POLICE have made the heartbreaking decision to scale back the massive search for missing four-year-old August “Gus” Lamont.

Officers spent a week scouring the South Australian outback but failed to find any trace of him.

August 'Gus' Lamont, a 4-year-old boy, with blonde curly hair and brown eyes, wearing a gray shirt that says "MY MUMMY" with a pink pig.
August ‘Gus’ Lamont still hasn’t been found after he disappeared last SaturdayCredit: SA Police

Animal droppings on reddish-brown dirt.
Australian cops said the four-year-old left behind a single footprint
The operation – one of the largest in the state’s history – has now been handed to the Missing Persons Investigation Section, shifting from a rescue mission to a long-term inquiry.

Assistant Police Commissioner Ian Parrott confirmed on Friday the grim turn, saying it was “unlikely Gus will be found alive” after days of freezing nights and harsh terrain.

“While we’ve all been hoping for a miracle, that miracle was not eventuated,” Commissioner Parrott said.

“We’re confident that we’ve done absolutely everything we can to locate Gus within the search area, but despite our best efforts, we have not been able to locate him, and unfortunately, we are now having to scale back this search for Gus.”

Gus vanished last Saturday evening while playing outside his grandparents’ remote homestead about 24 miles south of Yunta, north-east of Adelaide.

His grandmother last saw him at 5pm on a dirt mound, but by 5.30pm he was gone.

The only clue searchers uncovered was a single child-sized footprint about 500 metres from the homestead.

No clothing, hat, or any other sign of the boy has been found.