Displaying items by tag: missing child

On 16 October four-year-old Cleo Smith disappeared in the middle of the night while camping with her family in a harsh remote area of Australia. On 21 October we joined with many across Australia to pray for her to be found. Now, after 18 days, she has been rescued from a locked house in Carnarvon. The police have arrested a 36-year-old man and are questioning him. The authorities say they have so far not found any connection between the man and the Smith family. She has now been reunited with her parents. ‘Our family is whole again,’ was the message Cleo’s mother wrote on Instagram. Prime minister Scott Morrison said, ‘It is a huge relief that the nightmare has come to an end and our worst fears were not realised.’

On 16 October four-year-old Cleo Smith was camping with her family. During the night she woke up and asked for a drink of water. Ms Smith checked on her other daughter, Isla, who was sleeping separately, then went back to bed. A few hours later she woke up to give Isla a bottle and saw that Cleo had gone. Her red sleeping bag was also missing. It is a very harsh environment, with limited freshwater. If she wandered off and is still in the area, there are grave concerns for her survival. Investigators are now imploring people across Australia to keep their eyes peeled for her, as another scenario is abduction. Marine and sea-based searches, mounted section officers, helicopters, drones and local Aboriginal bush trackers have all been deployed to help locate Cleo. The police are determined for a positive outcome, saying that they are ‘throwing everything’ at the effort.