Cleo Smith: Search for 'Aussie Madeleine McCann' as public told to check bins for missing girl, 4

Search for 'Aussie Madeleine McCann' as public told to check bins for missing girl, 4

Little Cleo Smith was last seen on Saturday morning at a beach campsite in western Australia – with concerned cops asking the public to check their bins for her sleeping bag

ByAdam Solomons

   20:02, 18 OCT 2021

A toddler has gone missing in Australia, prompting a nationwide missing person search similar to the one for Madeleine McCann.

Cleo Smith, 4, was reportedly 'snatched out of her tent' while asleep at the Blowholes campsite in western Australia, The Sun reported.

She was last seen by her parents in the early hours of Saturday morning, with her mum saying the "very, very unusual" disappearance has traumatised the family.

They spoke to her at 1.30am, but when mum Ellie Smith woke up again at 6am she was gone.

Ellie posted a plea for help on social media after a day without her daughter.

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Cleo and her sleeping bag were 'snatched' away in the early hours of Saturday morning, her mum reported (Image: Western Australia Police)
Ms Smith wrote: "It’s been over 24 hours since I last seen the sparkle in my little girl’s eyes!

"Please help me find her."

Authorities across Australia are looking for missing Cleo, including homicide detectives.

The toddler was wearing pink pyjamas and sleeping in a black and red sleeping bag, which was also nowhere to be found when Ellie woke up.

Cops have told locals to check their wheelie bins for a black and red sleeping bag, which they suspect will have been disposed of by the potential kidnapper.

Police helicopters and drones have been launched in the coastline search for Cleo.

Lead Inspector John Munday said he had "grave fears" for the poor little girl's wellbeing, but would continue the massive search till Cleo is reunited with her parents.

Munday told reporters on Monday: "Every hour that goes by with a four-year-old out in this environment, there’s obviously limited water supply, it is warm, very limited shelter. It is very, very concerning.

"That’s why we do hold grave fears for Cleo at this time.

"We are continuing to throw everything we have at this and we will continue until we can provide some answers as to what has happened to Cleo."

He also said it's possible Cleo was kidnapped.

Inspector Munday added: "Certainly we are not ruling (abduction) out.

"We are not going to get blinkered or assume that something has happened. Everything is on the table until we can rule it out."

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...................

Apart from the age, where is the similarity?

Out of a TENT ?  Was a four year old alone in her own tent, or with her parents ?
Were the parents even there ?   They spoke to her at 0130 ???
Mum woke at 0600.    When did father wake ?   Where was he ?
Usual Tabloid lack of useful information

SKY
Cleo Smith: 'Grave fears' for missing four-year-old girl as search in Australia enters third day
The girl was holidaying with her family at the Blowholes campsite in Macleod, around 560 miles (900km) north of Perth, when she vanished during the early hours of Saturday morning.
Monday 18 October 2021 16:10, UK


Australian police have "grave fears" for the wellbeing of a four-year-old girl who went missing from an outback campsite as they urged members of the public to come forward.
Cleo Smith was holidaying with her family at the Blowholes campsite in Macleod, around 560 miles (900km) north of Perth, when she vanished during the early hours of Saturday morning.


Her parents realised she was missing when they woke up at 6.30am, Western Australia Police said, and she was last seen at about 1.30am.


The little girl was holidaying at the Blowholes campsite with her family
An air, land and sea search operation was launched at the weekend through the combined efforts of police officers and state emergency service (SES) crews.
Cleo's family arrived at the campsite on Friday for a weekend camp trip, according to WA Police Inspector Jon Munday, who is leading the police investigation.


"We are continuing to focus on identifying any leads, we have our best investigators on this, we have the best searchers on this through our (State Emergency Services) and other volunteers," he told reporters.


"We are going to leave no stone unturned."
He said officers will continue "until we can provide some answers into what has happened to Cleo".
"What I'd like to put out there today is that we're really interested in anybody that was at the Blowholes campsite from Friday 15 October through to Sunday," he said.


