Police have commenced another search at the remote property where four-year-old Gus Lamont went missing last year.
Gus disappeared from his grandparents’ home near Yunta, South Australia, on September 27.
Initial police reports said he had been playing in a pile of sand outside the Oak Park Station homestead, owned by his maternal grandparents Josie and Shannon Murray, and appeared to have wandered off at about 5.30pm on AFL grand final day.
Numerous searches have been carried out at the property under Taskforce Horizon, which was established in the days after Gus vanished, but no trace of him has been found.
SA Police confirmed on Tuesday that officers would be returning to the property – one day before the eight month anniversary of Gus’s disappearance.
‘Taskforce Horizon members will be searching numerous locations on the property for evidence in the case over the next three days,’ the statement read.
‘The searching will be conducted by Major Crime detectives and specialist STAR Group officers.
‘The searching has resumed to take advantage of opportunities that may have arisen as a result of recent heavy rains on the property.
‘An update will be provided as the investigations continue.’
Police last visited the remote property in March but left with no fresh leads.
The renewed search comes after SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens revealed earlier this month that officers planned to return to the home ‘at some time in the future’.
‘The taskforce operating within Major Crime Investigation Branch are continuing their work,’ he told reporters.
Police have previously described the operation as the ‘largest and most intensive’ missing person search ever undertaken by the force.
In February, authorities announced they believed Gus was dead and that they had identified a suspect within his family.
They later confirmed they found ‘inconsistencies’ in statements and timelines provided by some family members.
No arrests have been made or charges laid over Gus’s disappearance.
Police have repeatedly stressed that Gus’s parents, Joshua Lamont and Jessica Murray, are not considered suspects in his disappearance.
Gus’s grandparents Shannon and Josie Murray – a transgender woman – have both enlisted the services of high-profile Adelaide defence lawyers – a move that is not unusual in these circumstances.
‘(Shannon) is still supporting Josie, co-operating through her solicitors and hoping to find Gus, (and) hoping that some information comes to light soon,’ her lawyer Andrew Ey said.
Gus’s parents, though separated, issued a united statement earlier this year describing how their lives had been shattered by their son’s disappearance.
‘Every moment without him is unbearable,’ they said. ‘We know someone out there may have information.
‘If someone knows what happened, we are pleading with that person – or anyone who may have seen or heard anything – to please come forward. Even the smallest detail could give us the answers we so desperately need.
They also thanked their supporters.
‘Your kindness has helped carry us through the darkest days of our lives,’ they said.
‘All we want is to bring Gus home and understand what happened to our beautiful boy.’
Gus’s mother was spotted publicly for the first time since his disappearance earlier this month, on a suburban Adelaide street with her youngest child. She politely declined to comment when approached by the Daily Mail.
Anyone with any information about Gus’s disappearance is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
Source: https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15847979/Gus-Lamont-missing-Yunta.html