they should be on the Disappearances thread.

God I hate it when kids vanish like that. A grown up might be able to fight back, but a toddler?

Jeff

[sdreid]

Two boys, Mark Peal (10) and Kevin Lee Connor (13) both went missing at the campsite in Agate Crescent in 1971. They both went to explore WWII bunkers in the area and were never seen again despite an extensive search.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/p/peal_mark.html

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/conner_kevin.html

That is really intriguing. If the search was as extensive as indicated then the likelihood has to be that they were taken or murdered.

[Harry D]

Shouldn't this discussion continue in the 'Great Disappearances' thread? The missing Beaumont kids etc. aren't serial killer cases.

I've lost entire days browsing the cases on the Charley Project.

Two boys, Mark Peal (10) and Kevin Lee Connor (13) both went missing at the campsite in Agate Crescent in 1971. They both went to explore WWII bunkers in the area and were never seen again despite an extensive search.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/p/peal_mark.html

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/conner_kevin.html

[GUT]

Although Joanne was a responsible little girl I don't think any grandparent nowadays would allow a child of that age to take a four year old to the toilet alone at a packed stadium.

Yeah but it was different world, in the 70s and Adelaide was just a big town.

[Rosella]

Joanne was eleven and Kirste four. The last that was seen of them was a sighting by a young passerby who saw the man holding Kirste in his arms going along the street and Joanne grabbing his jacket and trying to kick his legs.

It was a dreadful case and I believe Kirste's father never recovered, dying prematurely some years later. Although Joanne was a responsible little girl I don't think any grandparent nowadays would allow a child of that age to take a four year old to the toilet alone at a packed stadium. Apparently there was a sighting of them earlier looking under a shed at the back of the stadium at a kitten hidden there.

[GUT]

Though maybe I'm thinking of the wrong ones, but wasn't Gordon 12 or 13?

[GUT]

I've wondered about the tragic Beaumont mystery for years, ever since I came to Australia in 1970, really. After the fair-haired man lured them away and gave them money to buy food I think he probably put them in his nearby car and promised to take them home after he'd taken them to his place for a while. I believe they were disposed of very quickly. There were parts of Adelaide that were still quite semi-rural in the 1960's and I think they were killed and buried on a property somewhere.

There was supposed to have been a paedophile ring operating in Adelaide in the 1960's but I've always wondered whether the same perpetrator grabbed Young Joanne Ratcliffe and little Kirste Gordon from the Adalaide Oval in 1973. That's another disturbing abduction that's never been solved.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/s...-1227061951515

Gordon and Ratcliffe are even more of a puzzle due to their ages.

[Rosella]

I've wondered about the tragic Beaumont mystery for years, ever since I came to Australia in 1970, really. After the fair-haired man lured them away and gave them money to buy food I think he probably put them in his nearby car and promised to take them home after he'd taken them to his place for a while. I believe they were disposed of very quickly. There were parts of Adelaide that were still quite semi-rural in the 1960's and I think they were killed and buried on a property somewhere.

There was supposed to have been a paedophile ring operating in Adelaide in the 1960's but I've always wondered whether the same perpetrator grabbed Young Joanne Ratcliffe and little Kirste Gordon from the Adalaide Oval in 1973. That's another disturbing abduction that's never been solved.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/excavation-in-south-australias-midnorth-for-clues-to-1973-abduction-of-joanne-ratcliffe-and-kirste-gordon-from-adelaide-oval/story-fni6uo1m-1227061951515

[John G]

Hello, John.



Of course, we don't know for certain that the man seen playing with them at the beach was the kidnapper. Heck, he could've been just a genuine guy who befriended the children, the type of person who would rightly or wrongly being viewed with instant suspicion in modern society. Then we get into why didn't this man come forward if he was innocent, but then would you in that scenario?

The postman said he saw the kids walking home from the beach. If he wasn't getting his days mixed up, either the man at the beach wasn't the abductor OR perhaps to avoid this suspicion he waited until the kids left the beach by themselves and then pulled up alongside them in his car and offered them a ride?

Hello, Harry,

Some witness statements are certainly confusing. Thus, I believe the children were expected to take the 12:00pm bus home, although I understand their mother had told them not to be home later than 2:00pm. This creates some problems, for instance, they were seen happily buying cakes as late as 11:45am.

Other witnesses state that at 12:00pm the blonde suspect, who the children were trailing, approached them claiming he'd lost some money and asked if they'd seen anyone messing about with his clothing. He was then observed helping to dress the children before, at 12:15, walking off with them and disappearing behind the Gleneig Hotel.

Now I would speculate that the missing money could have been a diversion, i.e. to ensure that the children missed their bus. This would have afforded him the opportunity to offer them a lift home-perhaps his vehicle was parked in the hotel car park- to ensure they wouldn't get into trouble for being late.

As you suggest there were other possible sightings. At 1:45 a man claimed to see a similar looking suspect leave the beach with three children. However, this may not have been a reliable sighting: the man was said to have light brown hair rather than blonde. And if it was the same man with the children, where had they been for the last hour and half, during which there were no other sighting?

On the face of it the postman seems to be a more reliable witness as he at least new the children. He claimed initially to have spotted them either at the beginning of his round, at 1:45pm, or at the end at 2:55. He also noted they were alone. The earlier time might just fit, as they could have been going to catch the 2:00pm bus. The problem is that this leaves little time- just 15 minutes- for another abductor to come along and seize the children unobserved. It also fails to explain where the children had been since the 12:15 sighting.

However, he subsequently insisted that he'd seen them at the later time, 2:55 pm. This makes no sense at all as they would have been about an hour late by this time, thereby clearly undermining his testimony. Moreover, he said that they didn't seem to be distressed or hurrying. And, again, where were they in the intervening period during which there were no sightings? This is particularly problematical if you consider that a blonde haired man with three young children in tow would surely stand out on a busy beach.

I also understand that research by the author, Alan Whiticker, who has written a book on the subject, has revealed that the police concluded that he saw the children in the morning at 10:15am, after they left the bus. Interestingly, I've also read that Whiticker's book claims that the police concluded that the suspects blue swimming trunks had a white stripe down each leg which, apparently, were the colours of Henley Beach Surf Lifesaving Club.