Western Australia Police has released footage showing the heartwarming moment Cleo Smith was rescued after she went missing for 18 days.
The four-year-old vanished while on a family camping trip in the outback more than two weeks ago. She was found in a locked house in the early hours of Wednesday, police said.
In the 11-second video posted to Twitter, Cleo can be seen with a police officer carrying her outside, while Detective Senior Sergeant Cameron Blaine talks to her.
"Cleo, my name's Cameron, are you OK?" Detective Blaine gently asks the four-year-old. Cleo has her arms firmly around the officer and she 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.
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.
"Our family is whole again," Cleo's mum Ellie Smith said in an Instagram post, just hours after her daughter was found.
Police said on Wednesday that new information received late on Tuesday led them to the locked house, where Cleo was found alone in a bedroom.
A 36-year-old man is in police custody, but no charges have yet been laid.
Cleo had last been seen in her family's tent about 1:30am (local time) on October 16 at the remote Blowholes Shacks campsite in Macleod, about 900km north of Perth
When her parents woke the next morning, she was gone - sparking one of the biggest police investigations in Western Australia's history.
There were fears the girl had been abducted and police offered an AU$1 million (NZ$1.04m) reward for information.
"What wonderful, relieving news," Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Twitter. "Cleo Smith has been found and is home safe and sound. Our prayers answered."
