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

[Dotta]

Oh! I missed that somehow! I didn't realize Josh hadn't been staying there. Well, I guess we know he's not staying with the family at the station. So does anyone know where he is??

I wonder if Gus's family even knows where he went? This is just sounding really strange.
Gus is still missing, and now his dad hasn't been home for weeks, so like almost the whole time he's been missing? Did he own that house or rent it? I just don't know what to think about that. Maybe people know perfectly well where he is. Maybe he just got tired of reporters bothering him or something, and went somewhere quiet. I hope somebody knows where he is.

It was all reported by DM previously.

- Dad bought the property for his family: wife/partner and 2 sons.
He was busy decorating it before Gus was to start school.
He was in the process of choosing a school for his son.

- When Gus went missing
heartbroken father left this property
and now is staying with his family members in Adelaide.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

So the pic of Gus was on his Training Day, was that what they called it? Does that mean he was officially enrolled in school for some term coming up soon? When was that supposed to start? Was it near the station or near Josh's house? I understood that it would be a different school, depending on if he was living at his dad's house or at the station, but maybe that's not true.

There is a rural school in Yunta though it's unclear whether that was the school he would be attending. It seems likely if Jess was to continue living at the station and depending on when Josh expected to have his property ready for Jess and the kids to move into.

According to the Mail article linked this morning, Gus was due to start school in January.

 

[sunspun]

There is a rural school in Yunta though it's unclear whether that was the school he would be attending. It seems likely if Jess was to continue living at the station and depending on when Josh expected to have his property ready for Jess and the kids to move into.

According to the Mail article linked this morning, Gus was due to start school in January.

I wonder if there were other things scheduled before school was to start in January. Like Orientation or maybe vaccinations or whatever else they might be expected to take him to before school starts.

 

[Total_C]

Long Post incoming.

1) Re the Bolded in para 2 of your post. What should have been done differently in the first days of searching when there was hope that Gus would be located alive? Beginning on the night of Sat Sept 27th, going all day Sunday, Sunday night, Monday, Monday Night...Tuesday and on and on?

You post that "...in most genuine missing child cases..." X, Y & Z happens...so it is your opinion that X, Y &Z didn't happen in this case? And therefore we should be suspect about this being a genuine missing child case? Or we should be suss of the verity of the family, the grandparents, the cops? The verity of the police updates?

As to X, Y & Z being absent, are you saying the search was not frantic enough? That the community, police and other agencies didn't mobilise together fast enough? Family not up front enough? In accordance with what standard exactly?

At the end of my post I've linked a few reports, mostly compiled by the ABC, which moo serve to counter any not-frantic-enough charge. I've tried to place them in chronological order.

Your specific questions bolded.

We do not have clear confirmed timing. Do you mean when Gus went missing?. The timing has been communicated to the public. That is confirmation Imo.

The tree still fell in the forest even though we didn't see it.ie what makes you doubt that the police have not interviewed family about the timing, cross-checked and confirmed it?

Report by Nightly.com dated 3rd Oct (below) has info on deployment of crime scene detectives in this case. As do numerous ABC reports from this date going forward. Is it too much to assume they did their due diligence and Task force Horizon continues to do so with family and neighbours? Jmo.

We do not have key facts by Police? What key facts?. Police updates have been consistent and clear. Moo privacy and investigative integrity mean police are not going to release reports concerning alibis and interviews with family, neighbours and other investigative angles at this time. They are not going to get up there and say specifically we interviewed X and cleared them. Moo

Imo the 'key facts' have been updated and regularly released... no evidence of foul play, family is fully cooperative. What other key facts should be made public? Key facts regarding the search efforts have been released in detail and in a timely fashion.

Police cannot release key facts which do not exist Imo.

We do not have the family out front begging for help? I'm genuinely dumb struck by this point. There is no doubt help was forthcoming and enormous. There was no reason or need for family to publicly beg. The investigation up until this point has not required the family to publicly plead in front of cameras for anything. I cannot understand this point and have posted a few times regarding the moo oddity of why members of the public expect/ed the family to publicly plead/beg. The family released a statement through a spokesperson early on relaying their devastation and gratitude for all the help ( ABC report linked below). I guess that was not enough?

