Transcript
Britt (0:00)
Hi, crime Junkies.
Ashley Flowers (0:01)
I'm Ashley Flowers.
Britt (0:02)
And I'm Britt.
Britt (0:03)
And I've got news.
Ashley Flowers (0:05)
I want to try to bring you.
Britt (0:06)
Guys more case updates when they happen. So we're going to try something new here.
Britt (0:10)
Yep. Tell us if you like it, if you want more.
Ashley Flowers (0:12)
Yes. So five years ago, when we were.
Britt (0:14)
Just baby podcasters, we covered the 1966 disappearance of the Beaumont children. And almost 60 years later, something is happening. But the thing is, you need to know the story to understand the importance of this update. So if you need a refresher, keep listening to our OG episode on the Beaumont children.
Britt (0:37)
But let's take a moment to appreciate how far we've come as podcasters.
Britt (0:41)
Please be nice, like truly be kind. But listen, we got to where we are for a reason. The story is still a good one. So please enjoy this blast from the past. And at the end, we're gonna jump back in and tell you the big news that is happening this week.
Ashley Flowers (0:59)
Hi, crime Junkies, I'm your host, Ashley Flowers.
Britt (1:02)
And I'm Britt.
Ashley Flowers (1:03)
And since yesterday was Australia Day for our wonderful listeners down under, let's not do that. I think we did that in the fan club once where we tried to do Australian accents. It's really bad, you guys. But anyways, we wanted to celebrate by telling you about one of the most infamous and enduring mysteries in Australian history. But before we tell you our story though, we want to send our thoughts to everyone in Australia. During this horrific brush fire season, the Australian Red Cross is on the front lines of disaster relief and we encourage everyone to donate and support their efforts like we are doing. You can find a link on our website or you can go to redcross.org au now, today's story is one of those cases that never really lets go of a country's national imagination. Kind of like JonBenet Ramsey for us here in the US or Madeleine McCann for those in the UK in 1966, three young children left their home to go swimming at the beach on Australia Day and were never seen again. Their disappearance changed Australian life forever and thrust caution into the forefront of parents minds all over the country. This is the story of the Beaumont children. SA January 26, 1966 is a scorching hot day in Adelaide. Despite the weather, the city is brimming with excitement. Because not only is it Australia Day with this long weekend coming up, but there's also an upcoming Ashes cricket test match. So the city is teeming with sports fans from all across the country. The South Australian state capital, Adelaide, is This coastal city on the St. Vincent Gulf. And since the temperature is due to get up to 40 degrees Celsius, which is like 140 degrees Fahrenheit, the local beaches are packed. On this day, everybody has the same idea to beat the heat by heading to the ocean, maybe stopping at one of the local restaurants to pick up some lunch, doing just like the usual stuff to enjoy the day without just hiding inside until the sun goes down. All in all, it is a good, peaceful Wednesday in the city. But then sometime between 5 and 6pm that evening, everything changes. A middle aged married couple comes into the station. Grant, usually known as Jim and Nancy Beaumont, are worried sick because their three young children left home to go to Glenelg beach that morning a little bit before 10 o'clock and they never came back. Now, they were expected to be home first around like noon, but they never showed. And at first their mom, Nancy, just kind of assumed that maybe they lost track of time, maybe they missed the first bus and then they're going to be on the second. So she waits for the next bus to come. But they're not on the 2 o'clock bus either. So the parents try searching on their own at first. But after hours, with no sign of the kids, Jim and Nancy knew that they had to go straight to police. According to Alan Whitaker and Stuart Mullin's book called Searching for the Beaumont Children and their follow up, the Satin man, the police spring into action right away when they get a description from their parents. They learn that Jane is the oldest at nine years old, and she's super responsible, an excellent caretaker for her younger siblings. There's seven year old Arna and four year old, and they learned that she left the house in a pink bathing suit with a little white purse to keep her money in. Now, Jane is also the swimmer of the three. So Jim and Nancy were confident that she would keep an eye on Arna and Grant and make sure that they didn't go too far out into the surf at the very start of this investigation. Police don't want to believe the worst. The initial thought is that maybe the kids lost track of time, kind of like what their mom thought and when they realized, like actually how late that they were, maybe that made them freak out more and things kind of like escalated, right?
