Recent heavy rain has prompted police to return to Oak Park Station for a second day as part of a renewed search for evidence in the disappearance of four-year-old Gus Lamont.
Major Crime detectives and specialist STAR Group officers resumed searching the remote South Australian property on Wednesday May 27, after announcing earlier this week they would conduct a three-day operation at the station.
Recent rainfall in South Australia’s northeast has prompted police to resume searching Oak Park Station in the hunt for missing four-year-old Gus Lamont. Picture: AFP
Investigators are searching “numerous locations” across the property as part of ongoing inquiries into the disappearance of Gus, who vanished from Oak Park Station near Yunta almost eight months ago.
Over the next three days, police will take advantage of “opportunities” created by recent heavy rainfall in the area, with waterways and creek beds among the areas of focus.
“The searching has resumed to take advantage of opportunities that may have arisen as a result of recent heavy rains on the property,” police said in a statement yesterday.
Gus was last seen outside his family’s homestead at Oak Park Station in South Australia’s Mid North at about 5pm on September 27.
His disappearance was declared a major crime in February after police said there was “no evidence” the boy had wandered off.
Wednesday’s operation marks the latest search at Oak Park Station after investigators returned to the property on March 11 following heavy rain in the area, however no evidence was uncovered.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology’s rainfall map, the Yunta region received roughly 5mm to 15mm of rainfall in the week ending May 26, with some nearby areas recording closer to 25mm.
SA Police described the search as one of the state’s “largest, most intensive and most protracted” searches, with officers on foot, as well as Aboriginal trackers and drones scouring the 60,000-hectare property; however, no evidence was found.
In February, detectives said they no longer believed Gus “wandered off” or had “been abducted”.
Police identified a suspect in mid-February who was known to Gus and living at Oak Park Station at the time of his disappearance but said neither of the four-year-old’s parents are suspects.
Police said updates would be provided as investigations continue.
