Murder of Sian Kingi
Female Juvenile Abduction Case
Sian Kingi (16 December 1974 – 27 November 1987) was a twelve-year-old New Zealand-Australian girl of Maori descent who was abducted, raped and murdered in Noosa, Queensland in November 1987. Barrie John Watts and Valmae Faye Beck, a married couple, were convicted in 1988 of the much-publicised crime. Watts was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. Beck would have been eligible for parole after 14.5 years, but died while she was still incarcerated.
Disappearance
At around 4:30 p.m. on Friday, 27 November 1987, Sian Kingi, a twelve-year-old schoolgirl, was last seen riding her yellow 10-speed bicycle home after school near Pinnaroo Park in Noosa Heads. Just beforehand, Kingi had been shopping with her mother, and took her regular route home afterwards through the park. When her mother arrived home and Kingi was not there as expected, it was assumed that she had met friends from her school or her volleyball team was delayed. Later, when Kingi still did not return, her mother began calling the homes of her friends without success. By 8 p.m., Kingi's parents began retracing her steps, and after retrieving her abandoned bicycle from the park, visited the local police to report the disappearance.
The public source identifies “Murder of Sian Kingi” as female Juvenile Abduction Case. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Murder, Sian and Kingi.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Murder of Sian Kingi”, the useful work is to connect “female Juvenile Abduction Case” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6938060. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1974, 1987 and 1988.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Murder of Sian Kingi”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Murder of Sian Kingi primary sources, Murder of Sian Kingi archive and Murder research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Murder of Sian Kingi”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Murder of Sian Kingi” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.