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

[linge]

But if there was alleged abuse/neglect,
wouldn't Mum notice it?
There would be signs, no?
And yet
she left both kids under the care of grandmother.
She visited them, helped with farm work and trusted them enough to bring kids there.
Mum is not a suspect.
There is nothing reported that baby R. suffered harm/abuse/neglect.
So why would Gus?

IDK.

JMO

Some kinds of abuse are easier to hide than others.

Also, Jess is their daughter. If one (or both) of them was abusive to Gus, odds are good that Jess would have been abused growing up, too, if not still. What your parents do is your 'normal'; it can take time, distance, and outside perspectives to be able to label whatever you experienced as abuse. Editing to add: This can also be why it can become a cycle.

Growing up, I was friends with a girl with abusive parents. Among other things, her father would beat the kids with a belt, including her 3-year old sister. I was horrified; my friend just thought he was 'strict.'

So if there was the kind of abuse that leaves bruises, it's possible that everyone who would have seen them would have 'understood.' Particularly because, while where I am people tend to strip down as much as they can get away with when it's hot out, I understand that in Australia it's normal to cover up to protect from the sun, long sleeves, long pants. That could cover up a lot of bruises without raising any suspicions from outsiders.