Let’s hope she is soon found alive and well (and no, I won’t apologise for hoping).
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/abduction-fears-after-girl-4-goes-missing-on-camping-trip-wk8q2l5pdCleo Smith: Abduction fears after girl, 4, goes missing on camping trip
Police have been stopping and searching cars and caravans and taking drivers’ details before they leave the area, Inspector Jon Munday of Western Australia police said.
Police were “certainly” not ruling out the possibility that the four-year-old was abducted.
Munday said it was highly unusual for a child to disappear from a tent they shared with their parents in the middle of the night.
“[The disappearance] is extremely concerning and not something we come across very often at all,” he said today. “We are throwing everything at this, but at this point in time we do not have any answers about where Cleo is.”
Yesterday Cleo’s distraught mother, Ellie Smith, had issued a plea for help. “It’s been over 24 hours since I last saw the sparkle in my little girl’s eyes. Please help me find her,” she wrote in a Facebook post.
“Last seen at 1.30am and gone when woken up at 6am from our shared tent. Very, very unusual for Cleo. Please if you see anything unusual or suspicious call the police.”
The little girl was wearing pink one-piece pyjamas when she was last seen. Yesterday police said her sleeping bag was gone but they were not “at liberty to divulge what else may be missing”.
Eddie Smith, shire of Carnarvon president, said that the community was rallying behind Cleo’s family. “One of the local churches had a candlelit vigil last night which was open to everybody which was really well attended,” he said.
