The Missing Beaumont Children

210 Pages·2017·3.05 MB·English

by  Michael Madigan

The Missing
BEAUMONT
CHILDREN
50 years of
Mystery and Misery
MICHAEL MADIGAN
First published by Elvis Press 2015
Copyright © Michael Madigan 2015
ISBN 9780975674673
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or
entity, including internet search engines or retailers, in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying (except under the statutory exceptions provisions of the
Australian Copyright Act 1968), recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval
system without permission of the author.
Cover design: Luke Harris, WorkingType Studio Editor: Avylon Magarey
Digital edition distributed by
Port Campbell Press
www.portcampbellpress.com.au
eBook Created by Warren Broom
This book is dedicated to
Nancy and Grant Beaumont
Rest in peace Jane, Arnna and Grant
Acknowledgement
I would like to thank my loving family for their constant love and support,
especially my wife Marty who never complains about the many hours I have
spent glued to my keyboard.
To our two beautiful daughters Avy (editor) and Bonnie, and my wonderful
son Viv, thanks for your love and encouragement.
My parents Ken and Margaret are inspirational. Their guidance and love
has given me strength.
To my sisters Sharon, Cathy, Angela and Lizzy and brother Anthony, as
well as my extended family of Rhodrey, Angus, Callum, Rhiannon and
‘Prince’ Ashton, I love you all so much.
This book has relied heavily on the work of dozens of skilled journalists
and authors, many of whom are no longer with us; thank you for your skillful
reporting.
A special thank you goes to Graham Archer of the Seven Network for not
only kindly providing images for this book but also for his support in my
endeavours over many years.
Contents
Prelude
PART ONE — THREE CHILDREN ARE MISSING
Chapter 1 Grant and Nancy Chapter 2 “It’s all My Fault”
Chapter 3 The Man with the Crazy Walk Chapter 4 False Hope
Chapter 5 1966 — The Year of Lost Children Chapter 6 Paranormal Detectives Chapter 7 The
One Pound Note Chapter 8 ‘There is someone out there’
Chapter 9 A Letter from ‘Jane’
Chapter 10 Dead End
PART TWO — TWO CHILDREN ARE MISSING
Chapter 11 Joanne and Kirste Chapter 12 Cluster Killings Chapter 13 ‘Von Evil’
Chapter 14 “I found Jane Beaumont”
Chapter 15 Persons of Interest Chapter 16 Satin Man
Chapter 17 What’s New?
Chapter 18 Who Could Do Such a Thing?
Chapter 19 Gone but Never Forgotten References
Index
Prelude
August 17, 1925
Melbourne
Geoffrey England (8) spent the morning at St Kilda Beach building sand
castles and digging for elusive tiny mud crabs on the foreshore. He was not
alone. Even though it was a cold winter’s day the clear skies had enticed a
crowd of people to Melbourne’s most popular beach. Geoffrey was playing
with other children without his parent’s supervision; they were back at their
two story mansion, one kilometre away.
When Geoffrey’s stomach rumbled at around midday he wandered back to
his home. Geoffrey’s family lived along Kooyong Road, a well-to-do part of
the city. His father Stanley was a respected Melbourne barrister. He and his
sister attended the best private schools in Melbourne; and enjoyed a somewhat
privileged life.
As he walked into his home he was greeted by his mother and father who
were dressed in their finest outfits. His father looked dapper in a blue stripe suit
with a top hat. His mother wore an impressive gown which ‘ballooned’ her
petite figure.
“Come and have lunch Geoffrey, we’re off to the races”.
Geoffrey’s eyes lit up.
“You and your sister are going to the moving pictures”.
The little boy’s eyes focused on the wooden floorboards.
“Can’t I go back to the beach?”
Marjorie and Geoffrey waved their parents goodbye as the handsome
couple took the tram into the centre of Melbourne. The two children then
walked to the Malvern picture theatre and enjoyed the films. Immediately after,
Geoffrey took his sisters hand and headed for the tram stop. The winter sun had
just burst through the grey clouds; Geoffrey was adamant they were going to
the beach. They caught the tram to St Kilda Beach and began playing with
other children; however a young woman and a middle aged man soon
befriended Geoffrey and Marjorie.
The man began showing the boy how to build a raft from old bits of wood
that had washed up on the seashore. The woman took a shine to the girl.
Together they walked along the long and rickety pier. The sea was rough with
waves smashing onto the jetty’s wooden pylons. Geoffrey found a length of old
string and imagined he was fishing; the man stared at him, lost in thought.
Suddenly, Geoffrey asked the man for the time, as he wanted to be home
before his parents.
“Quarter past four”.
“Here, have this and go and buy some sweets”.
The boy gazed at the shiny sixpence and rushed off to the corner deli close
by and returned with a large bag of lollies.
The man then told him that Marjorie was going back into town with him
and his lady friend. “We are going to take her to tea and then to a dance show”.
The man kissed Marjorie and the four walked towards the cable trams on
the upper side of the esplanade. Marjorie was escorted onto the tram by the
couple. The little girls face showed both excitement and apprehension. The
man lent out of the tram and handed Geoffrey a shilling. “We will bring