The girl's father spent three hours speaking with police on Monday, according to local media.
Cleo's father, Daniel Staines, was at work before he was asked to come into Mandurah Station, around 621 miles south of where she vanished, to give a statement, Seven News reported.
He did so willingly and there is no suggestion he is connected with his daughter's disappearance.
Police have divulged very little information about the investigation and have not said what they believe has happened to Cleo.
But they have released a picture to the public of Cleo's sleeping bag which is also missing from the site.
Local media reported that the family had been visiting for a weekend camping trip but were now staying in the remote area.
Inspector Munday added: "Every hour that goes by with a four-year-old out in this environment... is very, very concerning. That is why we do just hold grave fears."
He also suggested police could consider whether Cleo was abducted.
"We are trying to cover all our bases and we are not ruling anything out. So we are going as hard as we can, as long as we can, to try and find Cleo," he said.
Cleo was last seen wearing a pink/purple one-piece sleepsuit with a blue and yellow pattern.

Father was in the tent on holiday AND at work 650 miles away ?

REUTERS
Cleo Smith was last seen in her family's tent at about 1.30am local time on Saturday at the remote Blowholes Shacks campsite in Macleod, about 900km (560 miles) north of Perth. When her parents woke at 6.30am she was gone, police said.

I read it that, when asked to give a statement later, the father was at work 621 miles away,
Whatever, he’d rather be at work than look for his daughter !

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there is a biological father, that was not at the camping. the family of four at the camping, has been the mother of cleo, the new partner of the mother, and two children, one of those children was cleo. how new the partner was, is not said. 

aussie links often only work once, before they end up behind a paywall!

onehand wrote:
aussie links often only work once, before they end up behind a paywall!

Here it is in full then (apart from the video):


Police won’t reveal crucial details in the disappearance of Cleo Smith

Police have revealed new details and photos in the case of Cleo Smith, but there are some crucial clues they are refusing to speak about.

Police are refusing to confirm some of the crucial details about the disappearance of Cleo Smith — including what was taken from the campsite, whether her tent was left open and whether a car was indeed heard speeding off in the early hours of the morning she vanished.
The search for the missing girl has been temporarily suspended because of bad weather, as the hunt continues into its fourth day after she vanished in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Cleo was last seen about 1.30am on Saturday at the Blowholes Campground in Macleod, about 50km north of Carnarvon in Western Australia’s north.
Today, police posted several new photos on social media, including the kind of pyjamas Cleo was wearing, and the sleeping bag she was in - which has also vanished.
However, over numerous interviews, officers have said they are not at liberty to discuss crucial details about the case — including what else was missing from the campsite.
In an interview with Sunrise today, Inspector Jon Munday wouldn’t say whether the tent was she was sleeping in was zipped up when police arrived or whether there were footsteps on the ground nearby.
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Cleo Smith went missing in remote WA. Picture: Facebook
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She hasn’t been seen in four days. Picture: Facebook
He would not comment on reports a car had been heard speeding from the campsite in the early hours of the morning.

