Australian police have called off the search for a four-year-old boy who has been missing for nearly three weeks in the outback.
Gus Lamont was last seen on September 27 playing outside his home on a remote sheep farm near Yunta, about 300km (186 miles) from Adelaide.
His grandmother left him alone for about 30 minutes before checking on him and discovering the boy was missing, sparking one of the largest land and air searches in South Australian history.
Police, who found no suspicion of foul play, said they would continue their investigation but that the case had been progressed as a ‘recovery operation’.
Authorities briefly suspended the search last week but resumed it on Tuesday with 80 Australian soldiers.
Director Grant Stevens said authorities were searching a wider area based on updated assessments from survivability, medical and search experts, rather than new information.
On Friday police confirmed a new search found no trace of Gus.
“The fact that Gus is a young child, the terrain is extremely rugged and harsh, and changing weather conditions make the search even more difficult for those involved,” police said in a statement.
Around 470 square kilometers – about twice the size of Edinburgh – have now been covered, and a 12-member taskforce set up earlier this week is expected to continue the investigation. Police are not ruling out the possibility of additional searches of the property in the future.
Described as an adventurous yet shy boy, Gus was last seen wearing a gray hat, light gray long pants, boots, and a blue long-sleeved t-shirt with a yellow Minion character on it. Police believe he wandered off.
The case has sparked widespread interest across Australia, with images of the boy with curly blonde hair being featured in local media and speculation running rampant online.
This led police to stop calling the public for their “opinion” and appealed for information to come from trusted sources.
Their warning comes after fake AI-generated images of children circulated on social media, which were investigated by the BBC’s verification team.
Earlier this week police said the boy’s family remained “stoic” despite the tragic circumstances.
“You can imagine how they feel without having answers about exactly where Gus is or what happened to him,” Stevens said.
Through a spokesperson, the Lamont family previously said they were “completely devastated” by Gus’ disappearance.
“This has been a shock to our family and friends and we are struggling to understand what happened,” Bill Harbison said, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
“Gus’ absence is felt by all of us, and we miss him more than words can express.”
