Final excavation in Beaumont siblings cold case begins as shock new link revealed

A surprising new link between the Beaumont children and a key suspect in their disappearance has been revealed as the last search for their remains begins.

A shocking new link between the Beaumont children and a key suspect in their disappearance has been revealed as a final bid to uncover their remains begins.

Excavators began digging up the former Castalloy factory site in North Plympton, Adelaide on Saturday, launching a week-long effort to find the missing siblings’ remains before the government-owned land is sold to developers.

The search is expected to dig deeper and cover a new area.

It comes almost 60 years after nine-year-old Jane, seven-year-old Arnna and four-year-old Grant went missing from Glenelg Beach on January 26, 1966.

Their remains have never been found.

MP Frank Pangallo, forensic archaeologist Professor Maciej Henneberg, retired major crime detective Bill Hayes and author Stuart Mullins at the Castalloy factory site searching for the remains of the missing Beaumont children. Picture: NewsWire / Brenton Edwards

Those in attendance at the site on Saturday included SA MP Frank Pangallo, forensic archaeologist Professor Maciej Henneberg, retired major crime detective Bill Hayes and Stuart Mullins, one of the authors of a 2013 novel on the Beaumont cold case.

It was there that Mr Pangallo revealed a familial connection between the Beaumonts and a key suspect in the cold case, businessman and Castalloy site owner Harry Phipps.

Mr Pangallo said he was told by a person close to the Beaumont family last week that following the siblings’ disappearance, Phipps’ niece was married to a cousin of the children’s father, Jim, as reported by The Advertiser.

“That hasn’t been previously known and it’s another link in this case that shows Mr Phipps could have known the Beaumont kids and the family,” Mr Pangallo said.

“It’s another piece of circumstantial evidence that points to (Phipps) being the prime suspect ... we of course did verify that fact with family members and others that knew them.”

The current excavation is the third and final one at the disused site.

Excavators dig at an old factory site in a last-ditch attempt to find the remains of the three missing Beaumont children before the government-owned site is sold to developers. Picture: NewsWire / Brenton Edwards

The third excavation attempt will go deeper and include one untouched area. Picture: NewsWire / Brenton Edwards

Two searches have already been conducted at the factory site - the first in November 2013 and another in February 2018 - but both were unsuccessful.

Following the 2018 investigation, Detective Superintendent Des Bray said they had exhausted their options.

“I can confirm that we have searched the areas of interest and reached the bottom of those areas and gone well below so that we can be 100 per cent certain,” Superintendent Bray said.

(L-r) Jane, Arnna and Grant who went missing on a trip to Adelaide’s Glenelg Beach. Picture: File Photo

Eldest daughter Jane had been entrusted by parents Jim and Nancy to look after her younger siblings on the five-minute journey to the beach from their Somerton Park home.

Around midday, the siblings had visited nearby Wenzel’s Bakery where they bought lunch with a £1 note – more money than Jane’s mum said she gave her.

(L-R) Grant, Arnna and Jane were witnessed in the company of a man who appeared to be in his 30s.

A shop assistant at the bakery recalled the children mentioning “the man” and witnesses said they saw the children playing at Colley Reserve with a tall, blond, thin-faced man who appeared to be in his 30s.

The leading suspect is businessman Harry Phipps, who died in 2004.

Phipps was a local factory owner who lived just 300m from the Glenelg beach.

His estranged son Haydn Phipps has claimed he saw the Beaumont children arrive at his father’s property and be carried out.

The book The Satin Man: Uncovering the Mystery of the Missing Beaumont Children by Alan Whiticker and Stuart Mullins did not name Phipps, but it did lead him to become a prominent suspect in the disappearance of the Beaumont children.

Stuart Mullins was at the SA site this morning as the final excavation attempt commenced. Picture: NewsWire / Brenton Edwards

In a 2018 interview with A Current Affair, Haydn’s son Nick Phipps shared more details of his father’s claims.

“My father was actually in a treehouse at the property. He saw them come in and saw them getting carried away and put into the back of a Cadillac,” Mr Phipps said.

When asked where the bodies were taken, Mr Phipps said “Castalloy”.

These allegations have been publicly refuted by Phipps’ youngest son Wayne.

There were also separate claims from two brothers that they were asked by Phipps to dig a hole at the factory.

The Beaumont children’s parents have both died - Jane Beaumont in 2019 at 92, and Grant “Jim” Arthur Beaumont in 2023 at 97.