Australia AUSTRALIA - 4YO AUGUST (GUS) Missing from rural family home in Outback, Yunta, South Australia, 27th Sept 2025

[AmoryK]

Thank you @JLZ

 

[katydid23]

He could be but my guess is somewhere on Oak Park or Bullaninnie (sp?) or the nearby National Park. I think it will be somewhere known to the people involved but ‘secret’ in that it wouldn’t be obvious to anyone else. The National Park is a lower possibility IMO as that would be further away and is open to the public.

Why would someone risk driving too faraway with a body in their vehicle? My guess is one of the homesteads. Because the alleged suspect seems to have made up a story about Gus wandering off in Oak Park, I think the body was concealed “in the opposite direction” - not literally, but with searchers in one area, the body was taken elsewhere.

Another thought is that Jess is more likely to be familiar with Oak Park than Bullaninnie so there’d be a risk she might guess the location.

I wish we had a really clear, exact timeline, in terms of Jess's last actual sighting of her son. I've always wondered if she and Josie set off to the outer pastures very early that morning, and Gus was still asleep.

If so, the actual incident and disposal might have happened the previous night. And that changes everything, in terms of search parameters. The disposal may have happened hours away.

If Jess saw Gus alive and well that morning, then the possibilities are more narrow, There was not enough time to go anywhere besides Oak Park, the nearby National parklands or Bulliainiye....imo

 

[AmoryK]

Agreed @katydid23 It would be nice to have more information re timings and whereabouts of all of them. We don’t even know when Jess and Josie got back.

I mentioned the lack of details in one of my earlier posts. I do think it’s strange. If it’s a question of the suspect disappearing to do something nefarious then knowing the timeline might help local people theorise where the suspect might have gone. People might also have spotted vehicles or dust from vehicles in certain areas. Maybe someone even saw the suspect but, not realising anything was amiss, just waved in greeting.

I’d expect to see the time Jess last saw Gus; when Jess and Josie left the homestead; where they were, how they travelled there, if they were together the whole time; when they returned; what Shannon did when she noticed ‘Gus was missing’ at 5.30pm, what she was doing just prior to this, and how she, Gus and Ronnie spent their day.

Would it harm the investigation to know this? Why haven’t the parents released their own limited timeline about the things they themselves know? Perhaps somebody somewhere knows something, or can put things together to find an answer.

 

[GracefulD1an]

You make an excellent point. Where he is all depends on an accurate timeline of events that, right now, we don’t have available.

 

[RobinCAL]

DBM

 

[Dotta]

I'm not sure
that whoever would dare to bury/hide a body on one's own property.
The property which Police have full access to.
And can search it any time.
The property where family lives and works.

But it is only MO.

Of course,
I'm talking about possible foul play.

But it might be
that the boy is stuck somewhere and there was no criminal activity.

JMO

 

[Raina_the_observer]

I wish we had a really clear, exact timeline, in terms of Jess's last actual sighting of her son. I've always wondered if she and Josie set off to the outer pastures very early that morning, and Gus was still asleep.

If so, the actual incident and disposal might have happened the previous night. And that changes everything, in terms of search parameters. The disposal may have happened hours away.

If Jess saw Gus alive and well that morning, then the possibilities are more narrow, There was not enough time to go anywhere besides Oak Park, the nearby National parklands or Bulliainiye....imo

It would be normal for them to come back to the homestead for lunch. I doubt they would have been out all day. If they were only 10kms away they would have driven back in at lunch.

 

[Morequestionsthananswers]

Agreed @katydid23 It would be nice to have more information re timings and whereabouts of all of them. We don’t even know when Jess and Josie got back.

I mentioned the lack of details in one of my earlier posts. I do think it’s strange. If it’s a question of the suspect disappearing to do something nefarious then knowing the timeline might help local people theorise where the suspect might have gone. People might also have spotted vehicles or dust from vehicles in certain areas. Maybe someone even saw the suspect but, not realising anything was amiss, just waved in greeting.

I’d expect to see the time Jess last saw Gus; when Jess and Josie left the homestead; where they were, how they travelled there, if they were together the whole time; when they returned; what Shannon did when she noticed ‘Gus was missing’ at 5.30pm, what she was doing just prior to this, and how she, Gus and Ronnie spent their day.

Would it harm the investigation to know this? Why haven’t the parents released their own limited timeline about the things they themselves know? Perhaps somebody somewhere knows something, or can put things together to find an answer.

Good points Amory.
Releasing information could help the investigation and lead to finding Gus. If the public knew what vehicle the grandparents used in the days following it might trigger someone’s memory. Can’t see how releasing the timeline could harm the investigation.
I do wonder if phone pings have lead investigators to Bullyaninnie. No doubt Shannon and Josie would feel safe there and be able to hear anyone coming miles away making it easy to go about disposal undetected.
JMO

 

[katydid23]

It would be normal for them to come back to the homestead for lunch. I doubt they would have been out all day. If they were only 10kms away they would have driven back in at lunch.

Right, that makes sense. I wish I'd heard Jess make a statement, about seeing her little guy at lunchtime, and he was having a great time eating his sandwich and playing with his baby brother.

It's sad that we know nothing about anything that happened that day, besides Gus allegedly playing alone in the dirt pile until 5:30 or so.

 

[JLZ]

It would be normal for them to come back to the homestead for lunch. I doubt they would have been out all day. If they were only 10kms away they would have driven back in at lunch.

