‘I’m not going to give up on my sister’ – How a hat can keep the secret of the missing girls, aged four and 11, who disappeared at a football match

The small, handmade clay ashtray in her guest room isn’t very attractive – but for Suzie Ratcliffe it’s one of her most prized possessions.

Her sister Joanne did it at school for her parents when she was little, but for Suzie, now 49, its meaning is bittersweet.

6

That’s because 50 years ago, 11-year-old Joanne disappeared from a football match, along with a four-year-old girl called Kirste Gordon, and they were never seen again.

For Suzie, her sister’s disappearance is even more heartbreaking because she was born 14 months after Joanne disappeared, so she never met her.

Disappeared into thin air

Suzie’s family’s nightmare began on August 25, 1973, when Joanne went to a local football match with her parents, Kathleen and Les, and her older brother.

There, they met another local family, four-year-old Kirste, who was there with her grandmother.

Towards the end of the match, Kirste needed to go to the bathroom and Joanne offered to take her.

She had taken Kirste to the bathroom at the start of the game, so her parents agreed as long as they returned immediately.

But ten minutes later, they hadn’t returned and Joanne’s parents knew something was wrong.

After a frantic search of the land and being unable to find the girls, they raised the alarm with security guards and called the police.

But the pair simply disappeared into thin air.

6

‘Every parent’s worst nightmare’

From the beginning, Suzie’s family and the police believed that the girls were kidnapped.

“It’s every parent’s worst nightmare, their world was destroyed in minutes,” says Suzie.

“Joanne was a very responsible and protective girl, and when she took Kirste to the bathroom earlier, our parents told her to never leave Kirste’s side.

‘I truly believe she didn’t do it, and the girls were taken together.’

Police began a search and both a witness at the football ground and a 13-year-old boy, Tony Kilmartin, said they saw a man in a hat carrying a girl out of the stadium.

An older girl was behind, she was distressed, pulling his arm and crying.

He was able to give police a strong enough description to make a sketch of the identity kit.

“I think that boy saw Joanne desperately trying to stop someone from kidnapping Kirste,” explains Suzie.

6

The trail has gone cold

His description matched that of a few more witnesses who told police they had also seen a man carrying a little girl down a walkway away from the football field, with an older girl who was very distressed beside him.

My parents were never the same… Dad searched the streets every night for years.”

Suzie Ratcliffe, Joanne’s sister

Tragically, after those sightings that day, the trail went cold.

“My parents were never the same. Dad searched the streets of our hometown of Adelaide in South Australia every night for years, looking for Joanne,” says Suzie.

“When I was a child, I often asked my parents who the girl was in the photo with them on the fireplace.

“Mom explained that a bad man had taken her. I desperately wanted her to come home so she could play with me.

“At night, I could hear my parents crying in their room.”

‘Mom left the porch light on every night’

During the initial investigation, police interviewed known local sex offenders, believing the man who kidnapped the girls from Adelaide Oval was likely a paedophile.

“They had several suspects in mind, but nothing ever came of it,” says Suzie.

“Yet for years Mom and Dad waited for Joanne to come home, Mom left the porch light on every night just in case.”

Suzie now believes that the man who kidnapped the girls actually only intended to take Kirste, but because Joanne was so determined not to leave Kirste’s side, her fate was also sealed.

6

A difficult acceptance

Sadly, Suzie’s father died in 1981, eight years after the girls disappeared.

She explains: “When he passed away, my parents accepted that it was unlikely that Joanne was still alive.

“It was not knowing where the girls were that kept them in limbo.

“Mom used to say that she no longer wanted to know what happened to them, or even that she needed justice, but that she just wanted us to be able to bury them with the respect and love they deserved.”

Mysterious underground bunker

Finally, in 2014, a $1 million reward was offered for information.

That same year, police received a tip and began searching a large property in Yatina, SA, where there were two wells.

The property belonged to known pedophile Stanley Arthur Hart.

Although Hart died in 1999, his family confirmed that he supported one of the teams playing in the football match that day and that he rarely missed a game.

It was also discovered that Hart’s childhood home was just a few miles from the football field and had a underground bunker, which had been filled since the girls’ disappearance.

But unfortunately, police found no evidence of the girls in either property.

Hart’s hat, however, was recovered and turned over to police in case it was found to be significant in the investigation.

“It’s a hat very similar to the one in the photo in the identity kit”, explains Suzie.

“There were other persons of interest but I believe Hart is the most likely suspect, his description closely matches the sketch in the ID kit, right down to the hat, and it is likely he was at the game that day.”

6

Hope…and heartbreak

With each new potential lead comes new hope and heartbreak.

“Every time the phone rings, you wonder: Is this it?” says Suzie.

Determined to move the investigation forward, Suzie also did her own detective work.

“I really started looking into the case after having my own daughter and, fully understanding the unimaginable pain my parents suffered, I wanted to find out what happened to Joanne for my mother,” she says.

More family tragedy

Tragically, Suzie’s mother passed away in 2019 and her brother in 2020. “I’ve lost my whole family now,” she says.

“I had hoped to have answers for Mum before she passed away, but devastatingly, that didn’t happen.”

“I hope before my time is up I can bring the girls home and lay them to rest.”

Suzie Ratcliffe

In 2022, Suzie herself was diagnosed with breast cancer, but fortunately, after chemotherapy, she is recovering well.

“I hope before my time is up I can take the girls home and put them to rest,” she says.

Determined to keep the case in the public eye, Joanne created a group called Leave a Light On Inc. to share the story of Joanne and Kirste and other families of missing people, so that their loved ones are not forgotten.

Suzie adds: “When a family member goes missing, you live in limbo every day – you never get closure.”

“So as long as there is breath in my lungs, I will not give up looking for my sister.”

6