Gus Lamont disappearance: Mine shaft search ends with no clues for missing outback boy

Latest development

South Australian police have ended another targeted search for missing four-year-old Gus Lamont, finding no trace of the boy in a series of outback mine shafts.

Disappearance of Gus Lamont

Gus vanished on September 27 while playing outside his family’s home on Oak Park Station, a remote sheep property in South Australia’s outback. His disappearance triggered one of the largest search operations in South Australia’s history.

Mine shaft search operation

Specialist officers from the STAR Group and Task Force Horizon examined six mine shafts located between about 5.5 km and 12 km from the Lamont family homestead, as well as other locations highlighted through aerial mapping. Some shafts were shallow enough for visual checks, while others required police to descend more than 20 metres using specialised equipment.

The operation was initially scheduled to run over three days at Oak Park Station but concluded on the first day after no new evidence was discovered. Deputy Commissioner Linda Williams explained that the goal was both to find potential evidence and to rule out the shafts as possible locations linked to the case.

Scale and conditions of the search

Oak Park Station covers about 6,000 hectares and is described as extremely dry and arid, making the terrain challenging for search crews. Teams have already drained a dam and searched roughly 470 square kilometres of rugged country while working in intense heat.

Despite the extensive effort, the only physical clue to emerge so far is a single footprint found in the days after Gus went missing. Police Commissioner Grant Stevens has noted the difficulty of the case, stressing that in such an environment there are many places where a small child could end up that are hard to identify.

Investigation status

Task Force Horizon continues to pursue multiple lines of inquiry to find Gus and has not ruled out further activity at the property. Investigators have stated that, at this stage, they have uncovered no evidence of foul play in connection with his disappearance.

The latest mine shaft operation did not uncover any evidence to assist the investigation, but it allowed police to eliminate those locations as possible sites linked to Gus’s disappearance.

Author’s summary

The search for four-year-old Gus Lamont on Oak Park Station has become a vast, resource-intensive effort in harsh outback conditions, yet mine shaft inspections and extensive ground searches still have not produced answers about his fate.

7NEWS — 2025-11-26