\u201cThe search effort has also been bolstered by police cadets, SES volunteers, trail bike and ATV teams, drones, a traditional Aboriginal tracker, and a large number of dedicated community and family members,\u201d a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
Yorke Mid North Superintendent Mark Syrus told ABC Radio Adelaide yesterday that the \u201cprominent\u201d footprint was found on Tuesday afternoon, about 500m from the property\u2019s homestead.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve positively identified that it\u2019s a child\u2019s footprint,\u201d Syrus said.<\/p>\n
A child’s footprint matching August’s boots was found, prompting involvement from the Australian Defence Force and a skilled tracker. Photo \/ Supplied, SA Police<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very similar boot pattern to what Gus was wearing when he went missing.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said a local tracker with a deep understanding of the terrain had been brought in to follow the trail.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis person is very experienced [and] he\u2019s got a very good connection with the country \u2013 he came up yesterday, he assisted us in the search and he\u2019ll continue on today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the breakthrough, police have begun preparing the family for the possibility of tragic news.<\/p>\n
\u201cGus has now been missing for into the fifth day \u2013 84 hours \u2013 and a young boy without food, water, shelter for that period of time, it\u2019s going to be pretty tough on that little lad,\u201d Syrus said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe always hold out hope that he\u2019s a tough lad and he\u2019s crawled under a bush and he\u2019s still alive, but we\u2019re just preparing the family for the fact that we may be moving from a search effort to a recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking to the Adelaide Advertiser, Aaron Stewart, who has previously assisted police in Outback rescues, said the tracker should have been called in earlier.<\/p>\n
\u201cPolice do it in a formula, which takes time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd in the bush, the heat, the flies, the wind, don\u2019t wait for no one.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said a good tracker took all things into consideration, including \u201cwind changes, weather, and all the different elements\u201d.<\/p>\n
More than 100 people are involved in the search, including police, SES volunteers, mounted units, water operations officers, drones, helicopters and local community members on dirt bikes and ATVs.<\/p>\n
Volunteers and police have been combing the expansive outback property in the search for 4-year-old Gus. Photo \/ Supplied, SA Police<\/p>\n
Syrus said the community response had been extraordinary.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an incredibly difficult time for Gus\u2019 family, and we are doing everything we can to bring him home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe response from the local community has been extraordinary, and we are deeply grateful for the tireless efforts of all involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gus\u2019s devastated family released a statement through police on Tuesday, describing their pain and gratitude.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are devastated by the disappearance of our beloved Gus on Saturday afternoon. This has come as a shock to our family and friends, and we are struggling to comprehend what has happened,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n
\u201cGus\u2019 absence is felt in all of us, and we miss him more than words can express. Our hearts are aching, and we are holding onto hope that he will be found and returned to us safely.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are incredibly grateful to the South Australia Police, emergency services and the many organisations and community members, neighbours and friends who have come together to help find Gus.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sign up to Herald Premium Editor\u2019s Picks<\/a>, delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness picks the week\u2019s best features, interviews and investigations. Sign up for Herald Premium here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThe search effort has also been bolstered by police cadets, SES volunteers, trail bike and ATV teams, drones,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56131,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[47179,47176,74,806,47178,85,1135,24812,1558,15117,1559,35595,4731,1403,1342,47175,2082,5760,1874,305,42,78,6371,6501,43,529,675,13913,1870,47177,1240,40,38,41,39,3198],"class_list":["post-56130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-4yearold","tag-adf","tag-after","tag-as","tag-assist","tag-australia","tag-australian","tag-australias","tag-been","tag-boy","tag-called","tag-childs","tag-days","tag-defence","tag-five","tag-footprint","tag-for","tag-force","tag-found","tag-have","tag-headlines","tag-in","tag-joins","tag-missing","tag-news","tag-north","tag-police","tag-remote","tag-search","tag-skilled","tag-south","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-tracker"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}