The family of missing Beaumont children calls for coronial inquest as part of Seven’s new true crime show The Hunters
It’s one of the state’s most haunting mysteries. Now the family of the missing Beaumont children has spoken out ahead of a new investigation into their disappearance.
SA News
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The family of the missing Beaumont children have broken years of silence, calling for a coronial inquiry into the decades-old disappearance of siblings Jane, Arnna, and Grant.
One of the state’s most enduring mysteries, the three young children vanished without a trace from Glenelg beach on January 26, 1966.
Almost 60 years later, a niece of their father, Jim Beaumont, has spoken out saying ongoing suspicion over late SA businessman, Harry Phipps, and his connection with their disappearance “warrants” an investigation by the state coroner.
“I’ve kept across developments about my cousins’ disappearance and I am aware of the theory about Harry Phipps’ alleged involvement which I believe warrants a coronial inquest,” the niece, who declined to be identified, told Seven’s new true crime documentary series, The Hunters.
Grant’s niece said her late uncle, also known as Jim, was a “wonderful, caring and generous man”, who never stopped searching for answers about his children’s whereabouts.
“I found out from a young age what had happened to my three cousins and when visiting Uncle Jim I would see the precious photos he displayed around his house of the happy times with Jane, Arnna and Grant,” she said in a statement to Seven.
“Although he kept their memory alive, he would never discuss their disappearance with me, it was too painful a subject for him.
“Both Uncle Jim and Aunty Nancy were loving parents who lived on hoping for answers to their children’s disappearance – something they never received. Despite their marriage break down, they remained great friends who cared deeply about each other.”
Mr Beaumont’s death at age 97 followed that of his former wife Nancy who died in September 2019 at the age of 92.
Phipps has long been a person of interest in the cold case, with major crime detectives twice excavating a site he once owned at North Plympton, in 2013 and 2018, in the belief it may have been where Jane, 9, Arnna, 7, and Grant, 4, were buried.
Phipps, who died in 2004, has been suspected of abducting and murdering them. Shortly after his death, Phipps’s son Haydn came forward, saying he had seen three children at the family house shortly after the disappearance.
In 2013, two men told police that they had been asked to dig a large hole at the Castalloy factory in North Plympton at the behest of Phipps, only days after the children disappeared.
But to this day the children have never been found, nor have their bodies, despite many searches.
A new investigation by Seven series The Hunters has uncovered information suggesting the two prior digs were conducted in the wrong location at the factory site.
Veteran police officer and show co-host Steve Van Aperen said he hoped the episode, set to air on Channel 7 on February 23, will encourage police to conduct a third excavation at the Castalloy factory, and eventually force a coronial inquest.
“I’d like to see a dig in the right locality,” said Mr Van Aperen, a behavioural expert who previously worked for the FBI.
“This is a stale case. It’s been stale for a long time. I cannot believe that there has not been a coronial inquiry. I cannot fathom why not.
“I think we have a duty of care to the remaining family members and the community in general. Crimes can be solved, even with the passage of time... and I think a lot of people are looking for closure.”
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