For several weeks, the search for a four-year-old girl in Australia went on. She was found in a stranger's home

Detectives wept with relief when the girl was found.

Eighteen days ago, a four-year-old girl went missing in a remote part of Western Australia. She was found alive in a locked house. Here is what is known about the case. 

How the girl was found

Cleo Smith disappeared from a tent at a campground near the town of Carnarvon on October 16. A mass search was then launched. Police have detained and are questioning a 36-year-old man. 

On the morning of November 3, law enforcement officers broke down the doors of a house in Carnarvon. Deputy Commissioner of the Western Australia Police Force Col Blanch said: “In one of the rooms they found little Cleo. One of the officers picked her up and asked: ‘What's your name?’ She replied: ‘My name is Cleo.’” 

The girl was returned to her parents, who had been desperately searching for Cleo. Rescue footage shows her smiling. According to Commissioner Chris Dawson, the girl “is doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances.” He noted that Cleo is receiving medical care. 

Authorities say the detained man has no connection to the Smith family. No charges have been brought against him so far. The house where Cleo was found is about a six-minute drive from her parents' home in Carnarvon, a town with a population of about 5,000. 

Commissioner Dawson said: “Finding a little girl — a vulnerable girl — after 18 days. You understand that people usually think the worst, but what matters is that we never lost hope.” 

What is known so far

Cleo disappeared on the night of October 16, the first night of her family's holiday at the Quobba Blowholes campground. The remote area, 900 km north of Perth on the Coral Coast of the state, is known for its windswept ocean scenery, sea caves and lagoons. 

Cleo was sleeping on an air mattress beside her younger sister's bed. When her mother, who was sleeping in another room of the tent, got up in the morning, Cleo was gone and the tent doors were open. 

Police said this raised fears of abduction. The girl's mother insisted that Cleo could not have left the tent on her own. An operational team of 100 police officers was sent from the state capital, Perth, and joined the mass aerial, ground and sea search. 

Reconnaissance aircraft were used to comb sparsely populated areas. Authorities offered a reward of $750,000 for information about Cleo. The case drew international attention. There were even reports that after the cash reward was offered, “bounty hunters” went to the region. 

Police said the case involved some information about a car, but did not disclose details. Media reports say a neighbor recently noticed the man living in the house buying diapers. The neighbor did not understand who the man might have been buying diapers for. 

Society greeted the news that Cleo had been found with enormous relief. For 18 days, everyone had been anxious and worried. Blanch said that “it was incredible to see experienced detectives weeping with relief.” Police do not think anyone will be counting on the reward.