“What I can confirm is that the four of them (the family) were in the family tent, Cleo was spoken to about 1.30am when she woke up to get a drink, everyone went back to sleep,” he said.
“The parents woke up at 6.30am and no sign of Cleo since.”
Family friends of missing four-year-old Cleo say there is no way she would have wandered off into the night.
The shocked Carnarvon community has rallied around the young family, who have remained at the camp site in the hope their little girl returns.
“She is an intellectually advanced little girl,” a family friend told [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. “She is a smart little girl and she would not have wandered.”
It comes as the sense of urgency in the desperate search for Cleo has stepped up dramatically today as a strong cold front, bringing heavy winds and rain, bears down on the desolate coastline where search parties are trying to find her.
Ground and aircrews were stood down in some areas on Tuesday morning after it was deemed too unsafe to continue searching in the consistent heavy wind and rain.
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Search parties are scouring the coastline. Picture: Facebook
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A storm is about to move in. Picture: Facebook
Cleo’s dad interviewed by police
The increased pressure on search parties comes as Cleo’s biological father has reportedly spent three hours talking to police.
Seven News reported that Daniel Staines was asked to give a statement at Mandurah Station, 1000km south of where Cleo vanished.
He reportedly did so willingly and appeared with his parents by his side. There is no suggestion he has anything to do with his daughter’s disappearance.
Police have also released footage of the campsite where Cleo disappeared.
Her parents woke up a few hours later at 6am and realised she was gone, and set about raising the alarm with other campers before contacting police.
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Daniel Staines, right, spoke with police for three hours. Picture: 7 News
Her sleeping bag had also disappeared, and other campers in the area reportedly heard a car screeching away from the area about 3am.
The remote campsite, popular among Carnarvon families, is surrounded by sand dunes, shrub lands and rocky terrain, with a few surrounding beach shacks owned by locals.
Apart from the small cluster of shacks and caravans, the area is desolate, with a pristine beach the only thing disrupting the otherwise sparse landscape.
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Aerial footage of the campsite Cleo Smith disappeared from Saturday morning. Picture: WA Police
The grounds are named after nearby blowholes, which can be observed about one kilometre north of the campsite when waves smash against the cliffs and shoot through rock holes, sometimes up to 20 metres high.
Adjacent to the campsite is a white sandy beach and coral-filled lagoon, which is popular among families for snorkelling and picnics.
While picturesque, the area can also be deadly, with ‘king waves’ – powerful, unexpected waves up to 10 times bigger than the waves before them that come without warning, a frequent occurrence.
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Cleo was wearing these pyjamas went she went missing. Picture: WA Police
The Carnarvon Shire Council closed the Blowholes observation area in July this year due to dangerous king waves after a person was nearly swept into the ocean.
“There is a well-documented history of multiple fatalities and injuries on the Quobba coastline from king waves,” the council’s warning read.
“King waves inundate areas of coastline far above the normal expectations of most people. Extreme caution is advised visiting this coastline at present.”
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Ellie Smith and her partner Jake Gliddon.
A Malaysian man was killed slightly north of the blowholes in 2013 after being swept off a rock by a freak wave while fishing with a friend.
The incident sparked calls for multilingual signs to be erected in the area to warn the public about the frequent occurrence of the brutal phenomenon.
While the swell in the area has been low over the past few days, ‘very rough’ waves are expected to hit heights of 4m tonight.
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The campsite is surrounded by dunes, shrub land and rocky terrain. Picture: WA Police
Police ‘not ruling anything out’
WA Police Inspector John Munday revealed that in the search for Cleo, authorities were “throwing everything we can at this search in these initial stages”.
Inspector Munday said on Monday extensive assets had been deployed in the search for Cleo, with authorities determined to not rule out any cause for her disappearance.
An Australian Maritime Safety Authority jet had been brought in, along with other patrols including drones, helicopters and SES crews.
Police were investigating the possibility that Cleo had been abducted, revealing that her red sleeping bag was also missing from the campsite.
“It’s a very tough environment there, we feel desperately for the family in this very unusual situation where we don't know where Cleo is,” Inspector Munday said.
“We have extensive assets there; police, local rangers, the SES, and community members.
We’ve brought in forensic examiners from our homicide and crime division as well, we’re not ruling anything in or out.”
He said on Sunday crews were “going as hard as we can, as long as we can, to try and find Cleo.”
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Cleo Smith has been missing since the early hours of Saturday morning. Picture: Facebook
Police are also investigating the prospect that Cleo had wandered off and became lost.
So far, three nautical miles south of the camp has been covered in the marine search, as well as one nautical mile north, and one nautical mile out to sea.
Land searches had covered one kilometre north, one kilometre south, and 800 metres inland from the campsite.
Inspector Munday said he was confident rescue teams had covered the land area that Cleo could have realistically travelled on her own.
He remained hopeful the young girl would be found alive, noting the mild conditions were conducive for survival, given it hadn’t been warmer than 24 degrees or colder than 15.

