Karl Stefanovic’s Christmas holiday got off to an eerie start on Wednesday, when the disappearance of his four-year-old daughter sparked a desperate search.
Police were called to the TV star’s lavish Noosa home about 4.20pm when little Harper disappeared from the sprawling property overlooking the beach.
A panicked Karl and his wife, Jasmine, were seen frantically searching the area as a Queensland Police helicopter hovered overhead in search of the child.
The Today Show host then took off on a Vespa and asked Sunshine Beach locals if they had seen the little girl.
Neighbors immediately joined the search and also used scooters to check nearby streets and forest trails leading to the ocean.
At the beach, Harper’s 19-year-old sister, Ava, and her Argentinian sports friend Genaro Abdola joined the lifeguards and asked beachgoers for their help.
Fears for Harper’s safety grew as night fell and the storm approached.
But she was eventually found an hour later at the family’s vacation home, “curled up asleep under a chair where no one could ever have hidden,” Stefanovic told the newspaper. Daily Telegraph.
Karl Stefanovic (pictured with police) was frantically searched at his Sunshine Coast home after his daughter, Harper, went missing
Harper’s older sister Ava and her boyfriend (pictured together) also went to the beach to look for the four-year-old, but with no luck
Neighbors soon joined the search and also used scooters to check nearby streets
Harper was the first child of Karl and Jasmine (pictured together), who married in December 2018 at the One&Only Palmilla resort in Los Cabos, Mexico.
“We feared the worst because no one could find her,” he said.
“I called the police because she was nowhere to be found in or around the house and our priority is her safety.”
Harper was Karl and Jasmine’s first child, born in May 2020 at Sydney’s North Shore Private Hospital.
The couple started dating in late 2016, five months after Stefanovic divorced his first wife, Cassandra Thorburn, after 21 years of marriage.
The former couple share three children: sons River and Jackson and daughter Ava, who also goes by the name Willow.
He met Jasmine, a former model, at a boat party in Sydney.
The Stefanovics married in December 2018 at the One&Only Palmilla resort in Los Cabos, Mexico.
The Today presenter’s lavish Sunshine Coast getaway made headlines earlier this year when he posted it at Noosa Beach Abodes for $1,000 a night.
Queensland Police deployed a helicopter to check the water as lifeguards asked beachgoers if they had seen the young girl
The search for four-year-old Harper was halted after an hour when she was found in the family’s home
Ava and her boyfriend asked beachgoers if they had seen Harper (photo, Ava Stefanovic’s boyfriend in shorts plastered with Karl’s face)
The five-bedroom, five-bathroom holiday home, called Villa Isabelle, sits on a clifftop overlooking the popular coastline in south-east Queensland.
The listing describes Karl’s property as an “architecturally designed home” that offers guests “comfort and relaxation at its finest.”
Meanwhile, the open-plan indoor and outdoor living areas flow to outdoor entertaining terraces, a BBQ area, private balconies and a heated pool.
Karl’s Noosa escape is spread over three levels, with the middle level having an open plan kitchen, dining room and large living room with large sliding glass doors that let in the beautiful sea breeze.
This beautifully decorated open space opens onto the outdoor area and swimming pool.
Karl (photo) rode through the streets on a Vespa on Wednesday during the search for little Harper
Several neighbors joined the brief search for the missing four-year-old child on Wednesday afternoon
Harper (pictured with her father) was born at Sydney’s North Shore Private Hospital in May 2020
Also on the middle level are two of the main bedrooms with their own private bathrooms and balconies.
On the top floor, the holiday home has two further bedrooms with king-size beds.
On the ground floor is the stylish and chic bunk room, with a colorful mural behind two spacious bunk beds.
The covered garage is also located on the ground floor, where the entrance is also located.