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

[kurtneverdied]

LE believe Gus didn't wander off and wasn't abducted. That leaves only death and coverup of said death. Sigh, it's taken a long long time to get to this point. Given that mother and Josie were 10K away I'd say that leaves Shannon as the only adult present when Gus went missing making her the logical unnamed suspect.

That is just the story the family gave so who knows if there was any truth to it.

 

[tlcya]

That is just the story the family gave so who knows if there was any truth to it.

If there were more members of the family involved I would think LE would say they suspect members of the family, not one specific one who's timeline has inconsistencies. MOO the sole adult who was present and claims to have been the last to see him is the one LE are looking at.

I am wondering why NOW LE chose to share this info. Inconsistencies with that individuals story would or should have been apparent early on.

 

[Bats]

If there were more members of the family involved I would think LE would say they suspect members of the family, not one specific one who's timeline has inconsistencies. MOO the sole adult who was present and claims to have been the last to see him is the one LE are looking at.

I am wondering why NOW LE chose to share this info. Inconsistencies with that individuals story would or should have been apparent early on.

Yes, I have no doubt that investigators could see inconsistencies very early on. Hence, very early on the messaging was "nothing is off the table".

It was very important for investigators to be able to rule out the "wandered off" story they were being told.

Even now, they don't know what happened to Gus. They are only confident he didn't wander off based on statistics and that together with the inconsistencies in a story is why they can reveal they have a "suspect". A suspect that is not under arrest but would no doubt be feeling the full pressure, as their lie is being carefully unpicked.

MOO

 

[kurtneverdied]

If there were more members of the family involved I would think LE would say they suspect members of the family, not one specific one who's timeline has inconsistencies. MOO the sole adult who was present and claims to have been the last to see him is the one LE are looking at.

I am wondering why NOW LE chose to share this info. Inconsistencies with that individuals story would or should have been apparent early on.

I think LE are talking about the suspect is the one who either killed and/or hid Gus.
I would assume that any others in the family that may know what happened would be treated as they were perhaps feeling threatened or in danger if they didn't go by the suspects version of events, but they would still likely have to face the courts.
However you may be right and only the suspect knows knows the real story and told the other family members a lie.

 

[Ghostwheel]

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

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Quotes snipped by me.

The tyranny of distance doesn't give you the option of waiting for someone to come.

You're right, but the point being an accident, even something like a caved-in sand pile or fall, would lead almost anyone to seek help somehow, no matter how bad the injuries seemed. Not a cover-up. That didn't happen, so I suspect it was not an accident.

I am sure the home has been bugged

Wait -- is LE allowed to do that in Australia? Would evidence obtained in such a manner be admissible?

There was an American case years ago in which LE did that and the parents received a legal settlement.

Why separate lawyers?

It would make no sense if the two grandmothers had the same lawyer, since LE has said someone in the family has stopped cooperating.
They need separate representation, because how can the one who is cooperating trust the one who isn't?

 

[lostbird]

BTW, if Gus's mother Jess was threatened/coerced into helping to cover up whatever happened to him, then how do we know when Gus presumably died? It might have been weeks before. We never could find out when he was last seen by anyone else, could we.

This is a very fair point to make.

There are two current ways this is playing out, as I see it so far (would love some feedback or alternative views! MOO.)

SM (alone) is involved. She has approximately 90-120 minutes to commit the act and hide Gus’ body. This doesn’t factor in any potential emotional reaction to having either lost her temper/witness Gus die(?)/accidentally harm him.

This allows JM & the mother to still have corroborating stories and gives reason for LE to notice how SM’s account may have been altered.

JM is involved (& therefore, they all are). For JM to be responsible, then all three know to some degree what happened—the mother, for agreeing to lie about an alibi that sets JM 10km away from Gus’ last “known” whereabouts, and SM for being the last person to witness Gus playing in a dirt mound.

Why the mother would lie is the real question. I can confidently say that if I were a mother, there is no amount of begging or pleading that either of my parents could do that would prevent me from telling the police what happened (homicide or manslaughter). However… and I’m still looking for a verifiable claim, but I know it has been thrown around in this thread that the grandparents have custody(?) of the children (custody records aren’t public access, and I don’t see any sealed report to even point to that likelihood), then I can at least understand why a mother might pause and cover up for their parents actions to still physically see the one year old they may not have legal access to anymore.

Throwing this out there (IMO only): Given the family’s reluctance to release a photo of their missing four year old, there really are less and less excuses (as flimsy as they were to begin with) now that police have ruled out Gus having wandered off, or an abduction taking place, for the three of them to feel comfortable enough to allow the Australian public to work off of only from basic visage details. There’s already been discussion of the photo provided resembling what might be a bruise under Gus’ right eye, and while that’s contentious due to shadows and lighting, now that this is likely confirmed foul play (to whatever extent: homicide, or manslaughter), it’s not a horrible stretch of the imagination to assume it was difficult for the three to even find a photo of Gus that might conceal more abuse?

This is only a stray thought, though, as I’m sure LE have access to other pictures of him that might point to the contrary (unless the claim of Gus being quite adventurous is a justifiable reason for the child to be covered in bruises & scrapes fairly often—fair, as an Aussie, when weren’t we outside running around w/o caring for our own safety lmao).

All this to say—has anyone who knows the family personally stated in the media when they had last seen Gus?