Police to Resume Search for Missing Four-Year-Old Gus in South Australia
South Australian Police (SAPOL) and Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel will recommence teh search for missing four-year-old Gus in the stateS mid-north tomorrow.
SAPOL announced the renewed search activity will focus on the family’s station,located approximately 43 kilometers south of Yunta. The expanded search area will extend beyond zones already thoroughly investigated following Gus’s disappearance on Saturday, September 27th.
While police previously scaled back the extensive search earlier this month – describing it as one of the “largest” and “most protracted” undertaken - they continue to hold out “hope for a miracle.” Last week, drone searches of the family property were conducted.
Police state they have maintained “regular and close engagement” with Gus’s family, who are actively assisting with the ongoing investigation.
Gus was last seen playing near the family’s isolated homestead around 5pm before his family alerted authorities. Initial search efforts, involving hundreds of police, volunteers from the State Emergency Service (SES), and community members, yielded only a single footprint with a boot pattern “very similar” to those Gus was wearing when he went missing.
The initial search utilized a tracker, police helicopter, drones, water operations teams, police cadets, and ADF personnel.
Following Gus’s disappearance, family friend Bill Harbison read a statement on behalf of the family. “The family was ‘devastated’ and that they missed him ‘more than words can express’,” Harbison stated. “This has come as a shock to our family and friends, and we are struggling to comprehend what has happened.”
SAPOL has announced that all future updates regarding the case will be delivered from Adelaide, rather than the family’s property.