Marjorie home tonight. Meet us on the hill on Kooyong Road around 10
o’clock. Tell your parents that Marjorie had guests for the evening.”
On the way home from the races, Mr and Mrs England got quite a shock
when Geoffrey boarded their tram. “Where’s Marjorie?”
That night police began a search both in the seaside neighbourhood and
throughout the city.
Little Marjorie had been taken to the couple’s home where she slept with
them. In the morning she became frightened and cried; “I want to see
mummy”. The couple told her that she was going to stay with them forever.
When she realised she would not be going home she pleaded with them.
The man and the women then argued. The woman wanted the girl to go home
on a bus immediately; the man was adamant that he wanted the young girl to
stay. He went to great pains to persuade the girl to live with them and become
their daughter. He promised her all sorts of luxuries to entice her to stay but
Marjorie did not budge. She also refused to eat the breakfast they had prepared
for her which made the man angry. In desperation, he then offered Marjorie
two shillings if she would just eat a slice of orange. “Eat it!” He yelled angrily.
She pressed her lips tightly together. The woman then grabbed the girls arm
and rushed out the front door onto the street. They ran into the centre of the city
where Marjorie was given money to buy a tram ticket. She was home safe by
midday.
Marjorie’s story is just one of many incidents of child abduction in the
early part of the twentieth century in Australia. Almost all abductions I have
researched had relatively happy endings. The child has either escaped or was
released. Very few cases went unsolved. The abduction and murder of a child
was, and is still to this day extremely rare.
Child abduction throughout the history of Australia can be listed into five
categories:
1. The ‘stealing back’ of a child who has been taken by government
authorities due to welfare concerns.
2. The snatching of a baby, usually by a woman suffering from a mental
illness.
3. Parental abduction. This is by far the most significant form of abduction in
Australia and is generally caused by the unfortunate breakdown of the
family unit.
4. The abduction of a child for ransom.
5. The abduction of a child by a sexual predator; ‘stranger’ abduction.
Abductions involving strangers, across all eras have a familiar ring to them.
The crime is usually well planned, with the perpetrator frequently offering
‘sweeteners’ to endear themselves towards the young child or to catch them off
guard.
The following cases show a distinct pattern used by perpetrators for over a
century.
1929 — In the city of Albury, NSW, a girl (7) was playing with a group of
children when she was asked by a man if she liked ice cream. She then
accompanied him to a close-by paddock, where the man gave her a penny.
Later she was found by a motorist on the side of a road, two miles from the
town. A medical examination showed that she had been sexually violated.
1943 — A girl (4) was abducted from the front garden of her home in the
Adelaide suburb of Joslin. The child, a daughter of a soldier was playing in a
front garden when a man rode up on a bicycle. The child’s grandmother who
was sitting on the porch thought he was a friend until he swiftly lifted the child
over the front gate and rode off with her. The girl was found several hours
later, naked, running along a street with her clothes under her arm, crying.
1947 — A girl (6) was abducted by a man in Hindley Street, Adelaide, in
broad daylight while her mother was talking to a friend. The girl was found
half an hour later by a gardener at the Torrens Parade Ground.
The abduction took place while the children were looking in a shop
window. They were approached by a man who then pointed to a weighing
machine, “Come down and weigh yourselves.”
The girl’s brother (8) got on the scales and the man then lifted the girl on.
The stranger then took the children down a lane. He gave the boy sixpence and
said, “Wait here until we come back.”
He then took the girl by the hand and walked off.
A gardener working on the lawns at the parade ground became suspicious
of the man and challenged him. The perpetrator immediately ran away.
1953 — Fish and chips were on the dinner menu for two eight-year-old
boys from Kent Town, an inner city suburb of Adelaide. At 6.30 p.m. the boys,
Kevin and Allan were walking to their local fish shop. Both of them were
tightly gripping money and a list from their mums. They were stopped by a
man walking in the opposite direction. The man stared into the eyes of Kevin
as the boys tried to pass.
“Where are you going?”
“Fish-n-chip shop”.
The man then grabbed Kevin by the hand who started to cry as he was
dragged away.
After an intensive search the boy was located by police at 2.30 a.m. the
following morning. The child was found asleep in bed with a man in a house at
Brighton. The boy had suffered a terrifying experience, which culminated in a
fight when the man (29) attacked the police after they had climbed through his
bedroom window. During the night the man had taken the child to a party,
passed him off as his son and had given him beer and wine to drink.
The man admitted to police that he took the child to sleep with and