New development in the missing Beaumont children mystery

There is renewed hope that an excavation of a site once owned by a person of interest in the disappearance of the Beaumont children could finally provide answers to one of Australia’s most enduring unsolved mysteries.

The missing Beaumont children is one of Australia’s most infamous mysteries. On January 26, 1966, three siblings – Jane, Arnna, and Grant Beaumont – went missing from Glenelg Beach, South Australia. The children, aged 9, 7, and 4 respectively, had gone to the beach for the day and were last seen playing on the foreshore near the beach’s kiosk. Despite a massive search effort, the children were never found, and their disappearance remains a mystery to this day.

Recent developments have raised fresh hope, with organisers now claiming there is significant circumstantial evidence indicating Harry Phipps allegedly kidnapped, murdered and buried the three young children of Jim and Nancy Beaumont at his Castalloy foundry in suburban Adelaide.

Shortly after Phipps’ death in 2004, his son, Haydn, alleged that he had seen three children at the family home shortly after the disappearance.

Two brothers later came forward, claiming they were allegedly paid by Phipps to dig a “grave-size” hole just days after the children went missing.

On Monday, February 25, Independent MP Frank Pangallo was joined by forensic archaeologist Maciej Henneberg, author Stuart Mullins and former South Australian detective Bill Hayes at the site in North Pyrmont.

Preliminary excavation work began over the weekend at the northern end of the government-owned site, which is about to be sold for development.

Early on Monday, Professor Henneberg ruled out the site of the original 2013 dig after the excavation team reached a depth of three metres, a spokesperson for Pangallo said. Attention then turned to the new dig site, where trees were removed on the weekend.

Excavation teams are now carefully removing topsoil, aiming to reach the ground level as it was in 1966 before digging deeper.

Pangallo expressed optimism, hoping that the new excavation would offer answers to the long-unsolved case.

“The disappearance and likely murder of the Beaumont children is one of Australia’s greatest unsolved mysteries and I hope this new search will bring some sort of closure to their long suffering families after nearly 60 years,” Pangallo said.

“If it doesn’t, at least we know we have tried and can rule out that site once and for all.

“The new evidence indicates previous digs on the former Castalloy factory site didn’t go deep enough – so that is the intention of the new search.”

The search revisits two previously searched areas along with a third new location and is expected to last about a week.

The Beaumont case is notable for its impact on Australian society and law enforcement. At the time, it was the largest search operation ever mounted in Australia, and it captivated the nation’s attention for months. The case led to changes in police procedures and sparked a national conversation about child safety, with many parents becoming more vigilant about their children’s whereabouts.

Despite numerous searches and the offer of a $1 million reward for information related to the case by the South Australian Government, neither the children nor their alleged abductor has ever been located and the disappearance remains a mystery.

-with AAP.