The grandparent of missing South Australian four-year-old Gus Lamont has been charged with having a prohibited gun silencer.
Police on Monday arrested Josie Murray, 75, at the family’s remote Oak Park sheep station, about 40km south of Yunta.
Murray briefly attended the local police station and was charged with a firearm offence, before being released to front Peterborough Magistrates Court on May 6.
Officers had been on the station as part of a two-day search – one of several that have been conducted on the property since Gus vanished on September 27 last year.
He was last seen playing on a mound of dirt near the family’s homestead about 5pm.
Murray was charged with one count of possession of a sound moderator, which is an ‘aggravated offence as the moderator fits a firearm in their possession’.
Acting Officer in Charge of Major Crime Investigation Branch, Detective Inspector Andrew Macrae, said that the charge is not connected to the disappearance of the four-year-old or an incident with a journalist on the property in October.
Detectives recently revealed that a person known to Gus was now considered a suspect in his disappearance and suspected death. However, they stressed that Gus’s mother and father, Jessica Murray and Joshua Lamont, were not suspects.
No arrests have been made or charges laid over Gus’ disappearance.
Gus’ grandparents Shannon and Josie Murray have both enlisted the services of high-profile Adelaide defence lawyers.
They said they were ‘devastated’ by the police announcement and insisted they were still cooperating with the investigation.
Police have not said either is a suspect and it is not uncommon for witnesses in criminal cases to seek legal advice.
The search for Gus has been among the biggest in SA Police history but no trace of the boy has been found.