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18th Oct 2021

Investigation launched after 4-year-old girl goes missing in Australian outback

Sarah McKenna Barry

Cleo Smith was last seen on Saturday morning.

A search is underway for four-year-old Cleo Smith who has gone missing from a campsite in the Australian outback, The Australian reports.

The child was last seen at 1:30 am on Saturday morning at the Blowholes Shacks campsite, which is in Macleod, 900km north of Perth.

Her parents woke at 6:30 am and Cleo was gone.

She was last seen wearing a pink/purple onesie which had a blue and yellow pattern.

Police have now urged anyone with information to come forward as an extensive search gets underway.

Forensic personnel arrived in the remote area today, along with police, defense forces, and members of the community.

Authorities have carried out an extensive land, air, and sea search but there has been no trace of Cleo found so far.

Police Inspector John Munday told reporters that they are not ruling out the possibility that Cleo may have been abducted.

He said: “We are not ruling that out. We are not going to be blinkered or sort of assuming that something has happened.

“At this point in time, unfortunately, everything is still on the table.”

He continued: “I can’t comment on the specifics of what we have uncovered. We are going to leave no stone unturned until we have some answers.”

Inspector Munday also gave an update on Cleo’s family, who are still in the area.

“It’s a terrible time for them but they’re going OK. They’re very well supported by the family and the community.

“They’re still in the area. They’re finding it hard to know what to do, which is understandable. We’re supporting them as best we can in that regard.”

A GoFundMe, titled Bring Cleo Home, has been set up to help raise money for the family’s search efforts. It has since raised over $37,000.