A 4 Year Old Boy Ran Away From His Rural Home 4 Months Ago. The Police Now Have a Suspect Who Is ‘Known to Him’

YOU NEED TO KNOW

• A suspect has just been identified in the case of missing 4-year-old August “Gus” Lamont

• Gus disappeared from his Oak Park Station home in the Australian outback on September 27, 2025

• On Thursday, February 5, South Australian Police issued a news release saying that someone who lived with Gus at the property had withdrawn their cooperation from the investigation and was now considered a suspect. They insisted that Gus’ parents were not suspects

The Police now suspect that someone known to a 4-year-old boy who has not been seen since September of last year may have been involved in his disappearance.

On Thursday, February 5, the South Australian Police (SAPOL) issued a press release, stating that the case surrounding August “Gus” Lamont – who disappeared from his Oak Park Station home in the Australian outback on September 27, 2025 – had “been declared a major crime.”

As previously reported by PEOPLE, Gus disappeared while playing in the sand on his family’s sheep farm, located in a remote area about 25 miles from the South Australian town of Yunta.

The officer in charge of the Major Crime Investigation Branch, Detective Superintendent Darren Fielke told a press conference on Thursday that one person who had lived at the outlying property was now being considered as a suspect, but insisted that Gus’ parents were not suspects.

Fielke explained that the police had carried out a search warrant in the property in January, and “a number of items were seized”, including “a vehicle, a motorbike and some electronic devices”.

The official said that the family members were “cooperating” with the police, and “providing information,” to help the authorities to “establish the movements of Gus, around the time he went missing.”

He said that the authorities have identified “a number of inconsistencies and discrepancies,” among the ongoing investigation.

“A person who lives in Oak Park Station has withdrawn his support for the police and is no longer cooperating with us,” Fielke said during the conference.

He noted, “The person who withdrew their cooperation is now considered a suspect in Gus’s disappearance,” adding, “I want to stress, however, that Gus’ parents are not suspects in his disappearance.”

According to the police news release, the “search area” for Gus included three dams and six mine shafts.

“In addition to the ground search, an extensive aerial search of vast areas around Oak Park Station was conducted,” the release stated.

“The search for Gus Lamont involved 163 SAPOL members, 230 non-SAPOL resources including SES, the Australian Defense Force, an Indigenous tracker and community volunteers,” she added.

“Despite these extraordinary efforts, all searches combined turned up no evidence, physical or otherwise, to suggest that Gus was gone,” Fielke added, according to the news release. Task Force Horizon officers had also searched several locations around Oak Park Station on February 2nd.

During the extensive operation, “two other investigations were being carried out at the same time by officers of the Horizon Task Force,” noted the statement.

“One of those investigations focused on Gus Lamont being kidnapped from Oak Park Station by an unknown person. The other was that someone known to him was involved in his disappearance and the suspect of his death,” she added. “Task Force Horizon investigators found no evidence to suggest that Gus was abducted.”

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Fielke said, “I anticipate that there will be further searches at Oak Park Station and at various sites in an adjacent national park to locate Gus as new information and intelligence comes to hand as the investigation continues,” according to the news release.

“The disappearance of any child is tragic and distressing, not only for Gus’s parents, but also for the entire community who share their grief,” he continued.

The official insisted, “I can assure the community that despite the complex and challenging nature of the investigation, Task Force Horizon will continue to thoroughly and thoroughly investigate Gus’s disappearance until we achieve a resolution.”

“We all are [focused] and determined to locate Gus and return him to his parents,” he said.

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