A desperate search continues for a missing four-year-old girl who was last seen in her mother’s backyard in remote Tasmania three days ago.
Shayla Phillips vanished from her mother’s backyard in Stormlea, southeast of Hobart, while playing with a neighbour’s two dogs at 2.30pm on Wednesday.
Tasmanian Police have launched an extensive air and land search for the little girl however no trace of the ‘healthy, happy’ child has been found.
Police inspector Gavin Hallett said search and rescue teams were becoming ‘increasingly concerned’ for the welfare of the little girl.
‘It’s concerning … she’s only four and any person who has to stay out in the elements, there is obviously concerns for their wellbeing,’ inspector Hallett said.
Police have entered the second day of a frantic search for Shayla Phillips, 4, (pictured) who disappeared from her mother’s backyard in remote Tasmania on Wednesday afternoon
Tasmanian Police have launched an extensive air and land search for the little girl however no trace of the ‘healthy, happy’ child has been found
Sniffer dogs, specialised divers and police personnel have been combing the nearby bushland for clues ever since Shayla’s frantic mother reported her missing.
A new image of Shayla has been circulated on social media in hopes she may be recognised, picturing the missing child grinning in a two-piece pink tracksuit.
It comes as locals reported temperatures of 10C on Wednesday night, as concerns grow for the four-year-old due to her young age and the dense terrain.
Police Inspector Gavin Hallett revealed Shayla’s last known movements.
‘She was playing outside with some dogs from the neighbouring residence, that’s not an uncommon thing, Shayla knows the dogs well and is very fond of them.’
When Shayla’s mother, Bianca, went to check on her daughter after 30 minutes she found the girl and the dogs had disappeared.
Shayla Phillips was wearing a cream top and gumboots when she was last seen on Wednesday
She called Tasmania Police at 3pm after frantically searching the property herself.
Insp Hallett said Shayla was ‘a very healthy, happy young child’, and described her mother as ‘stoic and strong’.
‘She’s very positive and hopeful that we’ll find Shayla today,’ he said.
He said the little girl was known to go missing for up to 15 minutes at a time during games of hide and seek but had failed to return on this occasion.
Insp Hallett confirmed the two dogs Shayla had been playing with had been found ‘quite a distance away’ from their original location.
‘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 on Thursday.
At this stage authorities don’t believe any other parties were involved in the child’s disappearance.
Inspector Gavin Hallett (pictured) says Tasmania Police’s top resources have been employed in the search for Shayla Phillips
The four-year-old went missing from her backyard in Tasmania’s remote southeastern peninsula
Shayla was wearing pink leggings, a cream top and gumboots when she was last seen.
Inspector Hallett said all police resources are on hand, searching the difficult terrain for signs of the missing girl.
‘The area around here is very undulating pastureland but its also very dense woodland,’ he said.
‘In all we’ve had close to 100 emergency service personnel assisting in the search.
‘Because of the isolation, terrain and age of Shayla the rescue helicopter was deployed immediately.’
The search to find Shayla involves Tasmania Police, SES, the Police Drone Unit, specialist dogs and a Westpac Rescue Helicopter.
Rescue teams continued the search overnight as temperatures dropped in the isolated area
The dive squad had also been called in.
‘I’ve called in the dive squad last night. There are a number of dams on the property, there’s four in close proximity and they’ve been cleared overnight,’ Mr Hallett said.
‘Our drone capacity has a thermal sensor that can be used to detect movement in heavily wooded area.’
Police have requested no further assistance from the public in the search due to the isolation of the area.
‘To ensure a coordinated and safe search, police advise that sufficient resources are currently deployed to the area and further assistance is not sought at this time.’