Story of boy kidnapped by father

Darren Jason Shannon (aka Jason) was a fair-haired, blue-eyed 11-month-old when he went missing on Saturday the ninth of June, 1973.

Jason's father, John ‘Barry’ Shannon, grabbed his son from the boy's grandparents' house in the Northern suburbs of Adelaide, during an entrance visit.

He snatched baby Jason at around 6:50 pm that night, Jason has never been seen since. At about 9:15 pm that night John Shannon was murdered in a head-on collision with another car on Main North Road, just south of Roseworthy. Baby Jason was not in the vehicle, the scene was fully searched but there was no sign of Jason on the road, in the surrounding regions, or the car. They found no sign of the baby ever again.

Police believe it is likely that John Shannon killed his son and removed his body somewhere that night, only to then die in a car accident. John had several mental health problems and was said to have been acting strangely that day.

Another deterrent was that Adelaide was in the grip of a winter storm the night baby Jason was snatched. John may have potentially thrown his son into a swollen river or stormwater drain, making finding his body near tough. No remains have been found.

The other theory that police do not fully discount is that John may have given his son to an anonymous person, and that person has gone on to raise baby Jason as their own, unknown to Jason. The likelihood of this is quite small, especially supposing the large media coverage at the time, but it can't be truly discounted until a body is found.

If this was the case he would be 46 years old today.

When John 'Barry' Shannon grabbed Jason from the lounge that night, baby Jason's grandfather made chase but could not catch up. He even ran back to his car to follow, but could not find John. Jason's mother Michelle said that this played on her father's remembering for a very long time afterward.

Michelle, John's wife left Adelaide with her parents and returned to the United Kingdom in early 1974. She remembers being “very mixed up’’ and feeling bad about leaving Adelaide without her baby son. “I immigrated to Australia to make a new life and I felt sorry, very sad to leave. I loved the people,’’ she said. “People think you should just adopt, but you can’t. You don’t feel whole if that makes sense. There is a void, a hole, and it needs to be filled. It was many a year that every morning when I woke up my first thought was of Jason,’’ she said. “One day, it was years after, I woke up and it was odd because he wasn’t the first thing I thought of. But there is not a day I don’t think of Jason."

Jason was last noticed was wearing a long white nightdress, blue buttoned-up cardigan, and a nappy. 

Rewards up to $1,000,000 will be paid by the Government of South Australia, at the discretion of the Commissioner of Police, to anyone who gives information and assistance that leads to the belief of the person or persons responsible for the suspected killing of Darren Jason Shannon (and/or leading to the location and recovery of the victim’s remains). 

Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800333000