Cleo Smith was found in a locked house less than an hour from the campsite where she disappeared.
This suggests that police were right in front of the little girl for the entire period she was missing, which could raise the possibility that she was not found.
She could have been hidden at the property at the time of the massive Western Australian Police Search operation that began in the panicked morning following her disappearance.
The miracle four-year-old boy was miraculously found alive in the Carnarvon home at 1am on Wednesday.
The trip by car is only 73.7km away from Blowholes campsite, where she vanished on October 16, or a 49-minute drive.
Cleo Smith, 18 days after her disappearance from a tent, has been found alive.
A map shows the exact location of Cleo Smith’s campsite, 73.7km to the south of where she vanished more than two week ago
Cleo went missing from her family’s tent on October 16th between 1.30am-6.30am. Her mother Ellie Smith and Jake Gliddon were nearby, while Isla, her baby sister, was sleeping nearby.
Her mother was awoken by her daughter’s disappearance and realized that she had not seen her child for seven minutes.
Col Blanch, WA Deputy Commissioner confirmed that Cleo was alive and well just before 7am AEDT.
‘One of the officers picked her up into his arms and asked her ‘what’s your name?’ he said.
‘She said: ‘My name is Cleo’.
Cleo was reunited shortly after her release with her parents.
A Carnarvon man, a male, was arrested at the residence and taken into custody by detectives.
‘This is the outcome we all hoped and prayed for,’ Deputy Commissioner Blanch said.
“It’s the result we’ve achieved thanks to some incredible police work.
“I want Cleo’s parents and the Western Australian community to thank me for being a volunteer.
“And of course, thank you to my colleagues from the Western Australia Police Force.”
The news has sparked a worldwide outpouring of relief.
‘What wonderful, relieving news,’ Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison tweeted from Glasgow.
‘Cleo Smith is safe and sound and has been located.
“Our prayers have been answered.”
“Thank you to all the police officers who helped Cleo find her and supported her family.
After disappearing from a remote campsite in Western Australia, Cleo Smith (pictured), miraculously was found alive
2GB Breakfast host Ben Fordham spoke live on-air, informing listeners that Cleo was found.
Police interviewed more than 110 people who were present at the Blowholes campsite the night Cleo arrived home with her family on Oct 16.
The little girl was last seen in her tent at the large campsite on WA’s northwest coastline around 1.30am. Her mother and stepfather then realized she was missing 5 hours later.
Rod Wilde, Detective Superintendent of Police, stated that the family had stayed at their tent all evening and not interacted with other campers.
He said that he believed it was more than likely an opportunistic event on Perth radio 6PR Tuesday, hours before Cleo was discovered.
“We know that they got there on Friday night, and it was getting dark. There would have been very limited opportunity for people to watch Cleo at this time.”
Police stressed that Cleo’s biological father, Jake Gliddon and Ellie Smith are not suspects.
Investigators spoke to the vast majority who were present at the campsite, but have yet to hear from the driver if he was seen leaving in middle of the night.
The disappearance of the youngster sparked widespread police and search efforts
Supt Wilde stated, “We’ve received over 1000 calls to Crime Stoppers by the public,”
“We have a long way yet to go, we still have a lot to do but we are making good progress.
Police collected more than 50 cubic meters of rubbish from roadside bins from Minilya to Geraldton this week.
It was taken to Perth by forensic officers and trainees who searched through hundreds of bags looking for any items that could help them find Cleo.
Cleo was offered $1 million by the state government for information leading to her location.
Police claim that the girl’s disappearance was treated immediately with the highest priority. However, it took two hours for police to set up a roadblock at this location.
Cleo’s family house in Carnarvon was visited by detectives who sought CCTV footage from various businesses and took samples from the Blowholes campfire.