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

[alicrocodile]

I don't know anything about Australian law. (And for that matter I'm not a lawyer in my own country, the U.S.)

But in the U.S. if a person is labeled a suspect publicly there can begin to be a legal risk to the prosecutors if they don't eventually give a person an ability to defend themselves without taking away a persons right to remain silent. It could become an abuse of power without even using the courts, turning the suspect into a victim.

If LE publicly accuses, and doesn't ever indict, or takes too long to indict, they are participating in destroying a reputation while never giving a person a day in court. In addition, the longer such an accusation is in the ether without a charge, the more biased potential jurors become. The suspect begins to have a very valid defense that LE tainted the jury pool.

So LE in the U.S. avoids saying out loud who figures in their criminal theories too soon.

MOO

idk about this in particular but I do know we have some of the strongest anti defamation laws, much more so than the US. unsure about how that all applies to policing exactly, my knowledge of it is in a different area, but its stricter than you'd think

 

[packetgravy]

I'm not surprised at all.
Why is little Gus mentioned as "vanished" only, but not where HE was living?

I had thought the unique living situation was a fairly good indicator

 

[SouthAussie]

“It can now be revealed the couple had separated before Gus vanished, with Ms Murray (Jess) and her newborn son, Ronnie, living with her parents, Shannon and Josie Murray, on the remote station.”

“Several sources have told the Daily Mail that Mr Lamont attended Oak Park station two days after his son vanished.

The family friend claims Mr Lamont got into a furious row with Jessica's father, Josie, during the desperate search, after previous disputes.

Gus's devastated mother, Jessica, 39, has never spoken or appeared publicly since her son vanished, but locals say she is 'shocked' by the police statement last week.”
From the Daily Mail

note: All sources in the article are cited as “locals, friends or family friends” so not actually confirmed by the Murray and Lamont families.

Gus Lamont's parents 'split' as new details emerge over mum Jessica

Gus Lamont's parents had split up just months before the toddler vanished from his grandparents' outback sheep station, a family friend has revealed.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Notice in your linked article where it says "Gus Lamont's parents had split up just months before the toddler vanished from his grandparents' outback sheep station, a family friend has revealed."

When I follow the blue "revealed" link, it takes me to an Oct 2025 article that says nothing about them splitting up.
The family friend in the Oct 2025 article says that Jess & Josh didn't live together because Josh clashes with Josie.
The friend also says that Jess & Josh have a commuter relationship.

The elusive mother of missing Gus is pictured for the first time

The devastated mother and grandmother of missing boy Gus Lamont have been pictured for the first time - two and a half weeks after he vanished from his grandparents' remote Outback station.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[packetgravy]

I think its important to distinguish available evidence/public information from assumption here. Much of the public have now hypothesised murder in Gus’s case… even though there’s no indication of this yet.

Once that assumption is made, behaviours (like that of Josie’s) are going to be analysed and on occasion misinterpreted. (I am not exempt of course.)

Public speculation often ignores probability, context and psychology. This suggests preexisting bias and/or beliefs drive personal hypothesis.

 

[washysmum]

Just wondering if anyone has been to that National park before? Or if we have any images of it, wondering how dense it is, if there is waterways etc.

 

[Old Soul]

Notice in your linked article where it says "Gus Lamont's parents had split up just months before the toddler vanished from his grandparents' outback sheep station, a family friend has revealed."

When I follow the blue "revealed" link, it takes me to an Oct 2025 article that says nothing about them splitting up.
The family friend in the Oct 2025 article says that Jess & Josh didn't live together because Josh clashes with Josie.
The friend also says that Jess & Josh have a commuter relationship.

The elusive mother of missing Gus is pictured for the first time

The devastated mother and grandmother of missing boy Gus Lamont have been pictured for the first time - two and a half weeks after he vanished from his grandparents' remote Outback station.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Aah, well spotted, thanks. Sounds like Daily Mail’s usual strategy, huge clickbait headline with very tenuous rumours to back it up.

