Police smashed their way into a suburban house on Wednesday and rescued a 4-year-old girl whose disappearance from her family’s camping tent on Australia’s remote west coast more than two weeks ago both horrified and captivated the nation.
Officials wept with relief after seeing body camera video of a police officer scooping up the girl, Cleo Smith, and hearing her say, “My name is Cleo.” A 36-year-old local man was arrested after the late-night raid at the house in the coastal town of Carnarvon, which followed a tip to police on Tuesday.
The girl was reunited with her mother Ellie Smith and stepfather Jake Gliddon soon after her rescue. “Our family is whole again,” the mother said on social media.
Western Australia state Police Commissioner Chris Dawson would not detail what the girl had gone through. She is “as well as you can expect,” Dawson said. “This has been an ordeal. I won’t go into any more details, other than to say we’re so thankful she’s alive.”
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Dawson said body camera video of four police officers breaking into the house with a search warrant and finding the girl made him emotional.
“It’s a really joyous occasion. We don’t always get these sort of outcomes, and while we were very, very concerned, we didn’t lose hope,” Dawson said.
Western Australia Police Deputy Commissioner Col Blanch described seeing seasoned detectives “openly crying with relief.”
“We were … looking for a needle in a haystack and we found it,” Blanch told Perth Radio 6PR.
“When she said, ‘My name is Cleo,’ I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house,” Blanch said, quoting the girl’s words to the police officer who picked her up in his arms.
“To see Cleo rescued this morning, I’m speechless,” Blanch added.
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Article URL : https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-travel-australia-western-australia-6be045738db499dce4b0ed44ecc5e61a