Father of missing Cleo Smith ‘speaks with police’ after visiting station for three hours
Major development in hunt for missing Cleo as her biological father ‘speaks with police’ after visiting station for three hours
Father of missing Cleo Smith gives a statement to police on Monday afternoonDaniel Staines spoke with investigators for three hours at Mandurah Station, WAThe child has not been seen since she disappeared from a remote campsite Police search teams have scoured the area since Saturday but found nothing
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The biological father of missing four-year-old girl Cleo Smith has spent three hours speaking with police on Monday.
It’s been three days since the child vanished from a remote campsite in Western Australia and so far there are no signs of what happened to the little girl, despite an exhaustive land, sea and air search.
Seven News reported that Daniel Staines was at work on before he was asked to come into Mandurah Station, 1000km south of where Cleo vanished, to give a statement.
He did so willingly with his parents by his side and there is no suggestion he has anything to do with his daughter’s disappearance.
Daniel Staines (right) went to Mandurah Station to give a statement about his daughter’s disappearance
Cleo Smith (pictured) was last seen at about 1:30am by her parents after an ‘interaction’ but when they woke up at 6am she was nowhere to been seen
The child was last seen by was last seen at about 1:30am by her mother Ellie Smith in bright pink pajamas about 1.30am on Saturday inside their shared tent at Blowholes campsite, north of Carnarvon.
Cleo’s parents had an ‘interaction’ with the youngster in the middle of the night, but she was nowhere to be seen when they woke up at 6am and her grey and red sleeping back was also missing.
Detectives have not ruled out anything in relation to her disappearance – and are exploring theories she may have been abducted, as marine search teams are scaled back after almost 72 hours scouring the water.
Police are urging anyone who was in the area from Friday all the way through to Sunday, to try and remember if they may have seen anything unusual or suspicious.
Cleo Smith, four, was last seen at about 1.30am on Saturday at the Blowholes campsite on the coast at Macleod, north of Carnarvon, in Western Australia
Police have released an image of Cleo’s sleeping bag and are urging members of the public to come forward if they have seen it
Detectives have not ruled out anything in relation to her disappearance – and are exploring theories she may have been abducted
‘We are really interested in anybody who was at The Blowholes campsite from Friday the 15th of October through to Sunday,’ Inspector John Munday who is leading the police search told reporters on Monday.
‘You don’t even have to have stayed here, even if you just passed through. We need to speak to you… so we can track and trace where people were.
‘And if anybody has any dashcam footage or any footage at all of the area we really would be interested in those people coming forward.’
Authorities have also released aerial footage of the campsite as they combed through the remote bushland in search of the missing girl amid growing fears the child may have been snatched.
The camp ground is located 75km from Carnarvon and 875km from Perth with nothing but bushland and scrubs in between.
The recreation site is bordered by the ocean on one side and desolate, rugged terrain on the other.
A desperate search for a missing four-year-old girl has entered its third day with police releasing footage of the remote campsite (pictured) where she disappeared
Police are probing all possibilities of Cleo’s mystery disappearance – including kidnapping – and have been scouring bushland and stopping cars and caravans in search of the missing girl
One of the theories was that young Cleo may have wandered off towards the water and was washed away by the rising tide.
But exhaustive marine searches have so far found no evidence she entered the water.
‘The searches we have done for this marine environment are the best we can get and they have done the best they can and in that environment we haven’t found any sign of Cleo,’ Inspector Munday said.
‘And that marine search has been scaled back at this time.’
Police are continuing to probe the possibility that Cleo was abducted, with officers stopping cars and caravans to search the vehicles over the weekend and seizing CCTV footage from nearby roadhouses as part of the investigation.
Detectives from the homicide squad have also been called into to scour the scene.
Locals have been told to check garbage bins and roadsides for the grey and red sleeping bag used by Cleo at the time she went missing.
Cleo Smith, four, was last seen at about 1.30am on Saturday at the Blowholes campsite on the coast at Macleod, north of Carnarvon, in Western Australia (pictured, the campsite Cleo went missing from)
Marine searches for Cleo (pictured) have been scaled back after three days
Cleo Smith went missing while camping with her family at the Blowholes campsite near Carnarvon in Western Australia (pictured, four-year-old Cleo left with mum Ellie)
The young girl was last seen wearing pink one-piece pyjamas with a blue and yellow pattern when she was last seen.
A full scale search took place on Saturday and began again from first light on Sunday and will continue for the next 48 hours at least.
The crews consisted of land, air and sea teams searching the coastline in and around campgrounds nearby where the family was staying.
Posters have also been put up at roadhouses within a 1,000km radius of the campsite and police are poring over dash camera footage and CCTV footage from the area.
