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<v Speaker 1>Now pull up close, friend, let me tell you a

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<v Speaker 1>truth that most folks don't like to think about. We've

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<v Speaker 1>all been talked from time war in short pants that

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<v Speaker 1>the Boogeyman lives in the dark. We're told he hides

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<v Speaker 1>under the bed, or waits in the deep ink black

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<v Speaker 1>woods where the moonlight can't reach. But now that's a

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<v Speaker 1>comforting line, ain't it. The truly terrifying truth is that

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes the Boogieyman don't need the dark to do his work.

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<v Speaker 1>Sometimes he walks right out into the blistering midday sun,

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<v Speaker 1>wearing a bright smile and a golden tan. You don't

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<v Speaker 1>believe me, just ask the folks of Adelaide, Australia. They'll

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<v Speaker 1>tell you about the summer of nineteen sixty six, and

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<v Speaker 1>they'll tell you about today. The innocence of a whole

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<v Speaker 1>nation was swallowed up by the sand. It was January

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<v Speaker 1>twenty six, Australia day. Now down in that part of

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<v Speaker 1>the world, January is a dead middle of summer. In

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<v Speaker 1>this particular day, it was a scorcher. We're talking one

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<v Speaker 1>hundred degrees in the shade, the kind of heat that

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<v Speaker 1>makes the air shimmer of the asphalt and makes the

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<v Speaker 1>chicken ate his scream in the gum trees. Over in

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<v Speaker 1>a quiet, safe little suburb, Jim and Nancy Beaumont were

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<v Speaker 1>letting their three kids head down to the water to

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<v Speaker 1>cool off. There was Jane, the oldest at nine, responsible,

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<v Speaker 1>careful little mother. Hen then there was Arna, seven years old,

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<v Speaker 1>and little Grant, who was just four. They were good kids,

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<v Speaker 1>cautious kids, the kind of children who wouldn't take candy

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<v Speaker 1>from a neighbor they had known for five years without

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<v Speaker 1>looking back at their mama for permission. Jane, especially, folks

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<v Speaker 1>said she was as shy as a field mouse. The

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<v Speaker 1>plan was simple enough. The beach lin Elk Beach was

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<v Speaker 1>just a short five minute bus right away. The children

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<v Speaker 1>had made the trip one hundred times. Nancy gave them

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<v Speaker 1>a few coins for busfair and told them to buy

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<v Speaker 1>some meat pies for lunch. She kissed their heads and

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<v Speaker 1>told them to catch the noon bus back and off

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<v Speaker 1>they went, three little blonde heads bobbing down the street,

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<v Speaker 1>their towels slung over their shoulders, walking right into the

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<v Speaker 1>mystery that still won't let them go. Now. The beach

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<v Speaker 1>was packed that day. Imagine the sea of humanity, Thousands

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<v Speaker 1>of people crammed onto the white sand. Colorful came with

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<v Speaker 1>umbrellas blooming like wild mushrooms, children splashing in the surf,

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<v Speaker 1>radios blaring cricket matches, and the heavy sweet smell of zinc,

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<v Speaker 1>kareem and salt water hanging in the thick air. It

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<v Speaker 1>was a crowded, noisy, vibrant place. But out there, amiss

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<v Speaker 1>the thousands of regular folks, there was a predator hiding

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<v Speaker 1>in plain sight. When the noon bus rolled back into

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<v Speaker 1>the Beaumont's neighborhood, Nancy was waiting at the bus stop.

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<v Speaker 1>The doors hissed open, a few folks stepped off, and

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<v Speaker 1>the doors closed back. No Jane, no Arna, no grant.

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<v Speaker 1>Now Nancy felt a little floater of worry. You know

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<v Speaker 1>how it is kids lose track of time. They missed

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<v Speaker 1>the bus. She went back home, figured to be on

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<v Speaker 1>the two o'clock bus. But when the two o'clock bus

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<v Speaker 1>came and went, that little flood of worry turned into

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<v Speaker 1>a cold stone in their stomach. By the time the

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<v Speaker 1>three o'clock bus pulled away empty, the panic had fully

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<v Speaker 1>set in. Jim came home from work and the two

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<v Speaker 1>of them rushed down to the beach. Their eyes darting

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<v Speaker 1>over the nouth, ding crowds culling out those three names

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<v Speaker 1>until their voices went hoarse against the crashing waves. By nightfall,

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<v Speaker 1>the police were involved, and when they started asking the

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<v Speaker 1>beach course what they had seen that afternoon, the blood

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<v Speaker 1>in the detective's veins ran ic cold. Multiple witnesses, good

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<v Speaker 1>honest folks, came forward with the same exact story. They

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<v Speaker 1>had seen Jane, Arno and Grant planting in the sand

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<v Speaker 1>under the sprinklers. But they weren't alone. They were with

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<v Speaker 1>a man. He was described as tall, thin, but athletic,

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<v Speaker 1>with sun bleached blonde hair and a deep leathery tan.

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<v Speaker 1>He was wearing nothing but a pair of swim trunks.

