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 $1m reward over the disappearance.
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authorities → miss → 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.
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he → find → outback
Gus’s parents, Joshua Lamont and Jessica Murray, pleaded with the public to come forward with any information, no matter how small.
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parents → plead → information
It had been “the most devastating and inexplicable event we have ever experienced”, Murray said in a video message released on Wednesday.
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Murray → experience → 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.
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who → love → world
“During the time Gus has been missing, he should have celebrated his fifth birthday and his little brother’s first birthday with us.”
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he → miss → us
A tearful Lamont said they were desperate for answers.
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they → say → answers
“We believe that someone knows something.
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someone → believe → something
Someone knows what happened to Gus, and may even know where he is,” he said.
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he → know → Gus
South Australian police Det Supt Darren Fielke described the 11 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.
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anomalies → describe → search
Officials are hoping the state government reward of up to $1m for anyone with information leading to a conviction or a body will help move the investigation forwards.
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reward → hop → investigation
Gus, described as both shy and adventurous, was last seen playing outside at 5pm on Saturday 27 September.
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Gus → describe → Saturday
Half an hour later, when his family went to check on him, he was gone.
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he → go → him
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.
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information → spark → light
Volunteers, police, emergency services and defence personnel, along with dogs, divers and drones, aircraft and Aboriginal trackers scoured the 60,000 hectare Oak Park station, about 300km inland from Adelaide.
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Volunteers → scour → 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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they → come → suspect
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.
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they → say → household
The suspect was not one of his parents, Fielke said, something he emphasised on Wednesday.
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he → say → Wednesday
Fielke said Task Force Horizon had covered more than 700 sq km and undertaken “a painstaking, methodical, forensically detailed manual search of the aerial imagery”, which “identified some anomalies”.
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which → say → anomalies
Those anomalies will be reviewed before any decision to start a new search is made.
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decision → review → search
The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, said there had been “no sign of Gus”, so the government was offering the $1m reward in hope of solving the case.
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government → say → 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 1966.
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who → offer → 1966
“We put this in place because … we spare no expense.
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we → put → expense
Justice needs to be done here one way or another,” Malinauskas said.
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Malinauskas → need → ?
“We will not tolerate, as a state, any circumstances where children go missing and are not able to be accounted for.”
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children → tolerate → circumstances
Anyone with information relating to the disappearance of Gus Lamont is urged to contact crime stoppers.
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Anyone → relate → stoppers
“We’re going to continue to thoroughly and meticulously investigate the disappearance of Gus until we get a resolution,” Fielke said.
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Fielke → go → resolution
The Aporia
