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

[Megnut]

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?

Perhaps he was living scarce and working hard to save money for a home for his family.

JMO

 

[tedtink]

Perhaps he was living scarce and working hard to save money for a home for his family.

JMO

Quite. Sometimes there’s just a simple, kind & innocent explanation for everything.

 

[Dotta]

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

Well,
that is my impression.

By "alienated" I mean living in a different place than his children.

And not by divorce/separation but alleged arguments within in-laws circle.
Also,
according to MSM reports, he was worried about his children staying there.

JMO

 

[spiritualdreaming]

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!

Are you meaning less restriction and Gus could just roam?

JL lives on a property as well. So what dangers would be different? Gus could still easily roam there as well.

Or dangerous because the amount of junk lying around or the mineshaft??

Or the clashes??

Just so many questions and like you said I guess we won't know until clarified.

 

[BreakingNews]

If Gus was taken by an animal wouldn’t his clothing or boots would be found, or drag marks seen in the dirt?

I would think so. But nothing was found to support any theory he wandered off the property. It is shearing season, so maybe there was more things for a little 4yo to investigate. MOO.

 

[Itz_CrimsonYT]

I kinda just assumed everyone on here was from Australia but probably not, so just a bit of context. Aussie Rules football (AFL) is basically our version of the Superbowl. The Grand Final is one of the biggest days of the year here and Snoop Dogg even performed at it this year. South Australians and Victorians are especially big on their footy, most people stop what they’re doing to watch.

September 27 was the day Gus was reported missing and that also happened to be Grand Final day. The reported timeline for him being last seen, around 5:00 to 5:30pm, lines up almost exactly with when the game would have been finishing in South Australia. That’s normally when everyone’s glued to the TV or talking about the end of the match.

If people were watching the game at the time there’d actually be really clear reference points for remembering the exact moment they last saw him, like what was happening in the match or when the siren went.

are you implying that the family was watching football at the time of Gus' disappearance?

 

[jessicalouise]

Are you meaning less restriction and Gus could just roam?

JL lives on a property as well. So what dangers would be different? Gus could still easily roam there as well.

Or dangerous because the amount of junk lying around or the mineshaft??

Or the clashes??

Just so many questions and like you said I guess we won't know until clarified.

Good question!

I guess there's a difference between having the potential to roam and consistently not supervising GL when he's outside. Maybe dad is a bit more hands on and keeps an eye on him when they're together? He's described as adventurous which sounds like a euphemism and can be a bit dangerous at that age.

That's why my first thought was that it was a clash over parenting styles. I hate speculating like this. It's just that dad's fears came true.

 

[BreakingNews]

His hat. I can't get past the idea that if some bird of prey, or some animal, snatched this child, his hat would be found nearby. If a 4 legged beast, there'd likely be blood, or a sign of some sort, drag marks, etc. A bird of prey? I just think him to be too sizable for such a scenario.

Gus either was taken from this property, or is on the property. He may have been murdered and buried somewhere in the outback. Or he decided to explore, and found himself in a place where he couldn't escape.

No footprints or other evidence pointing to his departure from the reported sand pile where he was reported to have last been seen is suspicious imho.

Re hat. Often kids hats have a strap under the chin. Hence it doesn't fly off their heads and get lost so much.

 

[Roroho]

The working dogs don't usually bother kids that live on the same property. If Gus grew up there, the dogs would have known him from birth.

It would be very obvious if Gus had been attacked by a dog.

I didn’t mean to imply a dog attack. By police, I meant keeping an eye on the kids, following them and/or attempting to “herd” them. I was just trying to say that the dog being a herding breed doesn’t suggest it would have followed Gus or alerted the adults when/if he wandered. My point is really just that there are far too many factors at play to make a judgment based on the dog’s breed and job alone.

 

[justtrish]

are you implying that the family was watching football at the time of Gus' disappearance?

It sounds like they are just saying this was a big sporting even in Australia similar to the super bowl in the US. If it's something people typically watch, then it could be a reference point for when they last saw Gus. It would be slightly different than any other normal day because if they were watching the game and say as it ended, they realized they didn't see Gus, then it could be an exact time they could reference back to for when they last saw him. IMO

 

[Itz_CrimsonYT]

It sounds like they are just saying this was a big sporting even in Australia similar to the super bowl in the US. If it's something people typically watch, then it could be a reference point for when they last saw Gus. It would be slightly different than any other normal day because if they were watching the game and say as it ended, they realized they didn't see Gus, then it could be an exact time they could reference back to for when they last saw him. IMO

Wasn't it stated that the grandmother was making dinner at the time, and called Gus in for dinner?

