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

[mrC]

now how did the person demanding the ransom get hold of the familys phone number

 

[Cagney&Lacey]

now how did the person demanding the ransom get hold of the familys phone number

Probably via the good old fashioned phone book in those days

 

[mrC]

But Gordon and Ratcliff are not unusual nanes there must of been a fair few of them in the phone book and nobody else by that by that name reported geting a phone call

 

[DRT]

But Gordon and Ratcliff are not unusual nanes there must of been a fair few of them in the phone book and nobody else by that by that name reported geting a phone call

Suburbs initials. If they had spoken on radio/tv maybe they knew their voice. Even with a common name there would only be a small number of people meeting those initials. If they could determine address then bingo. Reporters generally are able to suss out where people live so maybe they were hanging around getting details.

 

[mrC]

i think the police were wrong to dismiss the ransom demand as a hoax so quickly since there wasn't any other leads i mean even if the ransom demand wasnt serious it could still be the abductor that made it

 

[TootsieFootsie]

9News - Latest news and headlines from Australia and the world

Latest news and headlines from Australia and the world

www.9news.com.au

Search renewed for Adelaide girls who vanished 50 years ago​

A fresh search has started for Joanne Ratcliffe and Kirste Gordon, more than five decades after they were abducted from Adelaide Oval.

News Video 2.47 Minutes

 

[TootsieFootsie]

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/breaking-news/private-search-launched-for-joanne-ratcliffe-and-kirste-gordon-more-than-50-years-after-disappearance/news-story/e4f9715cd9e6458ded6495d7ad9c84fb

Private search launched for Joanne Ratcliffe and Kirste Gordon more than 50 years after disappearance​

Behind a paywall, I think. Posting it here for those who subscribe

 

[TootsieFootsie]

https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/bone-found-in-new-search-for-joanne-ratcliffe-and-kirste-gordon-who-vanished-from-adelaide-oval-in-1973/news-story/9e6c6b84da00eeede70298abf97e0ff2?amp

Bone found in new search for Joanne Ratcliffe and Kirste Gordon who vanished from Adelaide Oval in 1973​

Behind a paywall, I think. Posting it here for those who subscribe

 

[dotr]

The composite was released by SA Police in September 1973, and has been regularly associated with the case in the decades since. Picture: Used "The Advertiser" 28 Aug 1973.

Huge update in 50-year Aussie cold case

A group of locals and geologists armed with an excavator and cadaver dogs are set to search for evidence of two girls more than 50 years after they disappeared.

au.news.yahoo.com

29 March 2025
'Littlely claimed the girls may have been murdered at a Yatina shack before their bodies were put in barrels and left at Pekina, the broadcaster reported'
'Locals, cadaver dogs, geologists and even an excavator are set to search the areas'

''Pekina reservoir is set to be searched on Sunday''.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

The bone found was said to be a kneecap. Nothing about the size of it.

 

[dotr]

March 30 2025 lengthy article.

Woman's bombshell revelation as search for Joanne Ratcliffe and Kirste Gordon resumes

www.9news.com.au

''As a team of private investigators got under way on a fresh dig in a decades old mystery, a former police officer is sharing her story publicly for the first time.
Mandy Sheer said she was abused by a man closely resembling the main suspect in the disappearance of Joanne Ratcliffe and Kirste Gordon, who were abducted from Adelaide Oval in 1973.
Her ordeal also unfolded at a football match just years later.''

"This man appeared out of nowhere and I thought he was really odd in the way that he was dressed - kind of like in a suit, and not really footy attire," she told 9News.
Sheer said she was only 5 years old when she was followed and attacked at a football game in Port Broughton in 1979.'

''The areas being searched were mapped out by convicted pedophile Mark Trevor Marshall, who accused his own grandfather, Stanley Arthur Hart, of kidnapping and murdering the girls.''

Search for remains of Joanne Ratcliffe and Kirste Gordon resumed in the South Australian cold case (9News)

• Mar 28, 2025 • #7NEWS #BREAKINGNEWS
A new search for the remains of two girls abducted from Adelaide Oval more than 50 years ago is about to begin in the state's mid-north. The private search team believes the girls were murdered there.

 

[Tweet57]

Police have searched nearby previously but aren't involved in this operation.
"They are not supporting us on the dig, but as we expect of our police, they will be there if we find something," Littley said.

Are your comments about SAPOL helpful and necessary Mr Littley?

 

[worldwatcher]

"The focus of the current search is on several sites including a private property north of Yatina, as well a fence line and a paddock.

Mr Littlely said a team of about half a dozen people including geologists had travelled to the area, and that they were being supported by several locals and cadaver dogs.

"If there's something there, they have a very, very good chance of picking it up," he said.

"We do have an excavator there and we will be gridding out another area and searching that with hand tools....."


Search underway 52 years after girls disappeared from Adelaide Oval

 

[CredibleSauce]

 

[TootsieFootsie]

New search begins for missing Adelaide Oval girls | New Idea

More than 50 years since Joanne Ratcliffe and Kirste Gordon disappeared at Adelaide Oval, a new search has begun for their bodies.

www.newidea.com.au

April 3rd 2025

New search begins for missing Adelaide Oval girls​

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Private search fails to find any trace of missing girls

11-year-old Joanne Ratcliffe and four-year-old Kirste Gordon haven’t been seen since disappearing from Adelaide Oval in 1973.

7news.com.au

Investigators looking for Joanne Ratcliffe and Kirste Gordon vow to return to site of interest in South Australia’s Mid North​

After a privately funded search last weekend for the remains of two missing Adelaide girls failed to find any clues, investigators returned to Yatina in South Australia’s mid north on Friday to dig up a shed.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

“I would go so far as to say people who undertake these private searchers for historical crimes for Joanne, Kirste and the Beaumonts need to be mindful of the impact it has on the families of those people,” he said per 7News.

“Because it potentially raises hope.”

On Friday, Mr Littlely responded to commissioner Stevens’ comments online and stressed he and the team were “not done” with their investigation.

“We are mindful of the families of these girls and we know doing our private investigation brings these cases forward and into the spotlight. … that is the point,” he said.

“We have lots of items and info to check, interviews to process.

“We’re not done.”

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/coldcases/top-cops-stern-words-in-private-search-for-joanne-ratcliffe-and-kirste-gordon-50-years-after-disappearance/news-story/c2c53d53603c3039b96c8f2a3d689220

 

[TootsieFootsie]

What's so wrong with raising hope anyway.

I would say it's better than to have lost all hope at all.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

9News - Latest news and headlines from Australia and the world

Latest news and headlines from Australia and the world

www.9news.com.au

2.10 min video

Private investigation uncovers mystery bone fragment​

A private investigation into the Adelaide Oval abduction mystery has uncovered an unusual piece of bone fragment, which forensic archaeologists believe could belong to a human child.

Could be part of a small human pelvis

 

[mrC]

doesnt say where they found it