Thousands help find missing Qld girl

By Ed Jackson

The "ultimate game" of hide and seek ended when little Jocelyn Lewis' curly blonde head popped up from scrub on the Gold Coast after a 24-hour search for the missing five-year-old.

She was found by two women - including Bree Johnson, the daughter-in-law of motorsport legend Dick Johnson - who had joined thousands of community members in registering to help find her.

Jocelyn, who has a medical condition and by her family's admission loves to play hide and seek, emerged after Ms Johnson and her friend Kylie Maudsley called out her name.

"Kylie just decided to call out `Jocelyn' and she just popped up out of the grass and said `I'm here'," Ms Johnson said

Even then, cold, dehydrated and scratched after a night in bushland on her own, Jocelyn tried her best to hide again.

Thankfully within minutes the girl who'd captured a city's heart was in a police car and on her way back to her parents who admitted they were starting to fear the worst.

With tired eyes and wrapped in blankets, Jocelyn hugged her father Steve tight as they walked out to thank the many who had gathered to help reunite them.

"I'm buggered, that's why I've come out here, just to thank the community for everything they've done," Mr Lewis said.

"That's how she was found."

Dozens of police and SES volunteers were joined by thousands of locals - including members of the Gold Coast Suns AFL team - in the hunt for Jocelyn.

She hadn't been since she was spotted running through a park at 5.30pm on Sunday, just an hour after running away from her parents.

No trace of her was seen for 22 hours until she was found huddled in bushes under an overpass not too far from where she had gone missing.

For Inspector Scott MacQueen, the outcome was as good as he could have hoped.

"For this to go all day, you won't get anyone more relieved than myself at the moment," Insp MacQueen said.

But he said this was one resilient little girl.

"A girl that's been out since 5 o'clock last night and still trying to run away ... she needs to stop eating whatever she's eating," he joked.

In the end Jocelyn's ultimate game of hide and seek resulted in nothing worse than cuts and bruises and one very relieved father.

"We're going to clean her up and get a good meal," Mr Lewis said.