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

[Zedx]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1991389116638847408

My greatest fear is that he did wander off and once disorientated/realized he was lost, he has taken shelter in somewhere difficult to get into where he can not be seen by searchers and that one day the family will stumble across his poor little body its a horrific thought.

 

[MadDoc]

No, I don't think supplemental delivery of food to the sheep is probably regular at all. Sheep in this district graze throughout the year on natural pasture, including salt bush amongst others . Their grazing activity interacts with the plant cycle and to some extent influences which pastures re-crop from year to year IIUC.

Water is the issue generally, not food, although in drought, supplemental feed, specifically formulated for stock (the feed is grain based) may be needed.

Link to source below is dated 1997, however moo it provides relevant info regarding this specific pastoral district - topography, soil, vegetation, climate, pasture types, geology, hydrogeology and more.

https://cdn.environment.sa.gov.au/landscape/docs/saal/north_eastern_pastoral_soil_conservation_board_plan.pdf

Thank you for that link - that is a lot of fascinating information.

 

[statt#1]

My greatest fear is that he did wander off and once disorientated/realized he was lost, he has taken shelter in somewhere difficult to get into where he can not be seen by searchers and that one day the family will stumble across his poor little body its a horrific thought.

I agree this is a very possible outcome, however....

I remain astonished that a veteran native tracker found nothing, and though the terrain is vast, my gut tells me those who've been on that ground for decades know the lay of the land and all the hidey holes.

 

[Lebowski]

I keep going back to the police helicopter not spotting anything on that first evening when they are using infrared, what factors would be that nothing would come up?

The temperature dropping?

i keep going back to this too. the temperature dropping would have made him more visible, due to higher contrast, especially if he was still alive at the time. now throw in the general lack of trees and foliage to conceal him. ... i don't think he was out there when they did the IR helicopter search. at least not out in the open.

this is bolstered by all the additional searching that's been done without finding a trace beyond a single footprint that could easily predate the disappearance.

this doesn't mean the "wandered off" and undiscovered accident theories are wrong. i still think they're the most likely possibilities given what we know. but i think he managed to conceal himself somewhere, like people have been saying. fell in an old mine shaft or retention pond, crawled under a structure, climbed into a piece of farm equipment. etc. and sadly got stuck or fatally injured and passed away unobserved.

 

[SouthAussie]

i keep going back to this too. the temperature dropping would have made him more visible, due to higher contrast ..

(RSBM)

I had actually been thinking how well Gus would have blended into the landscape, with what he was wearing. The blue and grey would have blended in with the bluebush and saltbush colours.

imo

 

[MelmothTheLost]

i keep going back to this too. the temperature dropping would have made him more visible, due to higher contrast, especially if he was still alive at the time. now throw in the general lack of trees and foliage to conceal him. ... i don't think he was out there when they did the IR helicopter search. at least not out in the open.

From memory, the chopper wasn't scrambled until Gus had been missing for 6 hours. Depending on the weather conditions at the time, the temperatures could have dropped rapidly after darkness fell, in which case he could very easily have been dead and cold before the chopper arrived over the station. However, that assumes that he was in the open or sufficiently so to have been visible to the infra red cameras had he been alive, in which case it's difficult to see how searchers would have failed to find him since then.

I know some posters remain of the belief that he is in a hole or otherwise concealed somewhere, but I imagine that such places were well known to the family and would have been well searched.

 

[Lebowski]

I had actually been thinking how well Gus would have blended into the landscape, with what he was wearing. The blue and grey would have blended in with the bluebush and saltbush colours.

imo

not in infrared. unless he was wearing something unusually thick, absorptive, or reflective, he would have been glowing like a christmas tree.

 

[Marg944]

Paywalled…​

​

A remote sheep station, a private family and a missing four-year-old boy​

21 November, 2025. 8.00pm

“In a case that has confounded police and caused deep distress and dark speculation in South Australia, there has been no trace of little August ‘Gus’ Lamont for eight weeks.


Eight weeks ago on Saturday a four-year-old boy was last seen playing in the sand outside his family’s farmhouse on their sprawling sheep station in South Australia’s Mid North.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/a-remote-sheep-station-a-private-family-and-a-missing-fouryearold-boy/news-story/7db89790445b3cbbf600fd77d81d49f1

 

[acutename]

Gus was appropriately dressed for the spring weather. In that area they would be acclimatised to summer daytime temps in the 40Cs (100Fs), winter daytime temps of about 16C (60F).

A long sleeve t-shirt was appropriate.

imo

I think I asked before- any predatory animals around?

 

[SouthAussie]

not in infrared. unless he was wearing something unusually thick, absorptive, or reflective, he would have been glowing like a christmas tree.

That would have been hours and hours later. Gus disappeared between 5 and 5:30pm. The search helicopter didn't leave the city until 11:30pm to head up to the property.

 

[SouthAussie]

I think I asked before- any predatory animals around?

Not really. I lived out in the SA outback for years and never saw a wild pig. Not that pigs are predatory, but would be interested in remains.
Kanagroos aren't predatory. We don't really have dingos due to the dingo fence. Wedgetailed eagles couldn't lift a small boy, though they would be interested in remains.

It was an active snake season when Gus disappeared. Brown snakes can be deadly in South Australia. And redback spiders can be deadly to a small child (they live in darkened places).

imo

 

[Lebowski]

From memory, the chopper wasn't scrambled until Gus had been missing for 6 hours. Depending on the weather conditions at the time, the temperatures could have dropped rapidly after darkness fell, in which case he could very easily have been dead and cold before the chopper arrived over the station. However, that assumes that he was in the open or sufficiently so to have been visible to the infra red cameras had he been alive, in which case it's difficult to see how searchers would have failed to find him since then.

