Eight months after four-year-old Gus Lamont vanished from his family's remote outback homestead, the red dirt around Oak Park Station is holding tight to its secrets.
Police admit the search for answers has been exhausting and at times demoralising and concede "the longer this goes on, the closer we get to not finding him".
But they say their resolve to bring Gus home has not wavered.
Recent heavy rain offered a sliver of hope, drawing detectives and specialist officers back to the sprawling South Australian cattle station in the desperate hope swollen creeks and shifting soil might finally reveal a clue.
Instead, after three days of renewed searching, there is still no trace of the little boy.
Officers from Task Force Horizon began the latest search on Monday, targeting waterways, washaways and creek beds where rain and erosion could have moved soil or peeled back vegetation.
