Members of the Australian Defence Force have joined in the search for Cleo Smith, a 4-year-old who vanished from a tent shared with her mother and stepfather.
According to 7News, four members of the army assisted searchers as they combed through areas around the Blowholes campsite in Macleod, Australia. So far, search crews have found no traces of the child, but thermal drones brought in by the military are being utilized.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, family members reported Cleo missing on Saturday morning. She was last seen with her family at the Blowholes Campground, where they were staying in a tent.
Cleo’s family told authorities that they woke up to find her missing at around 6 a.m. on Saturday. They reportedly last saw at around 1:30 a.m. that morning.
Police previously announced that they are not ruling anything out at this point. Shortly after, Cleo’s mother, Ellie Smith, sat down with ABC News and explained what happened before her daughter vanished.
“I got her some water. She went to bed,” Smith said. “I checked on Isla (youngest daughter), 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.”
On Tuesday, a new detail emerged in the case that caused concerns to heighten that Cleo may have been abducted.
Western Australia police stated a zipper on the tent that Cleo slept in was up too high for a 4-year-old to reach. Inspector Jon Munday announced that authorities were gravely concerned for the missing child’s safety after discovering the zip was opened.
“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,” Munday said on Wednesday. “That tent has been thoroughly examined by our forensic team and I believe it has been seized and I would imagine that would make its way down to Perth at some point.”
“When we are satisfied from a land search point of view … that Cleo is not here, certainly it becomes more possible that that nightmare scenario [that she was abducted] is the one that we have to face.”
Cleo is described as a white female who stands 3-feet-7-inches tall and has hazel eyes and honey-blonde hair. She was last seen wearing a pink onesie with a blue and yellow pattern. Her sleeping bag is also missing.
“It’s been reported a sleeping bag is missing. Other than that I really am not at liberty to divulge what else we believe may be missing,” Munday said.”
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[Featured Photo: Cleo Smith/Police Handout]
