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

[katydid23]

I have had little ones, and now as a Grandmother, I know that taking care of a baby and a 4 year old is challenging.

I just wondered about the Grandma's timeline. And was Gus outside, alone for more than 10 or 15 minutes?! Before she checked on him. Think about the Grandma's timeline, taking care of the baby, feeding, diaper change, check fridge, start dinner, baby in high chair, check on Gus?! Unless Grandma is "Wonder Woman", that right there is 30 minutes. Believe me. What you do in 10 minutes at age 25 takes 3x longer.

I think she said she didn't check on him for 30 minutes. From 5 to 5:30.

Maybe I am being unfair. Maybe I am being impractical. But I think a 4 yr old needs more supervision than that. 30 minutes is a long time. I wish she had stuck her head out the front door at least once or twice during the time span. She might have caught him wandering off while still in ear shot.

 

[katydid23]

Geobocked? Interesting .....

I could paste the relevant sections but unfortunately that would amount to rather more than 10% of the article.

Basically they claim that:

• Gus attended an introduction day at the local school in March with a school start day of (presumably this coming) January
• The published photograph of him appears to have been taken at the introduction day
• They have visited almost every property in Yunta to speak to residents about when Gus was last seen by outsiders.

"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."

And:

"Put another way, the missing boy seems to have barely left his home in the six months leading up to the day he vanished. The only people who had seen him alive during that period were the ones who then reported him missing."

On a lighter note, they report that Josh's old band was called The Cut Snakes.

ETA: Link for completeness: Missing Outback boy trans gran greets Mail reporter with shotgun

Okay---no evidence that he left that station for 6 months? Really? No short visits to a neighbour's or to town for errands? No doctor visits or other family members to see?

That makes his 30 minutes of playing alone in the fresh dirt pile seem very sad. What was he doing for socialisation and mental stimulation?

 

[Raina_the_observer]

Completely agree. The article seems spiteful.

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

Another reason for the geo-block, it is an admission of trespass.

 

[katydid23]

<modsnip: Quoted post was removed>

Are we sure it was all just made up? If he had visited neighbours or gone into town, the reporters probably checked on that. It seems that no one has come forward to say as much. If he had breakfast in the diner or had gone to buy new boots, someone would have said so, most likely.

Maybe now they will, since DM made that claim. If he has neighbour kids he has played with or people who saw him in town, they will probably speak up. imo.

It's just seems weird to me. If Shannon needed to have a loaded shotgun on the front porch to kill snakes, then why would she leave a 4 yr old all alone out in a dirt pile with no supervision for half an hour? It doesn't make sense, imo.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Another reason for the geo-block, it is an admission of trespass.

It was thought that a geo-block might have been imposed but the article was found to be accessible via Opera so the access problems may simply have been due to the original browser some posters were using.

 

[BreakingNews]

Okay---no evidence that he left that station for 6 months? Really? No short visits to a neighbour's or to town for errands? No doctor visits or other family members to see?

That makes his 30 minutes of playing alone in the fresh dirt pile seem very sad. What was he doing for socialisation and mental stimulation?

When I lived in the bush, aside from going to the local 1 teacher school with 12 kids, I would go to town about twice a year. No boring shopping for me.

 

[Raina_the_observer]

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

29 minutes according to Google maps.

 

[SouthAussie]

It was thought that a geo-block might have been imposed but the article was found to be accessible via Opera so the access problems may simply have been due to the original browser some posters were using.

Opera made no difference to me. It is geoblocked. imo

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Opera made no difference to me. It is geoblocked. imo

OK, a couple of posters reported that it made a difference.

 

[Kemug]

So if that photo of Gus was taken in March, he could have looked quite a bit different by September. A bit older-looking. And if he'd had a haircut, probably noone would look at him twice.

 

[Ellery84]

Opera made no difference to me. It is geoblocked. imo

Hmmm….. Maybe they tidied up the Opera geo blocking workaround???

 

[SouthAussie]

did the reporter who got bent out of shape when she trespassed write it?

Yes, co-wrote it with Guy Adams (who is a UK DM reporter).

 

[TMich6811]

Remember there was a big delay in releasing a photo?

Was that because they

1. Didn’t want to
2. Didn’t have one

Just finding it odd that the released photo would be (assumed) from 6 months prior to his disappearance.

I could understand wanting to release a better photo and following up with this one but I dunno. Seems odd.

 

[Lady-J]

Are we sure it was all just made up? If he had visited neighbours or gone into town, the reporters probably checked on that. It seems that no one has come forward to say as much. If he had breakfast in the diner or had gone to buy new boots, someone would have said so, most likely.

Maybe now they will, since DM made that claim. If he has neighbour kids he has played with or people who saw him in town, they will probably speak up. imo.

It's just seems weird to me. If Shannon needed to have a loaded shotgun on the front porch to kill snakes, then why would she leave a 4 yr old all alone out in a dirt pile with no supervision for half an hour? It doesn't make sense, imo.

Everything tbe DM writes has to be questioned , as if we don’t already have enough of those.

<modsnip: off topic>

 

[Ellery84]

Remember there was a big delay in releasing a photo?

Was that because they

1. Didn’t want to
2. Didn’t have one

Just finding it odd that the released photo would be (assumed) from 6 months prior to his disappearance.

I could understand wanting to release a better photo and following up with this one but I dunno. Seems odd.

Maybe they are poor and don’t have cameras or cell phones? IMO

 

[SouthAussie]

Remember there was a big delay in releasing a photo?

Was that because they

1. Didn’t want to
2. Didn’t have one

Just finding it odd that the released photo would be (assumed) from 6 months prior to his disappearance.

I could understand wanting to release a better photo and following up with this one but I dunno. Seems odd.

This is how the DM presumption goes.

Calendar entry for March, in Josh's house, says 'term starts'.
A local preschool had an orientation session in March.
Therefore that photo must be of Gus in March.

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

imo

 

[Arkark]

Maybe they are poor and don’t have cameras or cell phones? IMO

Have you seen the homestead? I doubt they would be classified as "poor".

 

[Ellery84]

Have you seen the homestead? I doubt they would be classified as "poor".

Well, if they were wealthy enough that they had a camera or a mobile phone, where were the photos of Gus from April - September??

If they had more recent photos, then why didn’t they release one, and also; why did it take 6 days for the family to release the photo??

Did Josh have photos of his son? When is the last time Josh saw Gus?

IMO

 

[TMich6811]

This is how the DM presumption goes.

Calendar entry for March, in Josh's house, says 'term starts'.
A local preschool had an orientation session in March.
Therefore that photo must be of Gus in March.

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

imo

I mean the photo aligns with that type of activity. I dunno if it is or not, just saying that if it were to truly be from them the whole thing seems odd to me.

Maybe and hopefully it was more recent.

 

[SouthAussie]

Well, if they had a camera or a mobile phone, where were the photos of Gus from March - September??

If they had more recent photos, then why didn’t they release one, and also; why did it take 6 days for the family to release the photo??

Probably not accessible to the DM on social media. imo