Police Expand Search for Missing Toddler Gus Lamont to Second Outback Station
Police searching for missing four-year-old Gus Lamont have moved their investigation to a second Outback station, as new information emerges about the extensive landholdings controlled by his family and disturbing historical events at the location.
New Search Location Revealed
On February 16, a comprehensive police operation converged on Bullyaninnie Station near Oodla Wirra in the South Australian Outback. The search effort involved a cadaver dog brought from interstate, a police helicopter, and detectives from Taskforce Horizon.
The renewed investigation focused on specific areas including an outhouse, a section of freshly poured concrete, and a ditch containing abandoned vehicles. This marks a significant expansion of the search beyond Oak Park Station, where Gus vanished on the evening of September 27.
Family Property Connections Uncovered
It has now been revealed that Gus's grandparents, Shannon and Josie Murray, oversee both Bullyaninnie Station and their own neighbouring Oak Park Station near Yunta. Bullyaninnie has been in Shannon Murray's family for four generations and currently belongs to her 92-year-old widowed aunt, Joy Betty, who now resides in a nursing home.
A local with long-standing connections to Bullyaninnie confirmed to the Daily Mail that "Joy's niece looks after it now," referring to 73-year-old Shannon Murray, Gus's grandmother.
The property inheritance trail reveals that Joy Betty and her husband Ronald inherited Bullyaninnie from Joy's late father, Harry Jones, who also owned Oak Park Station and bequeathed that property to his daughter Clair, who was Shannon Murray's mother. Shannon and Josie Murray became owners of Oak Park following the deaths of Clair and her husband Vincent Pfeiffer, a former World War II prisoner of war.
Disturbing History at Bullyaninnie
Bullyaninnie Station, located approximately 25 kilometers from Oak Park via a dirt track shortcut used exclusively by the Murray family, features a picturesque homestead, shearers' quarters, and multiple stockyards. However, the property was the site of a notorious 2009 siege involving violent criminal Shane Andrew Robinson.
Robinson had stabbed a police officer on the Barrier Highway near Yunta before fleeing into the outback. He broke into the Bullyaninnie homestead and held a person hostage for several hours. During the incident, he forced open a gun safe containing 16 firearms before the hostage managed to escape and raise the alarm. Police surrounded the property in a tense stand-off before Robinson ultimately shot himself.
Family History and Property Legacy
In more recent years, Joy Betty proudly showcased her Outback home and family heritage in the April 2022 edition of the South Australian government publication Across the Outback. The then 88-year-old described her father Harry Jones, Gus's great-great-grandfather, as being ahead of his time on environmental issues, having fenced off large areas of overgrazed land for regeneration.
Ms. Betty recalled being sent to boarding school in Terowie at age four, the same age as her great-great nephew Gus was in 2025. She described the harsh terrain of the region where police now believe they may find Gus's body as a drought-stricken expanse, noting that "the 1940s were hard years and really windy. It would pick up the country and blow it away."
After marrying Ronald in 1955, the couple raised merino sheep and regenerated native plants at Bullyaninnie. Ms. Betty recalled finally receiving electricity in 1985 and described air conditioning as "game changing" in an area where temperatures regularly exceed 35 degrees Celsius in summer. Her husband died in 2002 of unknown causes.
Expanded Police Investigation
Police scoured Bullyaninnie Station in renewed searches for evidence relating to Gus's disappearance after establishing that the Murrays had access to the property. With the family's property holdings now known to be significantly larger than just Oak Park Station, the search area has expanded considerably.
While the recent search at Bullyaninnie did not yield evidence relating to the missing child, police have vowed to maintain a presence in the area. Investigators have also focused attention on the Pualco Conservation Park, which borders Murray family land.
Detectives launched the hunt on Bullyaninnie on the same day they charged Josie Murray with firearms offences unrelated to Gus's disappearance. Police allege they found she possessed a prohibited firearm sound suppressor, with her case scheduled for Peterborough Magistrates Court on May 6.
Investigation Developments
The firearms charges followed police declaring Gus's disappearance a major crime on February 5, after finding no evidence that the child had simply wandered into the outback. 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 had vanished.
This sparked the largest missing person search in South Australian history. Police seized a vehicle, a motorbike, and electronic goods from Oak Park Station in January and revealed in February that up to two members of Gus's family have stopped cooperating with investigators.
Police now believe Gus is dead, possibly accidentally, but detectives say they have identified a suspect who may have been involved in his death. Investigators have stressed they have completely ruled out Gus's parents, Jessica Murray and Joshua Lamont, as possible suspects.
Police have identified inconsistencies in statement details and the timeline provided by family members. Both Josie and Shannon Murray have since retained separate legal representation, which authorities note is not unusual in such circumstances.
Continued Police Commitment
This week, South Australian Police Commissioner Grant Stevens vowed to continue investigating the case and launch renewed searches in the area. "Adjoining properties including the national park will in all likelihood be a part of our investigations as we move forward," he stated on Wednesday.
Commissioner Stevens emphasized that police would "use every resource available to us if it will contribute to solving the disappearance of Gus Lamont." He added, "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."
