Four-year-old Gus Lamont, who disappeared from Oak Park Station on September 27 last year. Photo / Supplied
‘Ludicrous’
She called the theory “ludicrous”, saying it would not be possible to bury anything on the property without disturbing the ground, noting the property had been extensively searched by police.
“They’ve said they don’t think I’ve hurt him, they think that I’ve buried him – that’s one of the theories they’re working on,” Murray told Spotlight.
“For so many reasons, it’s ludicrous. It doesn’t make sense. Why would you do that to yourself?”
She said that had Gus been injured or killed in an accident, she would have made full admissions and “dealt with it”.
No one has been charged over Gus’ disappearance.
It is the first time that Murray has publicly given her version of events.
She said that the family first noticed he went missing around 5.30pm on September 27 after having not seen him for about half an hour, prompting a search of the station’s dams, tanks and buildings.
“We were on the front veranda and she [Gus’ grandmother Shannon] said that Gus was just down near what we call the bomb shelter plane and when we had a look, no sign,” she said.
“And we said to Shannon ‘when did you last see him?’ And she said ‘five o’clock’.
“We had a quick conference and decided what to do, and we decided we better jump on the bikes and go and look.
“I don’t know what time that was, but after we’d searched on foot, I remember saying ‘we’ve got 45 minutes of daylight, we better get on with it’.”
Gus Lamont’s grandmother Josie Murray has spoken about the four-year-old disappearance for the first time. Photo / Spotlight
‘I wonder if someone’s come in’
She said that the police were first called at 8pm.
Murray said that before police arrived, she noticed that a bedstead and a weather station had been moved on the property.
She said he also saw tyre tracks nearby.
“I saw wheel tracks going down past where the bedstead was, and past where the weather station was,” Murray said.
“And these wheel tracks were a small tyre, a medium-sized car, and not much tread on them … It was definitely a passenger type. And I thought that’s strange too.
“And I started to think, almost immediately, I wonder if someone’s come in.”
Murray told the programme that she also found a footprint on the dam at her property which matched one of Gus’ shoes – but says it was dismissed by police.
She said she believed that Gus had been abducted.
Gus Lamont’s grandmother Josie Murray. Photo / David Hannant, NewsWire
‘Wandered off’
She said that Gus had also gone missing on another occasion before being found a short time later.
“Shan had taken him down to the shearers’ quarters while Jess [Gus’ mother] and I were mustering,” Murray said.
“And he had wandered off and Shan couldn’t find him when she was gonna come home, so she came home and told us, you know, Gus has gone for a walk somewhere.
“Jess and I thought, well, we better get on the motorbike and just go and find him.”
Murray said she ultimately found Gus about 120m from where he had walked off from.
She said that she hoped that the community continued to look for Gus.
Earlier this month Murray was fined after appearing in an Adelaide Court for owning a gun silencer, which was discovered by police stored in a safe room on the property.
The offence was not related to Gus’ disappearance.
Adelaide Magistrates’ Court was told that Murray had owned the silencer prior to a change in law requiring a licence.
She was fined A$10,500 ($12,232) after pleading guilty and handed a temporary ban on possessing firearms.
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