THE FOUR-YEAR GIRL who disappeared 17 days ago from a campsite in Australia was found safe and sound. This was announced by the police, as reported by local media. Little Cleo Smith was found by agents locked in a house in Carnarvon, less than an hour’s drive from the place where she disappeared. A local man is in custody.
The little girl was immediately brought back to her parents. The little girl disappeared on October 16 at Blowholes Shacks campsite in Macleod, north of Perth in Western Australia. Her mother, Ellie Smith, had been the last person to see her: her daughter had woken up at half past one in the morning and asked for water before going back to sleep. In the morning, Cleo and her sleeping bag were missing and a kidnapping was immediately thought of.
The Australian authorities had offered one million Australian dollars (equal to about 643 thousand euros) as a reward to those who had provided crucial information for the discovery of Cleo. The news that the little girl is safe and sound and with her family was greeted with joy by the Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, who called her “wonderful”. “Our prayers have been answered”, tweeted the prime minister, “thanks to the many police officers involved in searching and supporting the family.”
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