South Australian police have declared the disappearance of Gus Lamont a major crime and say a person who has lived at his outback property is now considered a suspect, but have stressed that the boy’s parents are not under investigation.
At an update on the case, Major Crime officer in charge Detective Superintendent Darren Fielke said police executed a warrant at the property in January, conducted a forensic search and seized items.
“A person who resides at Oak Park Station has withdrawn their support for the police and is no longer cooperating with us,” he said.
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1h agoThu 5 Feb 2026 at 3:20am
Press conference wraps up
The press conference ended after Superintendent Fielke took questions from the media.
This is where we will leave our live coverage for today.
1h agoThu 5 Feb 2026 at 3:17am
Gus possibly at station during initial search
When asked by the media if Gus could have been on the station when police were there initially, Superintendent Fielke said:
“Possibly, police were on scene quite quickly, quickly when they were advised Gus was missing, yes, there was some time in between but it’s possible.”
1h agoThu 5 Feb 2026 at 3:16am
Police thank community
Superintendent Fielke thanked members of the public who have provided information to police during the four-month investigation so far.
He urged anyone who has information to contact police or call Crime Stoppers.
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“The person who has withdrawn their co-operation is now considered a suspect in the disappearance of Gus.
“I do want to stress, however, that Gus’s parents are not suspects in his disappearance.”
Gus Lamont’s disappearance has shocked the nation
He said police began to focus on the suspect after they identified “a number of inconsistencies and discrepancies” with information “as it relates to timelines and the version of events provided to us by the family members”.
He said items seized during the search on January 14 and 15 included a vehicle, a motorcycle and electronic devices.
“All of these items are now subject to forensic testing,” he said.
Asked whether the suspect was still living at the property, Superintendent Fielke said he could not provide further detail, but said they had secured legal representation.
“We have a suspect — who we believe is known to Gus,” he said.
“[SA Police’s] Task Force Horizon members, myself, are very cognisant of how delicate that is, and what that means for the family.”
SES and police in the early days of the search. (ABC News: Daniel Taylor)
Superintendent Fielke also commented on the likelihood of an arrest, saying police were “definitely” not discounting that possibility.
Gus was reported missing from his family’s remote property on Saturday, September 27.
Superintendent Fielke was asked whether Gus could have been at the property when police arrived to launch the search, and replied: “Possibly”.
“Police were on scene quite quickly … when they were advised Gus was missing. There was time in between but yes, it is possible,” he said.
A police helicopter in outback SA during an earlier phase of the search for Gus. (ABC News: Daniel Taylor)
Police said they had been exploring three “investigation options” in relation to Gus’s disappearance — that the boy walked off from Oak Park Station, that he was abducted or that someone known to him was involved in his disappearance and suspected death.
“At this time despite all of the combined search efforts we have found no evidence physical or otherwise to suggest that Gus has merely wandered off from the Oak Park homestead,” Superintendent Fielke said.
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“You can see from the level of searching that has been undertaken we have a high level of confidence that he hasn’t wandered off.”
He said police had found “no evidence to suggest that Gus was abducted from the property”.
“If Gus was abducted, it’s absolutely fortuitous,” he said.
“There’s no pattern of Gus playing outside at Oak Park Station, for someone to start to get a dossier together on movements and time of the day, et cetera — we’re very confident is very, very unlikely. So, the opportunity for anyone to abduct Gus is extremely low.”
Police launched a search for Gus in late September. (Supplied: SA Police)
Superintendent Fielke said there had been at least eight separate searches conducted at the station, involving more than 160 police and 230 non-SAPOL resources including the State Emergency Service volunteers, Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel and Indigenous trackers.
“The search for four-year-old Gus … has been the largest and most intensive missing person search ever undertaken by SAPOL,” Superintendent Fielke said.
“The foot search has been unprecedented and the resources that have been used have been significant.
“We won’t stop pulling all the levers we can to find him.”
Police say a ground search radius of 5.47 kilometres was conducted on foot over several days, plus two aerial searches capturing images to a 10km radius and a 15km radius. (Supplied: SAPOL)