Police drop bombshell in the search for little Gus Lamont – nearly two months after he vanished without a trace

Police will begin searching a series of remote mine shafts in South Australia’s mid-north as the search continues two months after missing four-year-old Gus Lamont vanished without a trace.

The final stage of the investigation is expected to last up to three days and will see officers use special equipment to examine the uncovered, unfenced mine shaft located 3.5 to 12 miles from the Oak Park farm where Gus was last seen.

SA Police Deputy Commissioner Linda Williams said the wells had not been detected before and were located outside the area teams were currently searching on foot.

‘We are determined to explore every avenue to locate Gus Lamont and provide some measure of resolution to his family,’ he said.

‘These searches will either locate evidence or exclude these locations from further investigation by the Task Force.’

Police said this stage was to ensure that every possible place of interest around the farm was thoroughly checked.

Just five days after the search began, a local person told the Daily Mail that many in the community feared the little boy may have fallen into one of the numerous hidden wells in the area, raising questions about why it was taking so long for police to search for them.

‘I would be more concerned about unmarked shafts and mines where it might have fallen,’ he said. ‘This is something that is talked about among the locals.

The boy was last seen playing outside on a mound of dirt by his grandmother in the early evening hours. When she returned 30 minutes later to call him in, he had disappeared.

‘Most of them are not on any map. If Gus’s grandparents have owned the property for a while, they need to know where they are; but I’m still finding new places on my property.

‘Most have differently colored material around them from being excavated, but some are flush with soil and have excessive vegetation around them.

‘Some are easy to see, some are definitely not easy to see… but I hope Gus disappears… and doesn’t disappear.’

The renewed search came after police drained a large dam on the property on October 31, eliminating concerns that Gus might have drowned.

This followed extensive ground and air searches involving SA Police, ADF personnel, SES volunteers, Indigenous tracers and local landowners.

Earlier, on October 17, police concluded a four-day search of the Oak Park Station following an initial 10-day operation launched immediately after Gus’ disappearance.

The ground search at Oak Park Station has now been extended 3.5 miles away from the farm.

Police said they continue to pursue multiple lines of investigation, but investigators say nothing that has emerged so far suggests foul play.

Gus Lamont’s grandmothers, Josie (left) and Shannon Murray (right),

Police divers searched the dams in the early days of their frantic search for the missing child.

A local person shared an image of an abandoned well from years ago, from where in the area

Gus’s family continues to co-operate fully with police and is supported by a dedicated victim contact officer as the search for answers soon enters its third month.

Despite one of the largest search efforts in the country’s history, Australian Defense Force, including thermal imaging helicopters and Aboriginal trackers – Eight weeks after his disappearance, no trace of Gus has been found.

The boy was last seen playing outside on a mound of dirt by his grandmother, Shannon Murray, in the early evening hours. When she returned 30 minutes later to call him in, he had disappeared.

Gus lived at the station with his grandfather Josie Murray, a transgender woman, his mother Jessica, and his younger brother Ronnie.

Gus’s mother, Jessica, was reportedly with Josie, who was searching for lost sheep, about six miles from the farm when Gus disappeared.

A close friend of Shannon’s suggested that Gus may have left to look for his mother.

‘It’s easy to get lost in such a big station,’ said his friend.

‘Shannon grew up there and almost got lost a few years ago.

Yunta is a dusty spot on the map of South Australia with a population of just 60

Joshua Lamont, father of missing four-year-old Gus Lamont

‘He and Josie went sorting sheep on a motorbike one afternoon and broke up for a while. He had to turn off his bike to listen to Josie find her way back.

‘He’s a happy little boy, happy doing his own thing. But when you address him he gets shy and hides.’

Gus’s father, Joshua Lamont, lived on a farmhouse in Belalie North – a two-hour drive from Murray’s Outback sheep station – and was still in a relationship with Jess.

It is understood Mr. Lamont only learned his child was missing when police woke him up at his Belalie North home hours after Gus went missing.

He now appears to be living in Adelaide, 290 kilometers away from where his son was last seen.

Jessica has not been seen in public since Gus’ disappearance on September 27.

It was widely known that he was staying at Oak Park Station, where he lived with his other son, one-year-old Ronnie, whom he shares with parents Gus and Jos.