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

[_sleuthdog_]

Moo... Jesse would know how her parents care take and discipline. I could not leave my child with my parents ever...I feared them. Jesse seemed to trust her parents..or maybe not now?...since Gus is still missing...but usually you would know if your parents were lying.
..moo

Moo..they have lawyers. Say nothing is what is advised
Jesse was there, she would know if anything was off with either of them..moo
.

A small thing but respectfully, it’s Jess or Jessica, not Jesse.

 

[mickey2942]

I thought of the dog attack possibility but dismissed it largely because I assumed there’d have been evidence of that - ie bloodstains, disturbance in the area, etc.

Now, that is interesting. No matter what occurred, wouldn't there have been some evidence?

The tineline is crucial. Because if Gus was still alive when Josie and Jess left, and Gus died during that time frame, what did Shannon do with Gus's body? Did she dispose of it? Or did she tell Josie, when they got home, and Josie disposed of the body, under the guise of "searching" for Gus?

 

[_sleuthdog_]

I’ll throw some other random thought in - …

What if the inconsistency with timeline and version of events is actually not what happened at the station. What if SM was looking after Gus and brother over the course of the day and she took the boys out for a drive - eg to get supplies, out on an adventure - and the issue is with her story changed on where she went and when or that it doesn’t line up with someone else’s account of the outing (or that she went at all)? This might also explain why no evidence of Gus at the station. Did he vanish while elsewhere? This might also explain the parents’ recent plea to public for any information.

Edit - I realise that this might be timeline information that we would have already known about but what if the story has only surfaced in more recent follow up questioning?

Just speculating / thinking out loud.

 

[Ruminations]

Moo... Jesse would know how her parents care take and discipline. I could not leave my child with my parents ever...I feared them. Jesse seemed to trust her parents..or maybe not now?...since Gus is still missing...but usually you would know if your parents were lying.
..moo

Money can always be a realistic issue, limiting child care options. But, I agree. Jess was not a baby having babies. And she had years of adulthood to reflect on the parenting style she experienced and others experienced. There has been no reason to think she would go tend sheep if it put her children at risk.

This case flummoxes me, because it appears to be a murder, IMO. 4 year olds are quite vulnerable to accidental deaths compared to people a bit younger or older. Tthey are fairly independent, so they are trusted more than younger children. (When he wakes up, he'll get out of the car and come in for lunch.)

But it can be a mistake to trust four year olds. They slip in and out of fantasy so easily, which can make them afraid or unafraid at the wrong times. Their judgement is tainted. (I'm wearing my magic cape!)

Yet, it does not seem at all as if this is a situation is a horrific 4 year old accident. The extreme scene cleanup doesn't add up. The circumstances, if they showed poor parenting judgement, it could be minimized. (Ex: they could claim a poison was just taken off a high shelf and left out a moment, the baby cried, and Gus ate it right away. Instead of admitting to routinely leaving the poison in his reach and trusting him not to consume it.)

And, it appears that the apparent lie about Gus playing in a dirt mound itself almost admits to more than people might. A half hour unchecked is a long time for a four year old. It would be the amount of time that might elapse if, say, the parent fell asleep with the baby. Which I could easily see happening. I would imagine a person would at first say that they just closed their eyes for a minute, before coming to the realization that they slept quite a bit while the baby napped. And then, I'd expect LE to tell trackers and searchers the 1/2 hour truth, while telling the public the parent dozed off.

It strikes me as a long time to not look at Gus in between caring and caring for the little brother and cooking dinner, which I believe is what was said. I think it's weird that the apparent lie is a longer time than I think a four year old would be left alone without being glanced upon by a parent who is awake.

Then, if you're going to lie that Gus was playing in the pile, which I do believe would entertain a child his age longer than most activities, why not put the things I bet he'd have with him on that pile of dirt? Sticks, rocks, buckets, shovels? Why say he was wearing boots, when they would quickly become irritatingly filled with dirt and be removed, most likely?

Nothing about this case makes sense.

MOO

 

[_sleuthdog_]

So much doesn’t make sense, I agree. But for some reason there is still a small part of me that thinks it is possible that the grandparents honestly do not know what happened. I don’t know what that means in terms of what are the alternative possibilities but, you know, what if?

