A four-year-old Australian girl abducted from a campsite 18 days ago was found “alive and well” in a locked house Wednesday, telling elated police officers: “My name is Cleo.”
Cleo Smith disappeared from her family’s tent in Western Australia last month, sparking a frantic air, sea, and ground search involving 100 officers, one that most feared would end in tragedy.
The little girl was found alone inside a locked house in the coastal town of Carnarvon, a short drive away from where she disappeared, Western Australia police said.
“One of the officers picked her up into his arms and asked her ‘what’s your name?’” police deputy commissioner Col Blanch said.
“She said ‘My name is Cleo’.”
Police detained a 36-year-old local man with no connection to the family after breaking into the house at about 1 a.m. local time.
The young girl was reunited with her parents a short time later, with her mother Ellie taking to social media to express her relief.
“Our family is whole again,” she posted on Instagram under a photo of Cleo.
Ellie Smith had earlier described her distress at waking at 6 a.m. To find the family’s tent unzipped and her oldest daughter missing.
Her public pleas for help to bring Cleo home had prompted an outpouring of support from across Australia.
Blanch told local radio that he saw “seasoned detectives openly crying with relief” after Cleo was found, calling the rescue “just incredible.”
“It’s very rare. It’s something we all hoped in our hearts, and it’s come true,” he said.
State premier Mark McGowan expressed elation at receiving the news overnight.
He first received a call at 1:38 a.m., but sheepishly admitted: “I didn’t answer it, I was asleep.” Still, within a few hours, he had received a “lovely” image of the girl smiling from a hospital bed.
“There will be movies made about this,” he said. “You never know what to expect, you hope for the best, but you prepare for the worst.”
“It’s great to provide the country with positive news.”
While police used human intelligence, surveillance footage, and forensic analysis to find the girl, scores of volunteers scoured nearby bushland for clues.
Investigators had been determined they “were not going to leave any stone unturned,” even as the search dragged on, Western Australia police commissioner Chris Dawson said.
“We had been following a lot of the forensic leads and it led us to a particular house,” he told ABC radio. “We put everything we had at it.”
“Hope was never lost and the fact she’s been found alive, I think Australia is rejoicing. It is such a wonderful outcome.”