We did not get a photo released straight away?
I've seen the AI fake news and the manipulations of the released photo. That photo and future manipulations of it are on the internet forever.

Police and the community were, and at present Police still are, looking for a lost boy on a remote station. What he was wearing was described in detail. No other child was reported missing and it was hoped Gus would be located alive and quickly. (See linked Report re release of photo).

I don't understand why the timing of the photo release should be considered odd, suspicious or otherwise indicate that this is not a genuine missing child case. The delayed release of the photo did not cause anyone on the ground to miss seeing Gus Imo.

Petitioning the devil himself for help. I get the sentiment. Moo in this case though, the family did not have to 'petition the devil'. Community support was immediately overwhelming as soon as police released a statement on Sunday Sept 28th. (See link re community support below.).

So perhaps you contend the public was not informed quickly enough? Should Police have released a statement at 8pm on Sat night before even attempting their all night search? Should neighbours and people in Yunta have been mobilised out on that remote property in the dark, searching in chaos when the police had the equipment to do as calm, methodical and professional job as possible when there was hope Gus would be found that night?

Or perhaps the family should have gone around alerting their neighbours and community members in Yunta that night, even though they had the Police there searching? I don't think I am entitled to cast those sorts of judgements and claim because such and such didn't happen, something is amiss. To me, such a contention is more than unreasonable, it is absurd. Jmo

Links

30th Sept. Family Statement

'Our hearts are aching': Missing boy's family releases statement as search continues

The devastated family of a missing four-year-old boy has released a statement saying it is holding on to hope "he will be found and returned safely" as authorities and community members continue the search in mid-north South Australia.

www.abc.net.au

2nd Oct Re Photo Release

'They just don't disappear into thin air': Police release first image of missing boy

Police have released the first image of Gus since his disappearance, with almost 50 members of the Australian Defence Force joining the search for the four-year-old in mid-north South Australia.

www.abc.net.au

3rd Oct. Summary of search efforts beginning Sat 27th Dec.

What we know about search for missing boy on sheep station

Authorities are searching for a missing four-year-old boy on a sheep grazing station in the mid-north of South Australia. Here's what we know about the search so far.

www.abc.net.au

The Nightly.com: 3rd Oct Major Crime Scene Detectives deployed.

Gut-wrenching update in search for little Gus

Heartbreaking conversations are taking place at a property in the South Australian outback, as the search for a missing four-year-old child enters its seventh day.

thenightly.com.au

Asst Comm Ian Parrot.
"I think everyone in the public will expect that we would have major crime detectives involved in this, and this has some of the most experienced detectives that we have in our organisation.
“They have been actively assisting our local investigators as well as the searchers to make sure that we can actually cover off on every single element that may be an option in these circumstances.

3rd October. Summary of Community Support

Community comes together as search for missing 4yo Gus enters day 7

The search for missing four-year-old Gus has entered its seventh day, with no new signs of the boy.

www.abc.net.au

Post 1
Thanks for taking the time to put that together. I’ll respond in sections so it stays tidy.

I think we approach this from very different angles. Your post comes from a place of strong emotion and empathy for those involved, which I respect. My approach is much more analytical. I look for patterns, timelines, consistencies and deviations, not to assign blame, but to understand what’s typical and what isn’t.

That difference in style probably explains why we see things differently. I’m not questioning the effort of police or the community, nor am I judging the family. What I’m looking at is how this case presents compared to many others, what information is available, how fast it came out, who was visible, and where gaps exist.

So if my tone feels clinical, that’s why. I’m interested in the structure of the case, not the sentiment around it.

I’ll unpack a few of those points in the next posts.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Post 1
Thanks for taking the time to put that together. I’ll respond in sections so it stays tidy.

I think we approach this from very different angles. Your post comes from a place of strong emotion and empathy for those involved, which I respect. My approach is much more analytical. I look for patterns, timelines, consistencies and deviations, not to assign blame, but to understand what’s typical and what isn’t.

That difference in style probably explains why we see things differently. I’m not questioning the effort of police or the community, nor am I judging the family. What I’m looking at is how this case presents compared to many others, what information is available, how fast it came out, who was visible, and where gaps exist.

So if my tone feels clinical, that’s why. I’m interested in the structure of the case, not the sentiment around it.

I’ll unpack a few of those points in the next posts.

