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Cleo Smith search: Parents set to speak to media from Carnarvon as desperate search for daughter continues

Peter DevlinThe West Australian
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Missing girl Cleo Smith.
Camera IconMissing girl Cleo Smith. Credit: Facebook

Cleo Smith’s parents are set to speak to the media this afternoon as the desperate search for their daughter continues.

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.

A press conference is set for 1.30pm today in Carnarvon, police have confirmed.

Drone footage provided by police shows the Blowholes Campsite Carnarvon and the police command post.
Camera IconDrone footage provided by police shows the Blowholes Campsite Carnarvon and the police command post. Credit: WA Police/supplied

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It will be the first time Cleo’s parents have spoken since her mother Ellie Smith issued a plea over Facebook on Sunday.

“It’s been over 24 hours since I last saw the sparkle in my little girl’s eyes! Please help me find her! If you hear or see anything at all please call the police,” she wrote at the time.

On Tuesday afternoon, WA Police confirmed the land search for Cleo was back in full operation following poor weather conditions.

State Emergency Service crews continue to search bushland for Cleo Smith.
Camera IconState Emergency Service crews continue to search bushland for Cleo Smith. Credit: Phoebe Pin/Geraldton Guardian

The search for the little girl was suspended early this morning after wind gusts of up to 75km/h and heavy rainfall wreaked havoc in the Carnarvon area.

The unseasonable cold front hit the Blowholes area, where Cleo went missing from the tent she was staying in with her family, rendering the search impossible.

WA Police Insp. Jon Munday 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.

Missing girl Cleo Smith.
Camera IconMissing girl Cleo Smith. Credit: Facebook

“But it is just really really concerning.

“Hopefully we can get some answers.”

Insp. Munday also confirmed police had interviewed Cleo’s biological father Daniel Staines at the Mandurah Police Station yesterday, where he willingly provided a statement to officers.

There is no suggestion he is involved in Cleo's disappearance.

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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