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Cleo Smith search: Inside the frantic operation to find a missing girl

Kristin Shorten and Phoebe PinThe West Australian
A poster stuck on a speed sign on the road into the Blowholes.
Camera IconA poster stuck on a speed sign on the road into the Blowholes. Credit: Jackson Flindell/The West Australian

The nationwide search for “beautiful, funny and delicate” Cleo Smith is now a complex criminal investigation focused on the worst-case scenario that the four-year-old has been abducted.

The little girl vanished from her family’s tent at the Blowholes campsite in Macleod, about 50km north of Carnarvon, in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Cleo’s mum Ellie Smith on Tuesday confirmed that she last saw her daughter about 1.30am on Saturday when she gave her a drink of water.

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Ms Smith then went back to bed and when she woke about 6am to give her baby a bottle, their tent was unzipped and Cleo was gone.

Cleo Smith’s mother, Ellie Smith and her partner Jake Gliddon.
Camera IconCleo Smith’s mother, Ellie Smith and her partner Jake Gliddon. Credit: James Carmody/ABC News

As the desperate search for the little girl enters its fifth day, hopes of finding her near the tourist hotspot are fading. The camp site remains closed, with the entire area deemed a potential crime scene.

WA Police Insp. Jon Munday said Cleo’s disappearance was “really, really concerning” and described the complex case with many moving parts as “a mystery we’re trying to unravel”.

Missing girl Cleo Smith.
Camera IconMissing girl Cleo Smith. Credit: Facebook / Ellie Smith/Facebook / Ellie Smith

Police, who on Tuesday released an image of the pink flower and butterfly-patterned pyjama suit Cleo was last seen in, have revealed there were “quite a lot of people” at Blowholes campground the night she went missing.

“We’re tracking and tracing all of those people at the moment, but there’s also nothing to indicate that there’s any cause for the wider community to be alarmed,” Insp. Munday said.

The onesie Cleo was wearing.
Camera IconThe onesie Cleo was wearing. Credit: Supplied/WA Police

Police have also been searching a number of “shacks” along the coast near the camp site which are occupied by long-term residents.

“You’d have to have reason to be there,” a police source said.

“It’s a destination — not a place you’d just pass through to go somewhere else.

Police search one of the shacks at the Blowholes campsite.
Camera IconPolice search one of the shacks at the Blowholes campsite. Credit: Geraldton Guardian

“It’s not like a little town where you’d stop for a pie and petrol and then keep going.”

It is understood that a lot of vehicles would have driven on the sandy track which runs through the camp site, making it hard to identify which tyre markings belonged to any potential offender.

“A number of cars would use that area so to distinguish the offending vehicle from any other vehicles is going to be hard depending on how fresh the track is,” a police source said.

“The initial thoughts were that the little girl had gone out and got lost in the wilderness or fallen off a cliff into the water, but I don’t think that is necessarily the case.”

Ms Smith yesterday said that she did not believe Cleo would have climbed out of the family’s tent or wandered off on her own.

Sources said it was highly unlikely that the little girl would have traversed the sand dunes and gone down to the beach by herself. Police say they cannot rule anything out, including that she was abducted and taken interstate.

Despite this, emergency services continue to search along WA’s rugged Coral Coast near Blowholes. The land search resumed about noon yesterday after being temporarily suspended in the morning after wind gusts of up to 75km/h and heavy rainfall wreaked havoc in the Carnarvon area.

A police road block on the way into the Blowholes campground shacks.
Camera IconA police road block on the way into the Blowholes campground shacks. Credit: Jackson Flindell/The West Australian

The unseasonable cold front hit the Blowholes area, rendering the search impossible.

The temperature today is also forecast to be cooler than normal for October at 23C.

Insp. Munday confirmed investigators had spoken to Cleo’s biological father in Perth on Monday but said that it was normal police practice to help build a victimology profile.

Premier Mark McGowan said it was a devastating situation.

Mounted Police joined the search for missing Cleo Smith.
Camera IconMounted Police joined the search for missing Cleo Smith. Credit: Jackson Flindell/The West Australian

“Our thoughts are with Cleo’s family during what is undoubtedly an extremely difficult time for them and for everyone involved,” he said.

“To every officer and volunteer involved in the search can I say thank you for your efforts on behalf of the Smith family.

“To Cleo’s family and on behalf of West Australians, we are thinking of you at this difficult time.”

A Go Fund Me page set up by local man Bill Kent to help Cleo’s family and the search efforts had last night raised $50,000.

Anyone with any information is urged to call WA Police on 131 444.

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