I take the same analytical approach to cases that you do, and I suspect it can be misunderstood by others.

 

[Greenestdays]

Has anyone ever seen a picture of his mother Jess? Maybe I've seen them and just forgotten, but right now, I can't remember ever seeing her.

DM has published photos of her with Josh, one can be found here for example:

The elusive mother of missing Gus is pictured for the first time

The devastated mother and grandmother of missing boy Gus Lamont have been pictured for the first time - two and a half weeks after he vanished from his grandparents' remote Outback station.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Edit: wait, that’s so bizarre, the image is pixellated when I click on the link I posted. But when I look at the same image in google image search, it’s clear. What the… anyway, just google “josh lamont jess” and you’ll see the picture.

 

[drsleuth]

Thanks, Tootsie. I managed to read it now.

I've just read it.

Jonica sure has her nose out of joint IMO

What gives the media the right to go to an unoccupied home, snoop around , to the point of reading a calendar on a wall & than writing an article with details that were written on someones private property???

Alot of guess work in this article & little facts

eg As far as we can establish, that nursery school visit also represents the last time anyone outside of the child’s immediate family can remember seeing him.

No one at the closet pub to Josh's house, in Jamestown had seen Gus at the Pub since 2024!! Wow a toddler not seen at a pub...........shocking!!

She call the community " god - fearing" where social attitudes hark back to the era of Crocodile Dundee

Jonica says the family have lived unremarkable lives!

This is a new low for me with the DM

 

[Total_C]

We do not have clear confirmed timing. Do you mean when Gus went missing?. The timing has been communicated to the public. That is confirmation Imo.

Post 2 – Communicated ≠ Confirmed

The timings have definitely been communicated, but not all of them have been consistently reported, and a few key details don’t appear in the official police statement at all. Here’s what’s actually on record and where each part comes from.

Time (ACST)	Event	Source	Comment
≈ 5:00 pm Sat 27 Sept	Gus reportedly last seen playing on a mound of dirt near the homestead.	SAPOL video statement	Official police wording. This is the earliest public reference point.
≈ 5:30 pm	Grandmother went to call him in and realised he was missing.	SAPOL video statement	Police describe it as “about half an hour later.”
≈ 8:30 pm (approx.)	Family searched for about three hours before contacting police.	ABC News timeline	This detail is not mentioned anywhere in SAPOL’s own statement or video. it appears only in ABC’s reporting.
≈ 9:30 pm (approx.)	Police reportedly arrived at the property.	ABC News timeline	Again, a media figure. SAPOL hasn’t released an arrival time.
11:30 pm	SA Police helicopter (POL53 – VH-8D3) departed Adelaide Airport.	ADS-B flight data – see my post with data	Independently verifiable from public flight logs.
12:15 am Sun 28 Sept	Helicopter arrived over Oak Park / Yunta area and began aerial search.	ADS-B flight data (as above)	First clear, timestamped point of formal police activity.

Commentary

• The three-hour delay before notifying police stands out. <modsnip: Removed opinion stated as fact> It’s worth asking: is the “three hours” accurate, or an oversimplification?
• It’s also not in the police’s own statement, which is interesting. If that three-hour gap was real, you’d expect SAPOL to reference it directly. The fact that it only appears in an ABC summary might mean the detail was interpreted or paraphrased rather than officially confirmed.
• The timeline for getting the police helicopter airborne feels long too.
  If police were notified around 8:30 pm (as ABC suggest), and the chopper didn’t leave Adelaide until 11:30 pm, that’s a full three-hour lag before deployment.
  That could indicate logistical delay, or it could suggest that the initial call to police came later than 8:30 pm.
• In other words, the flight data might actually undermine the “three-hour” family search window. If it took three hours for the chopper to launch after police were notified, that implies notification might have been significantly later than we’ve been told.
• Put together, the sequence feels incomplete and inconsistent.
  The family’s timeline, the police response, and the flight timing don’t align neatly and no single source has laid it all out clearly.

When you look closely, the timeline isn’t just unclear, it doesn’t entirely add up. Some parts seem understated, others omitted, and a few (like the helicopter timing) hint that key events might have occurred later than reported.
​

 

[Ellery84]

It looks to me, using Google Maps satellite view, that there are fencelines around the homestead complex. That's not to say they don't have holes, or open gates, or aren't easily penetrable by a pedestrian. Oak Park Station · Grampus SA 5440, Australia

I can’t see any fences.

