Authorities have undertaken one of the largest and most intensive searches for a missing person in South Australia

When a four-year-old child disappeared in the vast, brutal Australian outback, the response was swift and broad-ranging.

It’s now been two months since Gus Lamont, a blond, curly haired child described as both shy and adventurous, went missing from his family’s homestead in a remote part of South Australia.

The 60,000 hectare (148,000 acre) Oak Park Station is about 40km from the nearest town, Yunta – population 60. Yunta is about 300km inland from SA’s capital, Adelaide.

At 5pm on Saturday 27 September, Gus was playing on a mound of dirt at the family sheep station.

When his grandmother went to call him inside 30 minutes later, he was gone.

An extensive police search failed to find him, and was scaled back in early October.

Police had prepared Gus’s family for bad news. He may not have survived “due to the passage of time, his age, and the nature of the terrain he is missing in”, authorities said.

A week later an expanded search was under way after “survivability specialists” had given advice about how far Gus could have travelled.

So far police, Australian defence force members, State Emergency Service members, a drone, 33 vehicles, dogs, police divers, mounted police and two utility terrain vehicles have been deployed.

SA police said it was one of the state’s largest and most intensive searches for a missing person.

From above, the family station is a huddle of regular shapes dwarfed by the seemingly featureless expanse around it.

It might be hard to imagine how the huge effort to find the boy has failed in this flat, dusty landscape.

At ground level, though, it is scrubby land with dips and ridges, dry creek beds with the occasional copse of trees.

There is a large dam, which police drained on 31 October to no avail.

Last week police learned there were also six abandoned, uncovered, unfenced mine shafts on the property.

The nearest mine is 5.5km from the homestead, which seems like an astounding distance for a four-year-old to walk. The rest are up to 12km away.

“We are determined to explore every avenue in an effort to locate Gus Lamont and provide some closure for his family,” the deputy police commissioner Linda Williams said.

But when the mine shafts were searched, there was no sign of Gus.

SA police said on Wednesday some of the shafts were relatively shallow and could be visually inspected, while others were up to 20 metres deep, meaning specialised equipment was needed.

“The family of Gus have been advised of the results of the renewed searching and are being supported by a victim contact officer,” police said.

About 50,000 people go missing in Australia in each year, but almost all of them – 99% – are found.

Many of the disappearances are intentional, while the unintentional ones can include people who get lost, including people with dementia, and those who are victims of crime.

The police have said all along there is no suggestion of foul play in the case of Gus.

About two-thirds of missing persons are under 18 but again most are found safe and well within 24 hours, according to the Australian federal police’s National Missing Persons Coordination Centre.

Not all of Australia’s missing persons get the same level of attention as Gus.

A Senate inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women and children found “public attention often overlooks missing people who are not viewed as newsworthy or shareworthy”, Prof Sarah Wayland of Central Queensland University wrote.

“This can negatively affect recovery efforts, the resources invested, and community support for those left behind.”

SA is also home to one of Australia’s biggest mysteries of all time – the Beaumont children, who haven’t been seen in almost 60 years. Three young children, Jane, Arnna and Grant Beaumont, vanished from an Adelaide beach in 1966.

Theories and new searches for the trio continue to this day.

The outback is also replete with myths, mysteries and murders, adding to the sad intrigue around the Lamont case.

People have been spreading conspiracy theories and AI-generated misinformation about the boy and his family. And police have also been frustrated by people calling in with their “opinions”.

The family are cooperating with police but are not speaking to the media, and media have been repeatedly warned to stay off the property.

Police have not ruled out returning to the property as the investigation continues.