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19th Oct 2021

“We need our little girl home”: Mum of missing 4-year-old Cleo Smith speaks out for first time

Kat O'Connor

Cleo has now been missing for 4 days.

The family of the missing 4-year-old Cleo Smith has spoken out for the first time since her disappearance.

Cleo has been missing since early Saturday morning, October 16th.

Her mum Ellie Smith and her partner Jake Gliddon said they just want Cleo home.

Speaking to the media in Australia, the distraught pair opened up about the moment they realised Cleo was gone.

The mum last seen Cleo at 1.30 am when she asked for water.

Her other daughter Isla woke up asking for a bottle a couple of hours later and the mum notice the zip of their tent was wide open.

The mum noticed her daughter’s sleeping bag was also missing.

“As we passed the divider, I went into the other room and the zipper was open,” Ms. Smith told the media.

“Cleo was gone and that was about it for Saturday morning until everything started.

They searched around the Blowholes Campground in Macleod, near Carnarvon.

The mum said they feel “hopeless and out of control” as the search continues.

“Everyone asks us what we need and all we need is our little girl home,” she confessed.

Cleo has been missing for four days.

Search efforts were halted due to bad weather, but have since resumed.

Investigators fear Cleo either wandered off or was kidnapped while her family was sleeping.

“I wish I had some answers for the family, but unfortunately we simply don’t know and as the hours go by and the days go by, our concerns get more and more grave,” Inspector John Munday commented.

Inspector Munday added, “We do have grave concerns for her. It is a race against time.”

Australians have been urged to report any possible sightings of Cleo as investigators fear she could be interstate by now.