For nearly three weeks, one man walked silently through scrubland, dust, broken bush trails, and dry riverbeds — following signs no one else could see. Now, he’s finally speaking.
And what he says could change everything about the search for 4-year-old Gus Lamont, the boy who vanished without a trace on his grandparents’ remote property.
That man is Darren “Redback” Marlow, one of Australia’s most respected Aboriginal trackers. For years, police have relied on him when cases turn desperate — but never has he spoken so openly, or so firmly.
His first words to the media stop everyone cold:
“I will find that boy.
He’s out there.
And the land remembers everything.”
“Police Miss What Nature Shows Us” — Tracker Claims Authorities Ignored Key Early Clues
Marlow says he arrived 36 hours after Gus vanished. By then, dozens of officers, volunteers, helicopters, drones, and dogs had trampled the area.
To him, that was the first disaster.
“You can’t track properly on ground that’s been stomped flat,” he said.
“They wiped away half the signs without even knowing it.”
He points to several mistakes he believes cost critical time:
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Footprints overlapped by search crews
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Vehicle tracks misidentified as family cars
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Scratches on a fallen branch “dismissed as animal marks”
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A faint drag path leading toward the creek “completely missed”
Marlow shakes his head and mutters:
“All right there. Right at their feet.”
“We Use What You Don’t See”: The Ancient Tracking Skills Behind His Confident Prediction
According to Marlow, his people’s tracking techniques go far beyond footprints and broken twigs. Some involve reading the environment in ways that outsiders often view as “impossible” or “supernatural.”
He listed a few:
• Heat shadows in disturbed dirt
— “Earth holds warmth differently when someone steps on it.”
• Silent bird migrations
— “Birds flee when frightened. You listen where they stop, not where they fly.”
• Grass bending patterns
— “Even after it springs up, the memory stays.”
• Ant behavior
— “Ants tell you if something has been moved… or dragged.”
To many, it sounds mystical.
To Marlow, it’s simple:
“The land speaks.
People just don’t know how to listen.”
A Chilling Clue Only He Noticed: “Someone Lifted Him”
On his third day, Marlow discovered something that still haunts him: a tiny patch of soil that suggested Gus did not walk away on his own.
“His tracks ended too clean,” he said.
“That only happens when someone picks you up.”
Police have not confirmed this claim.
But they haven’t denied it either.
And Marlow believes this is the moment the investigation took a wrong direction.
“The Boy Is Not in the Open Country” — Tracker Suggests Gus Was Moved After Disappearing
Marlow says the biggest mistake police made was assuming Gus stayed on the property. He insists Gus was carried, then transported, then moved again.
“The patterns changed. The land was disrupted twice.
Someone came back.”
If true, this aligns with several recent developments:
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Mud on the suspect’s car matching soil 6km away
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A sealed box found just 500m from the house
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DNA on Gus’s belongings belonging to multiple adults
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CCTV from a farm showing a boy “matching Gus’s description” at dawn
Marlow believes these clues form a single story — one investigators have been too overwhelmed to see.
“I Know Where to Look Next” — The Tracker Points Toward a Place Police Never Searched
Although he refuses to reveal the exact location, Marlow says there is a site farther east where the earth shows signs of disturbance.
Not big.
Not obvious.
But wrong.
“Three plants broken the same way. A trail no wider than a hand.
Someone knelt there.”
He says he reported it.
He says officers “took a photo and walked away.”
And then, with startling certainty:
“The boy was there.”
Why He’s Still Searching — Even After Police Scaled Back Their Operation
Authorities have reduced the search dramatically.
Many volunteers have gone home.
But Marlow hasn’t left.
Each morning, before sunrise, he returns to the land with only a stick, a hat, and knowledge passed down through 60,000 years.
He says he isn’t giving up.
He says the land isn’t done speaking.
And he leaves the world with one final message — a message that stops hearts and ignites hope all at once:
“The outback keeps secrets… but not forever.
Give me time.
I will bring that boy home.”