The Western Australian Government has pledged a $1million reward for information that leads to the location of missing 4-year-old Cleo Smith.
Premier Mark McGowan and Police Minister Paul Papalia made the announcement alongside police on Thursday, October 21 and reassured the public that police would have the full resources of the Government at their disposal.
"All Western Australians' thoughts are with Cleo's family during what is an unimaginably difficult time," Mr McGowan said.
"We're all praying for a positive outcome."
The search for Cleo has now been ongoing for a week, and detectives hold great concern for the 4-year-old.
Inspector Jon Munday said there were a number of pieces of evidence that pointed towards the possibility that Cleo had been abducted.
"There's circumstances around her disappearance that make it very concerning and it's things like the fact that the (tent) zipper was allegedly up so high, the sleeping bag is missing.
"Time is of the essence. We just need to keep going as hard as we can for as long as we can."
Cleo's family, including her mother, former Mandurah resident Ellie Smith, stepfather and baby sister, were staying at the Blowholes campsite in Carnarvon over the weekend of October 15-16, and were staying together in a tent on the grounds.
When the family woke up on Saturday, October 16, they discovered that Cleo was no longer in their tent.
Cleo's mother Ellie Smith has made a number of pleas to the public for information on her daughter's whereabouts, including an interview with ABC where she asked the public to report anything suspicious.
"We get inundated with people messaging us saying 'you know, maybe we've seen her here, we've seen here there' - report it is all we can ask you to do," she said.
"Because we can't do anything. If you see something report it, it doesn't matter if it's small or big or if you're sure or not."
The Timeline:
Saturday, October 16
- 1.30am - Cleo's mum and stepdad have an interaction with her
- 6am - Cleo's mum and stepdad awake to discover Cleo is not in their shared tent
- Police attend the Carnarvon campsite
- 9.45am - Cleo's mum Ellie posts to Facebook about Cleo's disappearance, asks public for help
- 11.14am - WA Police share post on Facebook seeking information about Cleo's disappearance
- Investigators continue to search the campgrounds
Sunday, October 17
- 1.45am - Cleo's mum Ellie updates her post on Facebook saying it has been 24 hours since she saw "the sparkle" in her little girl's eyes and appeals to the public for information
- Full scale search commences at first light including land, marine and air assets
- Police detectives from Carnarvon, Geraldton and Perth attend the scene alongside forensics team from Perth
Monday, October 18
- Police begin searching beach shacks along the coastline at the Blowholes campsite
- Police reveal Cleo was last seen sleeping in a red and black sleeping back and pink/purple patterned pyjamas and release pictures of both to media
- 7news reports that Cleo's biological father, who was 1000km away in Mandurah, has been interviewed by police accompanied by his parents
- Police confirm they are considering all possibilities and weren't ruling anything in or out in regards to the details around Cleo's disappearance
- Police announce they are "scaling back" their marine search as they are confident they have done all they can in that area
- Cleo's family acquire help of Aboriginal bush trackers
Tuesday, October 19
- Search efforts for Cleo are temporarily called off due to severe weather in Carnarvon, deemed unsafe for searchers
- 11.41am - Police advise the land search operation in Macleod for Cleo Smith is now back in full operation as weather conditions have eased
- Police confirm mounted section officers will be arriving to assist with the search
- Chloe's mother and stepfather sit down to talk to ABC about their daughter's disappearance
- Police confirm there were reports of screeching tires early Saturday morning in the area
The investigation is ongoing and police are urging anyone who stayed overnight at the Blowholes Campsite on Friday, October 15, or who were in the vicinity of the campsite or at the campsite itself and did not stay overnight, to contact them on 131 444.
Anyone with information on Cleo's disappearance is urged to contact police immediately.
Direct vision can be uploaded direct to police via this link.