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<v Speaker 1>And here is the detail that'll keep you awake, good

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<v Speaker 1>night friend. The children were not afraid of him, Oh no,

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<v Speaker 1>those three shy, timid children who had been lectured a

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<v Speaker 1>hundred times about a stranger doing were seen laughing and

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<v Speaker 1>splashing with this man as if he were a beloved uncle.

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<v Speaker 1>He even went over to the local bakery and bought

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<v Speaker 1>them some meat pies with a one pound note. The

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<v Speaker 1>witnesses just smiled bigger, and he was a family friend

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<v Speaker 1>or maybe an older cousin keeping an eye on them.

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<v Speaker 1>Why wouldn't they It was a beautiful afternoon. This monster

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<v Speaker 1>didn't have horns or fangs, hit, a charming smile, and

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<v Speaker 1>a pocket full of money. Now the police realized with

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<v Speaker 1>a sickening jolt that this man hadn't just snatched them,

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<v Speaker 1>He had groomed them. Arna had recently told her mother

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<v Speaker 1>Jane got a boyfriend down at the beach. Nancy had

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<v Speaker 1>initially laughed it off, thinking it was just child's play,

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<v Speaker 1>a harmless crush on some boy building sandcastles. She didn't

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<v Speaker 1>know that the boy was a grown man, occasionally laying

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<v Speaker 1>his trap in the sun. Now, the last credible sighting

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<v Speaker 1>of the Beaumont children was by the local postman, a

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<v Speaker 1>man who knew the kids well. He saw them walking

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<v Speaker 1>away from the beach around three o'clock in the afternoon,

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<v Speaker 1>headed toward the main road, holding hands, walking in a lane,

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<v Speaker 1>and they seemed completely happy, And then nothing. It was

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<v Speaker 1>as if the Australian Earth simply opened up his fiery

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<v Speaker 1>mall and swallowed them whole. Then what followed was the largest,

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<v Speaker 1>most desperate man hunt in the history of the country.

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<v Speaker 1>They brought in tracker dogs, They dredged the ocean, They

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<v Speaker 1>dug up sinkholes and scoured the bush limb. They searched

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<v Speaker 1>every shed, every bandoned well, every cellar for hundreds of miles.

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<v Speaker 1>The desperation got so thick you could cut it with

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<v Speaker 1>a knife. The parents even flew in a famous psychic

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<v Speaker 1>from the Netherlands, the guy named Gerard Crosat. He walked

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<v Speaker 1>around town in a trance, pointing at a newly excavated

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<v Speaker 1>warehouse site, claiming the children were buried under the fresh concrete.

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<v Speaker 1>The public outcry was so loud that the city actually

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<v Speaker 1>forced the owners to tear up the foundation. The jackhammers

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<v Speaker 1>bit into the stone, tear it apart, chunk by chunk,

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<v Speaker 1>while a heart broken nation held its breath sadly, they

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<v Speaker 1>found nothing but dirt and broken rock. No clothes, no bones,

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<v Speaker 1>no answers. Now, over the decades, the police chased down

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<v Speaker 1>thousands of leads. They received cruel hoax letters from folks

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<v Speaker 1>claiming to be the kidnapper. They investigated every drifter, every

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<v Speaker 1>local creep, every dying man who wanted to declare his conscious.

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<v Speaker 1>Then every few years a new suspect would make the headlines.

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<v Speaker 1>Men with cold eyes and dark histories, but the evidence

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<v Speaker 1>always slipped through the detective's fingers like fine dry sand.

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<v Speaker 1>Jim and Nancy Beaumont stayed in that same house for decades,

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<v Speaker 1>keeping the same phone number, bringing that one day the

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<v Speaker 1>phone would ring and Jane's voice would be on the

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<v Speaker 1>other end, explaining that it had all been a terrible misunderstanding. Sadly,

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<v Speaker 1>the Beaumonts passed away during that jagged, open wound, with

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<v Speaker 1>him right to their graves. The vanishing of those three

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<v Speaker 1>little ones did something terrible to the soul of Australia.

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<v Speaker 1>Before that day, kids ran free. They rode their bikes

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<v Speaker 1>until the street lights came on. They hitchhiked, they took

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<v Speaker 1>the bus to the beach alone. But after January twenty sixth,

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen sixty six, the locks click shut on the front doors.

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<v Speaker 1>Parents held their children's hands a little tighter, their eyes

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<v Speaker 1>scanning the crowds for a tall, blonde man with a

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<v Speaker 1>charming smile. The innocence of an entire era was snuffed

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<v Speaker 1>out in a single afternoon. So you see, the Boogeyman

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<v Speaker 1>don't need the dark friend. Oh No, sometimes he just

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<v Speaker 1>needs a crowded beach, a sunny day and a smile

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<v Speaker 1>that makes you trust him right up until the moment

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<v Speaker 1>he leads you off the edge of the world. Next

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<v Speaker 1>time you're in a crowd standing in the right sunlight,

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<v Speaker 1>take a good look at the folks smiled at you,

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<v Speaker 1>because you never really know what kind of shadow they're casting.