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

[bearbear]

off topic but theres a thread open now for missing little alice springs girl sharon granites

 

[musicaljoke]

At the point that police started to suspect them it made perfect sense for them to stop talking.

Not as grandparents IMO. Most grandparents would be desperate for police to find their missing grandchild. If the police started to act like they thought they were involved, most grandparents would be falling over themselves to prove they’re not: offering to take a lie detector test, asking if the police could look at satellites to prove their whereabouts, pulling out every single item of clothing they owned and inviting police to test it, telling them to take every vehicle immediately to test, offering to pay for special trackers to come in, etc etc.

Those hypothetical grandparents would all be driven by fear that the hunt would be diverted and frustration that time was being wasted, desperate to prove their innocence so the police could look elsewhere and hopefully find their grandchild.

This kind of behaviour can backfire into creating more suspicion and a result can be that police find evidence to suggest guilt. Hence, it is always advisable to get legal support when in a situation like this, even when innocent.

 

[rvlvr]

Most grandparents would be desperate for police to find their missing grandchild. If the police started to act like they thought they were involved, most grandparents would be falling over themselves to prove they’re not: offering to take a lie detector test, asking if the police could look at satellites to prove their whereabouts, pulling out every single item of clothing they owned and inviting police to test it, telling them to take every vehicle immediately to test, offering to pay for special trackers to come in, etc etc.

Do you have any evidence that they haven’t done this?

90% of this thread is wild speculation, I’m afraid. Police have been pretty tight lipped throughout their investigation which, while clearly confusing and frustrating to some, is a perfectly acceptable way for them to conduct themselves. In the absence of firm info and updates though a lot of people are theorising based purely on very negative assumptions and hypotheticals that aren’t really supported by any facts.

If a crime took place then I’m sure SA Police will be smart enough to work it out for themselves. In the meantime, anyone considered a suspect would be very wise to heed any legal advice they receive.

 

[AmoryK]

The police have said that one of them stopped cooperating. Presumably the police have evidence for this and haven’t randomly plucked that statement out of the air.

 

[gerardo20]

if crime took place then I’m sure SA Police will be smart enough to work it out for themselves

I have respect for police in Aust, and have no complaints about their approach in this case.
However, I do not have the same degree of confidence that they will not make mistakes, or miss leads or work it out.
There are too many instances of where bad apples have let down their police colleagues.

I remember speaking to a barrister who had been a police detective and prosecutor at previous times saying that police often make errors when investigating.

Let's hope for Gus, Josh and Jess that this time the police uphold their best standards.

 

[rvlvr]

The police have said that one of them stopped cooperating. Presumably the police have evidence for this and haven’t randomly plucked that statement out of the air.

If someone *stops* cooperating the obvious conclusion is that previous to this they were cooperating.

Evidently they’ll have given statements, they’ve allowed police to search their properties and their land. There’s no evidence that they’ve obstructed the police investigation in any way.

One could assume they feel they’ve told police all they know, and now that they’re being eyed suspiciously they’ve chosen to get good legal advice. As is their right.

 

[AmoryK]

I didn’t say they’d obstructed the police operation. The police said they were no longer cooperating (yes, clearly that means they cooperated before - that goes without saying). They also suggested this non-cooperation happened around the time LE found discrepancies in their accounts.

The police also said that the grandparents weren’t acting in a way you’d expect a close relative to too.

JMO - but most grandparents would be falling over themselves to help. They’d be cooperating to the max. They would be wholly focussed on getting the police to solve the crime and find their grandson. If they did engage lawyers (which is fine) and the lawyers’ advice was ‘say nothing more’, I simply don’t believe most grandparents would comply. They’d try to explain the discrepancies, they’d talk, they’d ask questions, they’d explain, etc, etc.

 

[musicaljoke]

I didn’t say they’d obstructed the police operation. The police said they were no longer cooperating (yes, clearly that means they cooperated before - that goes without saying). They also suggested this non-cooperation happened around the time LE found discrepancies in their accounts.

The police also said that the grandparents weren’t acting in a way you’d expect a close relative to too.

JMO - but most grandparents would be falling over themselves to help. They’d be cooperating to the max. They would be wholly focussed on getting the police to solve the crime and find their grandson. If they did engage lawyers (which is fine) and the lawyers’ advice was ‘say nothing more’, I simply don’t believe most grandparents would comply. They’d try to explain the discrepancies, they’d talk, they’d ask questions, they’d explain, etc, etc.

We can't really say what most grandparents would do, and even if we knew exactly what most would do, there is no reason to believe that all grandparents would do that, or that these particular grandparents would act in that way. Humans are unique and respond to great stress in their own personal ways.

