Update: 4-Year-Old Girl Found ‘Safe and Well’ After Going Missing

Shayla Phillips Tasmania Police

Police in Australia confirmed Friday that a missing 4-year-old who disappeared in Tasmania is “alive and well.”

Shayla Phillips, the girl, disappeared from the backyard of her family home in Stormlea in rural Tasmania, officials said. She spent two nights outside before she was located Friday.

Police inspector Gavin Hallett said Shayla was able to walk but seemed disoriented, according to The Guardian. She was reunited with her mother as soon as possible, he said.

“It was obviously very emotional when I passed the happy news on to mum. She was very grateful,” he told reporters at the scene.

The child was taken to a nearby hospital as a precaution.

“Dehydration would be an issue so certainly that’s something they’d be wanting to fix as soon as they can,” Hallett said.  “We’ve said all along this is a search and rescue operation, there was nothing to indicate at that time that anything untoward had happened, we knew that if we just kept pressing away we would find her,” he added.

About 100 personnel from Tasmania Police, the Police Drone Unit, State Emergency Service, Westpac Rescue Helicopter, and locals joined the search.

Hallett said that Shayla’s mother went to check on her daughter outside. She searched her own home and neighboring properties before police arrived.

“There have been occasions where [family members] haven’t been able to locate her and has been absent for about 15 minutes but this is obviously a lot longer than that,” he said, according to local media.

The girl’s disappearance is not considered to be suspicious, he said.