Coroner releases findings after convicted pedophile Errol George Radan, key suspect in 1973 Adelaide Oval abduction, dies in prison

A prolific child sex offender believed to be linked to the mysterious abduction of two girls more than 50 years ago has likely taken secrets to the grave after dying in his cell in Queensland. Errol George Radan died on October 26, 2022 after spending almost four decades locked up in Queensland’s Wolston Correctional Centre. He was aged 83. Radan was imprisoned in Queensland in 1984 on heinous offences of indecently dealing with a girl under the age of 14 and carnal knowledge and had been kept in custody under an indefinite detention order. At the time of his death, Radan was considered a key suspect in the disappearance of Joanne Ratcliffe, 11 and Kirste Gordon, 4, from South Australia’s Adelaide Oval on August 25, 1973. Both girls went to the toilet at 3.45pm that day and never returned. Their bodies have never been recovered. In 2025, a private search began into the disappearances, focusing on two key areas between Jamestown and Orroroo in South Australia’s Mid North. The search yielded the discovery of a mysterious bone fragment at one property. Detectives attempted to interview Radan as early as 2019 about his potential involvement in the alleged abduction, but he refused. Any secrets he may have held into the girls’ disappearance have since been taken to the grave in the three-year window SA Police had for a follow-up interview with him. In a statement, a South Australia Police spokeswoman said police would not confirm if Radan was a person of interest or suspect in the investigation. “SA Police are aware of the discovery of a bone fragment by private investigators on a property in the Mid North of South Australia,” the spokeswoman said. “If the private investigators substantiate that the bone fragment is human, then SA Police expect to engage with them at that time. “The disappearance of Joanne Ratcliffe and Kirste Gordon remains an active and ongoing investigation.” Pedophile refused meds before death At the time of his death, Radan had been transferred to the palliative care unit of the Princess Alexandra Hospital’s secure unit following a stroke at the jail just a week prior. Investigating police found no suspicious circumstances into his death. In his findings, State Coroner Terry Ryan found that Radan died of natural causes as a result of a “left middle cerebral artery cerebrovascular accident”. He had no visitors or phone calls in jail for more than 20 years. At the time of his death, Radan was prescribed medications to treat epilepsy, blood clotting, heart attacks and strokes and to lower his cholesterol. In April 2020, Radan asked the prison’s health service not to provide him with some medications, telling them: “I will not enter into any discussion concerning my decision.” He suffered an “unwitnessed seizure” in prison in July that same year and was taken to hospital. In March 2021, Radan wrote several letters stating he did not want to receive further treatment for epilepsy or strokes from the hospital. A senior medical officer at the Princess Alexandra Hospital noted: “Mr Radan’s reasoning for refusing further treatment for stroke and epilepsy is that he is 82, has receptive aphasia from prev stroke and he finds this very frustrating. “He understands that refusing treatment for epilepsy and stroke may result in his death.” Mr Ryan said Radan had made numerous requests to refuse medications – along with outright refusals to take them when they were administered - over the following year until October 2022. Radan was found lying on the floor of his cell by prison staff at 8.50am on October 19 that year, conscious but “unable to stand”. He was taken to the secure unit of the hospital but his condition rapidly deteriorated days later until he died on October 26. Mr Ryan accepted the advice of Dr Jessica Page, from Forensic Medicine Queensland, on how Radan’s refusal to take dabigatran for his blood clotting “significantly” contributed to his death. “Dabigatran is an anticoagulant (a blood thinning medication) prescribed to reduce the risk of blood clots developing when someone has atrial fibrillation,” Dr Page opined. “It does not eliminate this risk; however, it is more likely than not that had Mr Radan taken his dabigatran as prescribed he would not have developed the stroke seen on CT angiogram.” Mr Ryan said no inmates, correctional or health care staff at the hospital or prison contributed to Radan’s death. “It is an accepted principle that the health care provided to prisoners should not be of a lesser standard than that provided to other members of the community,” Mr Ryan wrote. “The evidence tendered at the inquest established the adequacy of the health care provided to Mr Radan when measured against this benchmark.” In August 1984, Radan was resentenced to three years’ jail and admitted to an institution following a successful appeal of his sentence, but six years later the same court denied an appeal against his conviction. The High Court of Australia in 2014 dismissed Radan’s appeal against an indefinite sentencing order.