The search for missing four-year-old Gus Lamont has taken a new turn as police plan to explore a series of remote mine shafts in South Australia’s mid-north. This development comes two months after the young boy disappeared without a trace, leaving his family and the community desperate for answers.

The upcoming phase of the investigation, anticipated to span up to three days, involves law enforcement officers utilizing specialized equipment to inspect six uncovered, unfenced mine shafts. These shafts are situated between 5.5 kilometers and 12 kilometers from the Oak Park homestead, a remote area in South Australia.

Deputy Commissioner Linda Williams explained that these shafts were previously unidentified and lie beyond the areas already scrutinized by search teams on foot. “We are determined to explore every avenue in an effort to locate Gus Lamont and provide some closure for his family,” she stated.

Williams emphasized the importance of these searches, noting that they aim to either uncover evidence or rule out these locations from further investigation by the Task Force. The police are committed to ensuring that every potential location of interest around the homestead is thoroughly examined.

‘These searches will either locate evidence or eliminate these locations from further investigation by the Task Force.’

Police say this stage is to make sure every possible location of interest around the homestead is checked thoroughly. 

On 31 October, police drained a large dam on the property, ruling out concerns Gus may have drowned.

This came after extensive ground and aerial searches involving SA Police, ADF personnel, SES volunteers, Indigenous trackers and local landholders.

Police will return to Oak Park Station to continue the search for four-year-old Gus Lamont who was last seen on 27 September 2025

The boy was last seen by his grandmother playing on a mound of dirt outside in the early evening. When she returned 30 minutes later to call him inside, he had vanished

Earlier, on 17 October, police concluded a four-day search of Oak Park Station, building on an initial 10-day operation launched immediately after Gus disappeared. 

The ground searching at Oak Park Station has now extended to 5.5km from the homestead. 

Police said they continue to pursue multiple lines of inquiry, though investigators say nothing uncovered so far points to foul play.

Gus’s family remain fully cooperative with police and are being supported by a dedicated victim contact officer as the search for answers enters its third month.

Despite one of the largest search efforts in the country’s history, involving the Australian Defence Force, helicopters with thermal imaging and Aboriginal trackers – no trace of Gus has been found eight weeks after his disappearance.

The boy was last seen by his grandmother Shannon Murray playing on a mound of dirt outside in the early evening. When she returned 30 minutes later to call him inside, he had vanished. 

Gus lived on the station with her, grandparent Josie Murray – a transgender woman, his mother Jessica and his younger brother Ronnie.

Gus Lamont’s grandmothers Josie (formerly Robert), left, and Shannon Murray, right, 

It has been reported that Gus’ mum Jessica was with Josie looking for lost sheep about 10km from the homestead when Gus disappeared.

A close friend of Shannon’s suggested Gus could have simply wandered off to look for his mother.

‘It is very easy to get lost on a station that size,’ said the friend.

‘Shannon grew up out there and she almost got lost a few years ago. 

‘Her and [another grandparent] Josie were out on motorbikes sorting out the sheep one afternoon and they got separated for a while. She had to turn off her bike to listen out for Josie’s to find her way back.

‘He’s a happy little boy, happy to do his own thing. But when you address him, he gets shy and hides,’ they said.

Gus’s father, Joshua Lamont, lives two hours away in Belalie North and is understood to be in a ‘commuter relationship’ with Gus and Ronnie’s mother.