A former top detective believes wildlife could be one of the reasons police have resumed the search for missing four-year-old August ‘Gus’ Lamont.
Police and Australian Defence Force personnel will return to the family’s remote property near Yunta in the South Australian outback on Tuesday, in a renewed effort to find the little boy, who has been missing since September 27.
Two and a half weeks have passed since Gus was last seen playing in a mound of dirt near his grandparents’ homestead.
Last week, police called off an extensive 10-day search involving helicopters, drones, countless volunteers, and Indigenous trackers, following advice from medical experts that there was little hope Gus would be found alive.
Former NSW homicide detective Gary Jubelin, who initially led the investigation into the disappearance of missing boy William Tyrrell, has weighed in on the renewed search.
He believes police are now looking ‘further afield’ for the sake of completeness, including the possibility that Gus was taken by an animal.
‘Police would be considering whether young Gus disappeared through misadventure, wandered off, or whether there was some form of intervention—either human or, given the nature of the land out there, possibly wildlife,’ Mr Jubelin told news.com.au.
‘Things can be missed—minute things can be missed.’
Gus Lamont was last seen playing at his grandparents’ homestead of September 27
A renewed search for four-year-old Gus will resume on Tuesday. Pictured is the initial search
He believed South Australia Police appeared to have learned lessons from the 2014 disappearance of toddler William Tyrrell, who remains missing.
If Gus isn’t found, police will still need to try to establish what has happened to him.
‘When a young child of Gus’ age disappears, it’s a horrible thing, and it has so many ramifications for all the people that knew Gus and are related to Gus. So, I fully understand why the police are doing what they’re doing,’ Mr Jubelin continued.
He’s relieved that he didn’t have to worry about artificial intelligence when he spearheaded the investigation into William’s disappearance.
Fake images of Gus have been used to spread misinformation about his disappearance, including one viral image show Gus being bundled into a car by an ‘unfamiliar man’.
It is unclear what sparked the renewed search effort, which will include an area previously not covered by authorities.
A spokesman said that police continued to be in regular and close communication with Gus’ family, who are assisting authorities with the investigation.
Tracker and former policeman Aaron Stuart welcomed the renewed search.
Former NSW detective Gary Jubelin said that police will launch a probe into the theory that Gus may have been taken by an animal
Police and ADF personnel will return to the family’s remote property near Yunta in the South Australian outback
‘I honestly believe the answer is back there on the property,’ he told the Adelaide Advertiser on Monday.
‘Go back, rethink it, reinterview everybody, but take them back not 30 minutes, take them back a week.
‘If they can keep the trackers on foot – not on quad bikes or motorbikes – because a good tracker needs to stay close to the ground.’
