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

[Lady-J]

I agree
This is not an area to flee on foot if abducting

There needed to have been a vehicle

I believe it is one of two things
A) he’s wandered and the search hasnt found him
B) something nefarious happened at some point that day or in the time since the last sighting by someone not family

However , I struggle to believe the entire family would have stuck to a cover story of him walking off at 5 pm

if there is third party involvement who are the possibilities that might have been in Yunta that Saturday ?

It wouldn’t be hard for three members of the family to all say he was last seen at 5 pm if they were covering something up.

Not sure who else could’ve been in the area . Could be anyone

 

[Dotta]

If Gus’s family were watching the Grand Final, which was on at the time of his disappearance, he could’ve been taken without being seen by them.
There may not have been noticeable tyre marks if the road is gravel or well used with farm vehicles

IMO
This Grand Final is crucial.

It might have happened
that all adults were watching it eagerly
(if it resembles important football matches in Europe when streets are empty b/c everybody is glued to TV)
and only after it finished they all started asking
"Oh wait!
Where is Gus??
Gus!!!, where are you??"

It could have meant,
the boy was unsupervised for a long period for the first time
going wherever fancy took him - either inside or outside.
And being "adventurous" he took advantage of such opportunity.

This is just my theory when I read about "Grand Final"
and knowing strong emotions sports evoke.

JMO

 

[Lady-J]

Which is exactly why le are looking at different angles imo. Abduction in the area described didn’t happen imo. He’s either lost & missed by sar or he was never there to begin with. I’m leaning towards an accident & well planned disposal. If someone can tell us he was seen by anyone other than the ppl there that day , I might change my mind. But for now I don’t believe what’s being told. I’m a firm believer that No one knows how they’d act if something tragic happened to them. But I’d like to think I wouldn’t tell people to stay away & not help search. I’m a very private person. But if my child was missing on my property I’d welcome & expect the entire community to be there helping for as long as it took.

I’m also leaning to accident and well planned disposal sadly

 

[Lady-J]

IMO
the


IMO
This Grand Final is crucial.

It might have happened
that all adults were watching it eagerly
(if it resembles important football matches in Europe when streets are empty b/c everybody is glued to TV)
and only after it finished they all started asking
"Oh wait!
Where is Gus??
Gus!!!, where are you??"

It could have meant,
the boy was unsupervised for a long period for the first time
going wherever fancy took him - either inside or outside.
And being "adventurous" he took advantage of such opportunity.

This is just my theory when I read about "Grand Finale"
and knowing strong emotions sports evoke.

JMO

I’ve had the same thoughts about time getting away from them because of the footy

 

[Sarahlou]

I’m also leaning to accident and well planned disposal sadly

Why the need to hide a child's body if it was genuinely an accident though? If a child was well loved and cared for and died in an accident then the family would be distraught. It would be very difficult for everyone to keep that quiet. I don't see why you would.

 

[spiritualdreaming]

I’m trying to work out where the yards & shearing shed are. I wonder if this is still a ‘working’ station.

There’s a lot of buildings, perhaps 2 dwellings. And internal roads going to dams etc, but not much across all the paddocks.

I really think he must be in the vicinity of the home area ( if missing of his own accord). I can certainly imagine it would take hours & hours to thoroughly search all that area.

Btw, I don’t know where the reported 6 gates are to get onto the property. … I can only see what I think may be a grid not far before the ‘settlement’.

I'm wondering if the shearing shed/yards circled in red are apart of Oak Park Station. The building circled in blue could possibly be a station hand residence. Some large stations are set up like that.

 

[Warshawski]

It's interesting to see where Oak Park Station is on the map.
About 20 minutes drive in one direction is Tiverton Station and about the same distance the other way is a significant number of buildings at Grampus.
What I found interesting is that within about 1km of Oak Park Station towards Grampus are two more sets of buildings. They are within walking distance even for a 4 year old.

This screenshot shows Oak Park at the top right and the other buildings within about 1km:
View attachment 619211

This screenshot is the building at the lower left:
View attachment 619212

This screenshot is the buildings in the middle:
View attachment 619215

Thank you Lucy.D. You managed to get them a lot cleaner than I could.