Often it seems they write these inflammatory articles to provoke a response from the people they are pursuing….dredging up photos from Jess Murray’s school years is really scraping the bottom of the barrel for new content.

 

[Ruminations]

Due to the increase in Josie based theorising, I want to share my own observations. I have focused on behavioural analysis research and case studies/reports, applying my findings (and perception) to Josie’s overall public presentation.


Reminder: MOO

I believe Josie is demonstrating the typical behaviours expected of someone protecting their family at a time of trauma… instead of protecting themselves. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a consistent behaviour from Josie, perhaps playing a part in the relationship breakdown with Gus’s father.


As follows:


Protective/innocent reactions often look like:

• confrontation with media/police

• anger/defensiveness

• hyper vigilant

• controlling the environment

• “guarding” property or people

• fight mode (rather than calm)



The following is the other end of the spectrum, which I feel does not apply to Josie.


Deceptive/offender behaviour commonly looks like:

• over controlled

• rehearsed language

• distancing I.E the “child” instead of a name

• inconsistent timelines

• avoiding searches

• low urgency

• oddly calm or resigned presentation (often observed during initial police interviews)

• narrative management rather than action





Resources for those interested:


Vrij A. (2008 2018) Detecting lies and deceit (Book)


DePaulo et al (2003) Cues to deception meta-analysis
APA PsycNet Search Results


Robert M. Sapolsky (1994) Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers (Book)

That's interesting.

The thing that sticks out to me about this heart-breaking case is that Gus has a number of adults in his life.

There is one behavior on the part of every single one of them: they did not give photo(s). I'd like to know more about how that went down.

I wish I were able to read the notes or pick the brains of investigators who requested photos and the response. Did they dig though momentos, digital archive, etc., and try to find some? Did they seem troubled when not producing photos? Is it possible they just said no without seeming concerned that they were not producing one? Reading your post, I have some new vocabulary for the observations I wish I could make.

Did each parent seem protective, or did they seem to distance themselves and/or attempt to control the narrative?

I can't imagine anything more traumatic than not being able to find a precious child. I don't want to pile on to them. But I really wish I knew more about: what happened with each adult when photos were not produced. I think the sources you suggested look like legit starting places to interpret that information.

MOO

 

[alicrocodile]

Just wondering if anyone has been to that National park before? Or if we have any images of it, wondering how dense it is, if there is waterways etc.

I've been to Yunta and surrounding areas, the entire place is very dry and difficult. not sure about that specific national park but in general they tend to have a low or dried up creek if any waterway, lots of red dirt, sparse but numerous prickly as heck plants, some big gum trees that tend to drop branches. generally difficult places to walk and not exactly great coverage for hiding something or protection from the elements, but the places are huge. really difficult to get across how vast tbh. driving through it was always the place we didn't want to stay too long, Peterborough and Broken Hill are nicer and greener

 

[lostbird]

I think its important to distinguish available evidence/public information from assumption here. Much of the public have now hypothesised murder in Gus’s case… even though there’s no indication of this yet.

Once that assumption is made, behaviours (like that of Josie’s) are going to be analysed and on occasion misinterpreted. (I am not exempt of course.)

Public speculation often ignores probability, context and psychology. This suggests preexisting bias and/or beliefs drive personal hypothesis.

LE said there are only three possibilities: abduction, vanishing, homicide. And in the press conference they declared a major crime (which in this case only exists when homicide, or manslaughter is present) they ruled out all but the latter.

 

[drsleuth]

Notice in your linked article where it says "Gus Lamont's parents had split up just months before the toddler vanished from his grandparents' outback sheep station, a family friend has revealed."

When I follow the blue "revealed" link, it takes me to an Oct 2025 article that says nothing about them splitting up.
The family friend in the Oct 2025 article says that Jess & Josh didn't live together because Josh clashes with Josie.
The friend also says that Jess & Josh have a commuter relationship.

