The desperate search for four-year-old August “Gus” Lamont, who vanished from his family’s remote South Australian sheep station on September 27, 2025, has entered its seventh day with no new leads, as police make a heartbreaking admission that the toddler may have “crawled into a hole and is just hanging in there.” Gus, last seen playing in the sand at the property 25 miles from Yunta in the state’s mid-north, has prompted a massive operation involving police, SES volunteers, Australian Defence Force personnel, helicopters, drones, and cadaver dogs, but the vast outback terrain has yielded “no signs” of the boy. “We’re hoping he’s crawled into a hole somewhere and he’s just still hanging in there,” South Australia Police said in a statement, their words a fragile thread of optimism amid the “worst fears” of exposure and dehydration in the harsh conditions.
Gus’s family, including parents Amy and Michael Lamont, released the first photo of the curly-haired boy on October 2, describing him as “cheeky and adventurous” with a love for trucks and animals. “He’s our little lamb – please bring him home,” Amy pleaded in a press conference, her voice breaking as hundreds of locals joined the search, combing the rugged bushland where temperatures have soared to 30°C (86°F). The Australian Defence Force deployed additional resources on October 2, including thermal imaging and more ground teams, but the “no trace” reality weighs heavy, with police admitting the “critical window” is narrowing.
The outback’s unforgiving expanse – vast, arid, and dotted with rabbit burrows and rock formations – has turned the hunt into a herculean task, with experts warning that a child Gus’s size could survive only days without water. “Every minute counts – we’re doing everything possible,” said Detective Superintendent Matt Sparrow, as the search enters its second week, volunteers from nearby towns swelling the ranks to over 200. Gus’s disappearance, just days after his fourth birthday, has gripped Australia, with #FindGusSA trending globally at 4.5 million posts, fans sharing photos and pleas for sightings.
