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

[BreakingNews]

Maybe, but I'd hope they'd had done a thorough job of that back at the start. It would have to be done quickly, while hired hands and delivery drivers are still able to be found and interviewed.

I think they have done most of what is described above----very few people had contact with little Gus, from what I've read so far.

I think those leads have been pretty well exhausted ---hence they are circling back to the start. JMO

I don't think it is uncommon for LE to return to tease out more of their statements. They are probably making sure their stories don't change, or they get clarity on something.

 

[musicaljoke]

& neither do you

True, but I never made any claims in that regard.

 

[musicaljoke]

I don't think it is uncommon for LE to return to tease out more of their statements. They are probably making sure their stories don't change, or they get clarity on something.

Police protocol requires that a case officer be assigned to keep the family up to date on the investigation. They might discuss plans for future searches or results go over from their drone work or just maintain general contact.

Investigation process | National Missing Persons

www.missingpersons.gov.au

 

[Kemug]

I seem to recall that in that photo of Gus it looked like maybe he had a black eye?

 

[_sleuthdog_]

Having a black eye is never a conclusion I had jumped to. I see various shadows on his face cast by hair, IMO.

 

[FromGermany1]

Quote snipped by me.

I don't think there has been anything indicating Gus has any disability.

His father was renovating a new house for the family.

Gus disappeared on one person's watch. Why would she take the responsibility on herself only, if this were some kind of cover-up?
Also, they don't actually all seem united, and they do seem devastated to me. Nothing indicates abuse nor neglect occurred in this family.

bbm
When did JL stop his work on the new house: before little Gus became missing or after the day, he officially disappeared?
I don't think, the father did something to his son, but if we are thinking of a cover-up by 4 people, then he would have known at a certain date, that something had happened. So he suddenly could have stopped the renovation.

 

[64WhetstoneRoad]

I know the land they have is vast and searching a lot of it around the house and expanding out must be very difficult but I’m pretty sure most parents (imo) with a missing child on their own property would probably be out searching hours a day. Or even the grandmothers. Every single inch of that property as far as it’s humanly possible to go on foot. Someone up thread (sorry I can’t remember who) mentioned how if Gus was on the property he should have been found by now. When we see these types of missing person cases we always think perhaps the person is lost and will be found in the future by accident while someone’s hiking or clearing away overgrown vegetation because they are so often missed during the searches. Typically in those cases (imo) they may have a search area more or less but we’re talking about their own property in this case, a few miles out each way. A place where they can search and search and search every day. Of course we don’t know if they have been out day after day searching for Gus but surely, surely something would have been found if that were the case. Or is it that vast that a few miles out each way cannot have been searched by family members daily? I’m not finding the correct words to explain what I want to say but if a child disappears or any family member, I know (again imo) most people would be still out there searching, especially when the search areas are SO accessible to the family, they know that land very well…

 

[BreakingNews]

bbm
When did JL stop his work on the new house: before little Gus became missing or after the day, he officially disappeared?
I don't think, the father did something to his son, but if we are thinking of a cover-up by 4 people, then he would have known at a certain date, that something had happened. So he suddenly could have stopped the renovation.

Was it at the house being renovated that police woke Josh in the early hours of the morning? Then he went to search for Gus for a night then he returned to the comfort of his brother, Dam in Adelaide.

 

[twomoresmores]

I know the land they have is vast and searching a lot of it around the house and expanding out must be very difficult but I’m pretty sure most parents (imo) with a missing child on their own property would probably be out searching hours a day. Or even the grandmothers. Every single inch of that property as far as it’s humanly possible to go on foot. Someone up thread (sorry I can’t remember who) mentioned how if Gus was on the property he should have been found by now. When we see these types of missing person cases we always think perhaps the person is lost and will be found in the future by accident while someone’s hiking or clearing away overgrown vegetation because they are so often missed during the searches. Typically in those cases (imo) they may have a search area more or less but we’re talking about their own property in this case, a few miles out each way. A place where they can search and search and search every day. Of course we don’t know if they have been out day after day searching for Gus but surely, surely something would have been found if that were the case. Or is it that vast that a few miles out each way cannot have been searched by family members daily? I’m not finding the correct words to explain what I want to say but if a child disappears or any family member, I know (again imo) most people would be still out there searching, especially when the search areas are SO accessible to the family, they know that land very well…

I think I know what you mean. That that search area is on their doorstep, they don't need to inform anyone they're searching, don't need to ask permission or ask landowners to access an area fenced and locked off, for example, don't need to inform LE. If they have a spare half hour, they can search. If something suddenly occurs to them, or they suddenly think of somewhere else, they can search at the drop of a hat.
I presume this has been/is being done.... With no results.
JMO.

