THE mystery surrounding four-year-old boy Gus Lamont’s disappearance has deepened as one searcher has made an alarming new claim.

Ex-SES member Jason O’Connell and his partner Jen spent days scouring the South Australian outback, but found no trace of the youngster.

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August ‘Gus’ Lamont disappeared on September 27 in the Australian outbacks

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The pair searched day and night for the little boy, thinking he may have been on the move in the evening “because of the heat of flies” when it’s light.

Posting online, he explained they used powerful lights to carefully examine every spot in the barren area.

They also listened for foxes and birds of prey, in case “he was in a bad way or if he passed away” and the animals might be swarming.

But after searching the area for over 90 hours, Jason now believes the little boy is not on the homestead at all.

The searcher told local papers: “He’s not on that property. If he was in a bad way or if he passed away, we’d listen for foxes … look for birds of prey.

“No birds of prey means he’s not there.”

The shock claim comes as searchers believed they had found one of Gus’s footprints in the sand – a key piece of hope in their desperate mission to locate him.

Devastatingly, cops have now revealed they are no longer treating the imprint as a “tangible piece of evidence”.

South Australian Police Assistant Commissioner Ian Parrott said he had spoken to the boy’s family to warn them Gus might not have survived.

“Senior police spoke to Gus’ family and prepared them for the fact that Gus may not have survived due to the passage of time, his age and the nature of the terrain he is missing in,” he said.

Desperate hunt for boy, 4, who vanished in Australian outback 6 days ago
“While those involved in the search have been hoping for a miracle, over the past 48 hours, the search has shifted to a recovery operation.

“We are confident that we have done all we can to locate Gus within the search area.

“At this point, no trace of Gus has been located. No tangible pieces of evidence, such as footprints, a hat or clothing, have been located to identify any direction of travel to assist searchers.”

Last sighting

Gus vanished on September 27 while playing outside his grandparents’ remote homestead about 24 miles south of Yunta, north-east of Adelaide.

His grandmother last saw him at 5pm on a dirt mound, but by 5.30pm he was gone.

The only clue searchers uncovered was a single child-sized footprint about 500 metres from the homestead.

No clothing, hat, or any other sign of the boy were found.

At its peak, more than 100 people were on the ground each day.

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Local Jason O’Connell believes Gus isn’t on the homestead

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Australian cops said the four-year-old left behind a single footprint

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Police scaled back the search for missing four-year-old Gus
But professional survival experts warned that a four-year-old in Gus’s thin clothing faced almost impossible odds after so many nights in near-freezing temperatures.

He was wearing a grey broad-brimmed hat, a blue Minions shirt, light grey pants and boots.

Commissioner Parrott at the time said: “In the last 48 hours, despite the professional advice it being unlikely that Gus would have survived, we have maintained and in fact increased the effort to try and locate him and bring him back to his family.

“In the last 48 hours, despite the professional advice it being unlikely that Gus would have survived, we have maintained and in fact increased the effort to try and locate him and bring him back to his family,”

ADF crews were stood down last week as police vehicles began to pull back from the isolated property.

Family clinging to hope

Family friend Bill Harbison released a statement on behalf of Gus’s devastated relatives.

“This has come as a shock to our family and friends, and we are struggling to comprehend what has happened,” he said.

“Gus’s absence is felt in all of us and we miss him more than words can express.

“Our hearts are aching, and we are holding onto hope that he will be found and returned to us safely.”

Locals have voiced fears the little boy could have stumbled into one of the region’s many unmarked mine shafts or wells.

Some of these century-old relics from gold and livestock days are almost invisible in the rugged country.

Police stressed they believe Gus simply wandered off and was not taken, describing the case as “very tragic” but with no evidence of foul play.

Yorke Mid North Superintendent Mark Syrus said it was “unusual” for Gus to roam so far but “who knows what goes through a four-year-old’s mind?”

The case is now officially a missing persons investigation — but police vowed not to stop searching for answers.

“We will continue to pursue ongoing lines of inquiry, and we will not rest until we can try and find the answer to why Gus has gone missing, and hopefully, for the family, return him to them,” Commissioner Parrott said.

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Police scoured thousands of miles in the Australian outback with no luck

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Dozens were deployed to help in the search operationCredit: SA Police

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Gus was wearing a blue minions top when he went missing