New details have emerged about missing South Australian child Gus Lamont – as police on Thursday sensationally revealed one of his family members is now a suspect in his disappearance.
Daily Mail can exclusively reveal what may be the last known sighting of the four-year-old from anyone outside his family in the weeks before he vanished on September 27 from Oak Park Station, owned by his grandparents Shannon and Josie Murray, near Yunta in the state’s mid-north.
South Australia Police said yesterday that a family member ‘who resides at Oak Park Station’ – not one of Gus’ parents – had withdrawn co-operation in the investigation, and that person is now a suspect. Police also confirmed they believe Gus is dead.
After the announcement, two members of Gus’ family hired separate lawyers.
Gus’s grandparent Josie Murray hired Adelaide criminal lawyer Andrew Ey, while his grandmother Shannon Murray sought the legal services of Casey Isaacs, also from Adelaide.
Police have not made any arrests or laid any charges. It is common for witnesses to seek legal advice and it is not suggested either was involved in any wrongdoing.
As the eyes of the public and media return to Yunta, the Mail can also reveal the boy did not live at the station – as had been widely understood – and instead lived with his parents, Jessica Murray and Josh Lamont, and his one-year-old brother Ronnie at an Adelaide home which, according to property records, is in Shannon Murray’s name.
A neighbour on the street said the family lived at the address – located 320km south of where Gus vanished without a trace – but also spent a lot of time with Jessica’s parents at their outback sheep station.
Daily Mail can reveal what may be the last-known sighting of Gus Lamont, four, from anyone outside his family in the weeks before he vanished on September 27 from Oak Park Station
Oak Park Station is a 60,000ha property (pictured) near the community of Yunta
‘I only saw [Gus] probably a couple of weeks before he disappeared,’ said a neighbour who sighted the missing boy at the Adelaide home where he lived with his parents, Jessica Murray and Josh Lamont, neither of whom are suspects, and his brother Ronnie. (Josh Lamont, who hasn’t spoken publicly about his son’s disappearance, is pictured at the home on November 11)
‘I only saw him probably a couple of weeks before he disappeared,’ said the neighbour, who did not want to be identified.
‘I’d see them go for a walk to the playground up the road with their dogs.
‘He was a lovely little boy. I’d say hello as they went past.’
Significantly, police have long refused to comment on the last time Gus was sighted outside Oak Park Station.
The neighbour also shed light on the young family’s living arrangements.
‘Josh lives there with his missus,’ he said of the Adelaide address.
‘But I haven’t seen her [Jessica] since the little boy went missing,’ he added.
‘I don’t know if they’ll ever find him, given someone’s not talking. It’s so f***ing sad.’
Gus’ devastated parents, Jessica Murray and Joshua Lamont, are not suspects, say police
As the eyes of the public and media return to Yunta following Thursday’s police press conference (pictured), the Mail can also reveal the missing boy did not live at the outback sheep station – as had been widely understood – although he did spend a lot of time there
Police praised the lengthy search efforts during the course of the investigation. (A search crew is shown on September 30 last year)
Heartbroken dad Josh, a country music singer, was photographed at the Adelaide address in November, and lashed out at a reporter who approached him for comment.
The neighbour said he hadn’t seen Josh in ‘about three weeks’ – which is roughly the time police entered his in-laws’ station and seized a car, a motorbike and electronics in mid-January.
Daily Mail previously revealed Josh did not see eye to eye with Gus’ maternal grandparent Josie Murray, who is a transgender woman.
A friend taking care of Josh’s farmhouse in Belalie North in October alleged the father of two felt Oak Park, a working sheep station in the desolate outback, was not a safe place for children.
It is understood Josh was renovating his Belalie North property with a view to moving his young family in, where they could go to school in nearby Peterborough and would be a two-hour drive from Josie and Shannon.
Jessica has not been seen publicly since her eldest son disappeared, but is understood to have remained on the station with her youngest son.
Reusable cloth nappies were seen hanging from a line out the front of the homestead in October.
CRE: DAILYMAIL