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

[worldwatcher]

Good for her! Must be running in the family not ever giving up and always fighting back!

 

[Bohemian]

Good for her! Must be running in the family not ever giving up and always fighting back!

I really admire victims of crime like Suzie, who can channel their grief into something positive.

 

[Paul B.]

I like the image of Joanne going down fighting and giving him hell. I also think it's linked to the Beaumonts.

 

[Paul B.]

The National Missing Persons Week PSA is effective but it's interesting that they chose to depict a father and young daughter being the ones left behind, rather than a father and young son. It remains a truism: when you need to pack an emotional punch, use a little girl.

 

[HardBoiled]

Quite a few editions of Melbournes newspaper of record, The Age have been digitised and are available at the Google newspaper archive.
Someone theorised an accomplice? How about this explosive front page article from The Age, August 27, 1973.
The Age - Google News Archive Search

The bit that really stands out is the third paragraph. "Police want to interview a man dressed as a woman who was seen at Adelaide Oval on Saturday".
Does anyone know or recall more about this startling tidbit?

 

[worldwatcher]

Quite a few editions of Melbournes newspaper of record, The Age have been digitised and are available at the Google newspaper archive.
Someone theorised an accomplice? How about this explosive front page article from The Age, August 27, 1973.
The Age - Google News Archive Search

The bit that really stands out is the third paragraph. "Police want to interview a man dressed as a woman who was seen at Adelaide Oval on Saturday".
Does anyone know or recall more about this startling tidbit?

Good find! Is this the only newspaper that mention an accoplomice? Makes you wonder...doesn't it?
As many..I also think it is linked to the Beaumonts children.Both abductions happend at a public crowed place and wasnt there a sighting of the Beaumonts children with (also) a woman and a man?!

 

[worldwatcher]

Beaumont children bombshell: I know who really did it "They were with three other people – a thin-faced blond stranger, a strapper he recognised from one of the local racing stables with shoulder- length hair, and a middle-aged woman wearing a pale blue patterned dress."

‘Dad was surprised they were with another woman, not their mother Nancy
IMO these abductions ...well seems kinda tricky to snatch more then 1 child in a crowed public place if you are alone ?

 

[HardBoiled]

The MO is so out there - multiple children, public places - and the fact both crimes committed in South Australia, I do not believe there's any way the crimes aren't related.

Unfortunately not all of the Age is available, and the only other real useful resource is the Sydney Morning Herald. From what I've seen there is nothing in the SMH that wasn't already covered in The Age. Probably Victorias closer proximity to SA is why the coverage is better in The Age? I know looking at the Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub fire in Brisbane the reverse was the case, the coverage far superior in the Sydney Morning Herald.

 

[Paul B.]

Kirste Gordon is the "Big Bopper" of this... the most often forgotten. Arnna Beaumont is the most forgotten of the BC.

 

[Paul B.]

WDYT of the possibility that Joanne and Kirste fell victim to a paedophile ring? But, then, at 11, Joanne would be harder to control than a smaller child like Kirste, though it's perfectly possible that Joanne's obedience was secured with threats to Kirste.

 

[Bohemian]

Mention of Joanne in this article:

Gone, never forgotten: Families of the missing do it tough at Christmas

https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/gone-never-forgotten-families-of-the-missing-do-it-tough-at-christmas-20181224-p50o43.html

 

[iailwa]

Mention of Joanne in this article:

Gone, never forgotten: Families of the missing do it tough at Christmas

https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/gone-never-forgotten-families-of-the-missing-do-it-tough-at-christmas-20181224-p50o43.html

Great article BO. This statement makes me feel for their people so much -

"With a missing loved one you start to heal, and then police might contact you or there's a specific anniversary and then the part of you that starts to heal is broken again. There's no closure, it is a constant ache" from the article posted

There seems to be a lot of both women & men missing in Victoria. I wonder if there's a couple of serial killers at work there atm?

 

[Paul B.]

I know Suzie R. thinks that the monster "helped himself" sexually to Kirste - from witnesses, she was his target, and Joanne refused to leave her.

 

[Bohemian]

Mother of missing Joanne Ratcliffe dies without knowing what happened to her daughter

 

[iailwa]

Mother of missing Joanne Ratcliffe dies without knowing what happened to her daughter

So sad to hear that...

 

[Paul B.]

Suzie likes my idea of a statue of Joanne holding Kirste in her arms. She just doesn't think it should be at Adelaide Oval.

 

[worldwatcher]

Mother of missing Joanne Ratcliffe dies without knowing what happened to her daughter

Heartbreaking,but I do think they are reunited now.From what I read about Joanne,she would fight her way back if she survived the perp.

 

[Paul B.]

pictures of Kirste Gordon remind me of this relative of mine:

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Crime Stoppers SA have again highlighted the mysterious case in the hope of finding new information that could lead to a conviction, or the discovery of the children's remains.

SA Police have highlighted the 1973 disappearance of children Joanne Ratcliffe and Kirste Gordon.Image: AAP
Their hopes were pinned on a sketch of the man that has been regularly distributed since the disappearances.

SA Police are offering a reward of up to $1,000,000 for any information that leads to the recovery of the girls' remains or a conviction.

In March this year, Joanne's mother Kathleen sadly died without answers.
https://7news.com.au/news/crime/sa-police-highlight-notorious-cold-case-c-417648

 

[jonmarbles]

anyone else think this is the same person who took the beumont kids