More Coverage

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Cleo was last seen wearing a pink/purple one-piece sleepsuit with a blue and yellow pattern.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police immediately on 131 444.

Did you spot the important word ?
The BIOLOGICAL father was interviewed 1000 km away

"Cleo’s dad interviewed by police
The increased pressure on search parties comes as Cleo’s biological father has reportedly spent three hours talking to police.
Seven News reported that Daniel Staines was asked to give a statement at Mandurah Station, 1000km south of where Cleo vanished.
He reportedly did so willingly and appeared with his parents by his side. There is no suggestion he has anything to do with his daughter’s disappearance.

Therefore the man in the tent was mother's boyfriend or new husband and therefore either 'stranger' or step-father. and very probably father to the toddler.     


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and in the daily Star
"They spoke to her at 1.30am, but when mum Ellie Smith woke up again at 6am she was gone.

We've seen it all before.  Very sad.
[It is what a new Pride lion does when taking over. It systematically kills all the cubs, before mating with the lionesses to guarantee the succession of HIS genes.]

The last two posts are rather confusing . Not sure if you're suggesting anything or nothing by " we've seen it all before"

Does htis make it more clear ?

Gruaniad
Smith said her daughter had woken in the night about 1.30am on Saturday asking for water and that was the last time her parents saw her.
At the time of her disappearance, the girl was wearing a pink one-piece sleepsuit with a blue and yellow pattern, and was in a red and black sleeping bag which is also missing.

“I got her some water. She went to bed,” Smith said of her last interaction with her Cleo.
“I checked on Isla, made sure Isla was OK I got back in bed and that was it really, we went back to sleep, woke up to Isla wanting a bottle. As we passed the divider, I went into the other room and the zipper was open. Cleo was gone and that was about it for Saturday morning until everything started.”
Smith said she turned to her partner, Jake Gliddon, and said: “Cleo’s gone.”
“The tent was completely open. It was about 30cm from open,” she said. “We grew up here, we literally grew up 100 metres from where we stayed at the same age. So we just looked everywhere that we went as kids and we couldn’t find her. We realised we had to call the cops because she wasn’t here.”
Smith said her little girl would never leave the tent on her own and someone must know where she is.
“She’s lazy when it comes to walking. She won’t ride her bike very far. All she wants to do is go in the bottom of our pram,” she said.
“She would never leave us, she would never leave the tent. We hold hope that she’s here [near the campsite] because if I think about her being taken ... a million other things cross our mind.”

Now watch the video of the "Emotional Appeal".

Quick wide of an imaginary tear, then smiling and grinning.  Boyfriend / new husband playing NO Part and not even looking at her.  Arms folded tight across his chest.

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or more at
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PeterMac wrote:Does htis make it more clear ?

Gruaniad
Smith said her daughter had woken in the night about 1.30am on Saturday asking for water and that was the last time her parents saw her.
At the time of her disappearance, the girl was wearing a pink one-piece sleepsuit with a blue and yellow pattern, and was in a red and black sleeping bag which is also missing.

“I got her some water. She went to bed,” Smith said of her last interaction with her Cleo.
“I checked on Isla, made sure Isla was OK I got back in bed and that was it really, we went back to sleep, woke up to Isla wanting a bottle. As we passed the divider, I went into the other room and the zipper was open. Cleo was gone and that was about it for Saturday morning until everything started.”
Smith said she turned to her partner, Jake Gliddon, and said: “Cleo’s gone.”
“The tent was completely open. It was about 30cm from open,” she said. “We grew up here, we literally grew up 100 metres from where we stayed at the same age. So we just looked everywhere that we went as kids and we couldn’t find her. We realised we had to call the cops because she wasn’t here.”
Smith said her little girl would never leave the tent on her own and someone must know where she is.
“She’s lazy when it comes to walking. She won’t ride her bike very far. All she wants to do is go in the bottom of our pram,” she said.
“She would never leave us, she would never leave the tent. We hold hope that she’s here [near the campsite] because if I think about her being taken ... a million other things cross our mind.”

