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Police say bones found during a private search for two girls who disappeared in the 1970s are not human. (Supplied: Bryan Littlely)

Forensic testing of bone fragments found during a private search for evidence relating to two girls who vanished in 1973 has determined the remains are "not human", police say.

Joanne Ratcliffe and Kirste Gordon disappeared from Adelaide Oval in August 1973.

SA Police say social and mainstream media speculation around cold cases can generate "false hope".

Link copiedShareShare articlePolice have issued a public warning against social and mainstream media speculation that creates "false hope" in missing person cold cases, after bone fragments found during a private investigation into the disappearance of two girls more than 50 years ago were deemed "non‑human".

Joanne Ratcliffe, 11, and Kirste Gordon, 4, were last seen alive on August 25, 1973, when they left their families to walk to the toilets at Adelaide Oval.

They never returned, and their suspected abduction and murder remains one of the country's most perplexing cold cases.

Last year, a private search for evidence began at a property near Yatina, 220 kilometres north of Adelaide in the state's Mid North region.

Bone fragments uncovered during that search were handed to South Australia Police in July and September 2025.

In a statement, SA Police said a bone handed to Major Crime detectives in July had, before it was received, been "cut into five small fragments" which had "compromised forensic testing".

Joanne Ratcliffe and Kirste Gordon went missing from Adelaide Oval in 1973. (SA Police)

A forensic anthropologist at Forensic Science SA (FSSA) examined the fragments, with an initial assessment indicating the fragments were not likely to be human.

Police said further testing, including micro‑computed tomography (Micro-CT) scanning, was conducted and reviewed by a specialist anthropologist.

"The expert concluded that the fragments were not human bone," SA Police said in the statement.

But police said because the fragments had previously been cut, it was "extremely difficult for experts to determine whether it was human or non‑human through visual examination alone".

"If the bone fragment had been human, the way it was handled, cut, and packaged could have significantly hindered the extraction of DNA and may have prevented the identification of a deceased person," police said in the statement.

Kirste Gordon was four when she disappeared from Adelaide Oval. (ABC News: Nicola Gage)

Police said a further two bone fragments that were handed to police in September 2025, and examined by the forensic anthropologist at FSSA, were also found to be "not human".

Police had searched several sites of interest in the state's Mid North more than a decade ago, but nothing of importance was discovered.

In its statement, SA Police said the private searches and investigation had been the subject of ongoing social media speculation, and they urged the community and media outlets to "exercise caution and responsibility" when sharing information about missing person cases.

It said while the sharing was often "well-intentioned", reporting about "unverified or speculative information" could "significantly hinder investigations and cause profound emotional harm" to the families of missing persons.

"It can inflict deep and unnecessary pain on families of missing persons and homicide victims by creating false hope," Major Crime Investigation Branch officer-in-charge Detective Superintendent Darren Fielke said.

Police had conducted a search for Kirste Gordon and Joanne Ratcliffe in the area more than a decade ago. (SA Police)

Bryan Littlely, journalist and co-founder of missing persons awareness group Leave A Light On, organised the private search last year and said the bone samples were taken by a gem-cutter under the advice of a professor in forensics.

Mr Littlely added that the Yatina dig, which was continuing in a separate location, had the "full support" of Suzie Ratcliffe, Joanne's sister.

He said he would now seek third-party forensic testing but stressed it was not an "us and them" situation with SA Police.

"We're doing it with compassion and with deliberate action as well."

In a post on Facebook following the police statement, Mr Littlely said that if what he had found was animal bone, "it means only that we have not located human remains during our limited, perfectly legal, exploration of a site" that investigations led to.

"I will continue to present potential evidence to SAPOL and adhere to their instruction regarding their investigation," he said.

SA Police said it had conducted several searches and excavations at Yatina in connection to the disappearance of Joanne Racliffe and Kirste Gordon but had "not uncovered any evidence to confirm" any link to the disappearance.

"SA Police will not conduct any further searches in the Yatina area," it said in its statement. 

"The Ratcliffe/Gordon case remains an ongoing investigation and any credible new information that becomes available will be followed up."

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