The desperate search for missing four-year-old August “Gus” Lamont has entered its sixth day, with police confirming the operation has now shifted from a rescue mission to a recovery effort.

What began as a frantic race against time is now weighed down by grief and dwindling hope. The little boy, who vanished from his family’s remote sheep station near Yunta in South Australia’s Mid North on Saturday evening, has endured more than 100 hours exposed to unforgiving outback conditions.

A single footprint discovered late Tuesday, just 500 metres from where Gus was last seen, briefly reignited hope. Police confirmed the print matches the boots he was wearing when he disappeared, calling it the most promising lead in days of painstaking searching.

But Superintendent Mark Syrus delivered the somber update on Thursday.

“A four-year-old doesn’t disappear into thin air – he has to be somewhere,” Syrus said. “Hopefully he’s hanging in there alive, but we are now in recovery phase. The fact he’s been gone over 100 hours and six days … that’s a long time to be out in the elements.”

The landscape surrounding the 60-square-kilometre property is punishing; dense scrub, rocky outcrops and desert-like terrain that offers little shelter. With temperatures dropping at night and limited access to water, the odds have become increasingly bleak.

Despite the grim reality, an enormous search effort continues. More than 100 personnel (including SES volunteers, STAR group officers, police cadets, sniffer dogs, drones, helicopters, horses and police divers) remain on the ground. The Australian Defence Force has also joined, alongside an expert tracker with ties to the region.

On Thursday, police released a photograph of Gus to the public – a curly-haired boy in a Peppa Pig shirt that reads “My Mummy.” The image was a heartbreaking reminder of who rescuers are searching for, as his family prepares for the possibility of a devastating outcome.

“We’ve spoken with the family to prepare them for the worst – but hope remains,” Syrus said.
“We always believe Gus is a tough little country lad. He may be curled up under a bush somewhere, and we’re determined to find him.”

Gus is described as Caucasian, with long blond curls. He was last seen wearing a grey sun hat, a cobalt blue long-sleeve shirt with a yellow Minion print, light grey pants and boots.

The boy’s disappearance has left a community reeling and his family clinging to hope, even as the search edges closer to heartbreak.