A former police officer investigating the Beaumont children disappearance has revealed the prime suspect’s son told him the location of their final resting place.
The revelations come as police said they were just 80cm from an anomaly in the ground as they excavate land at an Adelaide factory which is at the centre of a renewed search for the missing trio.
Police said the excavation is expected to slow when they reach the anomaly, which is expected to be late on Friday afternoon.
Former policeman Bill Hayes on Thursday revealed that he spoke with the son of prime suspect – and former owner of the factory – Harry Phipps.
Mr Hayes said Hayden Phipps told him that his father was a paedophile and that he had buried the children in a sandpit at the North Plympton industrial site.
‘He told me [Phipps] was taking [the Beaumont children] to a place, a factory, that the father owned,’ Mr Hayes told A Current Affair.
‘His exact words were, ”they are in the sand pit, Bill”.’
Two brothers told police in 2013 they spent the 1966 Australia Day weekend digging a large hole at the Adelaide factory at the request of owner Harry Phipps (pictured)
Former policeman Bill Hayes said that in the years following their disappearance he spoke with the son of prime suspect in the Beaumont children disappearance
Former policeman Bill Hayes said Hayden Phipps (pictured), the son of the prime suspect, told him that his father was a paedophile and that he had buried the children in a sandpit
Phipps died in 2004, but his son, who accused his father of years of sexual abuse, believed he had a part in the crime.
Other family members discredited the son’s story in the years since.
Phipps also bore a resemblance to an identikit picture prepared at the time, and lived close to Glenelg Beach, where the children were last seen.
Attention is focused on a small section of ground at the North Plympton site where recent scientific tests revealed the possible presence of a large hole dug there.
The trio never returned after leaving their parents’ Glenelg home for an afternoon at the beach on Australia Day, 1966
A digger is seen at the site of a factory in North Plympton in Adelaide on Friday morning
The excavation at the North Plympton site commenced at 8am on Friday morning
Detective Superintendent Des Bray inspects the dig site at a factory in North Plympton
Two brothers revealed in 2013 they had spent the 1966 Australia Day weekend – when the children vanished – digging a hole at the request of Harry Phipps.
Detective Chief Inspector Greg Hutchins said there are innocent explanations for the anomaly, but it could also be a major breakthrough in Australia’s most enduring cold case.
‘We have our fingers crossed, we hope for the best but we do want to temper expectations,’ he said at the site on Friday.
‘Clearly we have an anomaly which we need to investigate.’
Police said they were ‘hoping for the best’ as they began excavation on Friday at the Adelaide factory
The industrial site in Adelaide is at the centre of a renewed search for the missing trio
The dig got under way on Friday morning and by early afternoon had come within about 80 centimetres of the area of most interest.
Detective Chief Inspector Greg Hutchins said work had proceeded as planned but might slow as more earth was exposed, and police would be guided by forensic experts on site.
‘This is a slow and methodical search. Currently, we’ve excavated to a depth of about a metre,’ Insp Hutchins told reporters at the scene.
‘I can’t have a guess what they might find but now it’s methodical digging, looking.
‘The good thing is it’s very sandy and it’s very easy for them to see or identify any strange object, thing, rubbish, clothing.
‘As they get further down, that’s when we obviously need to be closely observing what’s happening within the dig site.’
There is currently a police presence at the North Plympton site that is the focus of renewed investigations
Nine-year-old Jane, seven-year-old Arnna and four-year-old Grant have never been found
A range of experts will be present on Friday while the site 9pictured) is dug up
The Beaumont children never returned after leaving their parents’ Glenelg home for an afternoon at the beach on Australia Day, 1966.
Their disappearance sparked a wide-scale search operation, but nine-year-old Jane, seven-year-old Arnna and four-year-old Grant were never found.
An initial excavation at the North Plympton site proved fruitless, but police now believe they may have been digging in the wrong spot.
Insp Hutchins said police had been in regular contact with the parents of the children, Jim and Nancy Beaumont, and had informed them of Friday’s activity.
‘Clearly the parents of the three Beaumont children have suffered significantly over the last 52 years,’ he said.
A range of experts are present at the site including a forensic anthropologist, a criminologist, crime scene examiners and officers from the major crime division.
The dig is expected to continue for at least several hours on Friday.