Four-year-old Cleo Smith has been found alive and well, more than two weeks after she went missing from a campsite on Western Australia's northwest coast.
"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," Deputy Commissioner Col Blanch said in a statement.
Mr Blanch said police broke their way into a locked house in Carnarvon at about 1am on Wednesday and found Cleo in one of the rooms.
"One of the officers picked her up into his arms and asked her 'What's your name?'".
The four-year-old then responded: "My name is Cleo."
Mr Blanch said she was reunited with her parents a short time later.
In an emotional Instagram post, Cleo's mother Ellie wrote: "Our family is whole again❤️"
Cleo's mother had woken to find the tent open and Cleo missing, along with her sleeping bag. Source: Instagram/ Ellie Smith
Police confirmed that a 36-year-old man from Carnarvon, with no connections to Cleo's family, is in custody and is currently being questioned.
Mr Blanch said police had been searching for "a needle in a haystack". He said the taskforce of 100 detectives had trawled through thousands of pieces of evidence and acted quickly on a lead they received late on Tuesday night.
He confirmed that officers used phone data in the search.
Mr Blanch said Cleo was in the house by herself and the man being questioned was located at another location, close to the house.
He said Cleo had been taken to hospital as a precaution.
"The most important thing is that Cleo has been reunited with mum and dad and that she is safe and well now," he said.
"I've never seen seasoned detectives break down and cry with relief and I know that is a sentiment that is shared across the community. Just an amazing moment and I still can't believe it at this time."
When asked by Sunrise if it was the greatest moment of his career, he replied: "absolutely."
The four-year-old had been missing for more than two weeks after she vanished from a campsite at the Blowholes in Macleod.
She and her sleeping bag were both gone from the family's tent, sparking initial fears Cleo had wandered off and was lost.
As the days went on, police said they held "grave concerns" for her safety and had interviewed more than 110 people who were at the Blowholes campsite on the night Cleo arrived with her family on 16 October.
In the desperate search for Cleo, police combed through 50 cubic metres of rubbish “from roadside bins as far north as Minilya to as far south as Geraldton”.
They also listened to more than 1,000 calls to Crime Stoppers and had been searching for the driver of a car spotted leaving the campsite in the middle of the night before it was discovered Cleo was missing.
Officers had stressed Cleo's mother, Ellie Smith, and her partner, Jake Gliddon, were not suspects, nor was Cleo's biological father.
WA Premier Mark McGowan was on the verge of tears when he spoke to reporters on Wednesday.
He said he was sent a photo by the state's police commissioner of Cleo smiling from hospital after she was rescued by police.
"It's an exciting, uplifting and wonderful day. We are very proud," Mr McGowan said.
He thanked the police, who he said put their "heart and soul" into searching for Cleo and didn't leave "any stone unturned".
"I was talking to the analyst ... and I said, 'there will be movies made about this.'
"I can tell you, to talk to police officers who have achieved this and the analysts who have done it ... it's a privilege for me to be honest to talk to them."
Prime Minister Scott Morrison tweeted on Wednesday that "our prayers [have been] answered".
"What wonderful, relieving news," he wrote.
"Cleo Smith has been found and is home safe and sound.
"Thank you to the many police officers involved in finding Cleo and supporting her family."
Labor leader Anthony Albanese said it was “such happy news”.
“To all those who tirelessly searched for this little girl, you deserve our thanks.”
NSW police commissioner Mick Fuller said he'd spoken to WA police commissioner Chris Dawson over the phone on Wednesday morning.
“When he got the call this morning he broke down and cried. That speaks volumes," Mr Fuller told 2GB radio.
Mr Fuller said he'd thought the chances of finding Cleo alive "were so slim".
“[Mr Dawson] said to me, ‘West Australian Police never gave up on Cleo’. It was good old fashion police work that resulted in her being found alive," he said.
More to come.
