‘Buried’: Gus Lamont’s grandmother’s shock revelation about police theory
Gus Lamont’s grandmother has revealed that she is police’s “prime suspect” in the toddler’s disappearance and that detectives believe he buried him after he died in an accident.
Gus disappeared from his family’s Oak Park Station near Yunta in South Australia’s outback on September 27, becoming one of the country’s biggest missing cases.
Speaking for the first time about the mystery, Gus’s grandmother Josie Murray told Seven’s Spotlight on Sunday that she denies any involvement in the four-year-old’s disappearance.
Ms Murray described how her family searched frantically for Gus in broad daylight and said she believed police had missed evidence that another person was on the property.
He told the program that he was the “prime suspect” and was told by police that they believed they buried Gus after he died in an accident.
‘Ridiculous’
Describing the theory as “ridiculous”, the woman said the property had been extensively searched by police and said it would not be possible to bury anything on the property without disturbing the ground.
Ms Murray told Spotlight: “They don’t think I harmed him, they think I buried him. That’s one of the theories they’re working on.”
“This is ridiculous for so many reasons. It doesn’t make sense. Why would you do this to yourself?”
If Gus had been injured or killed in an accident, he said, he would have made all the confessions and “taken care of it.”
No one has been charged in Gus’s disappearance.
For the first time, Ms Murray has publicly stated her version of events.
He said that the family first noticed that he was missing around 17.30 on September 27, after not seeing him for about half an hour, and that a search was carried out in the dams, tanks and buildings of the station.
“We were on the front porch and she (Gus’s grandmother, Shannon) said Gus was right near what we call the bomb shelter plane and when we looked, there was no sign of it,” he said.
“So we asked Shannon, ‘when was the last time you saw her?’ we said. And he said ‘it’s five o’clock’.
“We had a quick conference and decided what to do and decided we might as well get on the bike and go look.
“I don’t know what time it was, but after searching on foot, I remember saying, ‘We’ve got 45 minutes, we’d better get going.'”
‘I WONDER IF SOMEONE IS COMING’
He said police were first called at 8 p.m.
Ms Murray said she noticed the cot and weather station had been moved onto the property before police arrived.
He said he also saw tire tracks nearby.
“I saw tire tracks going past where the bed was and where the weather station was,” said Miss Murray.
“And these tire tracks were a small tire, a medium-sized car, and they didn’t have much of a track on them… It was definitely a passenger type. So I thought that was weird.”
“And almost immediately I started thinking: I wonder if someone showed up?”
Ms Murray also told the program that she found a footprint in the dam on her property that matched one of Gus’s shoes, but this was ruled out by police.
He said he believed Gus had been kidnapped.
‘SEEN’
He said Gus also went missing on another occasion and was found a short time later.
“Shan had taken him to the shearers’ room while Jess (Gus’s mother) and I were packing,” Ms Murray said.
“And he had wandered off, and when Shan came home she couldn’t find him, so she came home and told us Gus had gone for a walk somewhere.
“Jess and I thought we should get on the motorcycle and find him.”
Miss Murray said she eventually found Gus about 400 feet from where he had been walking.
He said he hopes the community continues to search for Gus.
Earlier this month Ms Murray was fined after appearing in Adelaide Court for being in possession of a gun silencer which police kept in a safe room at the property.
The crime had nothing to do with Gus’ disappearance.
The silencer belonged to Ms Murray before a change in legislation requiring a licence, Adelaide Magistrates’ Court was told.
After pleading guilty, he was fined $10,500 and temporarily banned from possessing a firearm.
