Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

Disappeared: The Beaumont Children

Jane Nartare Beaumont (born 10September 1956), Arnna Kathleen Beaumont (born 11 November1958) and Grant Ellis Beaumont (born 12 July 1961),collectively known as the Beaumont children, were three Australiansiblings who disappeared from Glenelg Beach near Adelaide, SouthAustralia, on 26 January 1966 (Australia Day) in a suspectedabduction and murder. At the time of their disappearance they wereaged nine, seven, and four years respectively.

Police investigations revealed that, onthe day of their disappearance, several witnesses had seen thechildren on and near Glenelg Beach in the company of a tall man withfairish to light brown hair and a thin face with a sun-tannedcomplexion and medium build, aged in his mid-thirties. Confirmedsightings of the three children occurred at the Colley Reserve and atWenzels Cake shop on Moseley Street, Glenelg. Despite numeroussearches, neither the children nor their suspected companion werelocated.

The case attracted widespread policeand media attention in Australia and across the globe, quicklyattracting numerous suspects, hoaxes and theories. The disappearanceis widely credited with causing a change in Australian lifestyles,since parents began to believe that their children could no longer bepresumed to be safe when unsupervised in public. The regular andwidespread attention given to the case, its significance inAustralian criminal history and the fact that the mystery of thechildren's disappearance has never been explained has led to thestory being of continuous public interest more than half a centuryon. As of 2018, an A$1 million reward has been offered forinformation related to the cold case by the South Australiangovernment.

Background

Jane, Arnna and Grant Beaumont livedwith their parents, Grant "Jim" Beaumont, a formerserviceman and driver for Suburban Taxis, and Nancy Beaumont (néeEllis), who had married in December 1955. Their house was at 109Harding Street, Somerton Park, a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia,not far from Glenelg Beach, a popular spot that the children and manyothers at the height of the surf music era often visited. On 25January, in the midst of a summer heatwave, Jim dropped the childrenoff at Glenelg Beach before heading off on a three-day sales trip toSnowtown.

On the morning of 26 January 1966, thechildren asked their mother to visit Glenelg Beach again. As it wastoo hot to walk, they took a five-minute three-kilometer bus journeyfrom their home to the beach. They caught the bus at 8:45 am andwere expected to return home on the 12:00 noon bus. Nancy becameworried, however, when the children did not return on either the12:00 or 2:00 pm buses, and when Jim returned home early from histrip around 3:00 pm, he immediately drove to the crowded beach.Unable to locate the children, he returned and together they searchedthe streets and visited friends' houses. Around 5:30 pm, they went tothe Glenelg Police Station to report the disappearance.

Police investigation

Police quickly organized a search ofGlenelg Beach and adjacent areas, based on the assumption that thechildren were nearby and had simply lost track of time. The searchthen expanded to the sand-hills, ocean, and nearby buildings, withthe airport, rail lines, and interstate roads being monitored aswell, based on a fear of accident or kidnap. Within 24 hours, theentire nation was aware of the case. Within three days, on 29January, the Adelaide Sunday Mail led with a headline of "Sexcrime now feared", highlighting the rapidly evolving fearthat they had been abducted and murdered by a sex-offender; despitethis, the initial official reward was only A£250.