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

[SouthAussie]

Maybe it's been taken out of context, because if he was concerned about his son being in danger, then it doesn't make sense that he would move out.

Surely he would want to stay there, to better protect him, if that was the case?

I reckon he lives far away due to work.

And it is really not far away, where the dad lives. A two-hour drive in the outback is nothing to rural folk. Too far to commute, but not too far for maintaining a relationship with his family. They probably drive an hour or two from the property to do a decent grocery shop.

Living elsewhere for paid work may be necessary to keep his little family afloat. They may not be wealthy pastoralists. Lots are doing it hard.

Some South Australian farmers facing long road to drought recovery

 

[Ellery84]

Boundary fences are also checked quite frequently on properties with stock as well and many repairs made due to knagaroos, goats, wild pig's destroying them. They are definitely not foolproof fencing to keep everything out.

That's it, hey! The amount of times cattle and sheep get out of rural properties due to fencing issues is staggering, it occurs more than most city folk would imagine.

It's very hard to keep a perimeter fence in tip-top condition, to keep livestock in let alone keeping predators out.

Imo

 

[butterstick]

I was wondering why a certain media outlet was focusing so intensely on the unrelated private life of a person involved and now we know - drum up a storm and then put the "exclusive" (yet still unrelated) behind a paywall.

 

[packetgravy]

No hat found. No boots found. No footprints attributed to Gus.

No blood, no dingo tracks I presume.

It's like.... It's like he was never there.

Yes, SAR confirmed everything had been done to find Gus at the property and they were confident he was not there.

I would like to hear of the last public sighting of Gus.

 

[Ellery84]

I'd hope he's doing what he can to get him out of there. Not sure what that looks like given the fact he's still in a relationship with the children's mother, but doesn't live there. Does he just exercise his parental rights and say he's taking him? I'm sure the mother wouldn't be on board with that, given she's just lost one child.

Another potential way to interpret that the father thought it was "dangerous" (if indeed true) could indicate hoarding inside the home. That would pose a danger to a toddler and a pre-schooler, given the things they could touch, eat, inhale, get injured on etc.

MOO

On that train of thought, if your child was missing would you not want to be as close as possible to the place where they were staying in case they came home? Or does dad "know" or suspect Gus is deceased?

I would want to be there at the station to hear any police updates or just to be present and watch over my other child and make sure they did not also disappear.

Imo

There's more to this story.

 

[spiritualdreaming]

No hat found. No boots found. No footprints attributed to Gus.

No blood, no dingo tracks I presume.

It's like.... It's like he was never there.

Imo

That's why I say an animal isn't responsible due to lack of evidence if every inch of that property was searched thoroughly.

But if any animal is responsible then I only see it being a wild pig. But blood, teeth, hair and clothing should still remain.

 

[Ellery84]

That's why I say an animal isn't responsible due to lack of evidence if every inch of that property was searched thoroughly.

But if any animal is responsible then I only see it being a wild pig. But blood, teeth, hair and clothing should still remain.

I agree, @spiritualdreaming .

No way the hat and boots stayed on whilst being dragged away from the homestead by an animal.

Imo

Unless Josie was mistaken or told a little white lie and Gus did not in fact have a hat and boots on at 5pm and was playing in the dirt barefoot....

 

[MelmothTheLost]

On that train of thought, if your child was missing would you not want to be as close as possible to the place where they were staying in case they came home? Or does dad "know" or suspect Gus is deceased?

I would want to be there at the station to hear any police updates or just to be present and watch over my other child and make sure they did not also disappear.

Indeed, unless for some reason the grandparents, who are presumably the legal owners of the property, refuse to allow him onto it.

There's more to this story.

Yup.

 

[Itz_CrimsonYT]

Oh they've been very busy, very thorough. Dad's property looks pretty derelict. Imo

but it still raises a prominent question... why were Gus' bikes found at the father's house? it would imply that Gus was at that property at some point, no?

Then again, that point in time could be anything, the bikes could've been there a week before he went missing, or a few months, meaning that depending on how long the bikes were there, they might not be important to Gus going missing.

IMO

 

[spiritualdreaming]

Another interesting study about wild pig's.

Wild Pigs Kill More People Than Sharks, Shocking New Research Reveals

“We found one case in India where a young girl was walking with her father when a wild pig emerged from brush, grabbed her and picked her up in its jaws, and carried her away. The father gave chase and caught up, but both the father and daughter ended up in the hospital and the little girl died from her wounds.”

Wild Pigs Kill More People Than Sharks, Shocking New Research Reveals

It’s not sharks, wolves, or bears that kill the most people—it’s wild pigs, and the numbers are trending up.

www.agweb.com

 

[Ellery84]

but it still raises a prominent question... why were Gus' bikes found at the father's house? it would imply that Gus was at that property at some point, no?

