Remembering Lachie 'WE JUST WANT THE TRUTH'

Six years on, grieving dad Paul is still waiting for answers

- Donna Fleming

January 29 next year will mark the seventh anniversary of the tragic death of Gore preschooler Lachie Jones, who was found dead in the town's sewage pond.

Thirteen days earlier - January 16, 2026 - is a date his dad Paul Jones has marked in his diary. That's the deadline given to the police to investigate - for the third time - the circumstances surrounding Lachie's death and report back to Coroner Alexander Ho. Paul hopes it's when he'll finally get answers about what happened to Lachie, his only child.

Paul pushed for an inquest into Lachie's 2019 death after being dissatisfied with the two police investigations, which concluded the three-year-old accidentally drowned after escaping from his house and running to the oxidation ponds 1.2 kilometres away.

Paul, 54, believes his son wouldn't have travelled that distance in bare feet and a soiled nappy, then gone over a fence and across rough terrain that didn't leave any marks on his skin, to a place he didn't know existed.

Lachie was found face up and there was no water in his lungs, which has helped to convince Paul that foul play was involved.