Police are scheduled to provide an update on the ongoing search for missing boy Gus Lamont following a renewed search for fresh clues.
Wednesday marked eight months since the four-year-old disappeared from his grandparentsâ home near Yunta, South Australia.
Initial police reports said Gus had been playing in a pile of sand outside the Oak Park Station homestead, owned by his maternal grandparents Josie and Shannon Murray, and appeared to have wandered off at about 5.30pm on AFL Grand Final Day.
Multiple searches have been carried out at the remote property under Taskforce Horizon, established in the days after Gus vanished, but no trace of him has been found.
Major Crime detectives and specialist STAR Group officers returned to Oak Park Station on Tuesday, and have spent the last three days searching numerous locations on the property for evidence following recent heavy rain.
Major Crime Investigation Branch officer-in-charge Detective Superintendent Darren Fielke will provide an update on the renewed search at the property on Thursday afternoon.
It was the first time police had returned to the property since March.
It is understood that police had hoped that recent heavy rain in the region may have uncovered potential evidence, including a large-brimmed hat and a Minions shirt that Gus was wearing at the time when he vanished.
Wednesday marked eight months since little Gus vanished without a trace
Police have spent the last three days scouring the property where Gus was last seen
SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens hinted earlier this month that officers planned to return to the home âat some time in the futureâ.
âThe taskforce operating within Major Crime Investigation Branch is continuing their work,â he told reporters.
Police have previously described the operation as the âlargest and most intensiveâ missing person search ever undertaken by the force.
In February, authorities announced they believed Gus was dead and declared his disappearance as a major crime, adding that they had identified a suspect within his family.
They later confirmed they found âinconsistenciesâ in statements and timelines provided by some family members.
No arrests have been made or charges laid over Gusâs disappearance.
Police have repeatedly stressed that Gusâs parents, Joshua Lamont and Jessica Murray, are not considered suspects in his disappearance.
Gusâs grandparents Shannon and Josie Murray â a transgender woman â have both enlisted the services of high-profile Adelaide defence lawyers â a move that is not unusual in these circumstances.
Police had hoped the heavy rain may uncover potential evidence, including the wide-brimmed hat (pictured) that Gus was last seen wearing
Police will provide an update on the latest search at Oak Park Station, where Gus was last seen on September 27
â(Shannon) is still supporting Josie, cooperating through her solicitors and hoping to find Gus, (and) hoping that some information comes to light soon,â her lawyer Andrew Ey said.
Gusâs parents, though separated, issued a united statement earlier this year describing how their lives had been shattered by their sonâs disappearance.
âEvery moment without him is unbearable,â they said. âWe know someone out there may have information.
âIf someone knows what happened, we are pleading with that person â or anyone who may have seen or heard anything â to please come forward. Even the smallest detail could give us the answers we so desperately need.â
They also thanked their supporters.
âYour kindness has helped carry us through the darkest days of our lives,â they said.
âAll we want is to bring Gus home and understand what happened to our beautiful boy.â
Gusâs mother was spotted publicly for the first time since his disappearance earlier this month, on a suburban Adelaide street with her youngest child. She politely declined to comment when approached by the Daily Mail.
Anyone with any information about Gusâs disappearance is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
