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

[Ellery84]

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.

I think I’ve found her socials, but we don’t sleuth family on WS, so that’s that.

I think police would have spoken to Jess, for sure, after Gus disappeared.

I imagine she is his primary carer. IMO

 

[Total_C]

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.

Here is an excerp from the spreadheet I currently have which tracks my commentary on the case. Hopefully it explains everything and what my thoughts have been on this particular point in time.

 

[Ellery84]

Here is an excerp from the spreadheet I currently have which tracks my commentary on the case. Hopefully it explains everything and what my thoughts have been on this particular point in time.

View attachment 623915

Holy heck. This is amazing.

 

[Warshawski]

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.

Yes, there was a photo of Jess & Josh, but I have no idea how old it was.

 

[Total_C]

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.

Post 3 – Clarity around key facts

When I refer to “key facts”, I mean things like:

• exactly when and where the child was last seen, by whom.
• exactly when and how the search began and when police were notified.
• exactly who was present, who was away, and what the precise physical context was (distances, terrain, supervision).
• how the search protocol shifted (who was involved, when, and what was found or not found).

These aren’t necessarily private or investigative facts, they’re core public chronology items. Without them, the public narrative remains incomplete.

Here’s where the 10 km-away detail becomes relevant: the media (for example a 7NEWS report) say the mother and another grandparent were about 10 km away, tending sheep, at the time the boy vanished. 7NEWS Police haven’t publicly confirmed that specific claim in official bulletins (at least not yet).

If it’s correct, that adds a dimension to the timeline and supervision scenario that’s not yet clearly mapped in official releases. If it’s inaccurate, it raises questions about how conflicting information enters public domain. Either way, it touches a “key fact” zone: who was there, what was happening, when they noticed, how quickly the chain of notification unfolded.

So yes, I agree that police updates have been consistent in tone. And yes, I appreciate the need for investigative integrity and privacy. But “consistent” does not mean “complete” from a public-chronology standpoint. Until we have those core pieces locked in and aligned with each other and other sources, the sequence remains looser than I’d expect for this type of case.

I’m not suggesting the family is uncooperative. I’m not claiming police are hiding things. I’m saying that from an analytical standpoint, these missing map-points make a difference to how the case presents, and they matter when we compare to what the public normally gets in a missing-child scenario.

 

[Lucy6226]

The Mail is back - with a claim that Gus may not have been seen by outsiders since March when he went for an introduction day at the local school.

Missing Outback boy trans gran greets Mail reporter with shotgun

Up a remote gravel track near the dusty outback town of Belalie North in South Australia is a little house that time forgot.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Being so rural I don't think this is that suspicious. There's 3 adults at home, always someone around to watch the children whilst the other adults run errands. They live in the outback, not a cosy cul-de-sac in a town with ships 5 mins away.

 

[Lucy6226]

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

Completely agree. The article seems spiteful.

I thought the calendar information was a weird thing to include, very intrusive.

 

[hoodunnit]

I don't think so. The DCP are struggling to get to the kids at real ROSH.

Same in every state, you only have to skim thru coronial findings to see them.

Don't think they are out checking fences on remote properties

IMO

My statement was regarding child supervision in general, nothing to do with fences.

 

[kurtneverdied]

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 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.
​

Great post.
A fact is 100% truth.
There are very few facts about the first evening.
Police called.
Police arrived.
Search helicopter took off and search takes place, with first and only definitive times of the early stages of this event.
This is probably the end of the facts for the first night .
From the time he was last seen, to where everyone in the family was, to the time he was noticed missing, to the amount of time the family searched. None of it is fact.
The only fact from that first night from the family is a member called the police to report Gus missing.
There are no facts about Gus's presence in this world since this his last picture at Orientation Day if that can be 100% confirmed he was there. There is a good chance there are earlier times someone other than family has seen him, but we don't know, haven't been told, or perhaps it was the last time.
I'm not trying imply anything other than stressing the definition of a fact, and what in this case is actually a fact compared with the masses of information on this mystery that appear as fact and are not.

 

[Mauig’ma]

Post 3 – Clarity around key facts

When I refer to “key facts”, I mean things like:

• exactly when and where the child was last seen, by whom.
• exactly when and how the search began and when police were notified.
• exactly who was present, who was away, and what the precise physical context was (distances, terrain, supervision).
• how the search protocol shifted (who was involved, when, and what was found or not found).

These aren’t necessarily private or investigative facts, they’re core public chronology items. Without them, the public narrative remains incomplete.

Here’s where the 10 km-away detail becomes relevant: the media (for example a 7NEWS report) say the mother and another grandparent were about 10 km away, tending sheep, at the time the boy vanished. 7NEWS Police haven’t publicly confirmed that specific claim in official bulletins (at least not yet).

If it’s correct, that adds a dimension to the timeline and supervision scenario that’s not yet clearly mapped in official releases. If it’s inaccurate, it raises questions about how conflicting information enters public domain. Either way, it touches a “key fact” zone: who was there, what was happening, when they noticed, how quickly the chain of notification unfolded.

So yes, I agree that police updates have been consistent in tone. And yes, I appreciate the need for investigative integrity and privacy. But “consistent” does not mean “complete” from a public-chronology standpoint. Until we have those core pieces locked in and aligned with each other and other sources, the sequence remains looser than I’d expect for this type of case.

I’m not suggesting the family is uncooperative. I’m not claiming police are hiding things. I’m saying that from an analytical standpoint, these missing map-points make a difference to how the case presents, and they matter when we compare to what the public normally gets in a missing-child scenario.