 

[Orbweaver]

I know the land they have is vast and searching a lot of it around the house and expanding out must be very difficult but I’m pretty sure most parents (imo) with a missing child on their own property would probably be out searching hours a day. Or even the grandmothers. Every single inch of that property as far as it’s humanly possible to go on foot. Someone up thread (sorry I can’t remember who) mentioned how if Gus was on the property he should have been found by now. When we see these types of missing person cases we always think perhaps the person is lost and will be found in the future by accident while someone’s hiking or clearing away overgrown vegetation because they are so often missed during the searches. Typically in those cases (imo) they may have a search area more or less but we’re talking about their own property in this case, a few miles out each way. A place where they can search and search and search every day. Of course we don’t know if they have been out day after day searching for Gus but surely, surely something would have been found if that were the case. Or is it that vast that a few miles out each way cannot have been searched by family members daily? I’m not finding the correct words to explain what I want to say but if a child disappears or any family member, I know (again imo) most people would be still out there searching, especially when the search areas are SO accessible to the family, they know that land very well…

1 million percent this! I mentioned this quite a few pages back and got some push back but this is private property in the middle of nowhere. There are no hikers or utility workers or random passersby to someday stumble upon him. That’s such a huge part of rural living/farming/homesteading - you’re on your own in a lot of ways. And as a parent, I would make the absolute most life shatteringly reckless financial decisions to gain the time to comb through the terrain to find my baby. I hope they don’t need to make reckless decisions and I hope that they are searching for him.

 

[TMich6811]

I agree. As a parent there is nothing that could keep me from looking. Obviously I’ve never been in this or any other families shoes but I’m confident I would not stop. Especially if ease of access.

I guess we don’t know that this is the case though, they could be looking.

 

[Warshawski]

Both can be true. The police haven't yet found any evidence of foul play, but that doesn't mean they've ruled it out.

A truly baffling case. Unless the police know more than the public, it seems Gus vanished without a trace. No evidence of where he wandered off to and no sign of his remains, but also no actual evidence that foul play has occurred. I hope there are answers one day.

There’s no doubt imo that the Police know a lot more than they have made public - which should be expected.

However I believe that there’s no evidence of Gus wandering off and no sign of his remains - because we heard that from a few searchers, including the aboriginal tracker. If he couldn’t find something, imo there’s nothing there.

At the beginning, and with my heart breaking for his family, I really wanted to believe in them and their story.
Now however, and as much as I’m loathe to think it, imo it’s time for a much deeper and perhaps more sinister investigation as to what really happened.

 

[Warshawski]

Police protocol requires that a case officer be assigned to keep the family up to date on the investigation. They might discuss plans for future searches or results go over from their drone work or just maintain general contact.

Investigation process | National Missing Persons

www.missingpersons.gov.au

My comments here are just ‘my opinion’ since I didn’t write (nor have any idea of) the Rule Book re Case Officers, particularly in such a situation - however I would suggest that they have quite a diverse responsibility.

As much as I presume their responsibilities will be geared to supporting the traumatised family/ families, and keeping them informed etc., I’m thinking that they will also have a responsibility to ‘uncover & report back’ anything that may possibly be useful ie new, different, conflicting etc.

Reflection is quite sad. I think of all the times I’ve heard that someone is ‘missing’, child or adult.

Some times I’m able to quite soon celebrate a happy ending.

Other times it turns into a full blown ‘missing persons case’, and usually there is no happy ending. I think there’s an unwritten time span …..

That full blown ‘missing persons case’ is what this has now become, IMO, given investigators have been heard to say - Children do not disappear into thin air !

