OFFENDERS QUIZZED IN SEARCH FOR CLEO

BETWEEN 10 and 20 registered sex offenders are living in the area where four-year-old Cleo Smith vanished five days ago amid growing fears she was abducted from the West Australian campsite.

Deputy police commissioner Darryl Gaunt said officers had made inquiries into the registered sex offenders in the Carnarvon area, but none of them were suspects.

“Part of the investigative strategies have included reaching them and making inquiries into their whereabouts and movements,” he said.

“At this point in time, we’re very comfortable with where we sit with those inquiries.”

Cleo was staying in a tent with her family at the Blowholes Campground in Macleod, near Carnarvon, when she was reported missing about 6am on Saturday.

As the frantic search entered day five, Mr Gaunt said authorities remained hopeful of finding Cleo alive.

“While time is not on our side, there have been instances in the past where even small children lost in remote areas have still been found safe and well,” he said on Wednesday.

Mr Gaunt said police were still first and foremost treating the case as a search and rescue mission, despite growing fears Cleo may have been abducted.