Edit - it’s late, my mind is wandering and tired, any further posts from me tonight are potentially from a tired-crazy person

…..Alien abduction??? Nope, it’s late like I said

 

[cckp72]

I’ll throw some other random thought in - …

What if the inconsistency with timeline and version of events is actually not what happened at the station. What if SM was looking after Gus and brother over the course of the day and she took the boys out for a drive - eg to get supplies, out on an adventure - and the issue is with her story changed on where she went and when or that it doesn’t line up with someone else’s account of the outing (or that she went at all)? This might also explain why no evidence of Gus at the station. Did he vanish while elsewhere? This might also explain the parents’ recent plea to public for any information.

Edit - I realise that this might be timeline information that we would have already known about but what if the story has only surfaced in more recent follow up questioning?

Just speculating / thinking out loud.

This made me instantly think of the Gannon Stauch case. We have no idea what the situation was at home when mom wasn't there. You make a good point about leaving the homestead in a vehicle.

Perhaps disposing of Gus somewhere else, maybe the national park?

I just have a really hard time believing that a grandparent would go to these lengths to conceal an accident.

 

[AmoryK]

Now, that is interesting. No matter what occurred, wouldn't there have been some evidence?

The tineline is crucial. Because if Gus was still alive when Josie and Jess left, and Gus died during that time frame, what did Shannon do with Gus's body? Did she dispose of it? Or did she tell Josie, when they got home, and Josie disposed of the body, under the guise of "searching" for Gus?

It depends what the occurrence was. Drowning doesn’t leave much evidence, just as one example. As for the alleged body, maybe another person was secretly summoned to aid in that. Maybe that’s where the motorbike comes in. Maybe that’s where the discrepancies in the timeline are (the time spent away).

JMO

 

[cckp72]

This made me instantly think of the Gannon Stauch case. We have no idea what the situation was at home when mom wasn't there. You make a good point about leaving the homestead in a vehicle.

Perhaps disposing of Gus somewhere else, maybe the national park?

I just have a really hard time believing that a grandparent would go to these lengths to conceal an accident.

Just replying to my own post. I had a few more thoughts. Lol

I can sort of understand 'panicking' if it was an accident and the perp didn't want to lose their daughter, their other grandchild and perhaps their livliehood. It could almost be categorized as temporary insanity. Having a dead child on your watch would absolutely be traumatizing.

However, that does not excuse the ongoing obscufacting of what happened and where he is.

The fact that the two suspects are the grandparents, the ongoing unaccountability despite their only daughter being destroyed by this is evil. There is no excuse whatsoever for having this go on for nearly 6 months with continued lies.

If it truly was an accident, taking accountability regardless of the consequences would be the right thing to do. And they may even have gotten leniency, we don't know.

Because of all this, I am now leaning towards anger being the motive. The person responsible, by not taking accountability shows selfishness, stubbornness, disregard for their daughter, and obvious disregard for poor sweet Gus.

Anger towards Gus himself or his dad is hard to say without all the facts.

When I said it reminded me of Gannon, the more I think about it, the more I feel this was similar in nature.

 

[Ruminations]

This made me instantly think of the Gannon Stauch case. We have no idea what the situation was at home when mom wasn't there. You make a good point about leaving the homestead in a vehicle.

Perhaps disposing of Gus somewhere else, maybe the national park?

I just have a really hard time believing that a grandparent would go to these lengths to conceal an accident.

And it is weird that there IS an admission of mild irresponsibility-it would be routine to check for him every few minutes, I'd think. Although I did think of a scenario that makes it more plausible to me to fail to check while awake. If the younger child could not be left by the stove, and bringing him out to see his brother would cause the baby, who would need an adult with him, to want to play in the dirt when dinner had to be made, I could foresee not creating that conflict with a one year old by not checking on the 4 year old.

But it is still quite an admission to not have been checking constantly. If admitting that is better than the truth, what is the truth?

MOO

 

[AmoryK]

I think the not checking for 30 minutes had to be admitted (or made up) because they needed to allow a reasonable window of time for Gus to have ‘wandered off’.

 

[Morequestionsthananswers]

Moo... Jesse would know how her parents care take and discipline. I could not leave my child with my parents ever...I feared them. Jesse seemed to trust her parents..or maybe not now?...since Gus is still missing...but usually you would know if your parents were lying.
..moo

I know the feeling….
Sometimes liars are exceptionally good at hiding the truth and won’t back down even when caught out, to the point where you question your own judgment .

