The parents of missing four-year-old Gus Lamont have made an emotional plea for any information about their “unique little boy” as authorities offered a $۱m reward over the disappearance.
No trace of Gus has been found since he went missing from his family’s enormous sheep farm in the South Australian outback almost a year ago.
Gus’s parents, Joshua Lamont and Jessica Murray, pleaded with the public to come forward with any information, no matter how small.
It had been “the most devastating and inexplicable event we have ever experienced”, Murray said in a video message released on Wednesday.
“Our memories of Gus are of a beautiful, sweet and unique little boy who loved music, listening to stories, and playing in the natural world.
“During the time Gus has been missing, he should have celebrated his fifth birthday and his little brother’s first birthday with us.”
A tearful Lamont said they were desperate for answers.
“We believe that someone knows something. Someone knows what happened to Gus, and may even know where he is,” he said.
South Australian police Det Supt Darren Fielke described the ۱۱ painstaking ground searches in inhospitable territory, which have so far turned up no useful clues – although some “anomalies” in aerial images may prompt yet another search.
Officials are hoping the state government reward of up to $۱m for anyone with information leading to a conviction or a body will help move the investigation forwards.
Gus, described as both shy and adventurous, was last seen playing outside at ۵pm on Saturday ۲۷ September. Half an hour later, when his family went to check on him, he was gone.
His disappearance sparked one of the biggest searches the state has ever undertaken, with new searches launched as new information or theories came to light.
Volunteers, police, emergency services and defence personnel, along with dogs, divers and drones, aircraft and Aboriginal trackers scoured the ۶۰,۰۰۰ hectare Oak Park station, about ۳۰۰km inland from Adelaide.
One of the biggest moments in the search came in February this year, when South Australia police declared his disappearance a major crime, and said they had identified a suspect.
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Fielke said at the time they had effectively ruled out Gus wandering off or being abducted, and that they were now investigating someone in his household.
The suspect was not one of his parents, Fielke said, something he emphasised on Wednesday.
Fielke said Task Force Horizon had covered more than ۷۰۰ sq km and undertaken “a painstaking, methodical, forensically detailed manual search of the aerial imagery”, which “identified some anomalies”. Those anomalies will be reviewed before any decision to start a new search is made.
The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, said there had been “no sign of Gus”, so the government was offering the $۱m reward in hope of solving the case.
Previous state governments have offered the same amount in cases of missing children, including the three Beaumont children who disappeared without a trace from an Adelaide beach in ۱۹۶۶.
“We put this in place because … we spare no expense. Justice needs to be done here one way or another,” Malinauskas said.
“We will not tolerate, as a state, any circumstances where children go missing and are not able to be accounted for.”
Anyone with information relating to the disappearance of Gus Lamont is urged to contact crime stoppers.
“We’re going to continue to thoroughly and meticulously investigate the disappearance of Gus until we get a resolution,” Fielke said.
