A three-year-old girl who went missing for nearly 24 hours at a remote cattle station in Western Australia’s Pilbara region has been found.

The girl, Matilda, accompanied by her Jack Russell, wandered off from her home on Noreena Downs homestead, 70km from Nullagine, about 2.30pm on Wednesday.

After an extensive search she was spotted by a helicopter on Thursday afternoon, 3.5km from her home.

Three helicopters, nine police officers, eight State Emergency Service personnel and seven horses had been deployed to look for her, along with staff from the Noreena Downs station. Heavy rain from ex-Tropical Cyclone Blake had made search conditions challenging and filled a number of creeks surrounding the property.

Police say Matilda was able to make her way through one of the creeks when the water subsided but the creek quickly rose again, trapping the child and her dog.

The Pilbara community assisted with the search, including supplying riders for the horses, before Matilda was finally found with her dog still by her side.

She was tired, hungry and cold but otherwise well. She was given water before being taken home.

“It’s just an amazing feeling,” the police officer who led the search team said. “I’ve had my team out there, on the phone, just elated. I could only imagine how excited the family was.”