POLICE MOVE SEARCH FOR MISSING BOY GUS INTO RECOVERY PHASE AS FAMILY AND COMMUNITY MOURN

OAK PARK STATION, S.A., Monday — The search for four-year-old Gus Lamont has officially shifted from rescue to recovery after police said they no longer believe the missing child can be found alive.

South Australia Police confirmed last week that the wide-ranging search around Oak Park Station, 100 kilometres east of Belalie North, has been scaled back. The focus now, they said, is on locating Gus’s body and learning what happened on the day he disappeared.

“Every officer and volunteer involved had hoped for a different outcome,” Superintendent _____ said. “We are continuing until we can give the family answers.”

Days of Searching in Harsh Country

Gus was last seen playing near the family homestead at Oak Park, where he lived with his mother Jess Lamont, baby brother Ronnie, and grandparents. The station lies in rugged sheep country marked by gullies, scrub and rocky ridges.

For more than two weeks, helicopters, drones and tracking dogs joined dozens of local volunteers combing the property and surrounding bush. Temperatures swung from scorching afternoons to near-freezing nights, conditions police said made survival increasingly unlikely.

Authorities used grid patterns to sweep creeks and windbreaks while neighbouring farmers searched fence lines and water points. The community response was described as “extraordinary.”

Father’s Quiet Grief

Gus’s father, Joshua Lamont, lives two hours west in Belalie North, near Jamestown. Friends say he has been “devastated and furious” since learning that police no longer expect to find his son alive.

Outside his weatherboard home, a small bicycle still leans against the gate — a silent reminder of the boy whose laughter once filled the yard. Neighbours have left flowers and soft toys there.

“Josh is shattered,” a family friend told this newspaper. “He just wants his little boy found so he can lay him to rest.”

While Joshua and Jess remain partners, friends said he stayed away from Oak Park because of longstanding family tensions involving Jess’s parent, Josie, who also lives on the property.

Community Holds Vigil

In the nearby towns of Jamestown, Orroroo and Peterborough, residents gathered for candlelight vigils over the weekend. Children wrote Gus’s name on paper lanterns released into the evening sky.

At the Jamestown Memorial Hall, Reverend _____ led prayers for the Lamont family. “We have searched with our hands; now we search with our hearts,” he said, his voice breaking.

Social-media pages for the region have filled with tributes and photographs of the smiling blond boy. The hashtag #BringGusHome has been shared thousands of times.

Police Continue Investigation

Superintendent _____ said detectives are reviewing electronic data and interviewing everyone who was on the station the day Gus disappeared. No criminal charges have been laid, and police emphasised that “all possibilities remain open.”

A forensic team returned to Oak Park over the weekend to examine outbuildings and water tanks. Officers from the State Emergency Service will continue limited ground searches in targeted areas identified by new aerial imaging.

“We owe it to Gus and his family to understand exactly what occurred,” police said in a written statement.

A Rural Community United by Loss

The disappearance has shaken South Australia’s mid-north, where families often know one another by name. Locals who spent long days in the search say they feel a shared grief.

“When a little one goes missing out here, it becomes everyone’s child,” said farmer Neil Roberts, who volunteered in the first week. “You just can’t rest until he’s found.”

Mental-health workers from the Country Health Service have been dispatched to Jamestown and Orroroo to support volunteers and family members affected by the ordeal.

Waiting for Answers

As police continue their scaled-back operation, both sides of Gus’s family are clinging to the hope of closure. Jess Lamont remains at the homestead with relatives; Joshua divides his time between home and the police command post.

“They are united in grief,” a friend said quietly. “This has changed them forever.”

Across the mid-north, porch lights are being left on each night — a gesture, neighbours say, to help “guide Gus home.”