Thankyou  for this I hadn't read it Peter but that's what I was thinking you were indicating but also had Nora Quoririn in mind  in my previous post .

I don't know the lay out of this tent, but it seems that the child was in the zipper compartment, thus nearest to the outside. Most parents would be in that compartment, in case an animal or 'abductor' came in. I perhaps don't understand the design of tents, though.

that emphasis on pink PJ's got me thinking, they used the same on Maddie she vanished with her Pink PJs. 

I don't understand from camping or tents but I thought parents sleep on the front kids sleep at the back. 

If someone snatched her why did they left the zipper on? 

Mother had few croc tears. 

I hope she's safe...

Me too, but the signs don't look good, do they?

CaKeLoveR wrote:Me too, but the signs don't look good, do they?

No, it smells fishy.

"Ellie Smith and her partner Jake Gliddon were on a blow-up mattress in a room next to them."
So a partner, not even a step-father.

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It seems to be one of those huge tents with standing room and different zip up sleeping compartments.  See picture in article

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Although it is the Mail, there are one or two other "interesting' bits in

"Cleo was not physically seen at the campsite when the family arrived on Friday, Mr Gaunt said, but there was enough evidence to 'reassure' detectives she was there."


"The devastated mum said the first thing she said to her partner when she realised her little girl was missing was: 'Cleo's gone, Jake'. "


Yes, that sounds devastated.

No Wonder they called her Australian Madeline, now we have sex offenders living near the camp site, is there any chance one of the offender's name is Christian Bruckner?

Cleo Smith search: Maddie McCann investigator tells of ‘real complication’ in case of missing WA girl

Pip Christmass

7NEWS
Published: 20/10/2021
Updated: Wednesday, 20 October 2021 7:29 PM AEDT

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Cleo Smith, left, and Maddie McCann. Credit: 7NEWS/AAP

A former investigator into the disappearance of UK girl Maddie McCann has spoken about the important first steps that need to be taken when a child goes missing.

As police continue their search for four-year-old Cleo Smith, missing from a remote campground near Carnarvon in WA, fears that the little girl may have been abducted have intensified.

Find out more in the video above

On Wednesday it was revealed that as many as 20 sex offenders are known to police around the Blowholes Campground area where Cleo vanished on Saturday morning.

After four days of searching the local area, no trace of Cleo has been found.

Attention is turning to the possibility that little Cleo may have been kidnapped and perhaps even taken interstate.

Speaking to The West Australian, Graham Hill, the founder and first head of Behaviour Analysis at the UK Child Exploitation Online Protection Centre (EOPC), said the first days in any missing child investigation were crucial.

Hill, a specialist in predatory child sex abusers and child abduction by non-family members, flew to Portugal in 2007 after Maddie McCann went missing from her family’s holiday apartment, sparking a search that gripped the world.

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The search continues for Cleo Smith. Credit: 7NEWS

He said it was vital to check out what family members told police because eliminating suspicion of the parents and understanding the family dynamic was typically the first port of call.

“That needs to be done very quickly,” he said.

“As difficult as that is when parents have a missing child, you have to do it, because statistically we know that children get hurt by people that know them.

“And also, you have to eliminate the suspicion around the parents before you can move on and do other lines of inquiry.”
Trace, implicate and eliminate

Hill said police typically use a system called TIE — trace, implicate and eliminate.

“What you want to do is TIE as many people as possible,” he said.

“You need to try and identify everyone that was on that campsite.

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Criminologist Dr Graham Hill. Credit: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

“Identify everybody, every vehicle, and make sure that they are seen and spoken to early on.

Because there’s two things. One is they could be suspects themselves. The second thing is they could be witnesses.

“Ideally you’d stop everyone leaving the campsite until they’ve given their details and you’ve spoken to them.”
Location is key

Hill said the fact that Cleo went missing in a remote campsite, rather than, for example, in the middle of a busy city street, was advantageous for investigators.

