Australia AUSTRALIA - 4YO AUGUST (GUS) Missing from rural family home in Outback, Yunta, South Australia, 27th Sept 2025

[Miss-e]

Not issuing a photograph, during the early stages was the right thing to do imo. It makes sense, in this vast area, if they had found a 4 yr old it was a very high probability it would have been Gus.
The last thing Police needed at the beginning of this operation was an influx of phone calls from members of the public with false sightings and speculation - albeit by concerned folk just wanting to help. This would have sucked up resources better spent on the search.

It seems he wandered off between 5 - 5.30pm, what drew him away from the homestead as the sun was setting? Did he see something and being an inquisitive, adventurous boy decide to follow it?

I'd like to know if there was a conversation between G'Ma and Gus at 5pm - for instance, did she say it's nearly time to come in? Nearly supper time?

Had Gus been pushing boundaries, which is completely normal for a child at that age in their development, decided he was having too much fun outside and adamantly, quietly just walked off, as some kids do? Boundary setting doesn't necessarily mean screaming, struggling, it can also be subtle in some children.
I'm sure the Police will have all this info and the direction of the investigation was based on it.

However, Police never just settle on one theory, this is evident in the presser today, which again is completely normal in investigations, otherwise LE wouldn't be worth their salt. But that doesn't mean they believe something else has happened to Gus.

What I find perplexing is - Would a 4 year old keep walking through the outback into the dark night and not stop? There's a lot of physical and emotional obstacles to overcome when it's pitch black and I can't see that he'd have got very far that first night, let alone keep going for a few days, especially if he were crying, hungry, tired and confused etc.

Personally I think he's still on the property, the search party, although thorough and highly professional have missed him so far.
It happens.

all jmo

How dark was it though?
It says the moon was a waxing crescent on google and also says

Harvest September moon - known for rising just after sunset for several days in a row, providing farmers with longer periods of light during the early evening, and giving them more time to harvest crops.

 

[Serononin]

Apparently there is loads of these mine shafts mapped and unmapped. With the terrain flat for the majority with a fairly good line of sight from the property. I imagine it is just pot luck in coming across the right mine or creek gully

Somebody on a reddit thread also pointed out that if he fell into a hole, it may have collapsed in on him

 

[jypsijemini]

Can anyone else spot partial boot prints besides the main one within the upper pile of dung it looks like one or two is partially covered and to the right there seems to be a shallower foot print where the indents have mostly blown away . Maybe I'm imagining things .

I'm assuming, but I trust that the tracker who found this print would have scoured that area inch by inch, metre by metre, for more prints and yet reported that this was the only one.

MOO.

 

[Kieiru]

The linked article I posted re the tracker above , I think mentions ,old mine shafts hidden as they are historical

historical ones are on the map as well, they said he might be in a mine, there hopefully are some, but if you look at the map, mines seem to be everywhere but the location we need

 

[Miss-e]

Agreed. At least one of the photos of the "sand pit" shows what looks like a cement mixer immediately to its left. A sand mound of that size, and with a mixer nearby says to me that they were using it for some sort of construction on the property.

It’s not for cement.

rotary trommel screen (or trommel sieve), commonly used in farming, mining, and construction.

It’s a large rotating cylindrical mesh drum mounted on a frame. Material (such as soil, gravel, compost, or harvested crops) is fed into the higher end. As the drum rotates, finer particles fall through the mesh while larger pieces move through to the end for separation.

On farms, it’s often used for:

• Compost screening (separating fine compost from larger clumps)
• Soil screening (removing rocks or debris)
• Crop cleaning (like separating root crops from soil)

 

[tedtink]

How dark was it though?
It says the moon was a waxing crescent on google and also says

Harvest September moon - known for rising just after sunset for several days in a row, providing farmers with longer periods of light during the early evening, and giving them more time to harvest crops.

No crops on that land, it's a station.
Sunset 18.11
Still very dark in the outback as there's no light pollution.

Moon Phases 2025 – Lunar Calendar for Yunta, South Australia, Australia

The Moon phase calculator shows exact times of the various moon phases for Yunta, South Australia, Australia in year 2025 or in other locations and years.

www.timeanddate.com

 

[Miss-e]

Interestingly, the tracker that was brought in had worked on the property previously. I wonder in what capacity the tracker had worked on the property… tracking someone, or as an employee…?

Police then called in a local tracker, who they said had "deep knowledge of the terrain" to help identify the path Gus may have taken, and had worked on the property previously.

What we know about search for missing boy on sheep station

Authorities are searching for a missing four-year-old boy on a sheep grazing station in the mid-north of South Australia. Here's what we know about the search so far.

www.abc.net.au

He’s a goat herder.

 

[Miss-e]

I'm assuming, but I trust that the tracker who found this print would have scoured that area inch by inch, metre by metre, for more prints and yet reported that this was the only one.

MOO.

They said in the live press release that it was a member of the search team and not the tracker who found the boot print.
The journalist specifically asked.

 

[wallyworld]

IMO - I find it really unusual that no trace of little Gus can be found. Hats & 4 year olds are SO easily parted, as are shoes & 4 year olds. It’s SO perplexing. MOO

Yes, such a mystery and so many resources involved in the search. I wondered if tracking/sniffer dogs had been used, and read in an ABC news report today that they had.

More than 100 police, SES and community volunteers have been involved in the daily search effort, assisted by sniffer dogs, drone and helicopter assets.

All of this and still nothing!

