Gus was last seen at his family’s remote homestead, approximately 40 kilometres south of Yunta, at around 5pm on Saturday, 27 September.

Gus is described as Caucasian, with long blond curly hair. He was last seen wearing a grey sun hat, a cobalt blue t-shirt featuring a yellow ‘Minion’ character, light grey long pants, and boots.

Yorke Mid North police are leading the search and being supported by specialist resources including STAR Group, Water and Mounted Operations Units, PolAir, and Dog Operations.

The search effort has also been bolstered by police cadets, SES volunteers, trailbike and ATV teams, drones, a traditional Aboriginal tracker, and a large number of dedicated community and family members.

A contingent of 48 personnel from the Australian Defence Force will commence their deployment to the search area at 8am this morning and are anticipated to assist police with ground searches over the coming days.

Police continue to urge anyone who may have information that could assist the search to contact Crime Stoppers at www.crimestopperssa.com.au or call 1800 333 000, quoting reference #250513.

---

Gus' family released the following statement via police on Tuesday 30 September:

We are devastated by the disappearance of our beloved Gus on Saturday afternoon. This has come as a shock to our family and friends, and we are struggling to comprehend what has happened.

Gus ‘s absence is felt in all of us, and we miss him more than words can express. Our hearts are aching, and we are holding onto hope that he will be found and returned to us safely.

We are incredibly grateful to the South Australia Police, emergency services and the many organisations and community members, neighbours and friends who have come together to help find Gus.

At this time, we kindly ask for privacy as we focus all our energy on supporting the search and working closely with the police.

We are deeply distressed and ask that the media please refrain from contacting us directly. Thank you for respecting our wishes and for continuing to keep Gus in your thoughts.

Four-year-old Gus Lamont wandered off from the Oak Park Station homestead, approximately 43 kms south of the Yunta township on Saturday, 27 September.

Gus was seen outside at 5pm on Saturday playing on a mound of dirt by his grandmother. At 5.30pm she has gone outside to call him in, only to find him missing.

According to a family member, he is a shy but adventurous child. While a good walker, he has never left the family property previously.

Considerable police resources were committed to the initial search for Gus once we were alerted on Saturday evening. This included a Polair helicopter using infrared technology and initial ground searches around the homestead.

From early Sunday morning resources were increased considerably as the search intensified. This commitment has steadily increased since Sunday.

The search for Gus has been one of the largest, most intensive and most protracted searches ever undertaken by SAPOL.

The determination of every individual involved to find Gus has never wavered.

Like every member of the community who has been following this sad event, they too have been very much affected by what has happened.

They are all mothers, fathers or have young siblings and share the anguish and despair that Gus’ family have been going through since last Saturday night.

On Tuesday night senior police spoke to Gus’ family and prepared them for the fact that Gus may not have survived due to the passage of time, his age and the nature of the terrain he is missing in.

This assessment was based on medical evidence from a doctor who is recognised by the Australian rescue authorities as an expert opinion on time frame for survival.

While those involved in the search have been hoping for a miracle, over the past 48 hours the search has shifted to a recovery operation.

At this point, no trace of Gus has been located. No tangible pieces of evidence, such as footprints, a hat or clothing, have been located to identify any direction of travel to assist searchers.

We are confident that we have done all we can to locate Gus within the search area.

Despite our very best efforts to find Gus we have determined that the search will be scaled back from this afternoon.

The investigation will now be managed by the Missing Persons Investigation Section. This is where all long term cases such as this are managed and investigated and is standard practice.

In addition to the search activity there have been concurrent inquiries undertaken as a matter of course when a 4-year-old child goes missing. These inquiries are continuing.

We are investigating and looking to rule out every option at this stage.

SAPOL would like to thank everyone involved in the search for Gus.

The SES volunteers – an average of 30 per day - worked tirelessly and thought nothing of volunteering their time. Likewise, the ADF did not hesitate to provide 50 personnel for two days to assist.

As mentioned on Friday, the search for 4-year-old Gus Lamont was scaled back following medical experts advice that there was little hope for us to find Gus alive.

Despite that, SAPOL continued the search for three more days with a significant search presence until Friday afternoon. The investigation is now being managed by Missing Persons Section, which is part of Major Crime Investigation Branch, and that's where all long-term cases such as this are managed and investigated.

In addition to the search activity, there has been concurrent inquiries undertaken, which are continuing. Police are actively looking to rule out every investigation opportunity and will search the property when any potential evidence that could be connected to Gus is identified.

On Monday 6 October, a significant search was conducted after a small footprint was located around a dam about 5.5 kilometres west of the Homestead. The search involved numerous resources, including STAR, PolAir and a tracker. The footprint was subsequently found not to be related to Gus. (Note: This is not connected to the footprint discovered by searchers last week.)

On Friday and Saturday night, a significant aerial search of the property was conducted using a special drone with infrared capabilities. This is the same technology that was used in Port Lincoln for the remains of Julian Story. It's quite complex technology, so the results will take some time to work through, but police will investigate any findings through further searches.

We will never give up hope of finding Gus. There are further lines of enquiry being undertaken and the family have continued to cooperate with fully with police.

We still have a public appeal for anyone who has any information about Gus or any concerns, but we will be continuing this investigation and highlight that you may see some other activity up there from time to time, for example, when the results of this search by the drone have been completed.

The first day of the continuing search for the missing boy has concluded with no evidence being located.

The coordinated search has progressed in zones outside of the original search area and will continue on Wednesday. Extreme heat forecast for Thursday is expected to restrict searching to the cooler morning period.

Resources used today include 18 police officers, 82 ADF members and 33 vehicles and SES resources including seven members, a drone and two utility terrain vehicles.

The search for Gus, who was last seen on Saturday 27 September, is being conducted as part of Task Force Horizon that was announced this morning by Police Commissioner Grant Stevens.