The elusive mother of missing Gus is pictured for the first time

The devastated mother and grandmother of missing boy Gus Lamont have been pictured for the first time - two and a half weeks after he vanished from his grandparents' remote Outback station.

www.dailymail.co.uk

The link Old Soul posted now takes me to a paywalled article ( when I first read it when it was first posted in was free ) It's still the same article thou & you can read it using the the archive web site ( not sure if I can put the link here ? )

Gus Lamont's parents 'split' as new details emerge over mum Jessica

Gus Lamont's parents had split up just months before the toddler vanished from his grandparents' outback sheep station, a family friend has revealed.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Today's DM article states that a " Family friend " says that Josh & Jess split up "shortly" after Ronnie was born.

That Jess & Ronnie ( as a new born ) lived at Oak Park with Shannon & Josie

That Josh lived at his house @ Belalie North that he was renovating

A "local" says they haven't seen Josh since Gus went missing.

"locals" say Jess was rarely seen before Gus's disappearance.

A "friend" revealed that Josh & Jess never married

Several sources told the DM that Josh attended Oak park 2 days after Gus was reported missing & that he had furious row with Josie

DM states that "locals" state that Jess is "shocked" by the police statement last week.


DM states that "locals" claim that Shannon & Josie did not believe that Josh was a suitable match for Jess. Also states that Josh did work on Oak Park Station in the past.


Seems the DM has spent time at the library dragging up all Jess's school stuff thru year books etc - how does this has anything to do with Gus's disappearance ??


DM must be frustrated that they don't know where Jess is or be able to get recent pics of her IMO

 

[packetgravy]

I grew up around isolated farmers and pretty rough old school Aussies. I totally get why some people think the aggressive /protective behaviour could just be that, but I don't. Everyones demeanour from what Ive seen lines up way more with the more dangerous people I knew, who either chose isolated places for their paranoia and control, or became paranoid and controlling due to the isolation idk.

not accusing anyone specifically, but DV is a really really big problem in Aus and ime rural communities are completely overrun by it. I don't even necessarily mean who most people are suspicious of, just that that dynamic is so much more common in families one way or another than most outsiders would realise, and creates a lot of tension and secrecy

^^ JMO ^^

I don’t disagree with you, DV is largely a problem in Australia. I’m glad you raised the issues around “secrecy” as this very much results in unreported incidents.

IMO, it’s also key to this case.

<modsnip: No link to information stated as fact>

The unfortunate truth is the majority of us will not recognise or have the ability to reliably distinguish the signs.

I spent some time analysing Josie’s behaviour following the gun incident but found myself left with more questions than answers. (A largely difficult task without context.) Now with the recent update we do have a broader picture, effectively narrowing potential scenarios and increasing confirmation bias.

 

[packetgravy]

LE said there are only three possibilities: abduction, vanishing, homicide. And in the press conference they declared a major crime (which in this case only exists when homicide, or manslaughter is present) they ruled out all but the latter.

Manslaughter is a qualifier of homicide.

 

[spiritualdreaming]

I'm not sure, but I think the sort of reputation destroying situ you're referring to has definately happened before in Aust. The only one I can recall right now is from WA. My details are sketchy, but a Perth public servant was publicly named as a suspect by police at some point during the decades long investigation looking for the Claremont Serial Killer (the actual perp was eventually found, tried and convicted a few years ago). I can't recall if the wongly named suspect sued or not.

I believe Lloyd Rainey ( a lawyer himself) sued Police for naming him the prime and only suspect in his wife's murder. He did go to trial but was acquitted ( but that's another story). Moo and sketchy with dates and detail.

I guess SAPOL have not technically named this suspect, and I've noticed that every msm report I've read contains a disclaimer, but of course it's clear to all and sundry that the current suspect is one of two people. Moo

There was Bill Speeding accused of William Tyrrell who sued.

 

[musicaljoke]

That's interesting.

The thing that sticks out to me about this heart-breaking case is that Gus has a number of adults in his life.

There is one behavior on the part of every single one of them: they did not give photo(s). I'd like to know more about how that went down.