Yes. You're right. It implies Gus spent some time at dad's property.

Then again, that point in time could be anything, the bikes could've been there a week before he went missing, or a few months, meaning that depending on how long the bikes were there, they might not be important to Gus going missing.

IMO

 

[Total_C]

the sapol chopper (pol53) flew up north again today, same route as the earlier flights during the search. it drops off ads-b around jamestown like before.

the image only shows part of the flight because it runs over two utc days. it actually left adelaide around 9:55am local (23:25 utc on the 9th) and came back about 3:25pm (04:55 utc on the 10th). so it was up there for around four and a half hours all together, give or take.

pretty deliberate path again, same corridor, same range cut off. makes you wonder who was onboard and what the trip was for.

 

[jessicalouise]

Maybe it's been taken out of context, because if he was concerned about his son being in danger, then it doesn't make sense that he would move out.

Surely he would want to stay there, to better protect him, if that was the case?

I reckon he lives far away due to work.

It depends on what the danger was.

Maybe he was gaslit into believing he was overreacting. It could have simply come down to parenting styles rather than a specific threat. That's what im trying to wrap my head around. He obviously had major concerns enough to actually argue about it and for relations to break down enough for him to move out.

For example: one parent might not want their child to walk to the park alone and claim its dangerous, the other parent may be more relaxed and have no qualms. The child isnt actually in danger until something happens.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

I don't think we can discuss this as WS is victim friendly and the family are victims of crime.

I could be wrong.

No, I think you're right but it feels as though we have gone as far as we can with what we're allowed to discuss. There's only so many times anyone can ask if Gus is trapped in a shed somewhere or has crawled into an animal burrow when local searchers are confident he's not on the property.

 

[Ellery84]

No, I think you're right but it feels as though we have gone as far as we can with what we're allowed to discuss. There's only so many times anyone can ask if Gus is trapped in a shed somewhere or has crawled into an animal burrow when local searchers are confident he's not on the property.

Well yeah, that is true.

 

[jessicalouise]

His other child Ronnie is still at the property with mum and the grandparents.

And yet dad is in Adelaide.

How concerned is dad about one-year old Ronnie??

1 year old's aren't left alone to play in dirt piles. I guess that's the difference.

But im speculating that by danger he meant more generally as in the freedom to roam.

I guess we won't know what he actually meant until he clarifies. It seems like it was a pretty major concern though!

 

[tedtink]

I don't understand how a father could get alienated from a child.
Fathers have rights,
Legal Rights,
and only Court can decide about separating a child from a father by depriving of parental rights.

JMO

Is he alienated though?
AFAIK he is still in a relationship with the Mum according to reports & Gus’s bikes were at his property IIRC

 

[justtrish]

I can't help but think about the dad. According to the DailyMail he lived on the family property until he had a clash with "the child's transgender grandparent."

(I'm interpreting this as a descriptor, not that he had a personal issue with being trans as he would have known long before he moved in.)

I wonder what the clash was over. The dad said to a friend "(he) doesn't think its safe for the kids to be out there, its dangerous."

I wonder what hes referring to. The way they kept the homestead? The way GL was parented? Maybe given too much freedom to roam for a 4 yo?

Whatever it was it was a big enough deal and enough conflict for him to move out and now a little boy is gone.

Seems baffling that if the dad felt it was dangerous for kids out there then he moved out but didn't take the kids. If the reason was, he felt strongly that it was dangerous then why not stay living there so you could have eyes on the kids more to help keep them safe from whatever he felt was dangerous.. OR insist the kids come with you when you move out?

 

[Eloise]

Assuming its true they're not separated, that removes 'custody' issues being at play. They just live separately.

But it doesn't compute to me that a dad who had concerns about the safety of his child living at the property, would then act by leaving said property, leaving his son at this apparently dangerous place, by choice. You would make a point of staying to ensure his safety. Makes me think that either him not living there wasn't actually his choice (and its unlikely to be his partner's choice either, given they're still together), or when he says he thinks its unsafe, he wasn't talking about the physical nature of the property or physical harm.

just random thoughts/MOO

 

[Lady-J]

I can't help but think about the dad. According to the DailyMail he lived on the family property until he had a clash with "the child's transgender grandparent."

(I'm interpreting this as a descriptor, not that he had a personal issue with being trans as he would have known long before he moved in.)

I wonder what the clash was over. The dad said to a friend "(he) doesn't think its safe for the kids to be out there, its dangerous."

I wonder what hes referring to. The way they kept the homestead? The way GL was parented? Maybe given too much freedom to roam for a 4 yo?

Whatever it was it was a big enough deal and enough conflict for him to move out and now a little boy is gone.

It’s hard to know what to believe.
I read the same thing , and also that the dad was told by police his son was missing.
You would expect Gus’s mother to be the one to alert him.
It’s all very hushed up which leaves everyone baffled