The Beaumont Children

[Brooke Leigh]

These claims by these now-adults-then-children that they "saw the
bodies of the Beaumont Children in the boot of their dads car" seems
like a publicity stunt. The bit about mistaking Arnna Kathleen
Beaumont for a boy also doesn't hold up Especially if the children
still had their swimwear on. Sure, Arnna had a typical 1960s girl's short
haircut but i cannot conceive of many Australian little boys in 1966
willingly wearing a little girl's bathing suit!
She would also have something missing between her legs. Something
important.

[jachim3926]

Well , perhaps, maybe. Mumm. What import does thou pray ,import? And why the reference to comparative to comparative genitalia? The tiger sees all.

[Adam Went]

Hi Brooke,

I'm not sure that the children would've been paying attention to those sorts of details. Bear in mind also that they're recounting the story 50 years later. I do agree that on face value it does sound a bit fanciful and i'm assuming has been discredited by the police as the investigation is (or was?) ongoing, but at this point any leads are worth investigating more thoroughly.

Cheers,
Adam.

[Brooke Leigh]

Some people are keen to link the Beaumont children with the Ratcliffe-Gordon Adelaide Oval abductions but IMO the only link seems to be that the men seen with the children in both cases were athletic (the Adelaide Oval man scooped up the four year old as if she were an empty teacup). Also the man seen with the Beaumonts was reported as having sun tanned skin while the man at the Adelaide Oval was not reported as such.

[Adam Went]

Hi Brooke,

There's been some fairly thorough research done which suggests that the description we have of "The Man" seen with the Beaumont children may not necessarily be accurate, and certainly not if we are relying on the identikit image that was produced. In saying that, I do agree with you that I think it's highly unlikely that it was the same perpetrator in both cases. There are similarities - crowded areas, more than one child, etc - but the time lapse in between the two is a concern, as is the difference in approach: it seems that at Glenelg Beach, The Man was amicable with the children, perhaps even known to them, and gave them money to go to the shop. In the Adelaide Oval case, it was more or less a case of "grab and run". There's no question though that despite the fact that the Beaumont case gets more attention and is perhaps more well remembered, they are both very nasty cases. I've been to Adelaide Oval just earlier this year myself and I can't imagine what it would be like for a parent / guardian to lose their child in that atmosphere.

Cheers,
Adam.

[Brooke Leigh]

Someone made an attempt at computer colourising the well-known photo of Our Girls and Boy at the Twelve Apostles and aside from Arnna's kneecap still being monochrome, it really brings the BC to life in a way that the monochrome original couldn't.

[Adam Went]

I haven't seen that photo but the people who colourise those images and videos really are very good at it these days.

I still remain surprised, having visited Glenelg earlier this year, that there's not something in the way of a memorial or similar there.

Cheers,
Adam.

[Brooke Leigh]

For me, growing up in Melbourne, the big crimes that scared the kids at my school at the turn of the nineties were "Mr. Cruel" and also what happened to little Sheree Beasley. Personally, I'm still sad that Beasley's killer couldn't be sent to the gallows for what he did to that little girl.

[Adam Went]

Hi Brooke,

I may have to look into that case, I can't recall it off the top of my head. We've had some terrible cases in my living memory in Tasmania too, but of course the one that overshadows them all within my lifetime is Martin Bryant.

The Beaumont case is particularly bothering though as somebody took all three children at once, i'd imagine that would be a fairly rare occurrence not just in Australia but worldwide.

Cheers,
Adam.

[Brooke Leigh]

One of the Tasmanian cases that haunts me is Eve Askew