But suppose Shannon sent them a message, or left them a message, that she and the children wouldn't be home for lunch, with some sort of explanation--she needed to pick something up from the other homestead, or to drive into town. Whatever normal might be, we don't know whether the family met up at lunchtime or not.

 

[AmoryK]

But suppose Shannon sent them a message, or left them a message, that she and the children wouldn't be home for lunch, with some sort of explanation--she needed to pick something up from the other homestead, or to drive into town. Whatever normal might be, we don't know whether the family met up at lunchtime or not.

Yep, and IMO it’s weird that we don’t know that simple bit of information and when Jess last saw Gus. In addition, if Shannon did send a message saying she was popping into town, for example, then maybe someone saw her - or didn’t see her at the time she said she was there, which could be equally important.

JMO, but I think any death was accidental, and that this explains why Jess and Joss aren’t saying much, ie they’re staying quiet and might be hoping someone will come forward and tell them the truth, whereas accusing and pressuring might be counter-productive.

All speculation and MOO.

 

[Corina]

It would be normal for them to come back to the homestead for lunch. I doubt they would have been out all day. If they were only 10kms away they would have driven back in at lunch.

Based on my experience and observation of working on big farms, it's more likely they would have taken refreshments with them. Or someone else might have brought a meal out to them. Too much time taken out of the working day if they travelled back and forth for lunch.

 

[Ruminations]

I don't know any more about working on a huge sheep station than I've learned reading comments by strangers here.

Let me add another unqualified speculation about a day at the station from a person who is definitely NOT a sheep rancher: If it is possible to let the sheep be for a few days while humans are away escaping flooding, etc., as long as there is water and food, and it is not sheering time, what exactly did need to get done on that semi-holiday?

How many hours does it take to make sure there is plenty of water and food? From the little I've learned from reading comments, a great deal of time is needed to monitor the condition of fences and in repairing them to keep out predators. But, would an especially thorough job of fence maintenance be done on that day? How many hours of work were needed?

MOO

 

[katydid23]

I don't know any more about working on a huge sheep station than I've learned reading comments by strangers here.

Let me add another unqualified speculation about a day at the station from a person who is definitely NOT a sheep rancher: If it is possible to let the sheep be for a few days while humans are away escaping flooding, etc., as long as there is water and food, and it is not sheering time, what exactly did need to get done on that semi-holiday?

How many hours does it take to make sure there is plenty of water and food? From the little I've learned from reading comments, a great deal of time is needed to monitor the condition of fences and in repairing them to keep out predators. But, would an especially thorough job of fence maintenance be done on that day? How many hours of work were needed?

MOO

On my grandfather's cattle ranch, in Northern California, he and my uncles were endlessly mending fences. There was the usual upkeep, which my brothers sometimes helped with, because it was not an emergency situation.

But there were also urgent situations where one of the bulls would break through a fence, or a tractor would hit a fence post, and then it was all hands on deck. Especially if some of the herd had already found the break and had headed out already.


If they had a situation like that on the Station they may have left early that morning and been away all day. But I'd think they would have mentioned it if an unusually difficult incident had happened that day.

 

[JLZ]

I don't know any more about working on a huge sheep station than I've learned reading comments by strangers here.

Let me add another unqualified speculation about a day at the station from a person who is definitely NOT a sheep rancher: If it is possible to let the sheep be for a few days while humans are away escaping flooding, etc., as long as there is water and food, and it is not sheering time, what exactly did need to get done on that semi-holiday?

How many hours does it take to make sure there is plenty of water and food? From the little I've learned from reading comments, a great deal of time is needed to monitor the condition of fences and in repairing them to keep out predators. But, would an especially thorough job of fence maintenance be done on that day? How many hours of work were needed?

MOO

We don't know where the grandparents have gone, do we? They might be coming in daily to do necessary business. They might have confined the sheep to a part of the property that's higher, non-flooding ground.

I wouldn't think the Grand Final would count as a semi-holiday. Especially not for farmers who, as some people here have said, just have to keep on working when they're sick.

 

[AmoryK]

Do we know if both grandparents have been brought in for questioning? I’m not in Australia so I don’t know what you’d call it or if it’s done, but I mean an official interview under caution at a police station type of thing.

 

[Morequestionsthananswers]

Not as far as I’m aware. The whole thing is top secret and I don’t understand why.

 

[JLZ]

Not as far as I’m aware. The whole thing is top secret and I don’t understand why.

Our police are like that. Look for a reason when they say something. To say nothing is the default.

 

[BreakingNews]

Based on my experience and observation of working on big farms, it's more likely they would have taken refreshments with them. Or someone else might have brought a meal out to them. Too much time taken out of the working day if they travelled back and forth for lunch.

Exactly. Time is money. You stop for 15 minutes to have your lunch wherever you are. You dont waste time driving home for lunch.

 

[musicaljoke]

Based on my experience and observation of working on big farms, it's more likely they would have taken refreshments with them. Or someone else might have brought a meal out to them. Too much time taken out of the working day if they travelled back and forth for lunch.

Indeed. This is my experience as well. Farm folks working 10kms from their home wouldn't likely leave their work to travel back and forth for lunch. They wouldn't likely be travelling 10kms on a paved road. Those 10 kms could be across fields, gates and rough paths. They may have been on 4-wheelers. It could easily take an hour out of their day.