Ur so smart. Ty for your knowledge

 

[SouthAussie]

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.

In South Australia, it is called Pre-K (not nursery school, as stated by the DM).
Officially being called Preschool now, as we are having big changes to it next year (2026) - with 3 year olds becoming eligible.

I doubt that Gus would have been having orientation in March 2025 to start Pre-K in 2026. His orientation would likely be scheduled for about now. Which is approaching the end of the 2025 school year.

imo

 

[RedHaus]

How far can a four year old go in a few hours of daylight?

RSBM
Great post. But I thought since we're trying to gather facts known to us.

In Adelaide on September 27, 2025:

1. Sunset was 6:15pm

2. Astronomical Twilight ended 7:40pm

At the Station, these times may vary a bit.

IF Gus wandered betweeen 5:00 and 5:30, within 45 -75 minutes the light would have been dim and disorienting. Within 2 - 2.5 hours it was pitch dark.

So Gus really only had a short amount of 'Daylight' to wander. Would he have found a place to hide by sunset, at 6:15? I'd hope LE took that into account that first night of searching for a 4 year old.

And I wonder, if in fact the family was searching between 5:30 to 8:30, how much visibility did they have? Perhaps they had powerful flashlights.

But why not call officials for help earlier because they'd have better tools to see in darkening and cooling conditions? That is puzzling to me.

As usual, when I start to explore facts in this case, I end up with more questions.

IMO

Sunrise and sunset times in Adelaide, September 2025

Calculations of sunrise and sunset in Adelaide – South Australia – Australia for September 2025. Generic astronomy calculator to calculate times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset for many cities, with daylight saving time and time zones taken in account.

www.timeanddate.com

 

[SouthAussie]

And I wonder, if in fact the family was searching between 5:30 to 8:30, how much visibility did they have? Perhaps they had powerful flashlights.

But why not call officials for help earlier because they'd have better tools to see in darkening and cooling conditions? That is puzzling to me.

I think that outback folk usually take care of things for themselves, because usually they have to. Help is a good distance away. By the 3-hour mark, having not found Gus, they would have been desperate.

We don't actually know who was involved in a probable 3-hour search ... perhaps neighbours came to help (as would be usual) if a family member alerted a neighbour by asking if they had seen Gus.

Yes, I think an outback sheep station would have light sources for the night. Powerful torches, vehicle headlights.

imo

 

[MelmothTheLost]

I think that outback folk usually take care of things for themselves, because usually they have to. Help is a good distance away. By the 3-hour mark, having not found Gus, they would have been desperate.

We don't actually know who was involved in a probable 3-hour search ... perhaps neighbours came to help (as would be usual) if a family member alerted a neighbour by asking if they had seen Gus.

From your knowledge, how quickly could neighbours arrive at the homestead in practice? I seem to recall that Yunta was a good 45 minutes away.

 

[SouthAussie]

From your knowledge, how quickly could neighbours arrive at the homestead in practice? I seem to recall that Yunta was a good 45 minutes away.

There are neighbours closer than Yunta. @Ellery84 had posted a map of the neighbouring properties here.

Eg: Tiverton Station
Eg: Bulyninnie Station
Eg: Manunda Station
(there are more)

 

[BreakingNews]

Are you saying they (who? DM?) saw that the fridge and freezer doors in Josh's kitchen were open, and there was no one in the house? Did they mention if there was furniture still in the house?

Sounds to me like Josh is currently defrosting his freezer, or he's moved out!

... the plot thickens?

Where were DM inside his home? Another trespass?

 

[RedHaus]

Where were DM inside his home? Another trespass?

@MelmothTheLost posted a new DM article (below) in which it sounds like a reporter went to Josh's farmhouse and found it unoccupied. They peered into windows to see what they reported.

Missing Outback boy trans gran greets Mail reporter with shotgun

Up a remote gravel track near the dusty outback town of Belalie North in South Australia is a little house that time forgot.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[BreakingNews]

In South Australia, it is called Pre-K (not nursery school, as stated by the DM).
Officially being called Preschool now, as we are having big changes to it next year (2026) - with 3 year olds becoming eligible.

I doubt that Gus would have been having orientation in March 2025 to start Pre-K in 2026. His orientation would likely be scheduled for about now. Which is approaching the end of the 2025 school year.

imo

I agree. Qld has the same Pre-K. I have not heard it called nursery school in Australia. Having any sort of school orientation in March just does not make sense with Australia's schooling which runs from late January/early February to December.

 

[Ellery84]

There are neighbours closer than Yunta. @Ellery84 had posted a map of the neighbouring properties here.

Eg: Tiverton Station
Eg: Bulyninnie Station
Eg: Manunda Station
(there are more)

Thanks. Here’s the map:

And this is the primary source of the map,

https://www.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/22236/Outback-Sheet-4.pdf

The correct spelling of the homestead and station adjacent to Oak Park is Bullyaninnie.

It’s often spelt wrong in the media, but that is the official spelling.

To drive from Oak Park to Bullyaninnie by road, it would take 2 hours and 25 minutes.

Map attached. Edit: I’ve also attached a zoomed out version, to incorporate more stations and properties.

I’m not aware of a drivable road between Oak Park Station and Bullyaninnie….. but there might be a dirt road there somewhere. IMO

I’ve also attached driving directions via official road maps.

 

[RobinCAL]

I keep going back to the police helicopter not spotting anything on that first evening when they are using infrared, what factors would be that nothing would come up?

The temperature dropping?