New search for Joanne Ratcliffe, Kirste Gordon more than 50 years after disappearance from Adelaide Oval
There has been a major development in the search for two girls who were taken from their families in broad daylight more than 50 years ago.
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The search for two girls snatched from an Adelaide sporting ground in broad daylight more than 50 years ago has reportedly been renewed.
Joanne Ratcliffe, 11, and Kirste Gordon, 4, were with their families at an AFL match at Adelaide Oval on August 25, 1973.
The two girls left the Edwin Smith stand, where they were seated with their families, and went to the toilet together at about 3.45pm.
When the two girls failed to return, Joanne’s father began searching for them, and a missing person’s report was filed a short time later.
Witnesses claim they saw the two girls being forcibly removed and carried away by a man, believed to be aged in his 40s.
Joanne and Kirste were never seen again, with police long believing they were likely abducted and murdered.
A composite sketch of the man believed to have taken the girls - in which he is wearing a distinctive hat - was released by SA Police in September 1973, and has been regularly associated with the case in the decades since.
This week - more than 50 years after their disappearance - a renewed investigation for the girls will begin, according to reports from 9News.
Joanne’s sister Suzie Ratcliffe says it may finally bring peace to their family.
“Families of long-term missing persons, we can’t move on - we’re living a life of limbo, not knowing what happened to our loved ones,” she said.
More than 2,000 lines of inquiry have been followed by investigators since the girls’ disappearance.
The renewed search, which will be undertaken by private investigators, is expected to focus on two key areas between Jamestown and Orroroo in the state’s mid-north.
Each site has been described in a handwritten claim by convicted pedophile Mark Trevor Marshall, who accused his father, Stanley Arthurt Hart, of the girls’ abduction and murder.
One of the sites is a small farm near the town of Yatina and a tunnel near the Pekina Reservoir, a short distance from the rural community, where Marshall claimed the girls’ remains were hidden in barrels.
“The statement that Mark Marshall made, put an X on the map on that exact spot, and said this is where the two girls were buried and disposed of in barrels,” journalist Bryan Littlely told 9News.
A previous investigation into the tunnels at the reservoir was conducted in 2009, and while detectives did discover barrels, they contained no evidence of the girls inside.
Detectives have also conducted searches of nearby wells and Hart’s farmhouse, but all searches failed to provide any evidence.
Despite the years of fruitless searching, there is hope the renewed investigation will finally bring some closure to Joanne and Kirste’s families.
“If it’s thoroughly excavated and thoroughly searched, then we can rule that out,” Ms Ratcliffe said.
“I’m tired of being quiet, I’m tired of waiting, I’m tired of just being tired - I want the girls home.”
Originally published as New search for Joanne Ratcliffe, Kirste Gordon more than 50 years after disappearance from Adelaide Oval
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