In a stunning new development in the disappearance of 9-year-old Gus Lamont, police have confirmed that a local fisherman discovered a backpack matching the one described in nationwide alerts — floating along the northern edge of Lake Fern, nearly 12 kilometers from where the boy was last seen.
Authorities immediately sealed off the area as forensic teams arrived at the scene. The fisherman, who asked not to be named, said he noticed something heavy drifting near a cluster of reeds early this morning.
“I thought it was just trash at first,” he told reporters. “Then I saw the tag — and I froze. It had his name.”
When investigators carefully opened the soaked backpack, what they found inside reportedly silenced the entire team. Police sources describe the contents as “deeply personal” and “unlike anything expected this far into the investigation.”
Detectives have not publicly disclosed what was inside, but multiple sources confirm it included a child’s sketchbook and an object wrapped in plastic that has now been sent for DNA testing.
“It wasn’t random,” one officer said. “It looks like it was placed there for someone to find — maybe even as a message.”
The discovery has reignited public attention on the case, with many questioning how the bag traveled so far from the original search zone — and whether Gus may have been moved after his disappearance.
Late Thursday evening, police divers were seen returning to the lake under floodlights, expanding the search area by several hundred meters. Officials have called the find “a turning point” in the case.
Gus’s parents were notified immediately and are said to be “devastated but clinging to hope.”
“They just want answers,” a family spokesperson said quietly. “But what’s coming to light now… is far more than anyone expected.”
