Missing
three-year-old Australian Chloe Campbell has been found walking back
toward her parents' home in Childers, north of Brisbane - 42 hours after
vanishing from her bedroom.
The toddler has been transported to
Bundaberg Hospital where she was reunited with her
elated parents. Her mum Tammy O’Donnell has described the heart-warming moment she ran into the hospital room to cuddle Chloe for the first time.
'I
was just in tears. I ran in the room basically. I didn't care if she
woke up or not and then I just laid on the bed with her and gave her
cuddles for a while and then we just came home to let everyone know,’ Ms
O’Donnell told The Courier Mail.
‘She opened her eyes a little bit and (said) 'mummy want to go home now' and passed out.
‘She's physically fine but really tired at the moment.’
A shocked and relieved Tammy O'Donnell, pictured moments after discovering her three-year-old daughter had been found alive
Alive and well: Chloe was reportedly uninjured
when she was found near her family home overnight, but she has been
taken to hospital as a precaution
'It's an absolute miracle': Police making the
stunning announcement that Chloe had been found (left), and some of the
heroic officers who found the missing toddler (right)
Distraught: Tammy O'Donnell spoke to the media on Friday about her daughter's disappearance
Tammy had described her daughter's disappearance as a nightmare she couldn't wake up from
Chloe's disappearance had sparked a huge search effort, with her distraught parents
fearing she'd been snatched from the house. Police had issued a child
abduction alert, and notified ports and airports to be on the lookout for
the little girl.
Miraculously, Chloe was found walking in the nearby Childers show grounds, which
back onto the family home, at around 1:00am Saturday local time.
The
toddler, dubbed Australia's Maddy McCann after police said they
believed she had been abducted by someone who broke into her home, was
reportedly found just yards from the house.
She
was reportedly calling out 'mummy' when she was found, and police are
using sniffer dogs in an attempt to track anybody who might have dropped
her off.
‘Over the world - there is no other word to really describe how I'm feeling, just overjoyed,’ Ms O’Donnell told The Courier Mail.
‘Thank you to everyone, and everyone that called in to help bring Chloe home safe and happy.'
Police briefing the media gathered in the tiny Queensland town described Chloe's safe return as a 'an absolute miracle'.
'It's one of those dreams that came true ... the greatest possible outcome for everyone,' said Inspector Kevin Guthridge.
Desperate search: Chloe Campbell, 3, had been missing for 42 hours
Childers, where Chloe went missing from, is located in souther Queensland, about 325 kilometres from the capital Brisbane
Extensive search: Police and State
Emergency Service volunteers spent today scouring bushland, dams and
farms for missing three-year-old Chloe Campbell
'We have no idea as to how she came to be here. We are looking at every aspect of that and maintaining a very open mind.
'It is an absolute miracle she has returned to us.'I'm very, very happy to report Chloe is safe and well and in very good health.'
Inspector Guthridge said the police focus could now shift from a frantic search operation to an investigation into what had happened.
'The last couple of days our focus has been locating her and locating her safe and well. Now we will transition to the investigation phase and focus more on that, as to the circumstance of her disappearance,' he said.
'As you can appreciate at the moment our whole focus is Chloe's well-being. While we are happy to get her back we also have to make sure she's okay before we progress too much with her.'
Meanwhile,
police have been given security footage from a residential CCTV camera
which is understood to show two men and a young child walking about 200
yards from where Chloe disappeared.
Local resident Les Fennell, who passed
the CCTV data to police, said the video showed the men and a young child - who
could not be identified as being a boy or a girl - walking south by the
railway line.
He told the Courier Mail newspaper that the child was
walking about 15 yards ahead of the men as they passed behind a toilet
block as dawn approached.
