Police announce they found Cleo Smith alive and well before taking a man from the WA town of Carnarvon into custody. Video / WA Police
Four-year-old girl Cleo Smith who went missing from country Western Australia has miraculously been found alive after 17 days of searching.
WA Police Deputy Commissioner Col Blanch released a statement on Wednesday morning announcing the groundbreaking development.
He revealed Cleo was found when officers dramatically broke into a locked house in Carnarvon in the early hours of the morning.
"It's my privilege to announce that in the early hours of this morning, the Western Australia Police Force rescued Cleo Smith. Cleo is alive and well," Blanch said.
Detectives also spoke to hundreds of registered sex offenders in the area but came up with no leads.
Police said on Monday that they were leaving "no stone unturned", revealing officers had collected more than 50 cubic metres of rubbish from roadside bins as far north as Minilya and as far south as Geraldton.
Source: news.com.au
"The rubbish was packed into two trucks and transported to Perth, where four forensics officers and 20 recruits spent two days sorting through hundreds of bags in an effort find any items that may assist in the investigation," police said in a statement.
A major focus of the police investigation has been centred on a mystery vehicle which was spotted by two people.
They said it was seen turning right off Blowholes Rd onto North West Coastal Hwy, heading towards Carnarvon, between 3am and 3.30am the day Cleo disappeared.
Search crews combed the coastline near the remote camping ground where Cleo went missing, but efforts proved futile.
Police also examined CCTV footage from businesses and homes that may have captured the car or anything else that might be relevant to the investigation.
They then moved search efforts to Cleo's parents home which they searched three times. Police said her parents were not suspects and the move was "standard practice".
Officers searched the home for several hours before leaving with two evidence bags.
CLEO'S FAMILY HEARTBREAK
Cleo's heartbroken mother Ellie Smith repeatedly posted to social media urging people will information to come forward.
In her latest post she said "every day is getting harder without my shining bright light".
"Today, she's missed Halloween with her family — her cousins, aunties, uncles, nannas and pop — but most of all, her parents and baby sister," she wrote on Instagram.
"She needs us and we need her. She is loved, she is happy, she loves dressing up, whether it be a princess or a doctor. I just want her to come home.
"I need my baby girl home, please I beg you!"
Cleo's parents break down during an interview. Picture: Photo / Channel 7
Cleo's parents gave a heartbreaking interview to Channel 7 just days after their little girl went missing.
"If the person who is watching has Cleo, we want her home with our baby we want her in our arms," Smith said.
"I put her to bed, I tucked her in, I made sure her sleeping bag was completely tucked under her mattress.
"I made sure she was warm, it was quite a windy night, it was overcast, we just tried to make sure she was safe."
Police have repeatedly noted that Smith, Cleo's stepfather Jake Gliddon and her biological father Daniel Staines were not suspects.
But the online trolls still gave the family a hard time.
"They're going through a huge amount of angst and pain and suffering, they don't need this," Premier Mark McGowan told reporters last week.
"I just don't get why some people get all this courage when they get a keyboard, and they say the most horrible and shocking things that they would never say otherwise."
