Four months after Gus Lamont was last seen, the South Australian police have announced a shocking update that they have a suspect in his disappearance who was known to the little boy.

This suspect is not one of Gus’s parents, Detective Superintendent Darren Fielke said in a press conference held today but is a resident of the remote property where Gus vanished.

He also announced that the case has now been declared a major crime investigation by South Australian police.
Gus went missing last September
The development came as investigators realised there were “inconsistencies and discrepancies” in relation to information provided by various family members regarding the four-year-old’s disappearance last September.

“As a result of these inconsistencies, and investigations into them, a person who resides at Oak Park station has withdrawn their support for the police and is no longer cooperating with us,” Fielke said.

“The person who has withdrawn their co-operation is now considered a suspect in the disappearance of Gus. I do want to stress, however, that Gus’s parents are not suspects in his disappearance.”

No charges have been laid.

FORENSIC EXAMINATION

Police made the shock announcement after conducting another search where they took items for forensic examination.

“On 14 and 15 January, this year, Task Force Horizon investigators attended at Oak Park station, and executed a search warrant. Further comprehensive forensic search was conducted off the Oak Park station home stead,” said Fielke.

“A number of items were seized, including a vehicle, a motorcycle, and some electronic devices. All of these items are now subject to forensic testing.”
Gus Lamont disappeared from Oak Park station. (Credit: 7 News Adelaide)

NOT ABDUCTED

The press conference clarified that three investigation options have been explored by police. These include that Gus walked off from his family’s remote sheep station where he lived, was abducted or that someone known to him was involved in his disappearance and suspected death.

Significantly, abduction has now been ruled out. Fielke also said there was “no evidence, physical or otherwise, to suggest that Gus has merely wandered off from the homestead”.

Gus was last spotted on September 27, 2025 playing on a mound of red dirt on his family’s remote sheep station on the edge of South Australia’s red centre.

Dressed in a blue T-shirt with a yellow Minion on the front, and with his distinctive curly blonde hair, four-year-old Gus was outside the homestead on his grandparent’s 60,000 hectare sheep station at Oak Park Station, near Yunta, around 5pm when his grandmother Shannon went to check on him.

VANISHED WITHOUT A TRACE

Thirty minutes later, after calling for him to come inside for dinner, he had vanished. After searching frantically, they called the police at 8.30pm that night.

At the time she was also watching Gus’s little brother Ronnie, one, while Gus’s mother and other grandparent tended to their sheep about ten kilometres away.

In a statement soon after Gus’s disappearance, South Australia Police confirmed Gus’s family were being fully cooperative, and were also being supported by a victim contact officer while Task Force Horizon continued to investigate the case.

“The fact Gus is a small child, the terrain is extremely rugged, harsh and subject to changing weather conditions has made the searching difficult and more challenging for those involved,” a spokesperson for SA Police said on October 17.

“Each of these factors may have contributed to the lack of evidence discovered. The location also presents less opportunities for police searching for a missing person, compared with an urban environment.”

For months there was no sign of Gus after multiple “extensive” searches but South Australia Police promised to get answers for his loved ones.

In January the police returned to the sheep station on the edge of the outback to interview Gus’ loved ones.
SES and police have been among the searchers (Credit: SA Police)

OLD MINESHAFTS SEARCHED

“We’ve taken statements from the family, we’ve had to go through those statements with the family and that’s just part of the normal investigational process we go through,” said Fielke at the time.

“They just went through a pretty torrid Christmas obviously without Gus and we check in with the family regularly.”

One search, conducted over three days in November, focused on six unfenced and uncovered old mineshafts located between 5.5km and 12km from the homestead where Gus was last seen by his grandmother on the evening of September 27.

“Several of the shafts were relatively shallow and could be visually inspected but the remainder were up to 20m deep and specialised equipment was required to complete the searches,” SA Police said in a statement shortly after the search was completed.

The searches have involved police officers and SES volunteers as well as the army, a tracker and members of the public.

A TERRIBLE SHOCK

A few days after Gus disappeared, family friend Bill Harbison delivered a statement on behalf of Gus’s devastated loved ones.

“This has come to a shock to our family and friends, and we are struggling to comprehend what has happened,” he said.

“Gus’s absence is felt in all of us, and we miss him more than words can express. Our hearts are aching, and we are holding onto hope that he will be found and returned to us safely.”

Bill also thanked the emergency services for their efforts in the search on behalf of Gus’s mum and dad, Jessica and Joshua Lamont.

“We are incredibly grateful to the South Australia Police, emergency services and the many organisations and community members, neighbours and friends who have come together to help find Gus,” he said.