Gus Lamont: Experts warn AI fakes are blurring lines and may hinder investigators in search for missing 4yoMatt ShrivellThe NightlyMon, 13 October 2025 11:47AM
As the nation despairs over the disappearance of little Gus Lamont from his grandparents’ property in the South Australian outback, experts have issued a warning over a disturbing development.
The bubbly blonde-haired four-year-old boy wandered away from the sheep station homestead outside of Yunta at around 5pm on September 27, and has not been seen since.
In one of the state’s biggest ever mobilisations for a missing person event, all available emergency services, SES, the ADF and an army of volunteers were engaged, but failed to find the toddler.
Sadly, police were forced to change the status of the search to a “recovery phase” before eventually downgrading the commitment to place the case in the hands of the missing persons investigation section.
SA police, whose officers have been clearly affected by the search and are frustrated they have been unable to locate Gus or any solid clues to his whereabouts, say they will not close the case until he is found.
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“In addition to the search activity, there have been concurrent inquiries undertaken, which are continuing. Police are actively looking to rule out every investigation opportunity and will search the property when any potential evidence that could be connected to Gus is identified,” Deputy Commissioner Linda Williams said last week.
“We will never give up hope of finding Gus. There are further lines of enquiry being undertaken, and the family have continued to cooperate fully with the police.
“We still have a public appeal for anyone who has any information about Gus or any concerns, but we will be continuing this investigation and highlight that you may see some other activity up there from time to time, for example, when the results of this search by the drone have been completed.”
Authorities have gone to great lengths to keep the public updated as the search progressed, but the circulation of fake AI-generated images and associated stories about reported sightings has brought a warning of caution from a missing persons expert.
One of the fake posts, which was shared over 24,000 times on social media, according to the Daily Mail, claimed eyewitnesses had seen a boy matching Gus’ description with a man.
An AI-generated image also showed a man bundling a child into a car that which appeared to be a likeness of Gus Lamont.
“An eyewitness reports seeing a boy matching Gus Lamont’s description with an unfamiliar man in a car about 100km from Yunta,” the post read.
Dr Sarah Wayland told The Advertiser, “The challenge of stories that have been shown to be newsworthy or share-worthy means that the continual push for clicks is blurring the lines between credible and non-credible updates,’
“When the community engages with these sites, pause and consider who is sharing the information, whether it’s verified by SAPOL, and what the usual focus of that page is.”
Dr Wayland said developing technology, such as AI, was creating issues for investigators and blurring lines between credible and non-credible information.
“We need to question where this information is coming from, and this is the most accurate information at this stage,” Dr Wayland told The ABC.
“If we can’t verify that, then maybe pause, rather than commenting.”
The case has captured worldwide attention and continues to baffle police and forensics experts.
“With the evidence available to us at the moment, Gus has wandered off from the property,” Assistant Commissioner Ian Parrott said.
“I think everyone in the public will expect that we would have major crime detectives involved in this, and this has some of the most experienced detectives that we have in our organisation.
“They have been actively assisting our local investigators as well as the searchers to make sure that we can actually cover off on every single element that may be an option in these circumstances.
“As I said before, everything that points to Gus wandered off the property,” Mr Parrott added.
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