The heartbroken parents of young Gus Lamont have reached out to the community, appealing for assistance in locating their missing son.
On Tuesday, five months after the disappearance of their four-year-old child, Joshua Lamont and Jessica Murray issued an emotional plea via the South Australian Police.
Accompanying their statement, they released a touching new photograph of Gus with his curly locks sitting in a car, along with a video showcasing the toddler joyfully riding a bicycle.
Gus vanished from his grandparents’ expansive 60,000-hectare Oak Park Station, situated in South Australia’s Mid North, on September 27 of the previous year.
Despite the largest search operation in the history of South Australian Police, no clues have emerged about his whereabouts.
“We stand united in our sorrow and in our quest for answers regarding the fate of our precious boy, Gus, who means the world to us,” his parents expressed.
‘Our lives have been shattered, and every moment without him is unbearable. 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.
Gus’s parents shared a new photo of the missing four-year-old in a car (pictured) and a video of the toddler riding a bike at his grandparents’ rural property
Gus is seen barefoot and in a wide-brimmed hat in a new video of him riding a bike
The new photos were released as part of a public appeal for information about Gus on Tuesday
‘We also want to express our deepest gratitude to everyone involved in the search for Gus. The tireless efforts of police, emergency services, ADF personnel, volunteers, and specialists have meant more to us than we can ever say.
‘To the friends, family and supporters who have shown such compassion, concern, and assistance during this heartbreaking time: thank you.
‘Your kindness has helped carry us through the darkest days of our lives. All we want is to bring Gus home and understand what happened to our beautiful boy.’
The statement marks the first time the parents have spoken publicly about Gus’ disappearance.
Detectives previously stressed they have completely ruled out the pair as possible suspects and confirmed they were cooperating with the investigation.
Daily Mail previously revealed the couple had separated before Gus vanished, with Ms Murray and her newborn son, Ronnie, living with her parents, Shannon and Josie Murray, on the remote station.
Mr Lamont had moved into a ramshackle farmhouse which he was renovating in Belalie North, near Jamestown, 130km west of the Murrays’ station.
A family friend told Daily Mail their relationship broke down shortly after Ronnie’s birth, but before Gus disappeared.
Jessica Murray (left) and Joshua Lamont (right) have made their first public statement about their missing son, Gus Lamont
‘I haven’t seen Josh since it (Gus’s disappearance) happened, and I don’t know where he is now,’ they said.
‘But they weren’t together when it happened.’
The news comes just days after a renewed search scoured the outback property for clues on Gus’ whereabouts.
A cadaver dog, a police helicopter, and Taskforce Horizon detectives converged on Bullyaninnie Station near Oodla Wirra on February 16.
The new search effort focused on an outhouse, an area of freshly poured concrete and a ditch filled with abandoned cars.
Gus’s grandparents, Shannon and Josie Murray, oversee that station as well as their own neighbouring Oak Park Station near Yunta, where the four-year-old vanished.
The picturesque Bullyaninnie station became the focus of a new search
A NSW Police cadaver dog, brought in from interstate, scoured Bullyaninnie earlier this month
Gus Lamont, four, who vanished on September 27, is now believed to be dead
Task force detectives inspected one of the buildings on Bullyaninnie Station, near Oodla Wirra
Shannon Murray is Joy Betty’s niece, and is believed to be overseeing her property
Police scoured Bullyaninnie in the latest renewed searches for evidence relating to Gus’s disappearance after it became clear the Murrays had access to the estate.
With their property empire – which might one day have become Gus’ – now known to be much larger than just Oak Park Station, the search area widened considerably.
The new police search did not yield any evidence relating to the missing child, but police have vowed to maintain a presence in the area in pursuit of finding Gus’s fate.
They have also zeroed in on the Pualco Conservation Park, which borders Murray family land.
Detectives launched the hunt on Bullyaninnie on the day they charged Josie Murray with firearms offences which are said to be unrelated to Gus’s disappearance.
Police allege they found she possessed a prohibited firearm sound suppressor and will face Peterborough Magistrates Court on May 6.
Josie Murray was arrested on an unrelated weapons offence on Monday
Gus’s parents Jessica Murray and Joshua Lamont are not suspects
Josie Murray (pictured) and her wife Shannon have now retained lawyers
The charges came after police declared Gus’s disappearance a major crime on February 5, after finding no evidence that the youngster had simply wandered off into the outback before dinner.
Gus was reportedly last seen by Shannon Murray, playing in a sandpile at Oak Park around 5pm on AFL Grand Final day, but when she went to call him inside, he was gone.
Police seized a vehicle, a motorbike and electronic goods from Oak Park Station in January and said in February that up to two members of Gus’s family have now stopped cooperating with police.
Investigators believe Gus is dead, possibly accidentally, but detectives say they have a suspect who may have been involved in his death.
However detectives stressed they have completely ruled out Gus’s parents, Jessica Murray and Joshua Lamont, as possible suspects.
Police said they had found ‘inconsistencies’ in statement details and the timeline provided by family members.
Josie and Shannon Murray have since retained separate lawyers, which is not unusual in these circumstances.
This week SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens vowed to continue to investigate the death and said police would launch renewed searches in the area.
SA Police chief Grant Stevens vowed to use every resource to find the little boy
The Murrays own the sprawling Oak Park sheep station, 45km south of Yunta
‘Adjoining properties including the national park will in all likelihood be a part of our investigations as we move forward,’ he said on Wednesday.
‘We’ll use every resource available to us if it will contribute to solving the disappearance of Gus Lamont.
‘I think it’s reasonably foreseeable that we will be visiting Oak Park quite frequently over the coming months as we continue our investigation, as well as visiting surrounding locations in the vicinity of the residence.’
More to come…
