A 4-year-old girl disappeared in the middle of the night only hours after she ‘woke up and asked for water’ during a camping trip with her family.
Cleo Smith was last seen by her parents at about 1:30 am on Saturday at the Blowholes campsite at Macleod, 560 miles (900km) north of Perth, Australia.
When they woke up at about 6 am, the young girl was already sleeping and her sleeping bag was nowhere to be found.
“What I can confirm is that the four of them (the family) were in the family tent, Cleo was spoken to about 1.30am when she woke up to get a drink, everyone went back to sleep,” inspector Jon Munday told Daily Mail Australia.
“There is nothing to suggest anything suspicious occurred in that moment.”
Local authorities are now being assisted by homicide and major crime forensic investigators as the search and rescue operation enter its fourth day.
Police haven’t ruled out any theories relating to Cleo’s disappearance but they have said that they would “leave no stone unturned.”
Mr. Munday said that if Cleo was abducted, she could “potentially be anywhere now.”
“We can’t rule out the fact that Cleo may be still in the area, we can’t rule out the fact she’s left the area and if she’s left the area that is probably is our worse case scenario because that really paints a sinister picture with what’s happened,” he said.
Speaking to 6PR radio, Mr. Munday said it was a very harsh environment for the child to be in.
“Until today, it has been quite warm, and there’s limited freshwater around. If Cleo is out in the area, we do have grave concerns for her.”
Premier Mark McGowan also said to the media: “Our thoughts are with Cleo’s family during what is undoubtedly an extremely difficult time for them and for everyone involved.
“To every officer and volunteer involved in the search, can I say thank you for your efforts on behalf of the Smith family.
“To Cleo’s family, on behalf of all West Australians, we are thinking of you at this difficult time.”
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