15 South Australian $1m cold cases: Unsolved murders and missing children including the Beaumonts
A girl was buying a Christmas card, a teen was leaving her first job and a boy was skipping school. None made it home alive, read the files on 15 children cold cases.
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South Australia has been rocked by horrible murders and puzzling disappearances over the decades, but none are more shocking than the crimes against children.
A teen went out to buy a Christmas card, another was walking home from her first job, a boy skipped school to meet his cousin and siblings were spending the day at the beach.
None of them made it home alive.
In 2014, SA Police raised the reward for all unsolved high-profile cold case child murders in hopes the cash would motivate people to come forward with information.
These are 15 of the state’s unsolved missing and murder children cases with a $1m reward.
Joanne Ratcliffe and Kirste Gordon
August 25, 1973
It’s been more than 50 years since Joanne Ratcliffe, 11, and Kirste Gordon, 4, disappeared from a busy Adelaide Oval – making it one of SA’s most notorious mysteries.
The two girls left the Edwin Smith stand to go to the toilet quickly, but never returned.
A short time later, Joanne’s father Les Ratcliffe went looking for the girls but he was unable to find them.
Police investigations identified it was likely the girls were forcibly removed from the oval by a man believed to be in his 40s, with witnesses reported seeing them with an unknown man near Port Rd at Thebarton.
Since their August 1973 disappearance, investigators have followed more than 2000 lines of inquiry, including producing a sketch of the potential suspect and searching several sites in the mid-north regions for clues.
The Beaumont Children
January 26, 1966
It was the perfect weather for the three Beaumont siblings to enjoy Australia Day 1966 at the beach.
The trio, Jane, 9, Arnna, 7, and Grant, 4, left their Somerton Park home to go to the beach at Glenelg, with enough pocket money for the bus fares and treats like pasties, a meat pie and some cold drinks.
The last confirmed sighting of the children was at about 12.15pm as they waited on a seat near Colley Reserve change rooms.
They were reportedly seen with a blonde man wearing dark blue swimming trunks with witnesses saying the children were playfully hitting and jumping over the unknown man.
Investigators believed Harry Phipps – who co-founded and built the New Castalloy Factory in North Plympton – to be at the centre of the case.
The site was excavated in February 2018 but no remains were found and Mr Phipps died in 2004 with no criminal charges against him.
Police believe the children have been abducted and murdered.
Patricia ‘Susi’ Schmidt
December 18, 1971
Patricia ‘Susi’ Schmidt was only 16 years old when she was sexually assaulted, murdered and her naked body dumped at Hallett Cove.
Three weeks after graduating Susi finished a night shift at her first job at Burger King Darlington which we took to buy Christmas presents for her family.
It was her second night shift and at about 1.45am she decided to walk home as her father was running late.
But Susi never made it home and was reported missing by her family at 9.30am.
Hours later at about 6.30pm her body was located off a dirt track at Hallett Cove wearing only her boots.
Her jumper and coat were draped over her body and her bra was left hanging on a nearby wire fence.
There was evidence that Susi was sexually assaulted with police saying it was likely she was assaulted and murdered at a different location to where she was found.
Before the tragedy, the teen told a friend a stranger had offered to drive her home after her first night shift on Tuesday that same week.
Susi had gotten into the man’s car and he dropped her home.
It is understood the man suggested taking her for a drive in the Adelaide Hills and she had to insist on being taken home.
The man was described as unattractive, with pimples and aged about 30.
Police renewed their efforts to solve Susi’s murder in 2016 in hopes modern DNA databases and technologies would lead to a breakthrough.
Pearce Family
January 5, 1991
Stuart Pearce has been on the run for more than 30 years after police allege he murdered his wife and three young children before setting his home alight.
Meredith Pearce’s remains were found tied to a chair with a towel pushed inside her mouth, and her three children Adam 11, Travis, 9, and Kerry 2, were suffocated with plastic bags over their heads.
Their bodies were found inside their Parafield Gardens home after it was set alight with petrol before 7.10am.
The sole surviving sibling Matthew had spent the night at a friend’s house.
Mr Pearce, the husband and father of all the children, has not been located since the murders and remains the leading suspect.
His Datsun 240k was later found abandoned at Kilkenny Shopping Centre.
While there have been several reported sightings of the man in SA, interstate and overseas, none have been confirmed.
Mr Pearce is the only person on SA Police’s Interpol red notice list, which allows law enforcement worldwide to provisionally arrest him if he is found.
Lily Jean Schettini
June 1, 2010
Who caused Lily Schettini’s traumatic head injuries in her Smithfield Plains home, remains unknown.