I wish I were able to read the notes or pick the brains of investigators who requested photos and the response. Did they dig though momentos, digital archive, etc., and try to find some? Did they seem troubled when not producing photos? Is it possible they just said no without seeming concerned that they were not producing one? Reading your post, I have some new vocabulary for the observations I wish I could make.

Did each parent seem protective, or did they seem to distance themselves and/or attempt to control the narrative?

I can't imagine anything more traumatic than not being able to find a precious child. I don't want to pile on to them. But I really wish I knew more about: what happened with each adult when photos were not produced. I think the sources you suggested look like legit starting places to interpret that information.

MOO

For all we know there may be thousands of photos of the boy.

I expect that in order for the police to publish a photo of a child, the parents have to consent. I expect that a grandparent cannot provide authorization to publish photos of a grandchild.

 

[_sleuthdog_]

dredging up photos from Jess Murray’s school years is really scraping the bottom of the barrel for new content.

I hate that they've done that.

 

[Yh5r]

I hate that they've done that.

Second this - the poor mum! It's completely irrelevant to the case. I will start boycotting daily mail, it's absolute trash. She is going through enough, was characterised as painfully shy and now has old photos of her on public display.

 

[Total_C]

I want to own something I’ve been short sighted on.

I’ve seen the reporting that Jess and Josie were about 10km away doing station work when Gus went missing. I didn’t give it much weight for two reasons.

First, I’ve always disliked the initial timeline, especially the three hour gap before police were called. Because that gap never sat right with me, anything tied to it got discounted as well.

Second, that 10km detail initially seemed to come from one outlet only. It felt like a leak, and I treated it like an unconfirmed media detail rather than something to build a full scenario around.

For the purpose of this post, I’m doing the opposite. I’m giving that 10km detail full weight and pressure testing what the case looks like if it’s true.

Assumptions

Assumption 1
Jess and Josie really were away from the homestead area around the time Gus was last seen and then noticed missing.

Assumption 2
They may have been away working for a large part of the day, not just for one moment. Meaning the “gap” is potentially bigger than the three hours everyone fixates on.

Assumption 3
Police are now effectively ruling out wandered off and ruling out stranger abduction, and are focusing on someone known to him, with timeline discrepancies central to that.

If those assumptions hold, this pulls a lot together.

The three hour gap no longer needs to be interpreted as the mother choosing not to call police. It can be interpreted as the call being made when the away pair returned and insisted on escalating, while the person at the homestead was the one making the initial decisions and setting the initial narrative.

And this is the part I think I’ve underweighted the whole time.

If only one adult was physically present for the critical window, then everyone else is downstream of that person’s account. The baseline story becomes whatever that person says happened, and the others are reacting to it, searching within it, and repeating it, even if doubts form later. That also explains why discrepancies and inconsistencies can become such a big deal months later. Because if the foundation account is wrong, everything built on top of it is wrong, and it takes time and objective checking to expose that.

It also means the “cleanest” structure is not complicated. It’s a single point of truth problem. One person has the fullest information about what happened in the critical window, and everyone else has fragments and assumptions.

If the 10km away detail is wrong, this whole framework collapses. If it’s right, it explains why the early narrative could hold for as long as it did, and why police are now talking about timeline discrepancies as the driver for suspect focus.

That’s my updated thinking.

Interested in how others interpret the 10km detail and whether they think it changes the three hour gap the way it does for me.

 

[Ruminations]

I want to own something I’ve been short sighted on.

I’ve seen the reporting that Jess and Josie were about 10km away doing station work when Gus went missing. I didn’t give it much weight for two reasons.

First, I’ve always disliked the initial timeline, especially the three hour gap before police were called. Because that gap never sat right with me, anything tied to it got discounted as well.

Second, that 10km detail initially seemed to come from one outlet only. It felt like a leak, and I treated it like an unconfirmed media detail rather than something to build a full scenario around.

For the purpose of this post, I’m doing the opposite. I’m giving that 10km detail full weight and pressure testing what the case looks like if it’s true.

Assumptions

Assumption 1
Jess and Josie really were away from the homestead area around the time Gus was last seen and then noticed missing.

