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Detectives have uncovered no evidence that four-year-old Gus Lamont – who has been missing for more than eight months in the South Australian outback – was abducted.
Detective Superintendent Darren Fielke, from SA Police’s Major Crime Investigation Branch , gave an update on the investigation at a press conference close to the family’s home in Yunta.
Speaking near Oak Park Station, he revealed that one line of inquiry, the theory that he had been abducted, had all but been ruled out.
He said: “There has been a significant amount of work done in relation to identifying people who were in or around the area of Oak Park Station on the day that Gus disappeared.
“In excess of 500 people have been identified and task force members have been meticulously working through that list of people and have making individual contact with each and every one of those people.
“We are working through that list but all of the people we have contacted so far have been discounted from being involved in Gus’s disappearance.
“At this point in time there is no evidence to suggest that Gus has been abducted.”
He added that investigators were in “constant contact” with Gus’s parents and are regularly providing them with updates.
In January, police seized a number of items from the station, including a motorcycle and electronic devices, which Superintendent Fielke said had all undergone forensic examinations.
He said: “All of these items have been subject to thorough, forensic testing. No evidence has been located as a result which provides us with any further lines of inquiry.
“I can also say these examination have not excluded anybody from the investigation either.”
He added that one of Gus’s grandparents “remains a suspect” – with both grandparents continuing to communicate with police only through solicitors.
Superintendent Fielke added: “At this time, no other suspects or persons of interest have been identified at this time of the investigation.”
With the latest search of the station now concluded, he confirmed the next steps will be to revisit an area 15km outside of the area using drones.
“This is a tough job – it is relentless, it is demoralising at times, but we are not going to let up,” he added.
Wandering theory
Superintendent Fielke said that the extent of the search had gone a way to discredit theories that Gus had simply wandered off.
He said that the searches had “extended well past” the distance a child would be expected to be able to travel on foot in the period on the evening Gus went missing.
He said: “We have invested a lot of time and a lot of effort and emotional energy into this.
“It is disappointed we haven’t found anything but the environment here is not the city.
“We do not have CCTV, people walking past and lots of witnesses. We are dealing with a very unusual geographical environment.
“The reality is, the longer this goes on, the closer we get to not finding him. That is not going to stop our resolve or our determination, but it is a reality of what might happen.”
Meanwhile, the officer-in-charge revealed the how the overwhelming public response to appeals were leading investigations.
He said: “The work in trying to locate Gus Lamont remains one of the largest and most intensive searches undertaken in relation to a missing person investigation.
“We are extremely grateful for the information we have received from the public over the past eight months – we have received over 836 separate pieces of information, 527 calls to Crimestoppers.
“We thank the members of the public who provided this information to us. It has all been followed up.”
Investigators returned to the remote property for three days this week, hoping to take advantage of new “opportunities” to find evidence in their search following recent rainfall.
It was the 11th time since Gus’s disappearance that the team has carried out searches of the area.
Gus has not been seen alive since being reported missing on September 27 last year.
His disappearance has sparked widespread searches that have spanned eight months and included several trips by police to comb through the family’s property.
The latest search began on Tuesday and involved the specialised Taskforce Horizon team sending investigators to the family homestead at Oak Park Station.
SAPol says the resumed search was aiming to take advantage of any opportunities that may have arisen as a result of heavy rainfall at the property.
Investigators have spent three days based at the site, paying specific attention to dry creeks and waterways as they look to finally establish what happened to Gus.
On February 5, police declared his disappearance to be a major crime investigation, stating their belief was that somebody had likely killed the boy – either accidentally or deliberately – and that it was somebody known to him.
Throughout the investigation, police have repeatedly stressed that Gus’s parents, Jessica and Joshua Lamont, were not considered to be suspects.
The pair, neither of whom are believed to be presently living at the station, released a statement earlier this year saying they were “united in grief”.
Police also sensationally claimed that Gus’s grandparents, Josie and Shannon Murray, were “no longer co-operating” with investigations.
SAPol clarified a month later, in March, that the two family members were only communicating with police via their legal representatives.
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