Authorities continue to search for new clues in the nearly 60-year-old case of the missing Beaumont children, with a fourth possible site being identified as the privately run excavation enters its fourth day.
This week, brothers David and Robin Harkin returned to the site of the former Castalloy factory, where they claim to have been paid as boys to dig a grave-like hole just three days after the disappearance of Jane, Arnna, and Grant Beaumont from Glenelg Beach in Adelaide in 1966.
The brothers allege the request came from the former owner, the now-deceased businessman Harry Phipps, who is widely considered the prime suspect in the children’s disappearance. Based on new information, authorities plan to examine this fourth site, which is just a few meters from the third.
Independent MP Frank Pangallo said, “Once there was a shed that stood there on a concrete slab. It’s important that we explore that area while we’re here, in case the grave had been dug there.”
Pangallo noted that this excavation was far more extensive than previous digs in 2013 and 2018. “We really wanted to leave no stone unturned in trying to locate the area that the Harkin brothers, David and Rob, had dug three days after the children disappeared in 1966. We’re still looking for that area. The excavator has moved back to area number one after they had a look at the site yesterday because they recalled that the area they had dug contained a lot of sandy soil, unlike the harder material found at sites two and three.”
“The deeper we went, and I think we’ve gone down about five meters so far, the material is clearly fill added over the decades. It’s very hard soil, and it would have been very difficult for two boys to dig that with shovels. They were adamant that when they were here, it was sandy, and occasionally the sand would collapse on them. That suggests that site number one is another area of interest. The excavators moved in there yesterday and excavated more material.”
While the police are not directly involved in this dig, they are closely monitoring its results.
