The mother of a five-year-old girl abducted and found dead near Alice Springs has penned a heartbreaking tribute to her daughter just hours after police discovered her body by a river bank.

The girl, now referred to as Kumanjayi Little Baby for cultural reasons, vanished from a home in Old Timers Aboriginal Town Camp on Saturday night. Police believe she was abducted by Jefferson Lewis, 47, who was staying in the area after having just been released from prison.

The girl’s body was found five kilometres south of the camp on Thursday in what police have labelled “the worst possible outcome” of the five-day search.

Her grieving mother, in a statement, said the child was so loved.

“I know you are in heaven with the rest of the family with Jesus, and the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,” she said.

The five-year-old’s family outside the property she was taken from on Marshall Street on Saturday.© Sam Mooy

“Me and your brother will meet you one day, we are giving our lives to Jesus.

“It is going to be so hard to live the rest of our lives without [you].

“Ramsiah [the girl’s brother] wants to tell you that when he sees you in heaven, he is going to give you the biggest hug ever.”

NT Police Commissioner Martin Dole confirmed the girl’s body had been found during an emotional media conference on Thursday afternoon.

“Just before midday today, police members of the search party located the body of a young Aboriginal girl we believe to be [the] five-year-old,” he said.

“This is an incredibly distressing development. [The girl’s] family have been formally notified, and our thoughts are firmly with them at this devastating time.

“We are not in a position today to provide answers around the cause of [her] death or how long she may have been deceased.

“A post-mortem examination will now be conducted.”

The crime scene has been cordoned off by police at both ends of the Todd River, and forensic officers were seen carrying the girl’s body from the banks late on Thursday afternoon.

NT Police Assistant Commissioner Peter Malley confirmed Lewis had not yet been located.

“The focus right now is to locate Jefferson Lewis, that is our sole job in this investigation right now,” he said.

“We say to the family of Jefferson Lewis that we believe he’s murdered this child. Do not assist him – get him to the police station and we’ll look after him.

“And I say to Jefferson Lewis: we’re coming for you.”

His comments came after DNA testing of clothing found near the camp allegedly recovered two DNA profiles.

Relatives from across the Northern Territory and Kimberley had flocked to the small house in Old Timers Camp to offer support to Kumanjayi Little Baby’s family during the search.

Her paternal grandmother Peggy Rockman, in the hours before police found her body, tearfully remembered the five-year-old girl’s “beautiful relationship” with her father – her 29-year-old son.

Peggy Rockman cries for her missing granddaughter hours before the young girl’s body was found.© Sam Mooy

Rockman said she would often babysit for the girl and her brother, and said she remembered holding her hand while walking in community. She said she “couldn’t wait for her to come home”.

“I love that little girl,” she said.

Peggy’s son is in custody, where it is understood he is receiving updates from police and community members.

Kumanjayi Little Baby’s great aunt, Rose Spencer, said she remembered when Lewis arrived at the community after being told by members of another camp, Yuendumu, that he was not welcome there.

“When people come to camp after prison, it scares us,” she said.

“We trusted him as a family. He was in [our family], but not any more. We don’t trust people.”

Speaking to this masthead in the hours before Kumanjayi Little Baby’s body was found, Spencer remembered her niece as a “happy, pretty girl”, who called their tiny kitten Yellow and loved watching videos on YouTube.

She said the girl’s older brother was incredibly protective over her, and said he would pick her up and dust her off every time she would fall or hurt herself.

More than 160 police and volunteers were involved in the search on Thursday.

A stretch of the Todd River behind the Old Timers Camp in Alice Springs.© Sam Mooy

Dole said police believed Lewis was still in Alice Springs and was being helped to evade detection.

The search for him has been further hampered by the fact he has no mobile phone, bank account or vehicle, forcing police to resort to “1930s-style” shoe-leather policing.

Searchers have scoured places Lewis is known to visit and have reviewed his GPS movements from an old ankle monitoring bracelet, but there has been no trace of him.

NT Police have also reached out to neighbouring states, with WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch confirming his officers had attended Balgo, a remote Aboriginal community in the Kimberley, where Lewis’ wife lives.

The lounge room of the house where Kumanjayi Little Baby was abducted from at the Old Timers Camp. The photo was taken a day before her body was found.© Sam Mooy

“The family have made no sighting for the person that Northern Territory Police are looking for,” Blanch said.

“But at least we’re working closely with all communities across the northern parts of Western Australia to keep a lookout.”

Lewis had been imprisoned multiple times in the past decade for serious assaults and domestic violence-related offences. He has no prior convictions for child-related offences.

Rose Spencer (left) and other family members speak with police at Old Timers Camp on Thursday.© Sam Mooy

NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said she had spoken to the little girl’s mother, who was incredibly distraught.

“We now focus our energy on finding the person who did this and bringing them to justice,” she said, adding that offering a reward to find the alleged killer was “on the table”.

“Around 200 people have worked tirelessly around the clock in searching for this beautiful little girl who went missing five days ago, five days every Territorian has had their heart in their throat, waiting for the moment that we got the announcement that she’d been found safe and well,” she said.

“That news did not come, and it’s fair to say everyone is feeling this loss acutely.”