Unearthed documents and local sources have revealed that the family of missing South Australian boy Gus Lamont has a complicated – and tragic – history.
On Wednesday, Daily Mail revealed that the four-year-old’s grandmother, trans woman Josie Murray, had not given up hope looking for the child, who vanished from the front yard of his family’s homestead at about 5pm on September 27.
Extensive land and waterway searches by police, state emergency service (SES) and the army have so far turned up no reliable trace of him. It is not suggested that any members of his family are involved in his disappearance.
Now, we can reveal more details about Josie’s past on the remote Oak Park outback property, located 40km south of Yunta.
According to business records dating back to 1999, Josie’s life partner Shannon Murray – a woman – used to work the sprawling sheep station with her father, late war hero Vincent Pfeiffer.
Shannon – known as Shan – was registered as a joint entity of Oak Park Proprietors alongside Vincent, who was nicknamed Vin.
It is believed that Vincent’s wife – Shannon’s mother – Clair Jones had previously inherited the station from her side of the family.
A Robert Murray also appeared on the public document, though this name vanished from records in 2015 – replaced by the name Josie Murray.
Four-year-old Gus Lamont vanished from his grandparents’ Outback station on September 27
The youngster’s grandmother, trans woman Josie Murray, broke her silence on Wednesday
In 2004, Robert and Shannon were listed as trustees for the Vincent Pfeiffer Estate, which suggests Vincent died sometime beforehand.
A separate public record linked to the address revealed a Josie Rachelle Murray is attached to the Oak Park address.
A Yunta source confirmed to Daily Mail that Robert transitioned to Josie some years back, and that the town was accepting of her choice.
It’s believed the death of Josie’s father-in-law Vincent – a well-liked but tough man – prompted Josie to come out as transgender late in life.
‘I knew Josie as “Snow” before they transitioned,’ said the friend.
It’s unclear if Josie and Shannon’s marriage is still intact after Josie transitioned to a woman but they still live together.
A separate tipster shed light on the complex history of Oak Park – which, in the unlikely event of Gus still being alive, he may one day inherit, as the eldest son of Shannon’s daughter Jessica.
‘It seems like Robert became Josie after Vin passed away,’ the source said. ‘[Vin] was a tough guy… he probably wouldn’t have approved.’
Gus’ great-grandfather Vincent Pfeiffer (right), pictured in Yunta in the 1960s, was a war hero
If Gus survives, he may inherit the sprawling Oak Park station one day
The station is 40km from the Barrier Highway, near Yunta, in South Australia
A photo of Mr Pfeiffer dated 1969, in which he is puffing on a cigarette in the Outback while standing next to a car, was shared to a Yunta Facebook community group in June.
Still, despite his hard-boiled rural exterior, he was fondly remembered.
A family friend commented: ‘Mr Pfeiffer was one of a handful of POWs to survive the A-bomb attack on Nagasaki, after suffering in both Changi and on the Burma Railway.
‘RIP to [one] of the nicest people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.’
Mr Pfeiffer’s war records show he was born in Tanunda, in South Australia’s Barossa Valley, and served as a Lance Corporal in the 2/2 Reserve Motor Transport Company.
On July 7, 1942, he was reported missing.
In October 1943, he was reported as a prisoner of war, and was later confirmed to be held captive by Japanese forces in Thailand and Burma.
Most POWs in the region suffered immensely and were forced, under cruel and often perilous conditions, to construct the Thai-Burma railway, also known as the Death Railway.
More than 12,000 Allied soldiers died from overwork, malnutrition and disease.
But records show Mr Pfeiffer – who is Gus’ great-grandfather – miraculously survived the awful conditions, and was then transferred to Fukuoka – a feared Japanese prison camp 150km from Nagasaki, where the US dropped an atomic bomb in January 1945.
Mr Pfeiffer was liberated later that year and then evacuated to a POW recovery base camp on Morotai island, Indonesia.
Mr Pfeiffer’s records show he was taken as a prisoner of war by the Japanese
Searchers converge on Oak Park station looking for signs of Gus
Upon the war hero’s return to Australian soil, Mr Pfeiffer married Clair Jones, from a station family near Yunta.
The couple wed in Adelaide’s Pirie Street Methodist Church in July 1948, according to the Adelaide Advertiser’s classified notices.
It seems the couple eventually took over Oak Park, where Mr Pfeiffer became a popular member of the local community.
He was heavily involved in the local rifle club.
The Pfeiffers’ daughter Shannon – mother of Gus’ mum Jessica – is also understood to be a valued member of the Outback community, and was a 1997 representative of the North East Pastoral Soil Conservation Board.
A friend said she attended boarding school in her youth.
Jessica is yet to break cover since her son went missing three weeks ago, but is seen in an undated photograph shared to social media earlier this year as a blonde-haired infant in a yellow jumpsuit, sitting on Shannon’s lap.
It is understood that Jessica remains at Oak Park with Shannon, Josie and her other son, one-year-old Ronnie.
Gus’ mother Jessica is pictured as an infant, sitting on her mother Shannon’s lap
Gus’ father Joshua Lamont is staying with relatives in Adelaide
Gus’s bicycle sits forlornly on his father Joshua’s farmhouse veranda in Belalie North
Gus’ father Joshua Lamont lives a two-hour drive from Oak Park, at a ramshackle farmhouse in Belalie North, near Jamestown.
A friend told Daily Mail that Joshua and Jess remain a couple but have a ‘commuter relationship’ because he clashes with Josie.
The friend confirmed the small bicycle seen on his front porch belonged to Gus.
Joshua is currently staying with relatives in Adelaide, and is said to be ‘furious’ about his missing son.
Despite the search for Gus being officially scaled back and referred to the Missing Persons Unit, Josie told Daily Mail on Wednesday that the family was ‘still looking’ for him.
She refused to comment further.
There were no police present at Oak Park on Wednesday, and the media scrum that had been parked outside waiting for news had dissolved.
Gus was last seen wearing a blue, long-sleeved Minions T-shirt and a grey sunhat.
