Divers scour Blue Mountains dam in search for 9yo Charlise Mutten

Police have seized a boat and ute as the search for missing nine-year-old girl Charlise Mutten in rugged Blue Mountains bushland enters its third day.

Police have seized a boat and ute as the search for missing nine-year-old girl Charlise Mutten in rugged Blue Mountains bushland enters its third day.

Sunday’s search kicked off immediately after an 8am briefing, with crews continuing to search on bushland around Mount Wilson.

The Queensland girl was holidaying with her mother at a property at Mt Wilson in the Blue Mountains when she disappeared on Thursday night.

She was reported missing about 8.20am on Friday, with police and SES then launching a massive air and ground search to find her.

Nine-year-old Charlise Mutten has been missing since Thursday.

Acting Superintendent John Nelson. Picture: Tim Hunter

The property she disappeared from is surrounded by dense bushland, and police divers on Saturday searched a dam close to the home from which she vanished.

NSW Police have now confirmed a red ute and a boat have been taken for “further examination”.

“This is part of ongoing inquiries,” a NSW Police spokesman said.

Acting Superintendent John Nelson said on Saturday that it was too early to rule out suspicious activity.

“It’s a traumatic experience for her family,” he said.

“We are here to pull out every stop we can to locate her, and that’s why we have all the resources and are continuing (to search).”

Police hold grave concerns for her welfare, and the homicide squad has been called in to ­assist in the search.

As part of the investigation, the home was searched and a car was seized from a Penrith location for examination.

Police confirmed Justin Stein, 31, the partner of Charlise’s mother ­Kallista Mutten, had spoken with ­officers at Penrith Police Station on Friday, and that the girl’s family had been ­assisting police.

“That’s part of a standard investigation, our primary task is to locate her,” Acting Superintendent John Nelson said.

“The family is helping us with ­information they have to help us ­locate our little girl.”

Police gather before heading out to search for Charlise. Picture: Tim Hunter

The massive search has included members of Police Rescue, the RFS and SES. Picture: Tim Hunter

Police said Charlise was visiting the Blue Mountains with her mother, and had been staying with family for the “past couple of weeks”, after ­travelling from Queensland for the school holidays.

Hundreds of officers, helicopters, the dog squad, Rural Fire Service and State Emergency Service have been involved in the search.

Acting Superintendent Nelson said police were investigating all possibilities in the search for Charlise.

“She’s a nine-year-old girl and she’s missing, we’re here to pull out every stop that we can to locate her,” he said.

“We’re not discounting any scenario at this stage.”

Searchers head out on motorbikes. Picture: Tim Hunter

Police said Ms Mutten was “distressed”, after she was seen being comforted by NSW Ambulance paramedics on Friday afternoon before she was taken to Katoomba Hospital.

“For any parent it’s a very distressing scenario and we are providing her with the support we can,” Acting Superintendent Nelson said.

Police were expected to continue searching the rugged bushland in the Blue Mountains National Park. Temperatures have been relatively mild at night since Charlise vanished.

“Our priority here for the moment is the continuance of the search to locate our missing nine-year-old girl,” Acting Superintendent Nelson said.

“The Mt Wilson area is a small community surrounded by bushland and some rugged bushland,” he said.

Charlise is described as being of caucasian appearance with thin brown hair. She was wearing a pink top, black skirt and thongs when she disappeared.

Police are urging anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers.