By ABC News
Copyright abc
An extensive search for an “adventurous” four-year-old boy who vanished while playing in sand at his family’s isolated sheep grazing property has continued through the night and remains ongoing, police say.
Police on Monday said they would “throw everything” at the search to find the boy, known as Gus, after he went missing on the remote outback property, about 40 kilometres south of Yunta in South Australia’s Mid North, about 5pm on Saturday.
Temperatures in the area reached the high 20s on Monday, but police were hopeful Gus’s clothing — a long-sleeve cobalt blue shirt with a yellow Minion picture on the front, light grey long pants, broad-brimmed hat and boots — would have offered protection both during the day and overnight.
Superintendent Mark Syrus, officer in charge of the Yorke and Mid North region, said the weather would have been “uncomfortable” for Gus.
“He was dressed well for sun conditions and we are hoping that served him well over those cold nights as well,” he said.
The desperate hunt for the boy at the family’s sprawling 6,000-hectare sheep grazing property began after his grandmother noticed he was missing from the sand where he had been playing, police said.
Superintendent Syrus said there were about 3,000 sheep grazing on the “very isolated” and arid property, where goats, kangaroos and wallabies could also be found.
“As you can see, it’s pretty low-lying, undulating countryside,” he said.
“That’s why we’ve put as many resources as we possibly can into finding young Gus.”
Superintendent Syrus said the search was being guided by the expertise of the property owners and neighbouring landholders, while locals had combed the area on motorbikes.
A helicopter and drones have scoured the area from the sky, while police divers have checked water tanks and the dams on the property where water was present.
Superintendent Syrus said “fortunately”, many of those dams were dry and said Gus was not known to gravitate towards water.
He said initial searches also focused on workshops and sheds on the property.
Superintendent Syrus said it was not suspected anyone had taken the boy, saying the “only people who would travel on this road are station owners” or those who serviced the area.
He said it was “unusual” for Gus to have wandered off and said the boy “normally stays within the confines of the area”.
“But, who knows what goes through a four-year-old’s mind?” he said.
“We understand he’s a pretty quiet sort of lad, but he is, as you know, a country lad and he’s pretty adventurous as well.
“But him moving out of the area is a little bit unusual.”
Conditions in the area are expected to be partly cloudy on Tuesday, with the slight chance of a shower south of Yunta and a top of 22C.
