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Cleo Smith search: ‘No expense is being spared’ in the investigation to find Cleo Smith

Phil HickeyThe West Australian
Missing girl Cleo Smith, 4.
Camera IconMissing girl Cleo Smith, 4. Credit: Facebook / Ellie Smith

Police are going “full tilt” in their search for missing four-year-old Cleo Smith and “no expense is being spared” in the investigation to find her.

That’s according to a senior police officer working on the mammoth investigation, which was launched on the weekend after Cleo vanished from her family’s tent at a popular camp site north of Carnarvon on Saturday morning.

The four-year-old was last seen about 1.30am on Saturday in the tent her family was sharing at the Blowholes camp site in Macleod, about 70km north of Carnarvon.

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A press conference with Cleo’s parents is set down for today in Carnarvon, police have confirmed.

With the search for the four-year-old now entering its fourth day, police say they can’t rule anything out, including that little Cleo was abducted and taken interstate.

This morning, a senior police officer working on the inquiry and who spoke on the condition of anonymity told The West that officers and search crews were working tirelessly to find the little girl.

“We are going full tilt. Everything is being thrown at the investigation, no expense is being spared,” the senior officer said.

“We are doing everything that is possibly able to be done.

“Every agency that has boots on the ground is working tirelessly to find her.

It is gut wrenching to think about what the family are going through but we will keep focus and keep doing anything we can.

Earlier today wild weather meant the search for the little girl was suspended after wind gusts of up to 75km/h and heavy rainfall wreaked havoc in the Carnarvon area.

But WA Police have since confirmed the land search for Cleo was back in full operation now that weather conditions have eased.

Inspector Jon Munday sold Sunrise this morning that one of the scenarios investigators were considering was that “Cleo has been taken, and has been removed from the area”.

Insp. Munday also 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.”

It came after he revealed there were “quite a lot of people” at the Blowholes campground the night Cleo 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,” he said.

“But it is just really really concerning.

“Hopefully we can get some answers.”

Cleo is approximately 110 centimetres tall with honey blonde coloured hair and hazel eyes.

Anyone with information is urged to call police on 131 444.

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