“The general rule of thumb is the less people around the more time you’ve got,” he said.

“So if a little girl goes missing in the middle of Sydney, then you’re fighting the clock, because you’ve got more people that have access to take the child.

“Whereas if you’re in a remote campsite, there’s fewer people around, then that’s going to give you a bit more time to play with.”

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Police in Western Australia are considering the possibility that missing four-year-old girl Cleo Smith was abducted and flown interstate. Credit: 7NEWS

The criminologist added that young children usually only disappear for two reasons - they either wander off and get lost or have an accident, or they are deliberately taken.

“Bearing in mind (Cleo’s) only a small little girl, she’s not going to get that far (if she’s wandered off),” Hill said.

“Little girls and boys get tired really quick and in the middle of the night they are half asleep anyway.

“The real complication, from what I can see, is the fact that her sleeping bag’s gone missing.

“I would say it’s a remote chance that she’s got up wandered off and taken her sleeping bag with her.

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An image of a sleeping bag similar to the one Cleo had been sleeping in. Credit: WA Police

“But I think that’s highly unlikely because there’d be some disturbance.

“You’d see where she dragged the sleeping bag and how far is a four-year-old child going to get in the dark.”

The problem with the early part of the McCann investigation, Hill said, was that Portuguese police did not have a sophisticated search system in place.

“They just sent out uniformed officers to bang on doors,” he said.

“You have to have a system.”

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Kate and Gerry McCann with a missing poster depicting an age progression computer-generated image of their daughter Madeleine. Credit: Sang Tan/AP

Thursday will mark the sixth day in the desperate search for Cleo Smith.

On Wednesday, her mother Ellie and partner Jake fronted the media for the first time, saying “someone must know” what happened to the little girl.

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Mum Ellie and her partner Jake. Credit: Supplied

“Someone has to know where she is,” Ellie said.

“We hold hope that she is still around here somewhere.

“If I think about the idea of her being taken, a million things cross my mind.

“We just want our little girl home.”

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This undated file photo shows Madeleine McCann. Credit: AP

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Christian Brueckner is the prime suspect in the Maddy McCann case. Credit: AP

Police have identified a German man known as Christian B as the “prime suspect” in the abduction and suspected murder of Maddie McCann but he has yet to be charged.

On October 12 German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters told The Mirror, “It is now possible that we could charge. We have that evidence now.”

Maddie McCann’s body has never been found.

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Talk about history repeating itself!

The name McCann has become a by-word for missing children.

Bravo Mrs McCann, your prominence as ambassador for the missing persons charity has sure paid off.

She probably takes that as a compliment.  I  couldn't watch more that a couple of minutes of that video. I've seen people more upset when their dinner is late.

WHERE'S CLEO? Former Madeleine McCann cop fears Cleo Smith, 4, was snatched like Brit toddler as four key clues point to abduction

Felix Allen

14:55, 20 Oct 2021Updated: 14:55, 20 Oct 2021

FOUR clues could hold the key to finding missing Cleo Smith - as a former Met detective says she may have been snatched like Madeleine McCann.

Cops are searching for the fifth day after the four-year-old vanished from her family's tent on a remote campsite in Western Australia.
Cleo Smith, four, is feared to have been snatched from her family's tent

Last night Cleo's distraught mum Ellie told how she frantically drove around looking for her when she realised she was gone at 6am.

Officers have urged locals to check their bins for evidence as no trace has yet been found by a forensics team that flew up from Perth 500 miles away.

Cleo's sleeping bag and pink pyjamas have also vanished.

It was reported last night that up to 20 known sex offenders live in in the area, and a car was heard screeching near the campsite.

Police in Western Australia also revealed the tent zip is too high for little Cleo to have opened it herself, and they fear she may have been abducted.

Criminologist Dr Graham Hill, a former Scotland Yard detective superintendent who worked on the Madeleine McCann probe, agrees that is a likely line of inquiry.

Four key clues

POLICE searching for missing Cleo Smith are faced with four crucial lines of enquiry that suggest she may have been snatched.

