Three Children, One Pound Note, and Sixty Years of Silence

2026-08-01 · Vanished Without a Trace · 8 min read

Adelaide was in the middle of a heatwave on 26 January 1966. It was Australia Day, a public holiday, and the temperature in the South Australian capital was climbing towards 40 degrees. At 109 Harding Street, in the quiet seaside suburb of Somerton Park, three children asked their mother whether they could go to the beach.

Their father, Grant Ellis Beaumont, known to everyone as Jim, was a travelling salesman for a linen company and had left on a sales trip. Their mother, Nancy, was at home. Jane Nartare Beaumont was nine, a careful and protective older sister. Arnna Kathleen was seven. Grant, named for his father, was four. Glenelg beach was a five minute bus ride from the corner near their house, and the three had made exactly the same trip alone the day before and come home on time.

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