The grandmother of missing boy Gus Lamont says she will search wedge-tailed eagle nests across the South Australian sheep station for any sign of the four-year-old, exploring a theory that he may have been taken by an eagle.
Gus was last seen playing near the remote homestead, about 40km south of Yunta, on September 27. Extensive searches by land and air have failed to locate the child.
In February, South Australian police said they believed someone known to Gus may have killed him, either deliberately or accidentally, before he was reported missing.
Police said the person lived at Oak Park Station, about 300km north of Adelaide, and was known to Gus.
Investigators said the person was not Gus’s mother, Jessica Murray, or his father, Joshua Lamont, who lived at Belalie North, roughly a two-hour drive from the station.
With the first anniversary of Gus’s disappearance approaching, his grandmother, Josie Murray, said the family would examine eagle nests around the remote property.
“The eagle aspect should be looked at,” she told 7News. “It’s highly unlikely, but it’s not impossible.”
Ms Murray also said she believed Gus had been abducted from the homestead, telling the program that “nothing else makes sense” to her.
Four-year-old Gus Lamont was last seen playing near his grandparents’ remote South Australian homestead on September 27
His grandmother, Josie Murray, believes Gus was abducted and plans to search eagle nests around the property for clues
Police have searched Oak Park Station 11 times since Gus disappeared last September
“It brings me to tears that he’s not here … Just down here. And then that was the last he was seen, and after that he just disappeared,” she said, pointing television cameras towards the area where Gus had been playing on the afternoon he vanished.
Ms Murray also appealed to police not to continue treating her as a suspect in the investigation.
“For me to know they are wasting their time, and their time would be better spent trying to find out what did happen to him, is enormously frustrating,” she said.
Gus’s grandparents both live at and own the station.
Josie later confirmed that police had told her she was the main suspect in the case. She has consistently denied any involvement and maintained her innocence.
No one has been arrested and no charges have been laid.
Ms Murray’s comments came weeks after South Australian police declined to say whether they still had a person of interest in Gus’s disappearance.
Police also refused to confirm whether investigators had identified any other suspects.
Josie shows a 7NEWS Adelaide reporter the spot where Gus was last seen by Shannon
At the time, Josie’s lawyer, Andrew Ey, told Our News Outlet: ‘My client has always remained steadfast in her denial of being involved in Gus’s disappearance.’
An extensive land, air and dam search by police, the army, the SES, an Aboriginal tracker and local volunteers, which ran for several weeks, failed to find any sign of the boy.
Initially, police fiercely defended the family’s request for privacy as they navigated Gus’s mysterious disappearance and fading hopes that he would be found, alive or dead.
But in January, the working relationship between Josie and Shannon and Task Force Horizon investigators suddenly soured, with police later confirming the case had become a major crime investigation.
– READ MORE: Mystery deepens over Gus Lamont’s grandmother after she vanished from public view last year
