Since four-year-old Gus Lamont went missing, his family have remained almost silent. Now, one of them is a suspect.
The young boy was last seen on September 27, 2025. He vanished, so far without a trace, from a family homestead on Oak Park Station in South Australiaâs mid-north.
Initially, SA Police said Gus had likely âwandered offâ. However, months on, a major crime has been declared and someone who lives at the property, who is not Gusâ parent, is now a suspect and is not cooperating with authorities.
Multiple, large-scale searches have been conducted involving hundreds from across SAPOL, the SES, the ADF, community volunteers and an Indigenous tracker.
Dams have been drained, mine shafts searched, and an âextensiveâ aerial search has been completed. Despite their best efforts, across 132 days, Gus has not been found.
The disappearance quickly gripped Australia and the world, dominating headlines at home and abroad, however, the family has hardly spoken.


Gusâ family issues statement
On September 29, a statement from the family was read by Bill Harbison, a family friend.
âWeâre devastated by the disappearance of our beloved Gus on Saturday afternoon,â the statement said.
âIt has come as a shock to our family and friends and weâre struggling to comprehend what has happened.
âGusâ absence is felt by all of us and we miss him more than words can express. Our hearts are aching and we are holding on to hope that he will be found and returned safely.â
Police have said the family is âvery privateâ, people who, according to Superintendent Mark Syrus, âlike the isolationâ of their rural homestead life.
âTheyâre a very private family, and they donât get many visitors up here,â he said on October 1.
âItâs very tough for them. They like the isolation, and over the last six days, theyâve had over 100 people in the area being part of their lives.


âWe gave them space because thatâs what they needed, just a bit of time to rationalise what has happened and to come to terms with it.â
Since then, a few photos of the family have circulated showing them speaking with police. Otherwise, they have maintained their privacy.
Will Gusâ family stay silent?
On Thursday, SAPOL dropped a major bombshell update in the case, declaring Gusâ disappearance a major crime.
A contributing factor to the declaration, Detective Superintendent Darren Fielke said, was a family member withdrawing their cooperation from investigations.
Det-Supt. Darren Fielke also revealed that there had been âinconsistencies and discrepanciesâ relating to the timeline and version of events.
âA person who resides at Oak Park Station has withdrawn their support for police and is no longer cooperating with us,â he revealed.
âOn 14 and 15 January, this year, Task Force Horizon investigators attended Oak Park Station and executed a search warrant. Further comprehensive forensic search was conducted of the Oak Park Station homestead. A number of items were seized, including a vehicle, a motorcycle, and some electronic devices.
âAll of these items are now subject to forensic testing. The person who has withdrawn their co-operation is now considered a suspect in the disappearance of Gus.
Police were clear that Gusâ parents are not suspects, adding that the suspect is known to Gus.
Lawyers brought in
Hours after that announcement was made, both of Gusâ grandparents had engaged high-profile lawyers.
Gusâ grandparent, Josie Murray, is understood to have hired criminal lawyer, Andrew Ey, while his biological grandmother, Shannon Murray, is being represented by defence lawyer Casey Isaacs, the Adelaide Advertiser revealed on Thursday night.
Mr Isaacs told the outlet he was acting for Gusâ grandmother, and said: âWe have been co-operating, but we wonât be commenting.â
There is no suggestion that either Josie or Shannon Murray were involved in Gusâ disappearance.
Details around the property where the family live are scarce.
It is understood to have been in the family for years, with some neighbours claiming that has been since the late 1800s.
Police havenât shared detailed information of the inter-generational living arrangements, but it is understood that Gus, his brother, his mother and his two grandmothers were the only residents at the homestead at the time of the boyâs disappearance.
Gusâ father, according to early statements from SAPOL, was not at the property when Gus vanishes, and did not live at the property.