I do try ? to put myself into a situation before I give judgement, allowing for different personalities, and how they express grief.
Personally, I think I tend to shut down - but that’s when there’s no hope and my loss is real.

Until then I fight….. and for those who may bring up Lindy Chamberlain - she screamed for help that her baby was gone, that her baby had been taken by a dingo etc. But she wasn’t listened to - and if you’ve ever lost a baby you’d perhaps understand her persona at court.

But moving on -

Gus’s people have never once expressed grief or concern over his disappearance ( they had some old bloke utter something on their behalf), they haven’t appealed for help - they actually said they don’t want any help, with Josie presenting aggressively with a rifle to enforce that sentiment !

I’ll be fair in so far as perhaps the media invasion became too much for them - but do they realise that people Care. As Human Being most of us are programmed to care for & protect the young, be they our’s or otherwise. .. the ‘media invasion’ will have been lessened by a sense of empathy for their missing child, IMO.

Gus ( as does William ) deserves to have people who care about him, and he deserves the truth to be uncovered so he and all who care about him can lay him peacefully to rest ( imo he’s no longer alive, as much as I hope I’m wrong )

It’s been a very long post I know, just had to off load ! Hopefully those bored have scrolled by.

 

[jepop]

BBM : Maybe they have been instructed not too???

We don't know what is going on behind the scenes with the police investigation.

True. Additionally, I don't understand the negative judgements of this family at all. I see no reason why they should publicly display their grief and no reason to assume that just because they have not done so it means they are not grieving and devastated as your average person would be. To assume lack of public display equals lack of grief seems eggrarious IMO.

Adding to the general convo on ongoing searches, anyone is welcome to try searching the outback in the height of summer. However, that is a dangerous prospect for professionals let alone amateurs; reasons heat and conditions. I would think inexperienced volunteers should not be encouraged. Best to leave it until autumn and then be sure any additional ground searches are well organised. We are dealing with a vast unforgiving area here, even within a 2.5km radius of the homestead. There is no reason to assume poor little Gus has not been missed. Jmo

Support and hope to all Gus' family and loved ones in this New Year.

 

[BreakingNews]

My comments here are just ‘my opinion’ since I didn’t write (nor have any idea of) the Rule Book re Case Officers, particularly in such a situation - however I would suggest that they have quite a diverse responsibility.

As much as I presume their responsibilities will be geared to supporting the traumatised family/ families, and keeping them informed etc., I’m thinking that they will also have a responsibility to ‘uncover & report back’ anything that may possibly be useful ie new, different, conflicting etc.

Reflection is quite sad. I think of all the times I’ve heard that someone is ‘missing’, child or adult.

Some times I’m able to quite soon celebrate a happy ending.

Other times it turns into a full blown ‘missing persons case’, and usually there is no happy ending. I think there’s an unwritten time span …..

That full blown ‘missing persons case’ is what this has now become, IMO, given investigators have been heard to say - Children do not disappear into thin air !

I do try ? to put myself into a situation before I give judgement, allowing for different personalities, and how they express grief.
Personally, I think I tend to shut down - but that’s when there’s no hope and my loss is real.

Until then I fight….. and for those who may bring up Lindy Chamberlain - she screamed for help that her baby was gone, that her baby had been taken by a dingo etc. But she wasn’t listened to - and if you’ve ever lost a baby you’d perhaps understand her persona at court.

But moving on -

Gus’s people have never once expressed grief or concern over his disappearance ( they had some old bloke utter something on their behalf), they haven’t appealed for help - they actually said they don’t want any help, with Josie presenting aggressively with a rifle to enforce that sentiment !

I’ll be fair in so far as perhaps the media invasion became too much for them - but do they realise that people Care. As Human Being most of us are programmed to care for & protect the young, be they our’s or otherwise. .. the ‘media invasion’ will have been lessened by a sense of empathy for their missing child, IMO.

Gus ( as does William ) deserves to have people who care about him, and he deserves the truth to be uncovered so he and all who care about him can lay him peacefully to rest ( imo he’s no longer alive, as much as I hope I’m wrong )

It’s been a very long post I know, just had to off load ! Hopefully those bored have scrolled by.