 

[jessicalouise]

Just looking at the homestead pics again ...

Intriguing that the trampoline outside the house was old school and had no safety netting around it and an unsupervised 4yo roaming about.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

I would think so. But nothing was found to support any theory he wandered off the property. It is shearing season, so maybe there was more things for a little 4yo to investigate. MOO.

We've been talking about on the property and off the property for days now. Can one of the local or Australian members create an overlay of the property boundary on Google maps, please? It seems likely to me that the property is rather larger than the area within which Gus might have wandered and got lost and which has been searched. Not sure if that makes sense but if someone could oblige it would be very helpful for context

 

[justtrish]

Good question!

I guess there's a difference between having the potential to roam and consistently not supervising GL when he's outside. Maybe dad is a bit more hands on and keeps an eye on him when they're together? He's described as adventurous which sounds like a euphemism and can be a bit dangerous at that age.

That's why my first thought was that it was a clash over parenting styles. I hate speculating like this. It's just that dad's fears came true.

I am curious if Gus has ever wandered a bit before that day. I know the family searched for him for several hours before notifying LE so I do wonder if he's ever just been out of sight for a little while before and they had to search for him, maybe finding him pretty quickly so on this day they might have thought the same would happen,, they'd look themselves and find him just wandered off a bit. If that is the case, I can see that being a reason dad might say it's dangerous. As you said possibly different parenting styles. IMO

 

[MelmothTheLost]

are you implying that the family was watching football at the time of Gus' disappearance?

It's an interesting and plausible possibility.

 

[Itz_CrimsonYT]

We've been talking about on the property and off the property for days now. Can one of the local or Australian members create an overlay of the property boundary on Google maps, please? It seems likely to me that the property is rather larger than the area within which Gus might have wandered and got lost and which has been searched. Not sure if that makes sense but if someone could oblige it would be very helpful for context

IIRC, some of us had posted images of the general area around the property on Google Maps, I had pointed out a decent point, being that since there were 2 other homesteads located SW of the family's property. Gus could've wandered away, got lost by the time the sun set, and saw one of the houses. Either being curious about what was at the house, or assuming it was his home, he could be located at one of those houses.

 

[TMich6811]

I am curious if Gus has ever wandered a bit before that day. I know the family searched for him for several hours before notifying LE so I do wonder if he's ever just been out of sight for a little while before and they had to search for him, maybe finding him pretty quickly so on this day they might have thought the same would happen,, they'd look themselves and find him just wandered off a bit. If that is the case, I can see that being a reason dad might say it's dangerous. As you said possibly different parenting styles. IMO

I believe they said this hasn’t happened beforeb

 

[MelmothTheLost]

IIRC, some of us had posted images of the general area around the property on Google Maps, I had pointed out a decent point, being that since there were 2 other homesteads located SW of the family's property. Gus could've wandered away, got lost by the time the sun set, and saw one of the houses. Either being curious about what was at the house, or assuming it was his home, he could be located at one of those houses.

Yes, those two homesteads have been discussed several times, including asking whether they form part of the station or not but I don't recall that this has ever been answered. Nevertheless, I would be incredibly surprised if they had not been searched by LE since given local support for the search effort I can't imagine that occupants would refuse search access to them.

 

[Total_C]

IIRC, some of us had posted images of the general area around the property on Google Maps, I had pointed out a decent point, being that since there were 2 other homesteads located SW of the family's property. Gus could've wandered away, got lost by the time the sun set, and saw one of the houses. Either being curious about what was at the house, or assuming it was his home, he could be located at one of those houses.

Heres a pic of the parcel of land that Oak Park sits on. Its massive.

• Perimeter (Shape): 32,818.111 m
• Approximate Area: 8,000 – 9,000 hectares (≈ 80 – 90 km²)

You can use this website to look it up.

 

[spiritualdreaming]

We've been talking about on the property and off the property for days now. Can one of the local or Australian members create an overlay of the property boundary on Google maps, please? It seems likely to me that the property is rather larger than the area within which Gus might have wandered and got lost and which has been searched. Not sure if that makes sense but if someone could oblige it would be very helpful for context

There is no public online data for that property due to it being owned by the same family for years. So overlapping a map for the boundary of that property is impossible unless you had access to the title deeds for that land to see where the whole boundary is for the station.