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

[Ruminations]

I think the video of this beautiful alive little boy on his balance bike, is to pull on the heartstrings/emotions of the grandparent (in my view Shannon) who is covering (in my view) for Jose. They are "pleading" with her to do the right thing.

I can't wrap my head around that theory.

Josie and Jess were reportedly together and Shannon was reportedly watching Gus and a baby on the cusp of infancy and toddlerhood. We have no details about what was reported to whom amongst one another at about 5:30- or where Josie and Jess were in their day. Wrapping up? Still hours of work? We don't know who texted whom what or when, although I imagine LE knows.

If this timeline (5:00 playing in sand; 5:30 missing while in the exclusive care of Shannon) is true and Shannon is completely innocent and ignorant of what happened, Josie and Jess each at a minimum have a good idea of who did something, about when, and the ability to give LE a perimeter for how far away Gus could have gotten.

I think that Shannon has to be completely ignorant and innocent, or quite - well- suspicious. And not something in between. Because if she is helping to cover up at all, without much guilt otherwise, I don't think she would put herself alone with the victim for so long. Too risky.

I think if Shannon is helping cover, she's in deep.

I really don't know, but one reason I suspect her a bit more is because Josie and Jess would have each been able to shrink the perimeter and it would have been easier to find Gus.

MOO

 

[Dotta]

I'm not sure
if any pleading/appeal will work with alleged perp if there was foul play.

This appeal may only work with some kind of witness
or a person who suspects something
but still is unwilling (for whatever reason)
to contact Police.

I don't understand
why it was not delivered in September and why photos and video weren't shown then,
at the very beginning???

What was the problem?
I understand the appeal is made solely by parents.
It is parents' right to appeal.
Did anybody hold them back then?

But what do I know??
Nothing.
And I honestly don't know what to think about all this.

JMO

 

[southaus]

I'm sorry for him with his little barefeet on that gravel.

Very normal here to have bare feet -

Especially in the heat as it would get hot and with there being a variety of snakes known to live in the environment.

it’s sunset, the ground will not be hot (especially light coloured gravel) and snakes are very unlikely to be an issue for a kid clattering around on a bike on a driveway.

I say with confidence as a kid that grew up in this environment and who’s raising them now, nothing to worry about or feel sorry about. It’s a sign of a healthy childhood IMO.

Some of the things that are ‘read into’ in this case seem to demonstrate more than anything a misunderstanding of the context of the environment and circumstances Gus went missing in. It is likely one reason police have been so strategic about what to release to the public, we seem to muddy the waters more often than not. MOO.

 

[BerylTutu]

Moo...being bare foot is normal in Australia for children and adults

Homegrown Aussie here can certainly confirm that being barefoot is a very normal thing for us!

 

[SouthAussie]

LE has been basically saying, "We have identified a grandparent as a suspect, but we won't tell you which one." I do not know enough about Australia to determine if the suspected grandparent knows they are the suspect, nor do I know the local laws and practices enough to know it means the suspect is suspected of doing a crime, or being a witness, etc.

Suspect is a pretty strong word here. Usually the police would say Person of Interest.

Like you, I am not sure if the police have advised one grandparent or the other that they are a suspect. They seem to have both been put on notice, and have both lawyered up.

I am guessing that the police think that there may be 'a suspect and a co-conspirator' type thing going on.

imo

 

[washysmum]

Moo...being bare foot is normal in Australia for children and adults

Yep, I had a bf who passed and at his funeral it was requested to go bare foot, my bf now goes barefoot to the shops.

 

[alicrocodile]

I can't wrap my head around that theory.

Josie and Jess were reportedly together and Shannon was reportedly watching Gus and a baby on the cusp of infancy and toddlerhood. We have no details about what was reported to whom amongst one another at about 5:30- or where Josie and Jess were in their day. Wrapping up? Still hours of work? We don't know who texted whom what or when, although I imagine LE knows.

If this timeline (5:00 playing in sand; 5:30 missing while in the exclusive care of Shannon) is true and Shannon is completely innocent and ignorant of what happened, Josie and Jess each at a minimum have a good idea of who did something, about when, and the ability to give LE a perimeter for how far away Gus could have gotten.

I think that Shannon has to be completely ignorant and innocent, or quite - well- suspicious. And not something in between. Because if she is helping to cover up at all, without much guilt otherwise, I don't think she would put herself alone with the victim for so long. Too risky.

I think if Shannon is helping cover, she's in deep.

I really don't know, but one reason I suspect her a bit more is because Josie and Jess would have each been able to shrink the perimeter and it would have been easier to find Gus.

MOO

Jess could've been covering for Josie re the timeline for innocent reasons.

my opinion is both grandparents know, and Jess first lied about the timeline because she was asked to by parents she trusted (or was controlled by)

 

[alicrocodile]

re the shoes, there's lots that seems really sus to me in this case but being barefoot is definitely not one of them. Ive seen people barefoot in supermarkets, my high school, pubs, walking down country roads. totally normal here

 

[SouthAussie]

IMO,
Yes, using the media can work well when used strategically by investigators.

No doubt today's news is strategic and hopefully will serve its purpose.

In this case, i suspect the police's use of the media has a target audience of one or two people. That's it. Quite simply, the news today hasn't come from journalists "investigating" a crime, it has been because they were approached and "asked" to publish a statement and photos. The so called "pressure" is being applied by investigators and the media is their tool.

That's the way I see it.
IMO

There may be more to it than a target audience of one or two people (the grandparents). Because surely Jess could pressure her parents privately.
I think that Jess and Josh's public statement may be seeking someone who may have seen someone at a place where it was unusual to see them, or at a time when it was unusual to see them there, or doing something that was unusual to see there (digging? moving fallen logs? something else?)


We know someone out there may have information. If someone knows what happened, we are pleading with that person—or anyone who may have seen or heard anything—to please come forward. Even the smallest detail could give us the answers we so desperately need.

https://www.police.sa.gov.au/sa-police-news-assets/front-page-news/gus-lamont-parents-appeal-for-information

 

[Athena Holmes]

I think the grandparents have been backed into a corner. There is nowhere for them to go. The police aren't going anywhere, are closing in, and life as they know it at Oak Park Station is surely over. It's only a matter of time now before the truth will be exposed. I think the parents' statement/plea at this time is strategic. I wouldn't be surprised if, and I hope she does, the co-conspiritor fesses up soon.

 

[Dotta]

re the shoes, there's lots that seems really sus to me in this case but being barefoot is definitely not one of them. Ive seen people barefoot in supermarkets, my high school, pubs, walking down country roads. totally normal here

Yet
in first report describing the attire of missing Gus,
it was written he was wearing boots.