Unsolved The Beaumont Children

[DropBearess]

Thank you for that table of info! I had this somewhere but haven't been able to find it.

I think Percy's motivation was to make a sick fantasy come true. Amongst his horrifying 'writings' was his desire to abduct multiple children so he could torture and kill them, one at a time, while the others watched. I believe he was Jane's "boyfriend at the beach". The opportunity arose, he had their trust, so he went ahead.

 

[Lyn]

Has anyone ever investigated this sinkhole?

I know BL wanted to years ago, but the current owner wouldn't let them. Something like that. SAPOL hasn't

 

[Lyn]

I wasn't aware there was any evidence to suggest AM or MM was involved? Can you share the details of this?

My thoughts are that i'm uncertain about the motive behind the Beaumont abduction. In cases like the Adelaide Oval and the Mackay sisters, the motives seem relatively clear - both were cases of snatch & grab abductions. However, the modus operandi (MO) of the Beaumont suspect contrasts sharply with that of the Adelaide Oval case

Derek Percy fits many of the characteristics associated with the Beaumont abduction, and he is also strongly linked to the Wanda Beach murders a year earlier, in 1965. Given that he was only 16 when he committed those murders -killing two 15-year-old girls -it seems likely that he could have abducted three younger, pre-pubescent children a year later

Abductions involving multiple children in a single event are extremely rare. Here are a few notable cases:

- Katherine and Sheila Lyon: Two sisters, aged 10 and 12, disappeared from a shopping centre on March 25, 1975, in Wheaton, Maryland, USA

- The Sodder children: In 1945, five siblings; Maurice, Martha, Louis, Jennie, and Betty - vanished during a house fire in Fayetteville, West Virginia. Despite the fire destroying their home, no remains were found, leading to suspicions of kidnapping. The family believed the fire was staged to cover an abduction, though the case remains unsolved

- The McStay family: In February 2010, the McStay family, including two young children, Gianni (4) and Joseph Jr. (3), disappeared from their home in Fallbrook, California. Their remains were found in the Mojave Desert in 2013. Charles "Chase" Merritt, a business associate of Joseph McStay, was convicted of their murders in 2019

- The Groene family: In May 2005, Joseph Edward Duncan III murdered three members of the Groene family in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and abducted siblings Shasta (8) and Dylan (9). Duncan held the children captive for weeks before being apprehended. Tragically, Dylan was killed during captivity, but Shasta was rescued

Given the rarity of such abductions and the unique nature of the Beaumont case, I find it difficult to discern the motive. The suspect in this case is truly exceptional and deviates from typical patterns

Thanks so much for that information. Yes, in my eyes, the BC were groomed, the AO case, maybe the same offender, but became more brazen. Both of these, were in plain site of other people.

 

[diorama]

Thank you for that table of info! I had this somewhere but haven't been able to find it.

I think Percy's motivation was to make a sick fantasy come true. Amongst his horrifying 'writings' was his desire to abduct multiple children so he could torture and kill them, one at a time, while the others watched. I believe he was Jane's "boyfriend at the beach". The opportunity arose, he had their trust, so he went ahead.

My understanding is that's their 16 year old cousin (possibly 15 at the time), Tony, with his hand on Jane's head. There seems to have be another, younger cousin - still living - from their aunty Joyce. Their uncle Max also had two kids. It's not clear if they ever met, but Max was 34 at the time of the abduction, so it's entirely possible if not probable. My point is, it's likely they had a healthy framework for what's age appropriate, and any 16 or 17 year old would have been way too old. Not impossible, but I think the limit would be somewhere around 12, or it wouldn't have flown under the radar so easily.

Speaking of Max... there were two Maxwell Beaumonts born around 1931-32. One was the long lost kids' uncle, Maxwell Beaumont - no middle name on any documentation i've been able to find - the other, Maxwell John Beaumont, who was convicted of indecent assault as a 13 year old back in 1945. He seems to have been raised by a single father after his mother died when he was 2-3 years old. He was a plumber in 1966, Sands McDougall lists his address, State Gazette records match details. There don't seem to be birth notices for either, but a mix of newspaper reports, police gazette and military records show them to be very close in age. But to be very clear, the Beaumont Children's uncle Max is definitely NOT a known sex offender. He's reported as saying he was driving a tour bus in Tasmania at the time of the abduction, and there doesn't seem to be any reason to doubt that. It should be a safe assumption that the family's been thoroughly checked over the years.

As for MJB - if the motive for the children's abduction was a combination of revenge (at least one indecent assault and whatever might have happened in juvie), that might go a long way to explaining the total failure of the investigation, and the apparent absence of an escalation that would be expected from a sex offender. That leaves a few questions - did investigating police find out if their uncle Max spent time with them at the beach that summer? (use of his name in presence of someone aware of/affected by MJB's past, might have unwittingly made the kids a target?) If not, he may have spoken to his wife, kids or friends about it, without realising the potential significance. Have they spoken to MJB to determine identity of known enemies/victims? He'd be in his 90s now, and may still be alive - if there were other victims, or enemies made in detention, the consequences would be negligible at this stage.

