Police give devastating update on boy, 4, who vanished from grandparents’

August ‘Gus’ Lamont, from Australia, vanished without a trace almost a week ago. Police have issued a major update into the case as they scale back the search for the missing four year old

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Police^[1] searching for a four-year-old boy have issued a devastating update afte he vanished from his grandparents homestead.

August ‘Gus’ Lamont disappeared^[2] from the remote location almost a week ago. The little boy, who has blonde curly hair and brown eyes, went missing on Saturday afternoon. Police launched a huge search effort, considered to be one of the biggest in the state’s history, but sadly found no clues.

Officers were only able to locate one footprint 500m from the property in Yunta, north-east of Adelaide, Australia^[3]. Now, police have issued an update, stating that if Gus is found, he probably won’t be alive. Officials have now scaled back the search and have passed the investigation over to their Missing Persons^[4] Unit.

South Australian Assistant Police Commissioner Ian Parrott said: “‘While we’ve all been hoping for a miracle, that miracle was not eventuated. And in the last 48 hours, despite the professional advice it being unlikely that Gus would have survived, we have maintained and in fact increased the effort to try and locate him and bring him back to his family.

READ MORE: Body found in search for Brit tourist, 33, who vanished in Brazil^[5]READ MORE: Liverpool dad, 53, who moved to Morocco reported missing by family^[6]

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“We’re confident that we’ve done absolutely everything we can to locate Gus within the search area, but despite our best efforts, we have not been able to locate him, and unfortunately, we are now having to scale back this search for Gus.

“We won’t stop, we will continue to investigate and follow any lines of inquiry that we currently have… but everything that we have found to date, every piece of information and evidence that we have explored to date, indicates that, as best as we know, Gus has wandered off from this property and we have not been able to locate him.”

The official explained that the call to scale back the search was based on scientific and professional advice on how long a kid his age could survive alone in the wilderness, reports Mail Online^[7]. He added: “But clearly that is that potential is diminishing as days go by, we will now transition into an investigation focus.

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“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.

“On Tuesday night senior police spoke to Gus’s 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^[8] 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.

“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. We will now continue to pursue ongoing lines of inquiry, and we will not rest until we can try and find the answer to why Gus has gone missing, and hopefully, for the family, return him to them.”