I think it’s possible they are the yards & shearing sheds I was looking for.

 

[Ellery84]

Why the need to hide a child's body if it was genuinely an accident though? If a child was well loved and cared for and died in an accident then the family would be distraught. It would be very difficult for everyone to keep that quiet. I don't see why you would.

That would be something for the police to consider.

Let's look at this hypothetical situation.

There would be a lot of reasons.

1. Keeping custody of young Ronnie.

2. Escaping attention of the public due to sensitive family situation (that's backfired anyway)

3. Not wanting to be criminally charged with negligence.

4. Issues with the child's body that might be picked up on autopsy.

Imo

 

[Lady-J]

IMO
This Grand Final is crucial.

It might have happened
that all adults were watching it eagerly
(if it resembles important football matches in Europe when streets are empty b/c everybody is glued to TV)
and only after it finished they all started asking
"Oh wait!
Where is Gus??
Gus!!!, where are you??"

It could have meant,
the boy was unsupervised for a long period for the first time
going wherever fancy took him - either inside or outside.
And being "adventurous" he took advantage of such opportunity.

This is just my theory when I read about "Grand Final"
and knowing strong emotions sports evoke.

JMO

Yeah the Grand Final could be distracting for footy fans . The boy easily could’ve been left unsupervised for way longer than they’re saying . Maybe this is what’s happened

 

[sapphire blue]

I pray they find lil Gus soon. But I have a bad feeling there’s more to this story than we’ve been told. All of the family need to take lie detector test imo to help rule them in or out. He should have been found by now. Someone’s not telling the truth imo.

the family would have been questioned extensively by now. Lie detector tests are not used in Australia.

 

[Lucy.D]

I’m trying to work out where the yards & shearing shed are. I wonder if this is still a ‘working’ station.
Btw, I don’t know where the reported 6 gates are to get onto the property. … I can only see what I think may be a grid not far before the ‘settlement’.

You just have to zoom in on the map that you replied to and you'll see the sheds about 1km to the left (west) of the homestead, or have a look at my previous post with a screenshot.
@Thoughtful123 said the six gates would be a typical set up for a large station and I take it referring to Oak Park Road coming from Yunta.
I've travelled a lot around Australia and never seen gates on a public road before or even heard of gates being on a public road.
It would certainly lesson the chance of an abduction if someone had to stop for six gates.
If someone saw a car stop at the station and abduct Gus it would only take a phone call to three neighbouring stations and you have every escape road covered IMO and by stopping to open gates all the time would slow their escape down a lot.

 

[Dotta]

Why the need to hide a child's body if it was genuinely an accident though? If a child was well loved and cared for and died in an accident then the family would be distraught. It would be very difficult for everyone to keep that quiet. I don't see why you would.

Not to lose parental rights to the other child because of negligence?

Just hypothesizing,
NOT blaming anyone.

<modsnip>

 

[Lady-J]

That would be something for the police to consider.

Let's look at this hypothetical situation.

There would be a lot of reasons.

1. Keeping custody of young Ronnie.

2. Escaping attention of the public due to sensitive family situation (that's backfired anyway)

3. Not wanting to be criminally charged with negligence.

4. Issues with the child's body that might be picked up on autopsy.

Imo

Yep. Unfortunately this scenario makes sense and also explains why they aren’t pleading with the public for information. Their statement wanting to be left alone made me feel like they know where Gus is.

 

[Sarahlou]

Oops, it had totally gone out of my mind about there being another child. So, yes, I can see that point.

 

[Toowong(s)]

I'm finding it extremely difficult to find where those six gates everyone keeps mentioning would be located to get to the homestead.
Would you or someone else be able to take a screenshot from Google maps showing where those gates are, please?

Look for a strong black line across the dirt road - possible locations of the gates. They could also be cattle grids without a gate, but sheep are pretty good at crossing grids so there is a good chance these lines are a grid/gate combo.

There is one quite close to the homestead, and another about 5.4km out on Oak Park Road on the way toward Yunta. I won’t screen grab them all but I count 3-4 on the way out along Oak Park Road, and 3-4 more on the Sturt Vale Rd section all the way out to the Barrier Highway.