<modsnip: Image removed due to no link. All images require a link to source>

 

[MelmothTheLost]

DM has published photos of her with Josh, one can be found here for example:

The elusive mother of missing Gus is pictured for the first time

The devastated mother and grandmother of missing boy Gus Lamont have been pictured for the first time - two and a half weeks after he vanished from his grandparents' remote Outback station.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Edit: wait, that’s so bizarre, the image is pixellated when I click on the link I posted. But when I look at the same image in google image search, it’s clear. What the… anyway, just google “josh lamont jess” and you’ll see the picture.

It may be my imagination but she looks pretty wary in that photo. Maybe she's just not comfortable behind or in front of a camera.

 

[FromGermany1]

DM has published photos of her with Josh, one can be found here for example:

The elusive mother of missing Gus is pictured for the first time

The devastated mother and grandmother of missing boy Gus Lamont have been pictured for the first time - two and a half weeks after he vanished from his grandparents' remote Outback station.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Edit: wait, that’s so bizarre, the image is pixellated when I click on the link I posted. But when I look at the same image in google image search, it’s clear. What the… anyway, just google “josh lamont jess” and you’ll see the picture.

For me it's paywalled, but if I remember well, I read this article already and also saw the pics of mum and grandma.

 

[HoneyBunOne]

Oh! I missed that somehow! I didn't realize Josh hadn't been staying there. Well, I guess we know he's not staying with the family at the station. So does anyone know where he is??

I wonder if Gus's family even knows where he went? This is just sounding really strange.
Gus is still missing, and now his dad hasn't been home for weeks, so like almost the whole time he's been missing? Did he own that house or rent it? I just don't know what to think about that. Maybe people know perfectly well where he is. Maybe he just got tired of reporters bothering him or something, and went somewhere quiet. I hope somebody knows where he is.

Josh Lamont had purchased the run down farmhouse he was living in and slowly doing it up so his wife and children could join him there in time for Gus to start school in late January/early February 2026. It's believed that Josh was looking at Peterborough Primary School for Gus. This article explains it, and show a pic of Jess.

The hidden detail about Gus Lamont's family

Before Gus Lamont disappeared, his father had been renovating a house, hoping his young family could soon move in together.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Has anyone ever seen a picture of his mother Jess? Maybe I've seen them and just forgotten, but right now, I can't remember ever seeing her.

See above.

So the pic of Gus was on his Training Day, was that what they called it? Does that mean he was officially enrolled in school for some term coming up soon? When was that supposed to start? Was it near the station or near Josh's house? I understood that it would be a different school, depending on if he was living at his dad's house or at the station, but maybe that's not true.

It's generally called an orientation day I believe, kids usually go sometime before they actually start school, and I believe sometimes there's more than one day. My understanding is that they usually occur in term 4 of the year prior (generally about now, maybe a bit later) but I'm in Victoria, not South Australia. If it was Peterborough Primary School (which is what Josh has appeared to want as per the article) it's about a 30 min drive from the old farmhouse Josh bought about 15 kms out of Jamestown. It's been reported that Josh wanted Gus schooled at Peterborough and not Jamestown. I'm not sure if Gus would have already been officially enrolled in school for 2026 yet, but it certainly happens around about now, if not earlier. In built up areas, you're often zoned to a specific school based on where you live, unless you choose a private school, but you still need to officially enrol. (In Vic anyway) In country towns like this (both Jamestown and Peterborough have about 1600 residents, as per Wikipedia) I'd guess you'd generally go to the local school and there would not be a need to have zones, because there appears to only be one option for public schooling in each town. However, that doesn't appear to stop you enroling your child in the next town over or whatever suits your family situation.

 

[Dotta]

I've just read it.

Jonica sure has her nose out of joint IMO

What gives the media the right to go to an unoccupied home, snoop around , to the point of reading a calendar on a wall & than writing an article with details that were written on someones private property???

Alot of guess work in this article & little facts

eg As far as we can establish, that nursery school visit also represents the last time anyone outside of the child’s immediate family can remember seeing him.

