The discovery of an underground bunker in a 41-year-old cold case where two young girls went missing from Adelaide Oval , may provide a breakthrough for investigators . Joanne Ratcliffe , 11 , and Kirste Gordon , 4 , disappeared from the sporting field during a match between Norwood and North Adelaide on August 25 , 1973 . Police have chased more than 2000 leads of inquiry since the girls disappeared 41 years ago , and the case shocked the country and became one of the nation 's most infamous murder mysteries . Fresh leads have now been uncovered that place the case 's key suspect - Stanley Arthur Hart - at the ground when the two young girls went missing , according to the Adelaide Advertiser . Joanne Ratcliffe , 11 , ( left ) and Kirste Gordon , 4 , ( right ) went missing from Adelaide Oval on August 25 , 1973 . In addition to this detectives have found an underground bunker at Hart 's childhood home , which was deserted for a year from March 1973 . Hart , who was a known paedophile , died in 1999 . Former properties of the man have previously been extensively searched as part of the investigation into the abduction of the two children . Stanley Arthur Hart was named by his grandson , convicted paedophile Mark Trevor Marshall , in a 2007 confession provided to the Mullighan Inquiry into abuse of children in state care . Now Hart 's childhood home in Prospect , about 8 kilometres from the Adelaide CBD , has now come under scrutiny after officers excavated two wells at another of his former homes in Yatina last year . An old underground bunker found at Hart 's Prospect home , which had two entrances and could fit at least four adults , is believed to have been filled in some time before 1975 , but after the disappearance of the girls . Police released this sketch at the time of the girls ' disappearance appealing for information about this man , who is said to closely resemble what Hart looked like at the time . Joanna Ratcliffe 's ( pictured ) sister Suzanne has urged police to take recent leads in the case seriously . It has also been revealed by The Adelaide Advertiser that from March 1973 , no one besides Hart had any access to the home . The current owners of the home said although there has never been any police interest in the property in the 40 years they have lived there , they would cooperate should the bunker need to be excavated . Major Crime police are currently investigating the link , and the case has been revisited as part of SA Police 's State 's Most Wanted Cold Case Unit move to solve all 110 unsolved murders . 'Major Crime detectives are assessing information recently received in relation to a Prospect address , ' police confirmed . Joannae 's sister Suzanne has urged police to take recently leads into the case seriously . Officers excavated two wells at on of Hart 's former homes in Yatina last year . Suzie , who was born a year after her sister Joanne disappeared , made an impassioned plea for information via a social media campaign in 2012 . 'While people are talking about the case , there is always hope , ' Ms Ratcliffe said . 'It 's time Joanne came home . We are over wanting to know who did it , how they did it and why they did it . ' 'We want to be able to lay ( Joanne ) to rest and lay my dad 's soul to rest also . ' Hart 's family have said while he was not with them at Adelaide Oval on the day in question , he would have 'almost certainly ' been somewhere at the field . Joanne and Kirste were last seen around 5pm on the day they were abducted , in North Adelaide with their abductor . Last year Hart was still the key suspect in the chilling case , and officers knocked down walls and dug up the backyard of his property in Yatina .
Kirste Gordon , 11 , and Joanne Ratcliffe , 4 , went missing August 25 , 1973 . The girls were at Adelaide Oval with their families for an AFL match . The key suspect in the cold case is Stanley Arthur Hart .