The road appears to pass through multiple stations hence all the gates, and it passes very close by several other homesteads on the way to Yunta. Everyone keeps an eye on everything in the outback so IMO any known and/or strange vehicles heading in or out on the dusty road at sunset would have been noticed by others, making abduction pretty challenging.

There appears to be a track heading out to the west as well but it looks rough. Could have been a good option for someone not wanting to be seen, or trying to avoid town after too many beers watching the GF at one of the homesteads.

 

[Ellery84]

Fatal accidents happen, unfortunately

But the KEY question is
if they could have been prevented by carers through proper care.

This happens in my job as a teacher.
If I ever left a class unsupervised
(God forbid!!!)
and something happened to a pupil in my absence,
then I would have to say goodbye to my job and
have a loooong talk with a Prosecutor
Not to mention terrible pangs of conscience for the rest of my life.

JMO

The duty of care for children is stricter for teachers in Australia than it is for parents.
Imo

 

[Toowong(s)]

This is the track that heads directly west from Oak Park Station, also linking to the Barrier Highway, and this one does not seem to pass that closely by any other homesteads before the highway. It also looks to have a few gates enroute.

Zooming in it looks pretty rough in parts, and more gates. Likely 4wd only but most people out there would be travelling in 4wd anyway.

Having worked on large farms it’s pretty common to drive yourself home after plenty of beers - there’s no taxis or Ubers out there.

So a loose theory <modsnip> - someone is back-tracking home drink driving after watching the grand final and having a few beers with mates at one of the many homesteads along those tracks. Maybe heading for the western track away from town, as I’m sure police in Yunta would be breath testing drivers on grand final day. Gus is wandering on the track not far from home on his little adventure and gets accidentally hit, and then a cover up results. Police have some idea along these lines, maybe even some evidence, and are looking into phone pings etc but keeping it on the downlow while they zero in on their suspect. IMO - pure theory only, and a loose one at that.

<modsnip>

 

[Toowong(s)]

You just have to zoom in on the map that you replied to and you'll see the sheds about 1km to the left (west) of the homestead, or have a look at my previous post with a screenshot.
@Thoughtful123 said the six gates would be a typical set up for a large station and I take it referring to Oak Park Road coming from Yunta.
I've travelled a lot around Australia and never seen gates on a public road before or even heard of gates being on a public road.
It would certainly lesson the chance of an abduction if someone had to stop for six gates.
If someone saw a car stop at the station and abduct Gus it would only take a phone call to three neighbouring stations and you have every escape road covered IMO and by stopping to open gates all the time would slow their escape down a lot.

Agree 100% re shearing sheds, the large building about 1.8km west of the homestead and directly south of what looks like a private airstrip.

A telltale sign is the visibly compacted and flat earth of the holding yards which I’ve outlined in red. Decades of sheep hoofs getting funneled together as they are herded in and make their way out.

 

[Dotta]

So a loose theory <modsnip> - someone is back-tracking home drink driving after watching the grand final and having a few beers with mates at one of the many homesteads along those tracks. Maybe heading for the western track away from town, as I’m sure police in Yunta would be breath testing drivers on grand final day. Gus is wandering on the track not far from home on his little adventure and gets accidentally hit, and then a cover up results. Police have some idea along these lines, maybe even some evidence, and are looking into phone pings etc but keeping it on the downlow while they zero in on their suspect. IMO - pure theory only, and a loose one at that.

<modsnip>

The more I think about it
the more I'm convinced the "Grand Final" is key in this case.

Your theory seems plausible.

High emotions & a few??? drinks & driving & Gus merrily marching enjoying his unexpected adventure.

Plus the dusk setting in.



JMO

 

[Dotta]

The more I think about it
the more I'm convinced the "Grand Final" is key in this case.

Your theory seems plausible.

High emotions & a few??? drinks & driving & Gus merrily marching enjoying his unexpected adventure.

Plus the dusk setting in.



JMO

To add to my post...

I forgot to mention
that this outstanding sports event (Grand Final)
broke the usual dull ROUTINE in daily living.

And when known routine is broken
unexpected & unforeseen things might happen.
Sudden disruptions.
Sometimes chaos & disorientation.

JMO