The comment from the grandparents lawyers is a good example of this.

EVIL
IMO

 

[Morequestionsthananswers]

I think the not checking for 30 minutes had to be admitted (or made up) because they needed to allow a reasonable window of time for Gus to have ‘wandered off’.

I’m thinking the whole sandpit story is made up, he was never playing there at 5 pm, and something happened to Gus earlier.
It’s a bit too convenient for my liking - there at 5:00, gone at 5:30 .
It was dark that particular day at 6:15 and not much moonlight, if I remember correctly.
If Jess arrived home around 6:00 for tea she wouldn’t have had much light/time to search for her son ….

IMO

 

[Kemug]

That ĺovely photo of Gus looking a little older - he looks like his pretty mother there.

 

[Morequestionsthananswers]

So much doesn’t make sense, I agree. But for some reason there is still a small part of me that thinks it is possible that the grandparents honestly do not know what happened. I don’t know what that means in terms of what are the alternative possibilities but, you know, what if?

Edit - it’s late, my mind is wandering and tired, any further posts from me tonight are potentially from a tired-crazy person

…..Alien abduction??? Nope, it’s late like I said

There are inconsistencies and discrepancies in their timeline so I doubt there’s an alternative explanation.

Alien abduction was on my list earlier having known someone who went missing and was returned an hour later 40 km away.

JMO

 

[LadyL]

<modsnip: Quoted post was removed>

... my fault for giving up too quickly but I kept seeing things like 'police boss', 'a top cop', 'a police boss' before they finally got to the actual title and name

 

[LadyL]

Now, that is interesting. No matter what occurred, wouldn't there have been some evidence?

The tineline is crucial. Because if Gus was still alive when Josie and Jess left, and Gus died during that time frame, what did Shannon do with Gus's body? Did she dispose of it? Or did she tell Josie, when they got home, and Josie disposed of the body, under the guise of "searching" for Gus?

that's what I keep going back to
lack of evidence is not evidence IMO

 

[LadyL]

Yes. The 'top boss' (Police Commissioner Grant Stevens) didn't say it. A police spokesperson did.

The police commissioner said "members" and the police spokesperson said "two family members". And the spokesperson wouldn't comment on "further suspects".
(which doesn't mean there are or there are not further suspects, just means they aren't talking about the case. imo).

ABC had the radio interview with the Police Commissioner. This is what they said.


Today, Police Commissioner Grant Stevens told ABC Radio Adelaide "members" of the family were "not cooperating" with police.

"As far as I'm aware, it's status quo, from the most recent reports. We are still working with Gus's mum and dad and there are other members of the family who are no longer cooperating,"

Following Commissioner Stevens's interview, an SA Police spokesperson confirmed "that two family members are only communicating [with police] via their legal representatives".

When asked by the ABC if there were any further suspects, a police spokesperson said they were "unable to make any further comment at this point".

Two members of Gus Lamont's family 'not cooperating' directly with police

South Australia's Police Commissioner has said that two members of missing boy Gus Lamont's family are "not cooperating" with investigators, but a police spokesperson said they could not comment further on the number of suspects in the case.

www.abc.net.au

thank you for the clarification

 

[Marg944]

I wonder if the little shovel was found?

“Saturday, September 27​

Gus was last seen playing in a mound of dirt with a little shovel in his hand at the front of the homestead on the remote station about 5pm, according to police.”

What we know about search for missing boy on sheep station

Authorities are searching for a missing four-year-old boy on a sheep grazing station in the mid-north of South Australia. Here's what we know about the search so far.

www.abc.net.au

 

[AmoryK]

I’m thinking the whole sandpit story is made up, he was never playing there at 5 pm, and something happened to Gus earlier.
It’s a bit too convenient for my liking - there at 5:00, gone at 5:30 .
It was dark that particular day at 6:15 and not much moonlight, if I remember correctly.
If Jess arrived home around 6:00 for tea she wouldn’t have had much light/time to search for her son ….

IMO

Yes, which would have made the search harder and made people think he must have wandered a bit far after being confused in the darkness, so he must be out there somewhere. It’s a very convenient time.

 

[Ellery84]

In my opinion it can only be to cover child abuse , theres no other reason.

I would tend to agree.