Australian police offer reward to find 4-year-old girl, feared abducted


SYDNEY, (Reuters) – Police in Western Australia are offering a A$1 million ($748,100) reward for information about the disappearance of a four-year girl missing for five days from an outback campsite and feared to be abducted.

Cleo Smith was last seen in her family’s tent at about 1.30 am local time on Saturday at the remote Blowholes Shacks campsite in Macleod, about 900 km (560 miles) north of Perth. When her parents woke at 6.30 a.m. she was gone, police said.

Western Australian Police said they believe she was abducted from her tent and hold grave fears for her safety.

“It is absolutely heartbreaking,” Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan said in a post on Facebook. “We are all praying for a positive outcome.”

More than 100 police, defence force and state emergency service personnel have joined the searches by air, sea and land for the girl, scouring through the rugged area of the Western Australian coastline.