Disappearance of Joanne Ratcliffe and Kirste Gordon
Investigation
Investigation
-------------

Ratcliffe and Gordon were sighted several times in the 90 minutes after leaving their families \- once when trying to attract a stray cat, once with other children, and later, apparently distressed and with an unknown man who was carrying Gordon. Witnesses, unaware of the kidnapping, assumed the suspect was simply a parent with his children. The girls disappeared after the last reported sighting on a bridge near the [Adelaide Zoo](/wiki/Adelaide_Zoo "Adelaide Zoo"). Another witness, however, later reported seeing them between [North Adelaide railway station](/wiki/North_Adelaide_railway_station "North Adelaide railway station") and [Port Road](/wiki/Port_Road%2C_Adelaide "Port Road, Adelaide"), [Thebarton](/wiki/Thebarton%2C_South_Australia "Thebarton, South Australia"). Despite searches, a $5,000 reward, and widespread media attention, the kidnapping quickly became a [cold case](/wiki/Cold_case "Cold case"). 

In 1979, Ratcliffe's father told the [Coroners Court of Queensland](/wiki/Coroners_Court_of_Queensland "Coroners Court of Queensland") that his daughter had been to the oval dozens of times, that she would not have left voluntarily, and that she knew how to use a telephone to call an emergency number. He said she had not met Gordon before that day, and he did not know her parents.

On the fortieth anniversary of the case, Ratcliffe's sister Suzie Wilkinson spoke to the media. She expressed her desire that authorities continue to actively work on her sister's case: 
> "The case has never been officially closed but I would like further investigations into it. I want investigations into more recent developments. I certainly want a little bit more logic put behind why police have dismissed evidence which has been put before them and why things haven't been followed up. We seem to be left in the dark. It might be 40 years to them and just another case, but to us it is 40 years of us not getting to watch Jo grow up. That's 40 years of not having a daughter, a sister, an aunty."

In 2014, a $1 million reward was offered by the South Australian government.

### Suspects

Many of the [suspects in the Beaumont children disappearance](/wiki/Disappearance_of_the_Beaumont_children%23Possible_suspects "Disappearance of the Beaumont children#Possible suspects") are also suspects in this case, including child killers [Bevan Spencer von Einem](/wiki/Bevan_Spencer_von_Einem "Bevan Spencer von Einem") and [Derek Percy](/wiki/Derek_Percy "Derek Percy"). Witness reports led police to believe that they were abducted by a middle\-aged man. Further, the police sketch of the man last seen with the two girls resembles that of the man last seen with the Beaumont children.

[Arthur Stanley Brown](/wiki/Arthur_Stanley_Brown "Arthur Stanley Brown") (1912–2002\) is considered a suspect for both cases, as he bore a striking similarity to an [identikit](/wiki/Facial_composite "Facial composite") picture of the suspect for both cases. A witness reported seeing a manThe suspect in both crimes wore a distinctive wide\-brimmed hat with a low, flat crown. Rare in Adelaide, the hat was common in the north of Australia. near the oval carrying a young girl while another older girl in distress followed. The woman first saw him for a single minute when aged 14, and then identified him 25 years later in December 1998 when she saw him on television.

Another possible suspect is Stanley Arthur Hart (25 January 1917 – 30 June 1999\). Properties previously owned by Hart (one in [Prospect](/wiki/Prospect%2C_South_Australia "Prospect, South Australia"), one at [Yatina](/wiki/Yatina%2C_South_Australia "Yatina, South Australia") in the [Mid North](/wiki/Mid_North "Mid North")) were investigated in 2009 and again in 2015\. He reportedly rarely missed a North Adelaide match, and a decade after the abduction he was found to be a child abuser. On the 50th anniversary of the abduction in 2023, Ratcliffe's sister, Suzie Wilkinson, claimed that "In my heart of hearts, I believe it was Hart".

In 2013, Suzie Wilkinson appealed to the authorities to look into the role that family friend "Frank" may have played in the disappearance of the girls. Frank had accompanied the families to the oval on the day of the girls' abduction, but may not have been formally questioned by police. Frank is alleged to have had intimate knowledge about the girls' routine behaviours during football match outings. Kathleen Ratcliffe said that Frank left his seat for approximately 30 minutes before the girl's disappearance, but later remained seated and did not participate when others formed search parties to look for them. Gordon's grandmother also took notice of Frank's behaviour during the search for the girls saying, "the other man stayed in his seat." 

In 2023, convicted Queensland paedophile Errol George Radan (died 2022) was revealed to have been officially investigated as a suspect before his death. Radan repeatedly offended in South Australia until he was imprisoned for the indecent assault of an under\-14\-year\-old girl in 1984\. An alleged victim of Radan's abuse claimed that Radan bore striking similarity to the identikit sketch of the abductor, and that he began sexually abusing her around the time of the abduction. After Radan left his [Broadview](/wiki/Broadview%2C_South_Australia "Broadview, South Australia") home, it was alleged that both a scrapbook containing clippings of Ratcliffe and Gordon and the clothes of young girls were found in the underground drainage system.


What was the police sketch of the man last seen with the girls described as resembling?