No one at the closet pub to Josh's house, in Jamestown had seen Gus at the Pub since 2024!! Wow a toddler not seen at a pub...........shocking!!

She call the community " god - fearing" where social attitudes hark back to the era of Crocodile Dundee

Jonica says the family have lived unremarkable lives!

This is a new low for me with the DM

What is the "Era of Crocodile Dundee"???

 

[Ellery84]

For me it's paywalled, but if I remember well, I read this article already and also saw the pics of mum and grandma.

The pixelated pics would be there so that the consumer has to click on the article to see the actual clear pictures.

IMO

 

[Ellery84]

What is the "Era of Crocodile Dundee"???

Crocodile Dundee is a vibe!!

 

[Warshawski]

There was no fence there near the homestead.

I’ve seen all of the photographs published in the media, and there is no fenced area nearby the homestead. IMO

There will be fencing in the paddocks, and probably around the perimeter of the station.


Imo


Google search: typical farm fence in South Australia.



View attachment 623806
A typical South Australian farm fence is a post-and-wire system, often using treated pine or steel post

I agree, no fencing off the ‘house yard’ that I could see.

However re the type of paddock fences on the Murray property, I’d suggest they’ll be timber posts - because they most likely will have been done by previous generation, and that’s the standard format.
I also imagine they will be netting; it keeps sheep in + helps to keep prey animals out. Barbed wire isn’t too effective for sheep due to their wool covering, plus they just go under or over the bottom rows .

JMO

 

[HoneyBunOne]

It may be my imagination but she looks pretty wary in that photo. Maybe she's just not comfortable behind or in front of a camera.

It's been said she's very quiet, shy and private. Quite intelligent too, for what it's worth.

Chilling theories emerge about missing boy Gus Lamont

Gus was playing in a mound of dirt at Oak Park station, under the care of his grandmother Shannon Murray as his mother Jessica and grandparent Josie were tending to their flock 10km away.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Ellery84]

I agree, no fencing off the ‘house yard’ that I could see.

However re the type of paddock fences on the Murray property, I’d suggest they’ll be timber posts - because they most likely will have been done by previous generation, and that’s the standard format.
I also imagine they will be netting; it keeps sheep in + helps to keep prey animals out. Barbed wire isn’t too effective for sheep due to their wool covering, plus they just go under or over the bottom rows .

JMO

Yeah definitely timber posts, but I feel the netting (I know what you mean by that) would be prohibitively expensive given the size of the station.

Having said that, I am more familiar with cattle farming than sheep farming.

IMO

 

[MelmothTheLost]

• It’s also not in the police’s own statement, which is interesting. If that three-hour gap was real, you’d expect SAPOL to reference it directly. The fact that it only appears in an ABC summary might mean the detail was interpreted or paraphrased rather than officially confirmed.
• The timeline for getting the police helicopter airborne feels long too.
  If police were notified around 8:30 pm (as ABC suggest), and the chopper didn’t leave Adelaide until 11:30 pm, that’s a full three-hour lag before deployment.
  That could indicate logistical delay, or it could suggest that the initial call to police came later than 8:30 pm.
• In other words, the flight data might actually undermine the “three-hour” family search window. If it took three hours for the chopper to launch after police were notified, that implies notification might have been significantly later than we’ve been told.

​

Overall that was an excellent summary and analysis - great stuff!

On the question of the copper chopper, it's possible that it wasn't called in until local police had arrived at the homestead and taken a detailed report from the family. If the police arrived there at 9.30pm, let's assume they put in the call for the helicopter at 10pm.

Any delay in the helicopter taking off could be because it was already out on another "shout", it was waiting for a new crew to come on duty or it was being checked or refueled, for example.

 

[sunspun]

DM has published photos of her with Josh, one can be found here for example:

The elusive mother of missing Gus is pictured for the first time

The devastated mother and grandmother of missing boy Gus Lamont have been pictured for the first time - two and a half weeks after he vanished from his grandparents' remote Outback station.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Edit: wait, that’s so bizarre, the image is pixellated when I click on the link I posted. But when I look at the same image in google image search, it’s clear. What the… anyway, just google “josh lamont jess” and you’ll see the picture.

Thank you! I can see them.

So has anyone seen any pics of her after Gus went missing? I'm sure police talked to her directly though at least once.