Gus Lamont’s grandparents hire lawyers as police reveal their new ‘major crime’ probe centres on a family member

Two of Gus Lamont’s relatives have hired lawyers amid a renewed push for answers regarding the four-year-old’s disappearance.

Two relatives of vanished South Australian boy Gus Lamont have hired lawyers after police reclassified his disappearance as a “major crime”.

Gus disappeared from his family homestead at the 60,000ha Oak Park Station about 40km south of Yunta, South Australia, on September 27.

Successive searches canvassing thousands of hectares on the ground and in the air have failed to return any trace of the four-year-old and local authorities on Thursday revealed they believed young Gus was most likely killed, accidentally or deliberately, by somebody known to him.

Detective Superintendent Darren Fielke, Major Crime head, said a resident of Oak Park Station is an official suspect in the four-year-old’s disappearance.

Police talk to Josie Murray during the search for missing four-year-old Gus Lamont on a property near Yunta. Picture: 7NEWS Adelaide.
Gus’ grandmother Josie Murray, who is a trans woman, has engaged Adelaide criminal lawyer Andrew Ey.

Josie’s female partner Shannon Murray has retained defence lawyer Casey Isaacs.

Mr Isaacs confirmed to News Corp he was acting for Gus’s biological grandmother Shannon.

“We have been co-operating but we won’t be commenting,” he said on Thursday.

Police have not laid charges over the suspected “major crime”, and it is not unusual for potential witnesses to seek legal advice.

There is no suggestion that Josie or Shannon Murray were involved in Gus’ disappearance.

The little boy vanished from his family’s homestead on Oak Park Station in SA’s Mid North on September 27, with his disappearance sparking numerous large-scale searches across the property.

Speaking on Thursday afternoon, Detective Superintendent Fielke said there had been “discrepancies” and “inconsistencies” in the information provided by some of Gus’ family members.

“As a result of these inconsistencies, and investigations into them, a person who resides at Oak Park Station has withdrawn their support for the police and is no longer co-operating with us,” he said.

Superintendent Fielke said the suspect was not one of Gus’ parents.

“The person who has withdrawn their co-operation is now considered a suspect in the disappearance of Gus,” he said.

“I do want to stress, however, that Gus’s parents are not suspects in his disappearance.

“I can’t give you any more information about the suspect or where the suspect is and why that person is a suspect.

Gus went missing on September 27 last year.
“When we have a suspect in an investigation, it can … have its own challenges, so we’re working through those.”

“So, when we line (up) the information that we received from the family, against what we’ve been doing concurrently in relation to searching and the abduction possibility – all of that information has taken some time to get here, or to get to this point,” he said.

During Thursday’s presser, Superintendent Fielke compared the search area with the size of Adelaide.

Using a map of the search area overlaid onto a map of Adelaide, he said the area takes up the majority of the inner suburban metropolitan area of Adelaide.

“This is what it looks like if you overlaid that into the CBD… you can see that five square kilometres takes up the majority of the inner suburban metropolitan area of Adelaide,” he said.

“It’s a significant distance that’s all been searched on foot.

“That search has been overseen by police forward commanders, experienced police forward commanders and very experienced field search controllers.

“We have a large degree of confidence that area has been searched thoroughly.”

Investigators returned to the property on January 14 and 15, carrying out a forensic search in which detectives seized a vehicle, a motorcycle, and electronic devices for examination.

Those items are now subject to forensic testing, police say.

Gus disappeared from the Oak Park Homestead on September 27, 2025. Picture: Tim Joy / NewsCorp.
Investigators have so far pursued three key theories in their search for Gus – two of which have now been ruled out.

Superintendent Fielke confirmed investigators “don’t believe, now, that Gus is alive”.

“The search for Gus was based on him walking off from Oak Park Station and becoming lost,” he said.

“This is one of three investigation options that have been explored by the members attached to Taskforce Horizon.

“The other two investigation options are focused on Gus being abducted (by an unknown person) from Oak Park Station, or whether someone known to him was involved in his disappearance and suspected death.”

He said despite all efforts from those searching, there was “no evidence, physical or otherwise, to suggest that Gus has merely wandered off from the Park homestead”.

In investigating the possibility Gus was abducted by an unknown person, officers spoke to all people who “present a risk profile associated with abduction or child offending”, Superintendent Fielke said.

“We have identified and spoken to neighbours and people who were or had been working on Oak Park Station or neighbouring properties at around the time of Gus’s disappearances,” he said.

“We have identified people and vehicles in the vicinity of or travelling around the area of Oak Park station at the time of Gus’s disappearance. All of those people have been contacted and discounted.”