BREAKING: SA Police declare the disappearance of Gus a major crime
SA Police have declared the case surrounding a missing four-year-old, who vanished from a property in the state’s Mid North, a major crime at a press conference today.
SA Police have provided a major update in the search for missing four-year-old Gus Lamont, who vanished from a remote station in the state’s Mid North in September.
Detective Superintendent Darren Fielke told a press conference in the city at 1pm today that police have now declared the case a major crime.
“Sadly, to date our efforts to locate Gus have been unsuccessful. Since Gus’s disappearance there has been a groundswell of support from a range of government agencies, private companies and community groups,” he said.
“The scale of the air and land search as part of this investigation is unprecedented and today I’m going to provide much more information into what we hve done as part of the Task Force Horizon investigation.
“The search for Gus was based on him walking off from Oak Park Station and getting lost, one of three investigations – the other two are focused on Gus being abducted from Oak Park Station or whether someone known to him was involved in his disappearance and suspected death.”
To date there had been 163 SAPOL members and 230 non-SAPOL resources including SES, Australian Defence Force, indigenous trackers, community groups, involved over 20 days to conduct the search at Oak Park Station.
Gus was last seen by his grandmother on September 27.
He was playing in the dirt near his family homestead, 43km south of Yunta, about 5pm.
But despite multiple searches spanning almost 500sqkm by hundreds of team members including police, the SES the Army, a tracker and the community – he has not been found.
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An underground search of abandoned mine shafts in November last year failed to find any trace of the young boy, and draining a dam in late October ruled out the possibility he had drowned.
Search teams returned to the remote property over several days, focusing on six mine shafts near the Oak Park Station area, 40km south of Yunta, using specialist officers.
But police said on Wednesday it was complete after the mine shaft inspection did not find any trace of the child.
Aerial imaging around the homestead also had been taken.
MORE TO COME
