Fears grow for missing little girl
The search for a missing four-year-old girl who vanished from her mother’s backyard in Tasmania has continued, with police becoming increasingly concerned about her welfare.
Shayla Phillips was playing with a neighbour’s two dogs in her mum’s backyard in Stormlea, southeast of Hobart, on Wednesday afternoon at about 2.30pm.
But, when Shayla’s mother, Bianca, went to check on her daughter after 30 minutes, she found that Shayla and one of the dogs had disappeared, as reported by the Daily Mail.
After frantically searching the property herself, Bianca called Tasmania Police at 3pm.
The missing dog was found later that same night about 800 metres from where Shayla was last seen, but no trace of the “happy healthy child” has been found in over 24 hours despite extensive search efforts from Tasmania Police.
“As we enter day two of the search for Shayla, increasing concerns are held for her welfare,” Inspector Gavin Hallett said in a statement released on Thursday afternoon.
“Due to the isolation and terrain in the Stormlea Road area where Shayla was last seen, a broad range of resources are continuing to be utilised to search from the air and on the ground,” Inspector Hallett said.
With locals reporting temperatures of 10 C on Wednesday night, concerns for Shayla’s safety have been growing due to her young age and the dense terrain.
Police are searching for Shayla using divers, sniffer dogs, drones with thermal sensors, and investigators, and are being assisted by Tasmania SES, Ambulance Tasmania, a Westpac Rescue Helicopter and even people on horseback, according to the ABC.
Police divers searched ponds and dams on the property on the first day of the search. Image: Tasmania Police
“In all we’ve had close to 100 emergency service personnel assisting us in the search,” Inspector Hallett said.
“Because of the isolation, terrain and age of Shayla the rescue helicopter was deployed immediately.”
With this many resources being deployed and the isolation of the area, police have requested no additional help from the public in their search.
However, a new image of Shayla wearing a two-piece pink tracksuit has been circulating on social media with the hopes it could help her be recognised.
She was last seen wearing pink leggings, a cream top and gumboots.
Since the dogs were found “quite a distance away” from the backyard, Inspector Hallett said it was an indicator that Shayla’s disappearance wasn’t due to any “untoward activity”.
“That’s an indicator to us, that if there had been some untoward activity the dogs wouldn’t have been gone, they would have been here,” he said.
Authorities don’t believe any other parties were involved in Shayla’s disappearance at this stage.
“I’ve spoken to the mother Bianca and she’s very stoic,” Inspector Hallett said.
“She’s a strong woman and hopeful we will find Shayla.”
Image: Tasmania Police