A former neighbour of the family of missing four-year-old Gus Lamont is urging for online speculation on the disappearance to stop.

A former neighbour of a missing four-year-old boy’s family has urged for distressing “online vitriol” directed at them to stop.

August “Gus” Lamont remains missing after last being seen outside his family’s Oak Park Station homestead, about 40km south of Yunta in South Australia, on September 27.

A major operation that was launched to try and locate the four-year-old has since been scaled back after the remote outback property was combed by search teams.

August “Gus” Lamont remains missing after last being seen outside his family’s Oak Park Station homestead, about 40km south of Yunta in South Australia, on September 27. Picture: SA Police
Alex Thomas, a childhood friend of Gus’s family, has told The Advertiser that the family has been subject to “online vitriol” amid the young boy’s disappearance.

Ms Thomas, who had grown up at Parnaroo Station nearby the Lamonts, asked people for their “compassion and understanding” during a difficult time for the family.

“I really want to gently inform people about the realities of rural life and ask them for their compassion and understanding,” Ms Thomas said.

“Because this family – this gentle and loving family – they’re not headlines, they are not a spectacle.

“They are real people who are hurting beyond belief.”

The family’s former neighbour also said though the landscape “seems quite harsh” for people not familiar with the area, it was Gus’s “backyard”.

“It might be a big backyard but he knows that place like the back of his little hands, not unlike his parents, and his parents’ parents; there’s a wisdom, a confidence and a know-how that comes with that generational upbringing,” she said.

Police had allocated a large number of resources to the search that included volunteers, divers, helicopters, all terrain vehicles and members of the Australian Defence Force. Picture: Tim Joy

The search for the missing boy was scaled back last week. Picture: Brett Hartwig
SA Police Deputy Commissioner Linda Williams on Tuesday afternoon said though a recent search had been undertaken after a footprint was located, it was found not to be related to Gus.

“As mentioned on Friday, the search for 4-year-old Gus Lamont was scaled back following medical experts advice that there was little hope for us to find Gus alive,” Deputy Commissioner Williams said in a statement.

Enquires were continuing, and police were “actively looking to rule out every investigation opportunity”, the Deputy Commissioner said.

She said a “significant search” was carried out on Monday after small footprint was discovered around a dam about 5.5 kilometres west of the homestead.

The footprint, which was not connected to another footprint located earlier in search efforts, was found not to be related to the four-year-old, Deputy Commissioner Williams said.

SA Police Deputy Commissioner Linda Williams has said “we will never give up hope of finding Gus”. Picture: Brett Hartwig

An aerial search of the remote property using a “special drone with infrared capabilities” had also been undertaken on Friday and Saturday nights, she said.

“This is the same technology that was used in Port Lincoln for the remains of Julian Story. It’s quite complex technology, so the results will take some time to work through, but police will investigate any findings through further searches,” she said.

“We will never give up hope of finding Gus. There are further lines of enquiry being undertaken and the family have continued to cooperate with fully with police.”

Assistant Commissioner Ian Parrott said in a statement on Friday Gus had been spotted by his grandmother playing on a mound of dirt at 5pm on the day he vanished.

He said the grandmother had gone outside at 5.30pm to call him in, but the boy disappeared.

Police had allocated a large number of resources to the search last week that included volunteers, divers, helicopters, all terrain vehicles and members of the Australian Defence Force.