New light on Beaumont mystery
A documentary to air on the disappearance of the Beaumont Children in Adelaide, 1966, will air new evidence pointing towards a possible suspect in the case.
Following Crime Investigation Australia: The Wanda Beach Murders and The Beaumont Children Mystery three adult members of a South Australian family who were abused by their father will claim he was involved in the disappearance of the Beaumont children.
The disappearance of Jane, Arnna, and Grant Beaumont from a beach in Adelaide is a long-standing and unsolved mystery.
One of the interviewees claims to have seen the children in the boot of a car. Producers of the documentary have advised SA Police of the interviews.
They will be aired following the premiere of The Wanda Beach Murders and The Beaumont Children Mystery on the Crime & Investigation channel this Thursday night.
Press Release:
FOXTEL’s locally-produced crime series Crime Investigation Australia will air an exclusive series of interviews that detail sensational new developments and disturbing allegations involving one of Australia’s most infamous unsolved crimes, the missing Beaumont children.
The interviews with members of a South Australian family will be aired as part of a special broadcast that will follow the world premiere of the documentary Crime Investigation Australia: The Wanda Beach Murders and The Beaumont Children Mystery on Thursday, April 26 at 7.30pm (EST) on the Crime & Investigation Network.
After seeing publicity about the program, the family members directly contacted Crime Investigation Australia producers claiming to have new information about the disappearance of Jane, Arnna, and Grant Beaumont, three children who mysteriously disappeared from an Adelaide beach on Australia Day, January 26, 1966.
Hosted by Steve Liebmann, this Crime Investigation Australia special will present excerpts from interviews with three family members, who sensationally claim:
* Their father sexually abused them;
* Their father was part of a paedophile ring operating in and around Adelaide in the 1960s; and
* Their father, a family friend, and others, were involved in the disappearance of the Beaumont children.
The identities of the family members will be disguised for the broadcast and Crime Investigation Australia has alerted the South Australian police to the claims and will make available to them copies of all the original interviews, conducted by the program’s Executive Producer Graham McNeice.
In the interview McNeice asks one of the family members: “do you firmly believe that on that day in January, January 26, that you saw the missing Beaumont children in the boot of that car?”
“Most definitely, there’s absolutely no doubt,” the family member replies.
McNeice also asks the family member why it has taken them so long to come forward if they believed they knew what had happened to the Beaumont children more than 40 years ago.
“I think you have to grow up in a family and have that much trauma and abuse. You can’t live with these things every day and I guess there is a point where you put it in a box and I suppose I had to survive psychologically. I can’t explain why it’s taken so long – you know you live your life as an adult – you can’t live in your childhood forever,” the family member says.
“There is no benefit for me. This isn’t an easy thing to go through because I’ve had to actually tell my own personal life which I don’t really want to be public. I’m still adjusting to it myself and I don’t really want to be seen as a victim. It’s much like the dignity for these children has to be preserved too, they’re not just something I saw in the back of the boot, that’s not who they were, however I have to disclose what I saw.
“I’m doing the best I can to sort this out and it’s been difficult, it’s been very difficult – it shouldn’t be so hard to report a crime and it doesn’t matter how long ago it happened – even if it’s a cold case it has to be treated in new ways, because we know more now.
“It was difficult as a child, I could never do anything about my position. Who was I going to tell – I always felt I was putting other people at risk.”
Another family member adds: “All the pieces started to come together – it was quite phenomenal really. My sister in particular she’s been incredible, her memory is fantastic and I understand that when you have something so traumatic happen to you, you remember it with such clarity it’s incredible, way back 30 years ago I can remember what my father was wearing when he abused me.”
Crime Investigation Australia also spoke with retired Detective Superintendent Mike Hagan, a consultant on the program, who after viewing all of the interview footage said the family members’ claims should be investigated further.
“What I see here is a lot of credibility in terms of what’s being said, in terms of the facts in issue,” Hagan says.
“At the end of the day what you are doing is searching for the truth and it would be a great miscarriage of justice if the truth is in this matter and we overlook it.”
This special series of interviews will air immediately following CRIME INVESTIGATION AUSTRALIA: THE WANDA BEACH MURDERS & THE BEAUMONT CHILDREN MYSTERY on Thursday, April 26, at 7.30pm (EST) on Crime & Investigation Network
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