The disappearance of the Beaumont children

has never been solved. 

Those of you in other parts of the world probably won't be aware of the disappearance of three young siblings in 1966. They had gone to the beach - alone - and they never returned.

Now for three children to go to the beach alone at that time was not unusual. There would almost certainly have been people around who knew them.  Of course it would be considered highly irresponsible now. Any parent allowing three young children to do that would be up before the authorities for abuse and neglect but this was almost sixty years ago and things really were different then. There were a great many more people out walking. Not as many people owned cars. Many other parents did the same thing. We children roamed the streets alone. Children went home when they felt hungry or someone else's mother told them the time.

So, how did three children disappear? It is one of the great unsolved mysteries in this state. It is not the only unsolved mystery but it is one which has haunted anyone who cares at all. 

I mention it now because the media has just made the death of their father public. Their mother died several years ago. The couple had separated before then. It is hardly surprising. Neither parent married again. That is hardly surprising either. According to the press they lived "quietly". The father was said to be particularly quiet and retiring. I have sometimes wondered what his life must have been like.

They endured weeks of publicity, often negative publicity for allowing the children to do what children did back then. Their lives were investigated and dissected, allegations were made and then retracted as new allegations were made. It was front page news for weeks as the police made exhaustive inquiries. 

I cannot comprehend how they managed at all. Over the years interest in the case would be reignited from time to time. Each time it must have increased the sheer horror of it all. There was the Dutch clairvoyant who claimed to have some sort of knowledge. Nothing came of it. There were others who claimed similar things. At one time we were told the children were thought to be alive and in another state. That seemed unbelievably cruel to me. A few short years ago there was another dig on a factory site - nothing came of it.

And all that time the parents were enduring the unimaginable horror of losing not just one but three children and not knowing what had become of them. They must have wondered every time there was a knock on the door or the phone rang. Christmas and the birthdays of the children would never have been the same. Seeing other families celebrate these things must have been almost unbearably hard.

Losing a child, any child, would be hard enough but losing three is beyond my comprehension. It would be far, far worse when you did not know what had happened to them.

Both parents lived long lives. That seems strange and yet not so strange. It was almost certainly because they had never quite given up hope that the three children might walk in the door. It might have been because they silently believed that, if they lived long enough, they would find out what had happened.

How can three children just disappear like that? Even now someone must know something even if they are not aware of knowing what they do. Will we ever know? It does not seem likely. I just wish we had been able to do something for their parents.