Police in South Australia have been handed stronger search and entry powers in high‑risk missing persons investigations, a reform designed to give officers the ability to act faster when vulnerable people vanish.

The legislation, passed through State Parliament, allows senior officers to authorise entry into homes, vehicles, vessels or other places without the owner’s consent if they reasonably suspect a missing person — or information about them — is inside.

Authorisations can last up to 48 hours, after which police must seek approval from a Supreme Court judge to continue.

South Australian attorney‑general Kyam Maher said the changes recognise the urgency of these cases.

“These reforms will be an important tool in helping SA Police investigate missing persons cases comprehensively and effectively, by providing police with additional powers that can be used in investigations involving vulnerable individuals who may suffer serious harm if not located quickly,” he said.

“Given time is of the essence in these types of investigations, ensuring police have the ability to enter a property without an owner’s consent will help ensure they have access to any potential information that may assist with their inquiries.”

The reforms come as the search for four‑year‑old August ‘Gus’ Lamont reached the two‑month mark on Thursday.

Gus was last seen on September 27, playing outside the Oak Park homestead while his grandmother cared for his younger brother inside. His mother and other grandparent were tending sheep across the family’s 6000‑hectare property south of Yunta.

The terrain is unforgiving: a mix of rocky ridges, saltbush scrub and vast plains that stretch endlessly toward the horizon.

Within hours of his disappearance, police, SES volunteers and local graziers launched a search that grew into one of the largest in recent memory.

Helicopters swept the area, drones scanned from above, and ground crews walked shoulder‑to‑shoulder across the dust. Experienced Aboriginal trackers joined the effort, reading the land for signs others might miss.

The only clue uncovered was a single footprint discovered days later, about 500 metres from where Gus was last seen.

Despite weeks of searching, no further trace has been found.

The operation has since shifted toward recovery, but police insist they remain committed to finding him. For his family, the wait has been agonising.

Each day without answers deepens the uncertainty, and the hope is that stronger police powers might prevent future cases from slipping into the same silence.

South Australia records nearly 5000 missing persons reports each year, with the overwhelming majority resolved. Yet it is the one per cent that are not that continue to haunt households.

The state has a long and painful history of disappearances that remain unsolved, from the Beaumont children who vanished from Glenelg Beach in 1966, to Joanne Ratcliffe and Kirste Gordon who disappeared from Adelaide Oval in 1973.

Despite decades of inquiry, excavations and renewed searches, no conclusive evidence has ever been found, leaving families without closure and investigators without answers.

More recent cases underline the ongoing challenge. Police are appealing for information about Michael, 23, whose vehicle was found abandoned at Chain of Ponds on Anzac Day this year, and Benjamin, 40, last seen on the Stuart Highway south of Glendambo in September.

Despite extensive searches involving SES crews, drones and local trackers, neither man has been located.

Authorities stress the new laws are not about unchecked power, but about ensuring investigators can act decisively when lives are at risk.

Acting assistant commissioner Cath Hilliard said the amendments “will provide police, in certain cases, with additional powers that can be used in investigations involving vulnerable individuals.”

Anyone with any information relating to any missing person is urged to contact police.

SOURCE: https://7news.com.au/news/from-beaumont-children-to-gus-lamont-south-australias-painful-history-of-missing-persons-drives-new-police-powers-c-20810999