There was a university boarding college in Ward Street and a hotel in Margaret Street and unusual noises were heard all the time.
I couldn’t believe it. The poor kid was fifty metres from his home and he had been grabbed and pushed in a car. He would have been rushing home for dinner when someone approached him.
Good on him, I thought. At least he tried to resist. But he was unlucky to have been snatched late on a Sunday afternoon in the streets of North Adelaide. Those streets are not exactly like Hindley Street nor those of Sydney’s Kings Cross.
Now, at least this confirmed our thoughts that he had been abducted. He didn’t just wander off. We were ninety-nine per cent sure but this news confirmed it.
By this time, Richard Kelvin’s disappearance was declared a major crime, the same as the disappearances of all the boys. Declaration by police that a crime is considered major allows set procedures to occur and additional resources to be pulled from other sections of the police to assist with the investigation. A team leader is appointed and a primary investigatory team is nominated. The primary team is allocated the task of interviewing any suspects while secondary team members provide a supporting role. An exhibit officer is appointed to handle any property seized by detectives. The Major Crime Plan formalises each person’s duties and allocates responsibilities. Trevor Kipling and I were nominated as the primary investigation team for the Kelvin disappearance. Trevor’s previous partner, Paul Madden, had started working with Lin Strange as primary team members, investigating the unusual disappearance of Louise Bell, a young girl, from her bedroom in the southern suburbs. While this seemed a completely unconnected case at the time, it did sap police resources.
Trevor organised the crime scene examiners to attend Rob and Betteanne Kelvin’s home after he went missing. They examined his bedroom and took samples of his hair from a brush. These hairs were obtained for comparison purposes if Richard’s hairs were found at some other location, such as in a house or a car of a suspect. Also, we took one of Richard’s schoolbooks, which had his handwriting in it, in case we received a ransom note.
As we normally do, police media requested assistance from the public and we received different bits of information. The most interesting phone call was from an anonymous caller saying that Richard Kelvin was being kept in a caravan in the hills. The call was a local one and when Adelaide people talk about the hills they are referring to the Adelaide Hills, which extend roughly north and south for sixty-three kilometres just to the east of the city.
Where do you start when you are looking for a caravan in the Adelaide Hills? Was it a false lead? Were the abductors giving a false lead to divert police efforts in the wrong direction? Trevor assessed it as worthwhile. Besides, Alan Barnes had been dumped in the northern part of the Adelaide Hills at the South Para Reservoir. Mark Langley also had been dumped in the central Adelaide Hills. We weren’t having much luck with any of the other leads, so we decided to concentrate on the hills north of Mount Lofty and also publicise that we were looking for a caravan. Obviously, that would alert Richard’s abductors and they would have an opportunity to move him or even kill him. Making the decision to release the information was an extremely difficult one, but the area was so vast that police could not search it alone. Publicity was the best option, with the hope that something would happen. Trevor spoke to our boss, Chief Superintendent Gerry Edwards and the information went out.
Trevor and I spent some time in the emergency services helicopter, Rescue One, flying over the hills — over the Mt Crawford Forest and the towns of Kersbrook and Williamstown. A few caravans were spotted, but not that many. Besides, many would have been stored in sheds on different properties. The search was long and unrewarding.
Other detectives were added to the team to provide extra resources for the investigation. Among them were David Hunt, the son of the Commissioner of Police, and Peter Woite, the former footballer, who had played for Port Adelaide and Glenelg. Peter won the Megary Medal for the best and fairest player in the South Australian football league.
On Sunday 24 July 1983, seven weeks after Richard Kelvin disappeared, the investigation took a real turn. Trevor Holmes was collecting moss rocks from the scrub adjacent to Mt Crawford Forest. The forest is situated in the northern Adelaide Hills, about two kilometres from the township of Kersbrook and about five kilometres from the reservoir where Alan Barnes was found. He was walking in the scrub next to a dirt and gravel airstrip that slopes down a ridge for 300 metres from the forest towards the coast. Crop-dusters used the airstrip to service the local rural community and the dirt road that ran diagonally from the airstrip towards the city was appropriately called Airstrip Road. Standing on the eastern edge of the airstrip, you could see the coast and tall chimneys of the Torrens Island power station that stood next to the Port River on the opposite side to Mutton Cove, where Neil Muir was found.
Richard was found about fifteen metres from the airstrip and about fifty metres from Airstrip Road. At the time anyone could drive from Airstrip Road straight onto the airstrip past the small sheep yard on the left. Now, a fence stops cars driving on the airstrip, and a locked gate allows access by forest rangers to the airstrip and the fire-track that runs off to the north alongside the edge of the