Fresh and disturbing details have come to light regarding the disappearance of four year old Gus Lamont, who vanished without trace from a remote sheep station in the Australian outback almost a year ago.
Fair-haired Gus Lamont was last spotted playing outside his residence at his family’s sheep station, Oak Park Station, near Yunta, in the Australian Outback on September 27.
Thus far, a massive search operation has failed to find any sign of the spirited youngster on the vast South Australian sheep farm – which spans approximately 3.5 times the area of Manchester or double the size of Edinburgh, Scotland.
One of his grandparents had left him unattended for roughly half an hour before discovering he had disappeared. Gus’ vanishing has since evolved into one of the most extensive land and air searches in South Australian history.
Now, during her first public statement since the incident, Gus’ grandmother Josie Murray has disclosed that the young boy had previously disappeared on the remote outback property, reports the Mirror.
In an interview as part of a significant joint investigation by 7NEWS and its specialist in-depth investigation programme Spotlight, the 75 year old recalled a terrifying episode during which Gus strayed away and couldn’t be located. “Shan had taken him down to the Shearer’s quarters while Jess and I were out mustering and he had wandered off… Shan couldn’t find him when she was going to come home,” Murray told 7NEWS Spotlight in the tell-all interview to air on Sunday at 8.30pm (local time).
Josie Murray, Gus Lamont’s grandmother (Image: 7NEWS)
The interview also reveals fresh details about the critical hours following Gus’s disappearance last September, with relatives speaking publicly about their account of events for the first time.
Ms Murray remembered arriving back at the homestead at approximately 5.30pm after tending to sheep on the estate. She said another grandparent, Shannon, informed them Gus had been playing outdoors near what the family refers to as the “bomb shelter plane”.
However, when they went to look, he was nowhere to be seen.
“We said to Shannon, ‘When did you last see him?’ And she said, ‘Five o’clock’,” Ms Murray recalled.
“And so in that half-hour timeframe, he disappeared.”
The family’s initial concern was that Gus might have tumbled into a cellar being built close by. “We immediately were a little bit concerned about the cellar we were building, because it was possible he could have fallen down there,” she said.
Search for Gus Lamont – August ‘Gus’ LamontMajor search for boy, 4, missing in Australian outback for several daysMembers of the Australian military have joined South Australia Police to help in the search. (Image: South Australia Police)
The location was swiftly checked, but there was nothing to indicate the youngster had been present.
“There was no sign that he’d been down there, no blood on the concrete floor, nothing.”
As alarm grew, relatives scattered across the sprawling property checking dams, water tanks, sheds and surrounding structures before nightfall. Ms Murray believes the initial emergency call was placed at approximately 8pm to inform authorities that young Gus had gone missing.
In the days and weeks following Gus’s disappearance, South Australia Police undertook comprehensive searches of the surrounding area, spanning roughly 470 square kilometres around his residence at the Oak Park station homestead.
Towards the end of October, a 12-strong taskforce was established to pursue the investigation further, which subsequently reviewed earlier statements provided by family members and “identified a number of inconsistencies and discrepancies” of the timeline surrounding the boy’s disappearance.
In March, police confirmed that relatives of Gus Lamont are no longer assisting the South Australian constabulary.
Members of the Australian military and South Australia Police during a search for Gus (Image: South Australia Police)
Legal representatives for two grandparents of missing four year old Gus have issued a response after South Australia’s police commissioner alleged that certain relatives have ceased cooperating with enquiries into the boy’s disappearance.
Gus’s grandparent Josie Murray has instructed prominent Adelaide criminal lawyer Andrew Ey. When approached by South Australian daily newspaper The Advertiser to see if his client wanted to address the commissioner’s remarks, Mr Ey stated there would be “no further comment at this stage”.
Meanwhile, distinguished defence lawyer Casey Isaacs is representing Gus’s grandmother Shannon Murray. Mr Isaacs likewise informed the Advertiser his client “is co-operating through her solicitor”.
When the case was escalated to a major crime investigation on 5th February, Detective Superintendent Darren Fielke disclosed that a resident of the property had withdrawn their cooperation and was subsequently being treated as a suspect.
Throughout the investigation, Josie Murray told 7News she was interviewed by police but was never charged.
Reflecting on the harrowing ordeal, she said: “We say ‘how, why’… we just can’t believe it.
Gus Lamont, aged 4, vanished in September (Image: South Australia Police)
“To be accused of doing something like this… you could not wish a more horrible experience on anyone.”
The 7News Spotlight programme will see crime correspondents from the network’s specialist investigations unit reconstruct the timeline of Gus’ disappearance and scrutinise the numerous unanswered questions that continue to shroud one of Australia’s most perplexing missing persons cases.
Spotlight presenter Michael Usher said: “This is the interview that could provide answers to the many questions being asked about the disappearance of little Gus.
“His grandmother has never spoken before, but in an extraordinary set of circumstances has now given her first interview.”
7NEWS Spotlight airs on Channel Seven and 7plus at 8:30 PM tonight (local time).