The 18-month-old baby was found dead in the bedroom she shared with her three-year-old sister as a result of acute, blunt head trauma, consistent with being shaken or her head hit against a hard surface.
Despite the frantic attempts of neighbours and paramedics, Lily could not be resuscitated.
Police say the assault could have happened overnight Monday or Tuesday morning.
Marilyn Ruth Qualmann
September 21, 1975
Marilyn Qualmann disappeared at just 14 from her Riverland home without a trace.
She was last seen by her sister about 9am in their home at Moorook on Sunday, September 21, 1975.
There were suggestions that Marilyn had run away from home but investigators believe something much more sinister happened to the teen.
She was reported missing the next day. It is believed she has been murdered.
Heather Turner
January 16, 1998
A fortnight after she went missing teenager Heather Turner was floating in a creek at Port Gawler on January 31, 1998.
The 16 year old schoolgirl had visited her friend Kali Edmonds at Semaphore on January 16.
It is understood Heather had intended to go home after leaving Kali’s house but she was last spotted in the early hours of January 19 at a Davoren Park home with a group of people aged in their 20s.
It is believed the house was occupied by petty criminals.
A fortnight later, Heather’s body was discovered partly submerged in a creek at Port Gawler, fully dressed in what she was last seen wearing.
The only thing missing was her distinctive shoulder bag.
It appeared she was violently assaulted and her body was kept on dry land for days before it was dumped in the water.
Police believe the group of people Heather was last seen with hold the key to the case.
Rhianna Barreau
October 7, 1992
It was a regular Wednesday during the school holidays when Rhianna Barreau walked to a nearby shopping centre to buy a Christmas card for her pen pal.
The 12 year old visited Southgate Shopping Centre at Reynella to purchase a card to send to the US.
She was forced to take the trip on foot as there was a bus strike that day.
The last known sighting of Rhianna was at 12.30pm on Highway Dr, between Morphett Vale High School and the Stanvac Primary School.
The Christmas card she had purchased was found at the home by her mother when she returned home about 4.10pm.
It is possible Rhianna was abducted from her house or in public when there were no witnesses on the street. All of her personal belongings were inside the home.
Although decades have passed, forensic officers have re-examined more than 200 pieces of evidence in the hopes of a breakthrough in the case.
Michaela Godau
April 15, 1967
The case of missing Michaela Godau is shrouded in mystery.
Born in Germany, the 15 year old girl migrated to Australia with her stepfather, mother, and brother in November 1981, settling in Davoren Park and attending Fremont High School.
However, her mum returned to Germany a year later after struggling to find work as a nurse in Adelaide – leaving her two children with their stepfather.
Police said Mr Godau was not coping with looking after the children and also had difficulty obtaining work.
During this period, the Godau family decided to sell the family home and when a prospective buyer came around to negotiate the purchase of some furniture, they noticed Michaela had an injury to her eye. It is unclear how that injury occurred.
Friction between Mr Godau and Michaela resulted in child welfare authorities intervening and placing the teenager under Anglicare for short periods to defuse the tension at home.
Michaela was last seen going to bed about 10pm on Sunday, December 19, 1982 and the following morning when her family woke – she was gone.
Her stepfather reported her missing that morning, claiming she had taken $460 in cash, toiletries, her passport, and strangely, sleeping pills.
Mr Godau initially co-operated with investigations, but after being questioned in relation to his Land Rover, he sought legal advice.
He sold that vehicle to a Northern Territory tourism operator in the late 1980s and it has since disappeared, ending all hopes of having the vehicle forensically examined.
Police believe Michaela was murdered and the circumstances around her disappearance were manufactured in an attempt to mislead the investigations.
Darren ‘Jason’ Shannon
June 9, 1973
Darren ‘Jason’ Shannon was taken by his father during an access visit on June 9, 1973 – and never seen again.
The 11-month-old baby was taken from his grandparents’ Davoren Park house.
Just two hours after his father John Shannon took Jason, he was killed in a head-on collision with another vehicle on Main North Rd just south of Roseworthy.
A search of the vehicle and the crash scene failed to locate the baby.
After extensive searches conducted by police, with significant local and national coverage, Jason was never found.
Police believe the baby was either murdered by his father before the crash – and disposed of the body in an unknown location – or the father gave Jason away to a relative or friend to raise in secret.
Juan Morgan
Disappeared in 1992
It took police seven years to identify 15-year-old Juan Morgan as missing.
It was only a 1999 investigation into the disappearances of three other men – Leo Daly, David McWilliams and Robert Pendergast – that police discovered Juan was missing.
Authorities began making inquiries with Juan’s relatives and confirmed the teen hadn’t been seen since 1992.
