Desperate Search for Missing Outback Boy Gus Lamont Enters Critical Phase as Temperatures Soar to 36C
- Eighteen days after four-year-old Gus vanished from his grandparents’ remote sheep station in South Australia, a massive search effort resumes with a new taskforce and strategy.
- Temperatures are expected to reach a scorching 36C, forcing search crews to battle the heat to find clues to Gus’s disappearance.
- The renewed search effort includes 18 police officers, 82 Australian Defence Force members, SES volunteers, drones, and utility terrain vehicles.
The desperate search for missing outback boy Gus Lamont has entered a critical new phase, with a massive search effort resuming in the scorching South Australian heat. Eighteen days after the four-year-old vanished from his grandparents’ remote sheep station near Yunta, a new taskforce and strategy have been launched to find the young boy.
Gus was last seen playing on a mound of dirt just 500 meters from the homestead about 5 pm on September 27. When his grandmother called him in half an hour later, he was gone. The disappearance has sparked one of the largest land searches in South Australian history, with over 60,000 hectares scoured by foot, vehicle, drone, and helicopter.
Despite the scale of the operation, not a single confirmed trace of Gus has been found. A second footprint once thought to be a breakthrough was ruled out last week, leaving investigators with just one clue: a single footprint discovered on September 30, near the homestead.
Former SES volunteer Jason O’Connell, who was granted police approval to use his tracking skills alongside Gus’s father, expressed his concern for the family. “It’s been searched. Gus is not there,” he said. “I just don’t get how he vanished like that. My heart breaks for the family.”
SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens emphasized that the operation remains a recovery mission, not prompted by new evidence of foul play. “The family are co-operating with the police inquiry… we have nothing to suggest foul play at this time, but we’re obligated to consider every possibility,” he said.
With temperatures set to soar to 36C, search crews are facing a daunting task in the scorching heat. The renewed search effort includes 18 police officers, 82 Australian Defence Force members, SES volunteers, drones, and utility terrain vehicles. Authorities say they’re not giving up, with more than 470 square kilometers already searched.
“We’ve done everything we can based on expert advice,” Commissioner Stevens said. “This is about making sure we leave no stone unturned.”