Police have released new details about the moment Australian toddler Cleo Smith was found after disappearing more than two weeks ago.
Cleo vanished while on a family camping trip in the outback. She was found in the early hours of Wednesday after police officers broke into a house in Carnarvon, a town about 100km south of the campsite she vanished from, and found her in one of the rooms.
A 36-year-old man has been taken into custody by police. He is being questioned but no charges have been laid yet.
Cleo had been missing for 18 days when police received a tip that led them to the house.
Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said officers had no idea what to expect when they broke into the house.
"They really did not know what they were going to encounter," Dawson told News.com.au.
"It was the hard work of the team that did it. Analysing all that information, gathering it and finding the needle in the haystack."
He told News.com.au officers broke into the house in a "matter of hours" after they received the tip-off.
Cleo was found alive and well by police on Wednesday, deputy Western Australia Police Commissioner Col Blanch said.
"Cleo is alive and well. A police team broke their way into a locked house in Carnarvon about 1am," he said at the time.
"They found little Cleo in one of the rooms.
Western Australia police released heartwarming footage of the rescue, which showed an officer carrying the four-year-old out of the house. In the 11-second video posted to Twitter, Cleo can be seen being carried by an officer while Detective Senior Sergeant Cameron Blaine talks to her.
"Cleo, my name's Cameron, are you OK?" Detective Blaine gently asks.
Cleo has her arms firmly around the officer and nods her head.
"We're going to take you to see your mummy and daddy, is that good?" he asks again.
Smiling as she plays with the hood on the officer's jacket, Cleo nods again.