It is believed Juan was likely murdered sometime after February 25, 1992, when he was taken to an unknown location – possibly in the eastern region of the state – where he was shot, killed and his body buried.
Juan’s murder was likely motivated by his involvement in a car theft from a criminal associate, as well as causing damage to property.
There are at least two suspects for Juan’s murder. One of those suspects is also believed to be involved in the disappearance and probable murder of the other three men.
The key suspect was the ringleader of a group of men involved in different crimes throughout the 1990s, including car theft and rebirthing, drug dealing and importation, theft, property related offences and standover tactics.
Major Crime detectives continue to investigate the disappearances of all four victims under Operation Jarrah but the lack of evidence means no murder charges have been laid.
As part of the long-running investigation, several stolen cars, firearms, drugs and other stolen items have been seized.
The suspect, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, could be one of South Australia’s most notorious killers.
Richard Kelvin
June 5, 1983
Richard Kelvin was abducted only a few hundred metres from his family home and held captive for weeks before he was murdered in 1983.
The 15 year old teenager was snatched on Sunday, June 5 around 6pm, in a laneway off Ward St which was a mere 300m from his house.
In the moments following, a loud exhaust was heard but the car has never been identified.
Witnesses later claimed to have heard raised voices in the area which led investigators to believe there was more than one person involved in the abduction.
Richard was held captive at an unknown location for around five weeks – during that time he was drugged and submitted sexual abuse and torture.
Then, on July 24, his body was found near a dirt airstrip at Kersbrook while a family was searching for moss rocks.
Forensic examinations of Richard’s body indicated he had been washed and re-dressed after his death. Toxicology reports showed traces of alcohol and sedative drugs.
In early November of the same year, Bevan Spencer von Einem was arrested and eventually sentenced to life imprisonment for Richard’s murder.
His death was linked to The Family Murders and despite the conviction it is considered a cold case as police remain on the search for von Einem’s accomplices.
It is believed four young men were killed by the same perpetrators, including Alan Barnes, 17, Mark Langley, 18, Neil Muri, 25 and Peter Stogneff, 14.
Alan Arthur Barnes
June 18, 1979
The 18 year old was reported missing by his concerned mother when he failed to return home after visiting a friend on June 18, 1979.
A week later the body of Alan Barnes was found beneath the South Para Bridge, near Williamstown – although it is believed he was not killed in the area and his body was washed and re-dressed before being dumped.
A forensic examination revealed Alan had died no more than two days earlier and there were alcohol and sedative drugs in his system. Similar to the circumstances of Richard Kelvin.
Alan’s movements in the period between being reported missing and the discovery of his body are unclear although several people came forward alleging sighting of him.
One witness report that is considered credible suggests that Alan was in the company of two males a night before his body was located.
Those two men are known to police and are considered to be prime suspects for the murder.
It is believed Alan’s murder is associated with the Family Murders.
Peter Stogneff
August 27, 1981
Peter Stogneff, 14, just wanted to skip school for the day and meet his cousin at Rundle Mall on a Thursday, August 27 of 1981.
Instead he became the centre of SA’s most notorious murder investigations.
Unfortunately, Peter’s cousin never made it to the city and it is unclear if the young boy made it into Adelaide’s centre.
He was reported missing the same day by his parents and what happened to Peter remained a mystery for the next 10 months.
In early 1982 a farmer was clearing land adjacent to Middle Beach Rd at Two Wells by bulldozing bushes and box thorns before setting them alight.
The farmer left the fires burning for two days.
When he returned on June 22, 1982, he located a human skull that had been revealed after the fire.
The man contacted the police the following morning and the skeletal remains were identified as Peter’s.
Police received information during their investigation which places Peter at Tea Tree Plaza with a man on the day of his disappearance. That male has never been identified.
It is believed this murder is linked to the Family Murders.
Dylan Robert James Lindsay
March 28, 2004
This year marks the 20 year anniversary of the violent murder of infant Dylan Robert James Lindsay which some attempted to disguise by drawing on him with texta.
The body of the one-year-old boy was found at an Ellen Street property in Port Lincoln with horrific injuries on March 28, 2004.
Dylan suffered visible abdominal injuries and had been the victim of a serious assault.
His list of injuries included five fractured ribs, a lacerated liver, bruised heart and swelling to his brain.
An unknown person had attempted to hide Dylan’s injuries with texta to cover the bruises.
The two people caring for Dylan that night – Frank Neil Kartinyeri and de facto wife Vickie Cherie Kent – were charged with his murder.
The charges were later dropped due to a lack of evidence.
A witness had told police they heard loud yelling from a man about 2am on the Sunday but investigations encountered difficulties due to a reluctance from the local community to provide evidence to authorities.
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