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

[Ellery84]

Sad. Have you ever heard any mention of Joshua's parents? I'm wondering if they live near where Josh has his house, or if they've been a part of Gus's life at all.

I would like to know also but we are not allowed to sleuth the family; so we may need to wait for the media to illuminate us.

 

[Ellery84]

Damn, that's sad if true. A child who has to play alone so much of the time needs more toys, not fewer.

Some children have specific interests, like sand or insects or maybe just watching the sunset that can keep them entranced for an extended period of time.


Imo

 

[SouthAussie]

I still think he just wandered and got lost, and he was just missed in the searches. They do their best when searching, but it happens.

I think that the police statement today acknowledged that Gus could (still) have been missed.

And today's police statement also seemed to acknowledge the monotony of the landscape as another reason Gus could have been missed. It is less mentally stimulating to scan the same terrain for so long than it is to be searching the changing landscape of the urban environment.

"The fact Gus is a small child, the terrain is extremely rugged, harsh and subject to changing weather conditions has made the searching difficult and more challenging for those involved.
Each of these factors may have contributed to the lack of evidence discovered.

The location also presents less opportunities for police searching for a missing person, compared with an urban environment."

imo

Police complete latest phase of search for missing four-year-old Gus

Police have today concluded a renewed search of Oak Park Station for four-year-old Gus Lamont who was last seen late on 27 September 2025.

www.police.sa.gov.au

 

[Lucy6226]

Many children can get a world of enjoyment out of toys that were not "store bought"

We grew up with not many toys but my favourite was my "paper people" I cut out of an IBM big catalogue that next doors left when they moved.
I had endless fun hours pairing off and marrying the IBM employees while my toys that I received no longer interested me.

Oh and my silkworms and reading books and walking around exploring the beach and nature.

I agree. Country kids tend to enjoy interacting with their outside world, imaginary play, playing with sticks, playing in dirt and puddles. In the UK forest schools are becoming increasingly popular. Also some kids are bookish and have no interest in toys. My kids would go straight to books at nursery rather than the toys.

 

[Officer Dibble]

I can't help thinking of the life Gus lived out there - no other kids to play with so he would be used to playing by himself & wandering around creating games & amusing himself. We will probably never know if he has been hard to find before or how far he may have wandered (I know it's been reported that family state he "hadn't wandered far", but far can mean different things to families living so remote. And that is not to point fingers at family). I also wonder if he did wander & survive a night, did the noise & vibrant colours of the searchers frighten him? Like the little 4 year old that went missing in NSW many years ago who survived for 5 days but was constantly hiding from the search parties as they frightened him.

I can remember being very young at a children's party. The first game was hide and seek. None of us noticed a boy was missing for the entire party. He was found at the end of the party still hiding in the cupboard.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

We don't know if he does or doesn't have much contact with other chidren.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Though he would be spending large amounts of time playing outside either way.

 

[Dotta]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1979113475772228013

 

[Lady-J]

I was wondering if he might have crawled into some kind of gap and ended up stuck underneath one of the outbuildings

I have wondered this myself because it would explain why there are no signs of Gus wandering but surely if that was the case the smell of decomposition and flies would’ve been noticed by someone and Gus would’ve been found .
I’m assuming sniffer dogs have been brought in and would’ve found him if he was near the homestead.
Apparently the area has been combed -that would have to include everything close to the homestead such as water tanks, grain silos, car boots, buildings, sheds etc .

Surely he would’ve been found if he was near the homestead given the amount of people looking.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

We don't know how much time he usually spends outside.

From his photo I woudn't say he looks like he spends much time at all outside.

Even a hat doesn't totally block the sun from someones face and neck.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

How truly sad that nothing has been found. I feel for his whole family.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

I have wondered this myself because it would explain why there are no signs of Gus wandering but surely if that was the case the smell of decomposition and flies would’ve been noticed by someone and Gus would’ve been found .

There's some very interesting information at this link as to how far the smell of decomposition spreads.

How far away can you smell a dead animal? - The Institute for Environmental Research and Education

How Far Away Can You Smell a Dead Animal? The distance you can smell a dead animal varies wildly depending […]

iere.org

I would imagine that even if Gus had become trapped somewhere within the station buildings that place would not be sealed and the smell of decomposition would be leaking out by now.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

We don't know how much time he usually spends outside.

From his photo I woudn't say he looks like he spends much time at all outside.

Even a hat doesn't totally block the sun from someones face and neck.

I know that historically Australia has had a very high rate of melanoma due to sun exposure but I was under the impression that sun awareness and safety are very hot topics these days, especially where children are concerned.

ETA that maybe he had been inside the house all day but allowed out to play in the late afternoon precisely because the sun was low in the sky and the UV factor low by then.

 

[Megnut]

Seems too obvious to even mention because it would be the first places to search but I wonder about cistern, wells, latrines. In particular, ones that might have been missed/dismissed for being too narrow for him to fall into. It could account for his disappearance, lack of odor, etc.

He is somewhere.

JMO

 

[MelmothTheLost]

We don't know if he does or doesn't have much contact with other chidren.

We don't know that, no, but we can reasonably conjecture it. His maternal family are pretty reclusive, he is below school age and the heart of the property is around 40km/28miles from the nearest settlement (population 60 according to wikipedia). He's not going to be going to birthday parties or other gatherings where he will have opportunities to meet and play with other kids in the way that a child from a town is.

 

[TMich6811]

Where are you buddy

 

[HaydenMackaa]

It would appear police have no reason to think he’s not there, it’s just they can’t find him. I wonder if that drone search used ground penetrating radar, I believe that can pick up humans but maybe not of his size.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Seems too obvious to even mention because it would be the first places to search but I wonder about cistern, wells, latrines. In particular, ones that might have been missed/dismissed for being too narrow for him to fall into. It could account for his disappearance, lack of odor, etc.

I would be very surprised if cameras haven't been used to look into these places.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

It would appear police have no reason to think he’s not there, it’s just they can’t find him. I wonder if that drone search used ground penetrating radar, I believe that can pick up humans but maybe not of his size.

Drones can also be used to detect decomposing human remains.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780128193945000031

New Dutch drone can find hidden graves and buried bodies

An autonomous drone developed at Saxion University of Applied Sciences in Deventer is set to revolutionize crime scene investigation. The CSI-Drone is able to comb a large area to track buried corpses or hidden graves, using sensors to gather and analyze data about heat, soil composition, and...

nltimes.nl

 

[Megnut]

I would be very surprised if cameras haven't been used to look into these places.

Agreed. But that's why I raised the possibility of one with such a narrow opening it wouldn't even be considered.

Then there's that recent case of a little girl who climbed into a feed barrel but wasn't able to get back out. Those things are designed to keep moisture and pests out. Airtight.

It's maybe not likely but it's always possible that he's somewhere they have overlooked altogether. And the very nature of the location masks odor.

JMO