Assumption 2
They may have been away working for a large part of the day, not just for one moment. Meaning the “gap” is potentially bigger than the three hours everyone fixates on.

Assumption 3
Police are now effectively ruling out wandered off and ruling out stranger abduction, and are focusing on someone known to him, with timeline discrepancies central to that.

If those assumptions hold, this pulls a lot together.

The three hour gap no longer needs to be interpreted as the mother choosing not to call police. It can be interpreted as the call being made when the away pair returned and insisted on escalating, while the person at the homestead was the one making the initial decisions and setting the initial narrative.

And this is the part I think I’ve underweighted the whole time.

If only one adult was physically present for the critical window, then everyone else is downstream of that person’s account. The baseline story becomes whatever that person says happened, and the others are reacting to it, searching within it, and repeating it, even if doubts form later. That also explains why discrepancies and inconsistencies can become such a big deal months later. Because if the foundation account is wrong, everything built on top of it is wrong, and it takes time and objective checking to expose that.

It also means the “cleanest” structure is not complicated. It’s a single point of truth problem. One person has the fullest information about what happened in the critical window, and everyone else has fragments and assumptions.

If the 10km away detail is wrong, this whole framework collapses. If it’s right, it explains why the early narrative could hold for as long as it did, and why police are now talking about timeline discrepancies as the driver for suspect focus.

That’s my updated thinking.

Interested in how others interpret the 10km detail and whether they think it changes the three hour gap the way it does for me.

I have been repeatedly asking myself, did all three adults know beginning at the time Gus was reportedly called in for dinner that he was missing? Or just grandmother S? Or both grandparents?

Because we don't know exactly who was searching when, do we?

Also, we don't know if Gus was routinely allowed to be out of sight for any amounts of time. Maybe there was a good deal of time that innocent adult(s) did not know where Gus was, but were not worried, because he always returned.

LE has said the timelines didn't hold up. But they really haven't released the timelines they were given, or by whom, either. We know when LE arrived and that's about it.

MOO

 

[LifeIsAMystery]

Ah yes, thank you.

That leaves the remaining grandparent as the not cooperating party imho. Jess was cleared. The photos of Josie literally directing by pointing the police were unusual to me, in the desire to control the search scene.

 

[gerardo20]

Does the latest presser change anyone’s views on the gentleman that called into that radio show saying he knew Gus was still alive?

Police have ruled out signs of abduction, but they are clearly speaking of abduction by an outsider, as their reasoning revolves around things like not knowing Gus's routine, the difficulty of accessing the property without being noticed (as an outsider) etc.

Now we know that the parents had separated, and that dad Josh was preparing a place where Gus could live and attend preschool, etc, there is a motive for ALL THREE (Jess, Josie and Shannon) to arrange for Gus to dissappear.

The police may have ruled out this possibility, based on the dynamics and statements of the family. Police have declared a suspect (who has withdrawn cooperation), and Jess is declared not a suspect, Shannon has a defense lawyer and Josie a criminal lawyer. Sadly, they have declared they do not believe Gus alive.

However, this may just be the appropriate course of action at the moment. It certainly puts pressure on anyone involved to come clean. It has not proceeded to charges for good reason. Police will be looking at how the family react to these events (such as how they lawyer up). But police clearly want to see if they can get more evidence before charging.

We do NOT know when Gus was last seen. We only have evidence from granmother, Shannon, who has taken on a defense lawyer since the declaraton of Major Crime, inconsistent evidence and a suspect.

The police have not divulged enough evidence for us to understand why it is not considered a possibility that Gus was abducted through an arrangement by at least one member of the family.

It is well known that Australia has a high rate of abductions of children by relatives, and that there is a highly developed network which arranges and supports parents in these abductions. Family can go to extremes, such as in the US where " a boy ... was abducted and located two years after he was reported missing, ... found hidden with his mother in a tiny sealed, specially built secret room no taller than a washing machine at his grandmother’s house."

Police have only indicated they do not THINK Gus is alive, they have not ruled it out fully. My heart goes out to the innocents caught up in this.