Missing four-year-old Gus Lamont (Image: SA Police)
Police have identified a suspect in the case of a four year old boy who disappeared from his family home.
Gus Lamont went missing from his family’s residence at Oak Park Station in remote South Australia on 27 September 2025, prompting extensive searches across the property.
On Thursday, February 5, police announced they had identified a suspect believed to be known to the young boy – the incident has now been escalated to a major crime, The Mirror reports.
Detective Superintendent Darren Fielke noted “discrepancies” and “inconsistencies” in the information provided by some of the child’s family members.
“As a result of these inconsistencies, and investigations into them, a person who resides at Oak Park Station has withdrawn their support for the police and is no longer co-operating with us,” Superintendent Fielke stated.
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“The person who has withdrawn their co-operation is now considered a suspect in the disappearance of Gus,” he added, emphasising that the child’s parents are not suspects in his disappearance.
“I can’t provide any further details about the suspect or where the suspect is and why that person is a suspect.”
In mid-January, investigators returned to the property for a forensic search. Detectives seized a vehicle, a motorcycle and electronic devices for examination which are currently undergoing forensic testing.
Investigators do not believe Gus is still alive.
Australian news outlet news.com.au has revealed that detectives have examined three principal theories whilst searching for Gus – with two now dismissed.
Search for Gus Lamont – August ‘Gus’ LamontMajor search for boy, 4, missing in Australian outback for several daysMembers of the Australian military have joined South Australia Police to help in the search. (Image: South Australia Police)
One hypothesis centred on the possibility of him wandering away from Oak Park Station and getting disorientated. The remaining two lines of enquiry focus on whether Gus was taken by a stranger from the property or if somebody familiar to him played a role in his vanishing and presumed death.
Superintendent Fielke stated there was “no evidence, physical or otherwise, to suggest that Gus has merely wandered off from the park homestead”.
Authorities say the probe is now concentrating on individuals acquainted with Gus potentially being connected to his disappearance and suspected death.
“I anticipate there will be further searches at Oak Park Station and at several sites on an adjacent national park to locate Gus as new information and intelligence comes to hand,” Superintendent Fielke said.
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Officers have confirmed “no stone has been left unturned” in the hunt for the youngster, which represents the most extensive and thorough operation ever mounted by South Australian Police concerning a missing person.
Superintendent Fielke revealed that eight distinct searches had taken place at Oak Park Station, with numerous others completed within a 5.47km radius of the homestead over multiple days. He stated that the national search and rescue manual shows that youngsters aged four-to-six are found within 5.47km of their last known location 95 per cent of the time.
Earlier searches of the region included six unsealed, unfenced mine shafts in November and a dam on the isolated sheep station in October.
Neither operation uncovered any sign of the little boy.