Missing sleeping bag: Not only was there no sign of Cleo when her parents woke, but her red and black sleeping bag was also gone. Experts question whether she would have taken it with her if she had simply wandered off on her own. Police released a photo of a similar bag, along with Cleo's distinctive pink pyjamas. They urged local residents to check their bins in case evidence had been dumped inside.

Tent zip "too high": The door flap on the family tent was had been zipped so high it would have been impossible for a four-year-old to reach, said Inspector Jon Munday. He added: “The positioning of that zipper for the flap is one of the circumstances that has caused us to have grave concerns for Cleo’s safety. That tent has been thoroughly examined by our forensic team.”

"Screeching car tyres": Deputy Police Commissioner Darryl Gaunt confirmed cops were looking into a camper’s report of a car heard screeching about 3am - 90 minutes after Cleo's mum last saw her in the tent. “It’s a little bit unsubstantiated but we’re not ruling it out,” he said, adding it was just one of several reports from people who noticed odd activities and noises overnight.

Usual suspects: Police said between ten and 20 sex offenders were known to be in the area around the Blowholes campsite, near Carnarvon, Western Australia. Detectives said they have spoken to them all to check their movements, and none are suspects at this stage. They also conceded said any kidnapper could have left the area before police set up roadblocks.

Dr Hill added the first hours in any missing child investigation were crucial.

He said: “You need to try and identify everyone that was on that campsite.

“Identify everybody, every vehicle, and make sure that they are seen and spoken to early on.

“Because there’s two things. One is they could be suspects themselves. The second thing is they could be witnesses.

“Ideally you’d stop everyone leaving the campsite until they’ve given their details and you’ve spoken to them.”

Dr Hill also believes the remote location is helpful for investigators.

He said: “The general rule of thumb is the less people around the more time you’ve got.

“So if a little girl goes missing in the middle of Sydney, then you’re fighting the clock, because you’ve got more people that have access to take the child.

“Whereas if you’re in a remote campsite, there’s fewer people around, then that’s going to give you a bit more time to play with.”
'RACE AGAINST TIME'

Police, SES volunteers and drones are continuing to search the area.

Detectives said they are holding out hope Cleo may be found alive, following the "miracle" survival of a three-year-old who spent three days alone in the bush in New South Wales.

But Insp Jon Munday warned she could “potentially be anywhere now” given that five days have passed since she was last seen.

He said: “We can’t rule out the fact that Cleo may be still in the area, we can’t rule out the fact she’s left the area and if she’s left the area, that is probably is our worst case scenario because that really paints a sinister picture with what’s happened.

“It is a race against time. We’re just trying to find answers.”

On Wednesday, anguished mum Ellie appealed for the public's help as she revealed the last time she saw Cleo.

She said her daughter woke at 1.30am on Saturday asking for water, then went back to sleep in a separate compartment alongside her baby sister.

At 6am Ellie woke to see the door flap almost open and Cleo nowhere to be seen.

She said she scoured the Blowholes campsite before getting in her car and “driving around everywhere”.

"We realised we had to call the cops because she wasn't here," she said.

Describing her panic, Ellie said: "Where is she, she needs breakfast, what is she doing? Everything's going through my head."

The mum says she feels “hopeless and out of control”, and added: “Everyone asks us what we need and all we need is our little girl home.

"She's beautiful, so sweet, she's everything you'd want in a little girl to grow up."

Police have released pictures of a red and black sleeping bag like the one Cleo used - which is also missing - and her distinctive pink pyjamas.

At the weekend police urged local residents to check their bins in case evidence had been dumped inside.
Police released a picture of a sleeping bag like the one Cleo had.

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She was wearing distinctive pink pyjamasCredit: NSW Police Force

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CaKeLoveR wrote:She probably takes that as a compliment.  I  couldn't watch more that a couple of minutes of that video. I've seen people more upset when their dinner is late.

Hate to say it, I have you right. I'm no Peter Hyatt, but I'm getting the word........bull****.