Gus Lamont’s disappearance adds another chapter to SA’s dark history of missing kids including the Beaumont children and Joanne Ratcliffe
With the search for missing four-year-old Gus Lamont coming to an unsolved end, South Australians have been reminded of the painful history of our state’s missing children.
With the ground search for missing four-year-old Augustus ‘Gus’ Lamont coming to a sad, unsolved end, South Australians have been reminded of the painful history of our state’s missing children.
A disturbing pattern of mysterious cold cases dating back decades has left families without answers, and the wider community grappling with one haunting question.
Where are our kids?
On Sunday, SA Police confirmed the hunt for Gus had been “suspended” while a Major Crime investigation remained “ongoing”.
So does the case of the “quiet, adventurous” boy vanish into the void – joining the shadows of some of South Australia’s darkest crimes?
Wearing a blue Minions shirt, Gus went missing from his grandparents’ family homestead on September 27, about 5pm. He was last seen playing in sand just outside the home.
His disappearance prompted one of South Australia’s largest search operations, with authorities combing more than 47,000ha of unforgiving country, as well as deploying a number of air assets.
After eight days of tireless searching from at least 50 people each day – including police, SES volunteers, Australian Defence Force personnel and local station owners – Assistant Commissioner Ian Parrott said they had done “absolutely everything” to try and find Gus.
“We’ve all been hoping for a miracle, but that miracle has not eventuated,” he said during a press conference where SA Police announced they were “scaling back” the search.
Now – as it stands – little Gus belongs to an unsettling group.
He joins the likes of the Beaumont’s and Joanne Ratcliffe – young children, with their whole life ahead of them, who never returned home.
Kids who, for all intents and purposes, vanished without a trace.
No leads. No answers.
Just little boys and girls never to be seen again.
Leaving parents, siblings, and family members to grieve the loss of an incomprehensible tragedy.
Beaumont Children
One of the state’s most enduring mysteries, Jane, Arnna and Grant Beaumont vanished from Glenelg beach on January 26, 1966.
Almost 60 years later, the three siblings, aged 9, 7 and 4, have still never been found – nor have their bodies – despite many searches.
The last confirmed sighting of the children was at 3pm on January 26, 1966, three hours after they were due home, walking alone on Jetty Rd.
Witnesses claim to have seen the children leave the beach with a tall, blond-haired man.
Joanne Ratcliffe & Kirste Gordon
Joanne Ratcliffe, 11, and Kirste Gordon, 4, disappeared from Adelaide Oval on August 25, 1973.
What began as a trip to the footy on a cold August day in 1973 ended in tragedy.
The last time their families saw the girls, a protective Joanne was escorting Kirste, who she only met that day, to a toilet block at the back of the Sir Edwin Smith grandstand on the western side of the oval.
Panic set in when the girls hadn’t returned by the fourth quarter, with their parents searching all over the oval and calling out for them over the PA system.
Kirste was seen by witnesses being carried under one arm by a man wearing a brimmed hat and tweed style jacket.
However, she nor Joanne have been seen since.
Michael Black
Michael John Black, 10, went missing in January, 1989, while fishing at Murray Bridge.
His murderer, Dieter Pfennig, is now serving a life sentence for abducting and murdering the young boy on the banks of the River Murray after he was convicted in 1990.
Michael disappeared while fishing and was accompanied by his dog.
Prosecutors alleged Pfennig had taken him in a white van.
They further accused him of leaving the boy’s dog, fishing rod, clothing and bike near the river to give the impression Michael had drowned accidentally.
His body has never been found.
Louise Bell
On January 4, 1983, Louise Bell, 10, was put to bed in her room at the Bell family’s home on Meadow Way, Hackham West.
The next morning, she was declared missing.
The fly screen on the window of the room Louise shared with her sister, 8, had been tampered with.
Her murderer, also Dieter Pfennig, was found guilty at trial but Louise’s body remains missing.
He allegedly told a fellow prisoner that Louise’s body was resting in the same place as Michael’s – which is still unknown.
Rhianna Barreau
Rhianna Barreau was just 12 years old when she disappeared from her Morphett Vale home in 1992 without a trace, never to be seen again.
It was school holidays, Rhianna was home alone and she had just returned from an outing to the local newsagent to buy her US pen pal a Christmas card.
When Rhianna’s mother Paula Barreau got home, the house was locked, the TV was on and there were records on the floor that Rhianna had been playing.
Former homicide detective – and one of the first police officers to attend the home – Allen Arthur said police explored three possibilities: Rhianna left again and something happened, she was lured outside by someone she trusted, or a stranger saw her walking alone and followed her home and made up a story to get her outside.
More than 30 years later, Rhianna is still missing. There is a reward of up to $1m for information.
Melissa Trussell
Melissa, 15, was staying with her biological mother, Rosemary Brown, in a caravan park.
They were last seen in Blair Athol at about 2.30am on Saturday, May 13, 2000.
Seven weeks after their disappearance, Rosemary’s “decomposing” body was accidentally found in the Garden Island mangroves.
Melissa’s remains have not been found to this day despite police searching waters surrounding Garden Island and the Osborne area.
Stella Farrugia
The disappearance of Stella Farrugia, a young woman described as outgoing, kind, and generous although a little naive and easily led on, continues to baffle investigators.
In the year leading up to her disappearance Stella, 18, unexpectedly moved to Queensland to live with her sister Christine, where she got into a relationship – before returning to Adelaide in 1984 with her partner.
After splitting up, Stella then moved in with Wojciech Kubale who reported her missing on October 18, 1984.
Mr Kubale told police he came home and found her dog, bank books and personal possessions all at the flat – but no sign of her.
Both boyfriends remain persons of interest in the case, although Mr Kubale died in 2010.
Karen Williams
The place time Karen Williams was seen was at a Coober Pedy petrol station in 1990.
Karen, and another man, were seen in a vehicle at the Caltex Service Station before leaving and driving onto the Stuart Highway.
In 2013, Nikola Novakovich, a former resident of Coober Pedy was arrested and charged with her murder but in August 2016, he was acquitted by a Supreme Court judge.
There have been multiple intensive searches of the mine shafts around Coober Pedy in search for the teen’s body but to no avail.
Marilyn Qualmann
Marilyn Qualmann disappeared at from her Riverland home without a trace at just 14 years old in 1975.
She was last seen by her sister about 9am in their home at Moorook on Sunday, September 21, and police were advised by her mother the next day that her daughter had run away from home.
But investigators believe something much more sinister happened to the teen.
Although there were some unconfirmed sightings of Marilyn at the time, there has been no contact from her since that fateful Sunday.
A reward of up to $1,000,000 remains on offer to anyone who either provides information leading to the recovery of her remains or information leading to a conviction in the case.
