Gus was last witnessed playing on a dirt mound around 5pm on Saturday, September 27 by his grandmother at the family’s Oak Park Station homestead, located approximately 43km from the town of Yunta in South Australia.

By 5.30pm, Gus — described as shy yet adventurous — had disappeared, prompting a full-scale ground and aerial search of the property and surrounding area.

SA Police Assistant Commissioner Ian Parrott announced that from today, the search for Gus will be reduced, and the case will be handled by the Missing Persons Investigation Section.

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

“Despite our very best efforts to find Gus we have determined that the search will be scaled back from this afternoon.”

Parrott stated that no evidence had been found during the search for Gus, even though there were prior reports of a small boot footprint located 500 meters from the property.

“At this point, no trace of Gus has been located,” he said.

“No tangible pieces of evidence, such as footprints, a hat or clothing, have been located to identify any direction of travel to assist searchers.”

SA Police Deputy Commissioner Linda Williams confirmed the boot footprint has since been found to be unrelated to the missing four-year-old.

Over the past 48 hours, the search for Gus shifted to a recovery mission.

Police spoke to the family last week to prepare them for the grim likelihood Gus has not survived.

“On Tuesday night, senior police met with Gus’ family to prepare them for the possibility that Gus may not have survived due to the elapsed time, his young age, and the challenging nature of the terrain he is missing in,” Parrott added.

“This assessment was based on medical evidence from a doctor who is recognised by the Australian rescue authorities as an expert opinion on time frame for survival.

“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.”

Police continue to investigate Gus’ disappaearance and are working to rule out every option.

A public appeal remains in place for anyone with information.

“If anything is any information comes that directs us to conduct further searches in specific areas, we will be doing that in the coming weeks,” Williams said.

“As we’ve stated, we will never give up hope of finding Gus.

“There are further lines of inquiry being undertaken and the family have continued to cooperate fully with police and have consented to every request that we have made of them thus far.”

An average of 30 SES volunteers have taken part in the search for Gus each day.

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) also provided 50 personel for two days to assist police.

Before it was scaled back, the search for Gus spanned seven days and an area of almost 500 square kilometres, involving aircraft and teams on the ground.