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

[HoneyBunOne]

Does it mean
farmers don't employ seasonal helpers?

I mean
so much hard farm work
and here we have two elderly people (over 70) + mother who recently gave birth and I'm not sure was up to hard physical work.

JMO

They may have - shearing sheep is very hard work. That's one task you might outsource. However, any external workers require payment, and many farmers are doing it tough. They can be asset rich but money poor. Yes, Josie and Shannon are 70+, but are country people and farming is in their blood. I've seen my fair share of older farmers, some with limps, some looking like they're on deaths door for years, and they all put many people to shame. It's in the blood of many Aussies, farmers especially, to just get on with it. No whinging, no talking about how you feel, just putting one foot in front of the other and working sun up to sun down. They are really quite amazing, and have my utmost admiration for the work they do. However, I'm not a fan of them not voicing their struggles, it often doesn't end well.

 

[Greenestdays]

Grandma Josie is fiercely protective of her privacy, when a reporter visited, she saw her off, while holding a shotgun.

View attachment 646235
View attachment 646234

The dark past haunting town where Gus Lamont vanished: JONICA BRAY

When news first broke of Gus's mysterious disappearance, no photos were released and details of the family's identity and dynamics were kept tightly under wraps - now I know why.

www.dailymail.co.uk

“Reporter visited” - they mean trespassed?

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Police arrested Josie at the family's remote sheep station.
https://trib.al/3yGmvSA

Daily Mail Australia

Police arrested Josie at the family's remote sheep station. Read more: https://trib.al/3yGmvSA

www.facebook.com

 

[SouthAussie]

From the DM article stated by volunteer searcher Mark Aldridge:

"'Information available since the first days of the search gets written off as nonsense, but when an independent team get together, all of a sudden access roads are blocked off by property owners, and police say they are going to helicopter in with dogs.' "

This searcher is implying the owners (Murrays?) are hampering search efforts.

Sounds to me that the police have set limitations on others.

... and that his team could not go there until cops had 'done their work'.

(from that DM article .... Gus Lamont search focusing on a new area beyond farm where he vanished)

 

[Dotta]

They may have - shearing sheep is very hard work. That's one task you might outsource. However, any external workers require payment, and many farmers are doing it tough. They can be asset rich but money poor. Yes, Josie and Shannon are 70+, but are country people and farming is in their blood. I've seen my fair share of older farmers, some with limps, some looking like they're on deaths door for years, and they all put many people to shame. It's in the blood of many Aussies, farmers especially, to just get on with it. No whinging, no talking about how you feel, just putting one foot in front of the other and working sun up to sun down. They are really quite amazing, and have my utmost admiration for the work they do. However, I'm not a fan of them not voicing their struggles, it often doesn't end well.

Well...
the way I see it,
this case seems TO ME
very strange, secretive with stifling creepy atmosphere.

Nobody was welcomed into this weird station,
neither to help with farm work (son in law JL),
nor those who were willing to search for Gus.

IMO!!!
Very creepy vibes
and a missing child who vanished without trace.

Brrrr....

JMO

 

[BreakingNews]

I don't know, but they must go pretty low. I posted some examples from a South Australian lawyer further back.

$1,000 fine for someone who had an unregistered gun in his shed.
$5,000 fine and firearm license suspension for someone who had a license but not for the category of self-loading shotgun that was found, unsecured, in his vehicle
4 years prison for aggravated possession for someone who had a loaded handgun of a high category in his vehicle, with drugs and ammunition in the vehicle, during a drug raid

The police say the charge against Josie is aggravated, and it is not a loaded gun, and it doesn't sound as if the silencer was on the gun when found, and it is illegal to be in possession of a silencer in this state - so I couldn't begin to guess how that will be viewed for any sentencing.

imo

I do not understand why she would need a silencer living way out in the scrub.

 

[BreakingNews]

Why would you need a silencer in the outback? No neighbours to hear shots...what is the purpose?

ETA-----just saw a reply that makes sense. I wonder why the potential fine and sentence is so high?

Can you imagine if a silencer was found in a populous area. That would create huge red flags

 

[HoneyBunOne]

Well...
the way I see it,
this case seems TO ME
very strange, secretive with stifling creepy atmosphere.

Nobody was welcomed into this weird station,
neither to help with farm work (son in law JL),
nor those who were willing to search for Gus.

IMO!!!
Very creepy vibes
and a missing child who vanished without trace.

Brrrr....

JMO

To be clear, in case yoiu can't read my mind , I had admiration for the tough as nails farm folk who work all day, every day. I currently do not have admiration for wither of the Grandmothers in this case. And, I agree with what you've said.

I do not understand why she would need a silencer living way out in the scrub.

There are reasons - to not spook your animals, nor scare all the vermon in the area. To protect your hearing too.

 

[linge]

I do not understand why she would need a silencer living way out in the scrub.

JMO, but the only non-sketchy explanation that really makes sense to me is to not scare the sheep, whether putting one down or shooting predators/pests near the flock. Earmuffs or ear plugs to protect your hearing are standard, affordable, and legal, so being worried about hearing damage doesn't hold water. They aren't close enough to anyone else to worry about noise complaints. But sheep are silly, flighty creatures, and not only do they panic easily, they can drop dead from the fear when startled, including by loud noises.

