An “abduction photo” which could have been a lifeline in the search for missing Australian boy Gus Lamont has been exposed as a hoax.
Augustus “Gus” Lamont had been left unattended for just 30 minutes when he vanished on September 27, sparking a mass search which has captivated Australia.
The search has seen hundreds of volunteers, police and military personnel called in to find Gus, just four, in and around Yunta, South Australia.
But despite their best efforts, the only real lead so far has been a lone footprint in the dirt, half a kilometre from the homestead from which he vanished.
Then, a “photo” purporting to be of the boy being taken into a vehicle by an “unfamiliar man” began circulating online.
“An eyewitness reports seeing a boy matching Gus Lamont’s description with an unfamiliar man in a car about 100km from Yunta,” a caption read.
But the image has been unmasked as an AI-generated fake, with locals urged not to treat it as fact.
“Police urge caution when using artificial intelligence in internet searches and recommend cross-referencing the information with trusted sources,” a South Australia Police (Sapol) spokesman said.
Gus had been left unattended for just 30 minutes when he vanished on September 27
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SA POLICEWhile missing persons expert Dr Sarah Wayland has also told viewers to stop and think.
“Pause and consider who is sharing the information, whether it’s verified by Sapol, and what the usual focus of that page is,” she said.
Dr Wayland cautioned that AI images were too easily assumed to be real.
“We need to question where is this information coming from and is this the most accurate information at this stage,” she told the ABC.
MISSING PERSONS CASES – READ MORE:
A footprint was found around 500m from where Gus was last seen | SA POLICE“If we can’t verify that, then maybe pause, rather than commenting.”
On October 3, just hours after a real photo of Gus was released by his family, police scaled back their search from a rescue to recovery.
South Australian Assistant Police Commissioner Ian Parrott admitted it may be unlikely that Gus would be found alive.
“While we’ve all been hoping for a miracle, that miracle was not eventuated,” Commissioner Parrott said.
The ‘abduction’ image has been unmasked as an AI-generated fake
PICTURED: Police and volunteers looking for the boy. South Australian Assistant Police Commissioner Ian Parrott admitted it may be unlikely that Gus would be found alive
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SA POLICE
“In the last 48 hours, despite the professional advice it being unlikely that Gus would have survived, we have maintained and in fact increased the effort to try and locate him and bring him back to his family.
“We’re confident that we’ve done absolutely everything we can to locate Gus within the search area.
“But despite our best efforts, we have not been able to locate him, and unfortunately, we are now having to scale back this search for Gus.
‘We won’t stop, we will continue to investigate and follow any lines of inquiry that we currently have.”
