Emergency crews say they are throwing every resource at the search for four-year-old Shayla Phillips, who has been missing for two days in a remote part of southern Tasmania.
"Tasmania Police are doing everything we possibly can to bring little Shayla back safely to her mum and we will continue that," Assistant Commissioner of Operations Jonathan Higgins said on Friday.
"We need to be positive that there will be a good outcome … we will continually reassess and take advice from the medicos and other experts — but it is only a couple of days in, the weather has been quite good."
He said they were consulting experts interstate for advice on techniques and resources used in similar cases that had successful outcomes.
Inspector Gavin Hallett echoed the sentiment.
"My objective is to search until Shayla is located safe," he said.
He said authorities would continue to recheck ground they had previously covered in case Shayla was moving between sites.
Police have asked members of the broader community to keep away from the area.
Inspector Hallett said they had enough resources and did not want to be "searching for a searcher".
"We do have the resources and the expertise that we need … we don't want people who are unskilled being in bad terrain, bad conditions, and we have to deploy resources to locate a person when our effort should be solely focused on Shayla."
Police sniffer dogs arrived from Victoria yesterday to assist with the search.
A fixed-wing aircraft flew over the area until 3am this morning, staggered with the use of a drone.
The drones have thermal imaging capability to guide people on the ground to any sites of interest, Inspector Hallett said.
"Understandably as we enter another day searching for Shayla, we are concerned for her welfare," he said.
Four-year-old Shayla Phillips was reported missing from her home at Stormlea on the Tasman Peninsula by her mother Bianca on Wednesday afternoon.
She was last seen at about 2:30pm playing in her backyard with two dogs belonging to a neighbour. When her mother checked 30 minutes later, she and one of the dogs were missing.
Police were called in to search, and the rescue helicopter spotted the missing dog about 700 metres from the house.
The area where the dog was found was searched extensively, Inspector Hallett said.
There has been no sign of Shayla.
'She might just walk out of the bush'
This morning, Tasman Council Mayor Kelly Spaulding, who lives near to the property where Shayla went missing, told ABC Radio Hobart that residents and search crews were "hoping for a miracle".
He said vehicles and mounted police set out early this morning.
"Certainly by the amount of traffic heading out early this morning, there's definitely more people coming on ground today."
The local Country Women's Association had set up nearby to feed those involved in the search.
Cr Spaulding said there was a wide variance in the terrain being covered.
"Where it's natural timber, it's quite dense because it's a high rainfall area so quite thick and hard to walk through," he said.
"The property's then sort of surrounded by farmland and then timber plantation."
Crews on the ground have been looking in an area up to 1.2 kilometres from the house, with the helicopter covering a larger distance.
The lack of mobile coverage has made an already challenging situation more difficult.
"It's always a concern when there's an emergency and there's a call-out. The local police often struggle to get signal out," Cr Spaulding said.
Concerns for Shayla growing
Yesterday Inspector Hallett said concerns for Shayla's welfare were growing.
"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," he said in a statement.
Along with helicopters, drones and sniffer dogs, police divers have searched dams and ponds in the area.
Described as a healthy and happy little girl, Shayla was last seen wearing pink leggings, a cream top and gumboots.
Police do not believe there are any suspicious circumstances around Shayla's disappearance.
Inspector Hallett said Shayla's family was staying strong throughout the ordeal.
"I've spoken to the mother Bianca and she's very stoic," he said yesterday.
"She's a strong woman and hopeful we will find Shayla."