I know some posters remain of the belief that he is in a hole or otherwise concealed somewhere, but I imagine that such places were well known to the family and would have been well searched.

i'm crunching a few numbers here, assuming it was low 20's C at 5 pm and dropped to high single digits by midnight, and using newton's law of cooling. ... if he had died at 5 pm, 6 hours would be just at the edge of still being detectable. if he had died somewhere in between, he would have been warmer for longer, and more visible to the IR. and if he was still alive, he would have been easily detectable, even if hypothermic.

as to whether the family would have known possible holes etc. ... i'm sure they would know many, especially close to the house and places they pass regularly, but not all. and i think there's two factors at play here that are easy to underestimate: 1) how much work it is to search a big area, and 2) how easy it is to overlook a body, especially a small one. as you may know, there have been plenty of cases where a body was found in an area that had previously been searched.

to be clear, i'm not wedded to the belief that he is concealed somewhere far from house, only that IF he's out there, he's concealed. the more they don't find him away from the house, the more i think he's somewhere near it.

 

[SouthAussie]

Paywalled…​

​

A remote sheep station, a private family and a missing four-year-old boy​

21 November, 2025. 8.00pm

“In a case that has confounded police and caused deep distress and dark speculation in South Australia, there has been no trace of little August ‘Gus’ Lamont for eight weeks.


Eight weeks ago on Saturday a four-year-old boy was last seen playing in the sand outside his family’s farmhouse on their sprawling sheep station in South Australia’s Mid North.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/a-remote-sheep-station-a-private-family-and-a-missing-fouryearold-boy/news-story/7db89790445b3cbbf600fd77d81d49f1

Comments from a local are exactly how outback farmers would be feeling. imo

(Paaphrased from your link)
Realities of rural life
Living on vast tracts of land where terrible accidents could occur
Could have been any one of our children
Kind and gentle family
The trauma is inflicting pain on one of our own

 

[seasideForest]

We don't really have dingos due to the dingo fence.

Wow! I never knew there was such a thing. Not that I know much at all about Australia, so no big surprise. Just googled it.

 

[Lebowski]

yeah, me either. pretty crazy.

 

[Serononin]

i'm crunching a few numbers here, assuming it was low 20's C at 5 pm and dropped to high single digits by midnight, and using newton's law of cooling. ... if he had died at 5 pm, 6 hours would be just at the edge of still being detectable. if he had died somewhere in between, he would have been warmer for longer, and more visible to the IR. and if he was still alive, he would have been easily detectable, even if hypothermic.

as to whether the family would have known possible holes etc. ... i'm sure they would know many, especially close to the house and places they pass regularly, but not all. and i think there's two factors at play here that are easy to underestimate: 1) how much work it is to search a big area, and 2) how easy it is to overlook a body, especially a small one. as you may know, there have been plenty of cases where a body was found in an area that had previously been searched.

to be clear, i'm not wedded to the belief that he is concealed somewhere far from house, only that IF he's out there, he's concealed. the more they don't find him away from the house, the more i think he's somewhere near it.

I keep thinking about the case with the little girl who suffocated under her own mattress and wasn't found for quite a while. I don't remember her name, but I think someone posted about the case on this thread a while back

 

[BreakingNews]

From memory, the chopper wasn't scrambled until Gus had been missing for 6 hours. Depending on the weather conditions at the time, the temperatures could have dropped rapidly after darkness fell, in which case he could very easily have been dead and cold before the chopper arrived over the station. However, that assumes that he was in the open or sufficiently so to have been visible to the infra red cameras had he been alive, in which case it's difficult to see how searchers would have failed to find him since then.

I know some posters remain of the belief that he is in a hole or otherwise concealed somewhere, but I imagine that such places were well known to the family and would have been well searched.

An alternative could be that something he jumped on broke. Like a piece of timber or tin. I'd want a thorough search done of every place in every building to be researched. LE haven't discussed in-depth searches of those buildings, only searching the land. MOO

 

[Ellery84]

An alternative could be that something he jumped on broke. Like a piece of timber or tin. I'd want a thorough search done of every place in every building to be researched. LE haven't discussed in-depth searches of those buildings, only searching the land. MOO

I could definitely see it as being a case of misadventure.

But if so, why has his body not been found?

IMO

 

[Lady-J]

Not really. I lived out in the SA outback for years and never saw a wild pig. Not that pigs are predatory, but would be interested in remains.
Kanagroos aren't predatory. We don't really have dingos due to the dingo fence. Wedgetailed eagles couldn't lift a small boy, though they would be interested in remains.

It was an active snake season when Gus disappeared. Brown snakes can be deadly in South Australia. And redback spiders can be deadly to a small child (they live in darkened places).

imo

Being a good walker he very well could’ve walked further than first thought ,left no footprints because the ground’s as dry as a dead dingo’s donger , crawled into a small space and bitten by a snake.

 

[Ellery84]

Being a good walker he very well could’ve walked further than first thought ,left no footprints because the ground’s as dry as a dead dingoes donger , crawled into a small space and bitten by a snake.

That’s probably one of the more likely scenarios, I think.

Maybe little Gus was missing for an hour and not 30 minutes, and walked further than the police originally calculated, being based on a 30 minute window.

Imo