Imprisoned pedophile not be ruled out as suspect in Adelaide Oval abduction of Joanne Ratcliffe, 11, and Kirste Gordon, 4

Major Crime detectives have not ruled out a deceased Queensland pedophile as the man who took two girls from Adelaide Oval in 1973, confirming they interviewed him several years ago.

A deceased man who South Australian police visited in a Queensland jail to interview over the 1973 Adelaide Oval abduction of two girls could not be ruled out as a suspect before his death.

SA Police have confirmed Major Crime detectives travelled to Queensland in 2019 to conduct inquiries into the abduction of Joanne Ratcliffe, 11, and Kirste Gordon, 4, 50 years ago.

The subject of their inquiries was Errol George Radan, who was incarcerated in prison for other matters.

Radan declined to take part in an interview with police.

Detectives conducted a search at an address in the western suburbs previously connected to Radan, however no evidence relating to Ratcliffe or Gordon was located.

Radan died in prison last year.

Joanne Ratcliffe, 11, was one of the girls who disappeared from Adelaide Oval.

Kirste Gordon, 4, disappeared from Adelaide Oval with Joanne Ratcliffe on August 25, 1973.

Police said they were unable to incriminate or eliminate him from the investigation.

The girls disappeared from an SANFL football match between North Adelaide and Norwood at Adelaide Oval on Saturday, August 25, 1973.

They were last seen leaving the John Cresswell Stand to go to the toilet at the rear of the stand during the late stages of the third quarter of the game.

A witness who was selling confectionary at the oval saw a male person pick up and carry a small young girl, which caused another older girl to tug at the male’s arm.

At the time they were leaving the ground via the southern gates.

The witness provided a description of a male he saw and an identikit sketch was prepared in relation to that description.

The sketch of the abduction suspect.

Major Crime’s Detective Inspector Mark McEachern said the investigation into the abductions and suspected murders of the girls is ongoing.

The suspicion remains that the male seen leaving with the two girls is the offender in this matter.

“In the 50 years that has passed, police have conducted thousands of lines of inquiry into the disappearance of the girls,” Det Insp McEachern said.

“Unfortunately, the investigation remains unsolved.”

There remains a $1m reward on offer if information leads to the conviction of the person or people for the murder of Joanne and Kirste, or for information leading to the recovery of the bodies.

If anyone has information about this investigation, they should call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.