 

[wheretheresawill]

Doesn't look like a 15 or 16 year old. His wife is there.

 

[wheretheresawill]

I've researched this case for over 50 years, using all information l could get my hands on. I lived near Glenelg and am very familiar with the area; the demographics, the terrain, the beaches and the vast areas of vacant land at the time.
I have extensively picked apart all the known possible suspects and l still come up with the same name. I think Derek Percy, only 17 at the time, abducted and killed the children. I have multiple reasons why l believe this. Percy has never denied he committed this crime and in 1969, was responsible for the most heinous child murder ever known in Australia. I think the Phipps story is bollocks.

It's excellent to see this case still being actively discussed here!

I started reading this thread somewhere around where you first posted for some pages. What do you think about the news report somewhere in the last few pages of the children buying buns, pasties, pie and two bottles of coke with the one pound?

 

[wheretheresawill]

In this clip from the NFSA, channel Nine reports on the Bakery sighting

https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/curated/asset/98626-missing-beaumont-children-significant-clue

Police seem to dismiss it at the time

some Ch 9 show from 2014

https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/curated/asset/99409-disappearance-beaumont-children

Here it is.

 

[DropBearess]

I started reading this thread somewhere around where you first posted for some pages. What do you think about the news report somewhere in the last few pages of the children buying buns, pasties, pie and two bottles of coke with the one pound?

I'm so glad to see new ideas and new posters here! We mustn't let this case be forgotten or lay dormant. If this crime had happened yesterday, (13/1/25), the resources we have now would have found the children by today, alive or deceased. In 1966, most households didn't have phones. Mine didn't, the Beaumonts didn't. TV was our only source of news. Some of us had the Advertiser thrown on our lawns next morning. 90% of us had no idea the children were missing until then. Any leads, sightings and witnesses could not contact police or were already useless. A family member reported a queue outside Glenelg Police Station of about 150 people all night who felt they could help. Two police officers dealt with this on their own using typewriters. Some people couldn't wait in the heat, so left their details on scraps of paper. Given all this, compared to now, it's astonishing we have based our case on such incredibly scant information and statements from less than 10 people whom SAPOL took seriously at the time.

A huge aspect we need to remember is that hundreds of people might have held the vital clue. It could have been Mr-Average-Nobody who had witnessed something he/she felt uncomfortable with, but had waited long enough in the heat and needed to catch a bus home to feed his/her cats. May have woken next morning and thought they'd imagined it anyway. No Crimestppers or CCTV in those days.

I do need to say the Phipps and M theories aren't an option for me. Pounds notes and white purses existed in their thousands in 1966. I feel these have muddied the waters and has led people to believe the case has been solved when it hasn't. My opinion only.

The Bakery sighting is a big one for me. There are so many options to explore here:-

* The Bakery had a queue leading to the footpath. The Beaumonts' bus stop was right outside. Two people serving, hot day, manual cash register, hungry kids everywhere. The lady serving was the ONLY witness.

* Maybe the children did go there as instructed by mum, spent the money she gave them on the food she asked for and accidentally missed the bus. They walked home. If this happened, then they were abducted between the Bakery and home. The Bakery witness was wrong about currency after serving hundreds of people, but otherwise correct. Percy intercepted their journey.

* If the children did indeed spend a pound on up to 10 pastries and buns and 2 glass bottles of soft drinks, how on earth did they carry them in addition to around 20 items they were already carrying? If it was Percy, he could have easily been with them unnoticed in the fray. Did his parents bring his bike to Glenelg? Did he carry their shopping and offer little Grant a lift on his handlebars? We need to bear in mind Percy's terrible writings depicting filling children with food and drinks, then on it goes.....too disgusting to repeat.

My point here is that it's folly to base a 1966 case on dubious witness accounts. As Ron Iddles says "the answer is in the files". My theory is that someone inadvertently holds a crucial clue; maybe Joe Blow number 133
or whatever, who saw something vital and communication prevented it. Maybe there was info given in the first 24 hours and SAPOL missed it under the pressure. Maybe the man seen playing with three kids under the sprinklers was an interstate dad on holiday, who to this day doesn't realise the kerfuffle?

I think we are on the right track when we focus on a "who done it" and who COULD have done this and why. Concrete evidence doesn't exist. Most 'witnesses' are deceased. Abducting and killing three children was unheard of before 1966 and is still is. No forensic evidence exists. So let's keep sleuthing on with theories and keep this thread alive!