Police share video of moment Cleo Smith was discovered

Carrie Bickmore expressed the feelings of many as she wept on The Project following news that Cleo Smith had been found.

Carrie Bickmore has broken down on The Project while the panel spoke about the amazing discovery of Cleo Smith.

Bickmore was left unable to speak as co-host Waleed Aly called Cleo’s rescue “the embodiment of a miracle”.

Waleed Aly and Carrie Bickmore on The Project.

The mother-of-three was clearly overcome from watching a video package of Australians expressing their joy and disbelief that little Cleo had been found alive.

Many of them said they were also in tears after hearing the news.

For three weeks, Australia has been hoping little Cleo Smith would be returned to her family. After a miraculous rescue, she's finally home.#TheProjectTVpic.twitter.com/ljsIYIq20b

— The Project (@theprojecttv) November 3, 2021

WA Police shared the heartwarming moment Detective Senior Sergeant Cameron Blaine and his team found Cleo.

In the short, 12-second video posted to Twitter, Detective Blaine can be seen reassuring the four-year-old that they would be taking her “to see mummy and daddy” soon.

The vision captured but a glimpse of the relief felt by investigators after a gruelling 18-day search for the missing child.

The moment Cleo was rescued 👏 pic.twitter.com/arusYi9kCa

— WA Police Force (@WA_Police) November 3, 2021

Police also shared a picture of a smiling Cleo waving at the camera from a hospital bed.

“The miracle we all hoped for,” the official Western Australia Police Twitter account posted earlier today.

Police Commissioner Chris Dawson shared his relief to the nation, applauding the work of WA detectives working around the clock for weeks to find the young girl.

“Look, I am just so proud of the team I have behind me, but there is 140 in the team,” Commissioner Chris Dawson told the media.

“Many of them are still at work here right now, and a whole bunch of them are back in Perth. “We will be working through this for the next week or two at least, there is much more work to be done, but I am just proud, the proudest Police Commissioner in the world at the moment.”

The heartwarming moment Cleo was rescued.

Police detailed the crucial hours before Cleo was found, recalling a phone call at midnight from colleagues confident they had a “strong lead”.

“We’d been following some leads up and just after midnight I got a call to say, ‘look we’ve got a strong lead’, and they briefed me on it and said, ‘we’re going to have to get into this house’,” Commissioner Dawson told 6PR Wednesday morning.

“They broke into the house, and she was in there.”

Mr Dawson said a short time later he was able to view body-worn camera footage from the rescue, revealing the moment Cleo was found inside a locked Carnarvon house brought him to tears.

A 36-year-old man from Carnarvon is now in custody and is being questioned by police, with neighbours revealing new information about the man’s movements in the lead up to Cleo being found.

“It’s my privilege to announce that in the early hours of this morning, the Western Australia Police Force rescued Cleo Smith,” Deputy Commissioner Colonel Blanch said in a statement on Wednesday morning, adding that “Cleo is alive and well”.

“A police team broke their way into a locked house in Carnarvon about 1am. They found little Cleo in one of the rooms.

“One of the officers picked her up into his arms and asked her ‘what’s your name?’ She said – ‘My name is Cleo’.”