‘My name is Cleo’: 4-year-old girl reunites with family as police find her ‘alive’ after 18-day hunt
By Team Newsable | First Published Nov 3, 2021, 5:16 PM ISTCleo Smith had disappeared with her sleeping bag from her family's tent at Blowholes Campground, 75 kilometres north of Carnarvon, Western Australia, on October 16.
Sydney: In some positive news, a four-year-old Australian girl who was abducted from a campsite 18 days ago was found "alive and well" on Wednesday, police said. According to the police, the little girl was discovered during a raid on a locked house Wednesday, telling her shocked and elated rescuers: "My name is Cleo."
Cleo Smith had disappeared with her sleeping bag from her family's tent at Blowholes Campground, 75 kilometres north of Carnarvon, Western Australia, on October 16.
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"One of the officers picked her up into his arms and asked her 'what's your name?'," police deputy commissioner Col Blanch said in a statement posted on Facebook.
"She said 'My name is Cleo'."
Though many feared the search would end in tragedy, the little girl had been found alone, but alive during a night raid on a home in the coastal town of Carnarvon -- just a short drive from where she disappeared.
A 36-year-old local man was arrested for questioning after breaking into the house at about 1:00 am local time, Blanch said.
The girl was reunited with her mother Ellie Smith and stepfather Jake Gliddon soon after her rescue. “Our family is whole again,” the mother said on social media.
Later, the police released an image of the cheerful kid on a hospital bed holding an ice pop, waving and smiling.
She was in good spirits and bouncing around like “a little energizer bunny”, the officers said.
"It's very rare. It's something we all hoped in our hearts, and it's come true," police deputy commissioner Col Blanch said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison reacted from the United Arab Emirates on his way home from Scotland, thanking police for finding Cleo and supporting her family.
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