 

[packetgravy]

Weird analogy but I like it.

Ah yes, my most profound penmanship to date.

 

[AmoryK]

We can't really say what most grandparents would do, and even if we knew exactly what most would do, there is no reason to believe that all grandparents would do that, or that these particular grandparents would act in that way. Humans are unique and respond to great stress in their own personal ways.

I disagree. I think we can say what most grandparents would do. Maybe not all grandparents would do that, but those grandparents who didn’t would be in a small minority and pretty rare. A big coincidence then that there appears to be two of those rare grandparents right here in the same family.

 

[Monkey2]

Maybe it's not stress they're dealing with but guilt in which case the way they are behaving is probably in the majority.

 

[JLZ]

I disagree. I think we can say what most grandparents would do. Maybe not all grandparents would do that, but those grandparents who didn’t would be in a small minority and pretty rare. A big coincidence then that there appears to be two of those rare grandparents right here in the same family.

Not as grandparents IMO. Most grandparents would be desperate for police to find their missing grandchild. If the police started to act like they thought they were involved, most grandparents would be falling over themselves to prove they’re not: offering to take a lie detector test, asking if the police could look at satellites to prove their whereabouts, pulling out every single item of clothing they owned and inviting police to test it, telling them to take every vehicle immediately to test, offering to pay for special trackers to come in, etc etc.

I think the behaviour you described in the second quote above is much more unusual than initially co-operating, then hiring a lawyer, then shutting up. Maybe we just know different cultures.

 

[RobinCAL]

DBM

 

[Cedars]

It seems to me that police are increasingly inclined to treat the victim as the perpetrator or at best a troublemaker. It's simple, it's efficient, it stops people reporting crimes and that improves police and politician image.

I was hoping to introduce some rational discussion about the direction the police have taken and the potential consequences, from known cases , of a refusal to cooperate.

In the case eg, of missing Samantha Murphy, the media and many posters were completely tunnel-visioned that her husband had done it. Police were not, and arrested a stranger to her.

My view is that police always know far more than we do, and if people don't understand, it's more likely their lack of knowledge and experience, than police incompetence and conspiracies.

JMO

 

[BreakingNews]

The court of public opinion is a different matter obviously though I’d imagine this incredibly isolated outback family couldn’t care less what people think of them. Quite right, too.

The grandparents have obviously previously spoken to police at length and have also allowed them access to their land and properties repeatedly. At the point that police started to suspect them it made perfect sense for them to stop talking. It’s up to police to evidence any theories they have now, will be interesting to see what - if anything - they can come up with.

I believe that police were following up from day 1 the possible suspect of the grannies. LE said they were following all possibilities right from the start. And police usually look to those closest and work their way out of the circle.

 

[Dotta]

I believe that police were following up from day 1 the possible suspect of the grannies. LE said they were following all possibilities right from the start. And police usually look to those closest and work their way out of the circle.

I agree.

Family members or those who were the last to see/be in contact with the missing person
are usually the first to be checked by Police.

Isn't it the most obvious procedure?

JMO

 

[BreakingNews]

I have respect for police in Aust, and have no complaints about their approach in this case.
However, I do not have the same degree of confidence that they will not make mistakes, or miss leads or work it out.
There are too many instances of where bad apples have let down their police colleagues.

I remember speaking to a barrister who had been a police detective and prosecutor at previous times saying that police often make errors when investigating.

Let's hope for Gus, Josh and Jess that this time the police uphold their best standards.

I think LE are doing an excellent job. They have the eyes of the world watching them.

 

[Fieldsroyal]

It seems like the police have a strong feeling about what happened but lack sufficient evidence to make an arrest. Has the "person of interest" outsmarted police and removed all trace of what happened to Gus?

 

[AmoryK]

Hopefully not @Fieldsroyal Fingers crossed that LE will be using all available covert methods to trap them.

 

[Bats]

It seems like the police have a strong feeling about what happened but lack sufficient evidence to make an arrest. Has the "person of interest" outsmarted police and removed all trace of what happened to Gus?

In the last major press conference from SAPOL, they seemed very confident that Gus was dead and also seemed less than pragmatic that the story about Gus playing in a "sandpit" was a truthful one.

Has the "suspect" outsmarted the investigators?

Hmmm, has the suspect outsmarted their own family? Do the other 2 adults believe themselves, that Gus wandered off? Does Shannon actually believe Gus wandered off? Maybe to Shannon, Gus was there at one moment and gone the next and has told an account filled with the guilt of being a carer that has made an error of judgement? Or maybe the story is a cover up? Maybe the 3 adults know a different story?

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