Very well said

 

[BreakingNews]

True. Additionally, I don't understand the negative judgements of this family at all. I see no reason why they should publicly display their grief and no reason to assume that just because they have not done so it means they are not grieving and devastated as your average person would be. To assume lack of public display equals lack of grief seems eggrarious IMO.

Adding to the general convo on ongoing searches, anyone is welcome to try searching the outback in the height of summer. However, that is a dangerous prospect for professionals let alone amateurs; reasons heat and conditions. I would think inexperienced volunteers should not be encouraged. Best to leave it until autumn and then be sure any additional ground searches are well organised. We are dealing with a vast unforgiving area here, even within a 2.5km radius of the homestead. There is no reason to assume poor little Gus has not been missed. Jmo

Support and hope to all Gus' family and loved ones in this New Year.

It's also very much a bush thing; the work still has to be done. That is often why bush people appear stoic. They can't tell the sheep they are taking bereavement leave. They just have to keep on keep on.

 

[Warshawski]

Support and hope to all Gus' family and loved ones in this New Year.

Absolutely

 

[HoneyBunOne]

It's also very much a bush thing; the work still has to be done. That is often why bush people appear stoic. They can't tell the sheep they are taking bereavement leave. They just have to keep on keep on.

Absolutely!

Country folk, and remote country folk likely more so, are cut from a different cloth to city folk (said as a mostly-city-folk person, dabbling in not-very-remote country living). I feel it's bred into them - full time farming of any kind takes no breaks for sickness or death. Telling the crops to pause their growth, or the sheep their fleece growth, just isn't possible and kids grow up just knowing that farm work doesn't stop, things need doing and they need doing now. It's just what it is - farming is life, without it there's no money for food, bills etc, and life as we know it ceases for both the farm owner, and the users of the end product to a lesser degree. Headache? Injury? Tired? Can't be bothered? Death? Farming waits for no man (or woman), or no thing. It breeds a mindset, from a very early age, that farm work comes first and despite what life throws at you, it must get done. Whilst I don't think farmers are cold heartless people, they do tend to be stoic and just get on with it. A lot appear no nonsense, they likely have no time for drama, just what needs doing. As a result, the Murray clan may come across as uncaring, unemotional etc when it might just be a personality trait of a country upbringing, with no time for emotional outbursts or breakdowns.

Of course, this is all just speculation and I could be way off the mark. Also, we never know what goes on behind closed doors, they all might be showing their emotions where they feel safe, away from the media and the public.

MOO

 

[BreakingNews]

Absolutely!

Country folk, and remote country folk likely more so, are cut from a different cloth to city folk (said as a mostly-city-folk person, dabbling in not-very-remote country living). I feel it's bred into them - full time farming of any kind takes no breaks for sickness or death. Telling the crops to pause their growth, or the sheep their fleece growth, just isn't possible and kids grow up just knowing that farm work doesn't stop, things need doing and they need doing now. It's just what it is - farming is life, without it there's no money for food, bills etc, and life as we know it ceases for both the farm owner, and the users of the end product to a lesser degree. Headache? Injury? Tired? Can't be bothered? Death? Farming waits for no man (or woman), or no thing. It breeds a mindset, from a very early age, that farm work comes first and despite what life throws at you, it must get done. Whilst I don't think farmers are cold heartless people, they do tend to be stoic and just get on with it. A lot appear no nonsense, they likely have no time for drama, just what needs doing. As a result, the Murray clan may come across as uncaring, unemotional etc when it might just be a personality trait of a country upbringing, with no time for emotional outbursts or breakdowns.

Of course, this is all just speculation and I could be way off the mark. Also, we never know what goes on behind closed doors, they all might be showing their emotions where they feel safe, away from the media and the public.

MOO

HBO, this is so true of my bush upbringing. My Mum and dad milked cows for a neighbour who had lost a son to a horrible accident one night. The next morning the family, just out of hospital themselves, were back doing their own farm work. Very stoic.

 

[HoneyBunOne]

HBO, this is so true of my bush upbringing. My Mum and dad milked cows for a neighbour who had lost a son to a horrible accident one night. The next morning the family, just out of hospital themselves, were back doing their own farm work. Very stoic.

Very stoic indeed, and also very sad. People really need time to grieve, to rest, to recharge, but life on the farm must go on. :-(