Mother Tammy O'Donell described her missing three-year-old daughter Chloe (pictured) as 'beautiful, kind, loving and funny'
The distraught mother of missing the
three-year-old, Tammy O'Donnell (right) breaks down into tears when
talking to authorities over the suspected kidnapping of her daughter
Chloe's mother Tammy O'Donnell (left) described
her daughter's disappearance as a 'nightmare', while father Garth
Campbell (right), broke down as he appealed for her to be kept safe
Tammy broke down as she appealed for her daughter's safe return as the search continued
Chloe's grandmother Mim Foley was left shattered after the little girl went missing from her bedroom
Some 20 minutes later the men returned, but this time without the child.
'The sun had just started coming up...and it was about the same time the child was missing,' he said.
Mr Fennell said the child seemed to know the men as he or she appeared to be leading the way.
'She or he was very small. The child looked like it knew where it was going and the two men followed.'
Police
are now expected to learn from Chloe's mother - who will 'interview' her
daughter - just where she has been and who took her away.
The disappearance rocked the community, with the 1,500 residents who call Childers home devastated by the news.
Search effort: police and SES volunteers are focusing on the Childers Showground which backs onto Chloe's home street
Chloe's
father Garth had told reporters there was a footprint on his vehicle’s
roof, which was parked in the driveway of their Ridgeway St home
underneath the ajar window.
Detectives had always believed Chloe, whether alone or in the keep of an abductor, hasn’t ventured far from the home.
They
continued to focus their search efforts on Childers and its immediate
surrounds, but had turned up nothing in the 42 hours since the child
went missing.
'I don't think there's any possible
way she's wandered off,' Mr Campbell had told the media. 'She wouldn't
leave the yard by herself.'
Search for clues: The bedroom window and car at the centre of an 'urgent' police investigation
He said the family usually
closed the windows of their Childers home at dusk each night to keep out
mosquitoes, but he believes that one of the latches had not caught.
'That's why we are blaming ourselves,' he'd said, fighting back tears.
The
disappearance sparked comparisons with that of British
toddler Madeleine McCann who went missing from her parents' apartment in
Praia da Luz, Portugal in May 2007. She was also three-years-old at the
time.
In
Childers - roughly 50km south of Bundaberg - a desperate search had
been launched as State Emergency Services volunteers joined police in
scouring the locale. A major alert for Chloe was also put out at all airports and sea ports.
Heartache: Chloe Campbell's half-sister Codi (pictured) has made an emotional plea for her safe return
Mr Campbell
said that while Chloe and her two older sisters, Janae, eight, and
Britney, five, have their own room in the house, on Wednesday all three
girls slept in the lounge.
'When
Janae woke to go to the toilet in the morning, Chloe wasn't in the
lounge room,' he said. Janae, he said, had then thought that her younger
sister had sneaked into her parents' room because she had not been well
lately.
Melissa Small, a 'close family friend' of the Campbells, told News Corp the toddler's window was left open and that alarm bells were raised when her parents discovered she wasn't there this morning.
'The
parents put the kids to bed last night. They went to sleep about one
o’clock in the morning after watching TV. They have woken up at seven
o’clock and (Chloe) was not in bed,' she told reporters.
Far and wide: A massive search operation has taken over Childers
'There’s a footprint on the roof of the car to get through to the window.
'The window was open and her blanket and teddy bear, a grey blanket and a blue teddy bear, has been taken with her.'
Ms
Small referred to a car parked underneath Chloe's window which could
have been used to access it. She described Chloe's mother Tammy as 'an
absolute mess'.
Local butcher Ken Gooden told MailOnline helicopters had been assisting with the mission since roughly 8am.
He described the Campbells as 'a young family of three or four' who shop regularly in town.
'It's just like anything, you just serve them and don't think about it until something like this happens,' he said.
Crime scene: Police closed off Ridgway Street in Childers, where Chloe Campbell disappeared
Similarities: Chloe's disappearance has reminded many of Madeleine McCann's in 2007
Their disappearance made international headlines as details of a dispute surrounding young Eeva came to light.
Childers,
where today's search for missing Chloe has intensified, was also in
headlines around the world 14 years ago after the Childers Palace
Backpackers Hostel went up in flames on June 23, 2000, killing 15
backpackers.
Later Robert Long was arrested for starting the fire and charged with murder. He was sentenced to life in prison.
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