 

[Skigh]

To be clear, in case yoiu can't read my mind , I had admiration for the tough as nails farm folk who work all day, every day. I currently do not have admiration for wither of the Grandmothers in this case. And, I agree with what you've said.


There are reasons - to not spook your animals, nor scare all the vermon in the area. To protect your hearing too.

If there was a legitimate reason to have one then why not have a licence for it..

 

[BreakingNews]

As someone who does fully understand the impact of DV on someone and why they get frozen and afraid -

In any of these situations, that goes out the window as a reasonable reason to not talk when police get involved. At least in their abused mind. I absolutely will not give anyone (this case or others) that understanding when they are now forced into safety because LE are now involved. This is similar to how I see generational trauma cycles - DV and learned abusive behavior does not remove an adults choice and decision making, it’s a factor as to why we got there and the “why” absolutely matters for many reasons. But the silence “why” now that LE is involved is very different that the “why” before they were not

The reality is that if there is DV, one of them is still making a choice to not speak up even though they now have full safety.

Nope. That’s no longer DV, that’s now assisting in a child never being found and never deserving the right to know what happened to him.

And even with that - we have heard absolutely nothing related to DV to even say it’s a factor, we don’t have any evidence to assume it is and I don’t believe anyone in these situations deserves any level of consideration until proven otherwise

I'm sorry, but I don't understand why you even raise the topic of DV. It's never been reported in msm. It's about as useless as the snake and shotgun theory.

Let's move on Justice for Gus.

 

[linge]

If there was a legitimate reason to have one then why not have a licence for it..

JMO, it is possible that they bought it and forgot it before a license was needed, or might even have been something that SM's father, Vincent, had purchased and stashed somewhere before he died. But according to the law linked earlier, an unknowing violation like that doesn't legally let you off the hook if you get caught with one.

 

[Skigh]

JMO, it is possible that they bought it and forgot it before a license was needed, or might even have been something that SM's father, Vincent, had purchased and stashed somewhere before he died. But according to the law linked earlier, an unknowing violation like that doesn't legally let you off the hook if you get caught with one.

I think if investigators found it unused in an old cobwebby box then maybe they would be lenient . I don't think Josie's aggressive manner would help matters .

 

[TMich6811]

I'm sorry, but I don't understand why you even raise the topic of DV. It's never been reported in msm. It's about as useless as the snake and shotgun theory.

Let's move on Justice for Gus.

I didn’t raise the point, thanks. It was a follow up to the pp convo and my point was that dv doesn’t matter in this situation regardless, and as I stated, we don’t even know anything about dv in this case. I haven’t once brought up dv related to this case. And if you read what I wrote, justice for Gus was the point. Not sure if you’re misunderstanding me Or missed all of the comments related to DV or both.

 

[linge]

I think if investigators found it unused in an old cobwebby box then maybe they would be lenient . I don't think Josie's aggressive manner would help matters .

I think it's very unlikely that their decisions on how to handle this were made without considering how they believed it would impact the much larger investigation surrounding the family. We can only speculate about their exact reasoning as to why they decided to pursue this particular charge in this way at this time. MOO.

 

[DropBear]

Sounds to me that the police have set limitations on others.

... and that his team could not go there until cops had 'done their work'.

(from that DM article .... Gus Lamont search focusing on a new area beyond farm where he vanished)

As a fellow South Australian - it doesn't surprise me that that particular "searcher" would question legitimate police directions ...

 

[Kittypoo]

Many years ago there was a case I read
about a mother who suffered from post natal depression who medicated her older toddler child to keep him quiet and not wake up the newborn baby.

I suddenly remembered this case.

So...
I have another theory.

ALLEGEDLY

- A grandmother was to take care of 2 kids (Gus, Baby R)
- Being on a farm I bet she had lots of household chores.
Plus she had to prepare dinner for 2 adults who probably were ravenous after hard work at the paddock.

Is it possible that she ALLEGEDLY medicated Gus to nap and not wake up Baby R.
while she had to engage in her tasks??
(2 kids sleeping, peace&quiet, time to do chores)

But, unfortunately the boy ALLEGEDLY didn't wake up.
Could even be allergic to the meds, sleeping pills.

It is as good theory as any other I guess.

(And it happened in real life but with another child in the case I read about)

All this could have happened MUCH earlier than timeline provided.

And the other grandmother might have been summoned to decide what to do.

SPECULATION!!!
My imagination.

Wasn’t the sedation theory mooted for M McCann as well. Parents on holiday wanting to enjoy some child free drinking time
It’s certainly another possibility as is the sinkhole or poisonous snake theories.
JMO

 

[Orbweaver]

As a fellow South Australian - it doesn't surprise me that that particular "searcher" would question legitimate police directions ...

Intriguing Any way you can elaborate? Don’t leave us hanging!

 

[hoodunnit]

As a fellow South Australian - it doesn't surprise me that that particular "searcher" would question legitimate police directions ...

Meaning....?

 

[Dotta]

DBM