Gus Lamont’s grandparents break their silence after police revealed one of his family members is now a suspect in his disappearance
Gus Lamont’s grandparents have broken their silence after police said a family member was under suspicion in his disappearance and death.
Gus’s grandparents, Josie and Shannon Murray, said the family “cooperated fully with the investigation and wanted nothing more than to find Gus and reunite him with his mother and father.”
‘We are absolutely devastated that the SAPOL Major Crime was published in the press,’ they said in a joint statement by their separate lawyers.
Lawyers representing the duo said they would not participate in any interviews or comment further.
South Australian Police said yesterday that a family member ‘who resides at Oak Park Station’, who is not one of Gus’s parents, has withdrawn his co-operation with the investigation and is now a suspect. Police also confirmed they believe Gus is dead.
After the announcement, Gus’s grandparents retained separate attorneys.
Josie hired Adelaide criminal lawyer Andrew Ey, while Shannon sought the legal services of Casey Isaacs, also from Adelaide.
Police did not make any arrests or file any charges. It is common for witnesses to seek legal advice and neither is alleged to have been involved in any crime.
Gus Lamont, 4, was last seen Sept. 27 at his grandparents’ farm in Oak Park Station, a 60,000-acre farm 25 miles south of Yunta.
Gus’s grandmother Josie Murray
Gus’s grandmother, Shannon Murray
Detective Superintendent Darren Fielke, the officer in charge of the state’s Major Crimes Section, said investigators had uncovered inconsistencies in accounts of the day Gus disappeared.
‘We have identified a number of inconsistencies and inconsistencies in this information as it relates to timelines and versions of events provided to us by family members.
‘As a result of these inconsistencies and related investigations, a resident of the Oak Park Police Station has withdrawn his support of the police and is no longer cooperating with us.’
Gus was last seen on September 27 at his grandparents’ farm in Oak Park Station, a 60,000-acre farm 25 miles south of Yunta.
Before today, police said he was in the care of his grandmother, Shannon, while his mothers, Jessica and Josie, were herding sheep about 10 kilometers away.
Police said Shannon was the last person to see Gus playing in the sand outside the farm around 5 p.m.
When he went to call him inside about 30 minutes later, the man had disappeared without a trace.
The family reported Gus missing to the police three hours later.
Gus disappeared from his family’s large sheep farm in the middle of nowhere in the South Australian outback, about 200 miles north of Adelaide.
At the time of Gus’s disappearance, his father, Joshua Lamont, lived about two hours away from Oak Park and was not there when his son went missing.
A friend told the Daily Mail that Joshua and Jess are still a couple but in a “commuting relationship.”
Hundreds of police officers, dozens of soldiers, a small army of volunteers and an Aboriginal scout scoured tens of thousands of acres of Outback land, but the blond, curly-haired little boy was nowhere to be found.
The only trace of Gus was a single footprint found about 500 meters away from the farm; police have since raised suspicions.
