Suzie Ratcliffe’s sister Joanne disappeared 53 years ago, abducted with her friend, Kirste Gordon during an AFL match at Adelaide Oval in August 1973. No trace of them has ever been found.
Tonight – and every October 21 – Suzie is asking Australians to leave a light on in memory of the two little girls and all the other long-term missing persons, to let them know they are not forgotten.
“Leave A Light On is a day of reminding these families that they are not alone, their loved ones matter, and we will continue to stand beside them, keeping their stories alive and their voices heard,” Suzie tells Woman’s Day.
“Because behind every missing person is a family waiting, a story unfinished and a light that will never be extinguished.”
Currently, there’s nearly 3,000 open long-term missing persons cases in Australia – with each case representing a heartbroken family desperately looking for answers.
Hoping for answers
Suzie started Leave A Light On Inc in 2016 to support the families of missing persons like her own.
“My family’s lives were shattered when my 11-year-old sister Joanne was abducted,” says Suzie.
“Despite extensive investigations, researches, numerous apeals and a $1 million dollar reward, to date both girls have never been located.”
Joanne was just 11-years-old while Kirste was just four-years-old when they were last seen by relatives. They left their seats to go to the toilet together and never returned.
Sensing something was terribly wrong, Joanne’s parents Kathleen Les, frantically searched the 13,000-strong crowd, but were unable to find the girls.
Eyewitnesses later told police they’d been Joanne screaming and fighting with their abductor, who has never been identified, but assumed it was jut a father dealing with an unruly child.
Pain of not knowing
In February 2014. the reward for any information that would help solve Joanne and Kirste’s disappearance, along with 12 other long-term missing persons cases was increased to $1 million – but no new information surfaced.
“Leave A Light On is so much more than just an organisation to me, the pain of not knowing never goes away,” Suzie says.
“Every day brings unanswered questions, heartache and the hope that one day, answers will come.”
Leave a light on
After five decades of not knowing what happened to Joanne and Kirste, Suzie still holds onto hope that someday new information may come to light.
But until that day comes, she’ll continue leaving her porch light on for her big sister, just like Kathleen did every night until she passed in 2019.
“Every year going forward we ask you to leave a light on, as a symbol of hope for families and to brighten the paths home for our missing,” Susie says.
“You can’t have peace without the missing pieces.”
