Fears missing girl, 4, has been abducted as huge £540,000 reward offered

A huge £540,000 reward has been offered for information after a four-year-old girl went missing, with police now believing the tot was abducted.

The reward – equivalent to a million Australian dollars – has been put up by West Australian Premier Mark McGowan and is the quickest such a large reward has been issued after a disappearance in the country’s history.

Little Cleo Smith had been sleeping in a tent with her mum, step dad, and baby sister Isla at the Blowholes campground near Carnarvon, Western Australia.

She went missing in the early hours of Saturday morning, and detectives now believe that she was kidnapped.

Police are expected to stop searching the campground in the coming hours, admitting that if Cleo was in the area she would have already have been found.

Cleo, her mum and baby sister Isla
(
Facebook)

Police think she has been taken
(
Western Australia Police)

Deputy police commissioner Col Blanch told reporters: “Cleo disappeared from her family’s tent, despite an extensive land, sea and air search, we have not yet located her body.

“That leads us to believe she was taken.”

The massive reward has been offered for any information that brings Cleo home.

Her mum Ellie Smith said she last saw her daughter at around 1.30am when she woke up asking for a sip of water.

The mum says when she then woke up again at 6am to feed Isla, she realised Cleo and her sleeping bag were gone.

The family had arrived at the campsite just hours earlier
(
Western Australia Police)

The hour had arrived at the campsite about 6.30pm on the Friday night for a weekend break away.

There are more than 100 officers assigned to the case and they are going through “hundreds of CrimeStoppers reports” lodged since she disappeared.

Detectives also confirmed that known sex offenders were in the area at the time of the family’s camping weekend.

This morning, Ms Smith spoke publicly to share the missing child poster, which shows Cleo and the red and grey sleeping bag that also disappeared.

The sleeping bag is also missing
(
Queensland Police Service)

Her mum released this photo of Cleo
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instagram.com/elliejaydee23)

She also shared a fresh picture of Cleo enjoying an ice-cream in a leopard print jumpsuit with her pink scooter visible in the background.

The distraught mum-of-two said: “I miss you. I love you. Please come home to me.”

Premier Mr McGowan said he was hoping for a happy outcome and that little Cleo would be reunited with her family sooner rather than later.

He said: “To every officer and volunteer involved in search can I say thank you for your efforts on behalf of the Smith family.

“To Cleo’s family and on behalf of West Australians, we are thinking of you at this difficult time.”