 

[su5ie]

What wild animals are in the area , I'm interested in knowing is it sheep dung surrounding the boot print or another predator type animal . When a child seemingly disappears in Australia my mind instinctively goes to lindy chamberlain and dingos

The sun hat gus was wearing though brings me back from that thought and that if an animal was involved no doubt it would have fallen off .

Somebody raised the question about the "sand" pit prehaps caving in and ' swallowing the child and then as more fell downward or forward concealing and suffocating gus . I do hope the sand was searched for this as most people start to look outward when a child goes missing in a spot like this and overlook a glaringly obvious place , I've read too many cases now where a missing person is located beside the place they were last seen to trust that the sand was excavated to rule out this possibility

 

[tedtink]

What wild animals are in the area , I'm interested in knowing is it sheep dung surrounding the boot print or another predator type animal . When a child seemingly disappears in Australia my mind instinctively goes to lindy chamberlain and dingos

The sun hat gus was wearing though brings me back from that thought and that if an animal was involved no doubt it would have fallen off .

Somebody raised the question about the "sand" pit prehaps caving in and ' swallowing the child and then as more fell downward or forward concealing and suffocating gus . I do hope the sand was searched for this as most people start to look outward when a child goes missing in a spot like this and overlook a glaringly obvious place , I've read too many cases now where a missing person is located beside the place they were last seen to trust that the sand was excavated to rule out this possibility

I believe it was roo poo.

Check out this informative post from another member.

Australia Post in thread 'AUSTRALIA - 4YO AUGUST (GUS) Missing from rural family home in Outback, Yunta, South Australia, 27th Sept 2025'

Yesterday at 7:35 AM

I’ve been following this and hoping that Gus has managed to survive out there. I’m in the UK so don’t know a great deal about the Australian outback so I have a few questions if ok?

1: what wildlife is out there? I guess snakes and spiders but they wouldn’t remove/hide a body. Is there dangerous animals that would attack and eat a child without leaving anything? Any crocodiles in water sources?
2: what kind of temperatures are we looking at day and night?
3: I read there any many mines and some are unknown, is this correct?

I do wonder if he’s fell into a mine or hole of some sort as...

• CredibleSauce

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[Serononin]

What wild animals are in the area , I'm interested in knowing is it sheep dung surrounding the boot print or another predator type animal . When a child seemingly disappears in Australia my mind instinctively goes to lindy chamberlain and dingos

The sun hat gus was wearing though brings me back from that thought and that if an animal was involved no doubt it would have fallen off .

Somebody raised the question about the "sand" pit prehaps caving in and ' swallowing the child and then as more fell downward or forward concealing and suffocating gus . I do hope the sand was searched for this as most people start to look outward when a child goes missing in a spot like this and overlook a glaringly obvious place , I've read too many cases now where a missing person is located beside the place they were last seen to trust that the sand was excavated to rule out this possibility

I'm no expert, but it looks like sheep dung to me. Or some kind of herbivore

 

[Scooby-Doo]

https://www.police.sa.gov.au/sa-pol...-news/police-statement-regarding-yunta-search
https://www.police.sa.gov.au/sa-pol...-news/police-statement-regarding-yunta-search
Police statement regarding Yunta search

The following statement can be attributed to Assistant Commissioner Ian Parrott.

Police statement regarding Yunta search

The following statement can be attributed to Assistant Commissioner, Ian Parrott.

www.police.sa.gov.au

 

[BreakingNews]

IMO
If he has never wandered away, I cannot personally imagine waiting 3 hours for help.

Had this been a normal occurrence, I would wait longer. But a new thing for a child who is 4? That’s a long time to wait

Doesn’t imply anything I just don’t relate

We don't really know what time they called police. Probably much earlier than the 3 hours. LE had to get there, which would have taken awhile. Also conflicting times of arrival reported. One said 8.30 another report said 9.30. The family have been reported as being private. And living in an isolated area, folk are quite self sufficient. So not calling for 2-3 hours does not surprise me.
What we don't know, is who else was on the property.

 

[TardisGirl]

I’ve been looking at this picture of the sand pile. Is it just me or does the bit at the front look like some has slid down or been disturbed? If gus was digging and the sand closed on top of him, would the dogs track him under sand? Did the police dig through the sand I wonder?

 

[packetgravy]

I wonder how many calls the police have received, suggesting they check the sand pit if they haven’t already thought of it themselves.

 

[BreakingNews]

It is a good idea to have a restricted/fenced playground area for kids on such big properties.
With a swing, trampoline, slide, small sandbox, etc.
To keep kids occupied and safe.

JMO

In an ideal world. But this is a working property. Kids fit in around the farm work. Money is sometimes tight. Feeding your sheep is often the priority. Bush kids don't need the things city kids need.

 

[TardisGirl]

I wonder how many calls the police have received, suggesting they check the sand pit if they haven’t already thought of it themselves.

Fair point. Perhaps it looks disturbed as it was the police digging in it

 

[HoneyBunOne]

I'm no expert, but it looks like sheep dung to me. Or some kind of herbivore

Sheep dung is way bigger. Looks like roo poo to me.

 

[Rocket333]

I’m still stuck on Gus being left alone for 30 minutes. A four year old left unchecked for half an hour isn’t just unsupervised, they are unprotected. Bush kid or city kid, it doesn’t matter. Toddlers don’t need thirty minutes to vanish. They need two. If this is correct, it’s indefensible.