Sickening lie kidnapper allegedly told Cleo Smith after luring her out of her family’s tent – as her parents reveal how their little girl’s life has changed forever
- Cleo Smith allegedly lured out of family tent by a lie before she was abducted
- Mother Ellie said in interview her daughter remembered ‘why she was taken’
- Cleo Smith’s parents reveal 18-day imprisonment has changed her life forever
- New footage of Cleo singing and dancing was released on 60 Minutes interview
- Brave four-year-old needs lights on to sleep and all the doors to remain open
- Terence Darrell Kelly, 36, pleaded guilty to taking took Cleo, four, from her tent
- The doll-obsessed abductor cut and dyed the traumatised little girl’s blonde hair
- Parents reveal Cleo’s bright pink bike outside the tent first caught his attention
Cleo Smith’s mother has revealed how her daughter was allegedly lured out of the family tent by a lie before she was abducted for 18 days.
Ellie Smith said her four-year-old daughter was told her baby sister was sick before she was snatched from the tent at the Blowholes campsite near Carnarvon, in Western Australia, on October 16.
Ms Smith said her daughter had blocked out some memories of the abduction since her rescue 18 days later, but vividly remembered ‘why she was’ allegedly taken by 36-year-old Terrence Darrell Kelly.
‘She tells us that she was taken because her baby sister was sick,’ Ms Smith told 60 Minutes on Sunday.
Cleo Smith’s mother has revealed how her daughter was allegedly lured out of the family tent by a lie before she was abducted for 18 days
Ellie Smith (pictured, with partner Jake Gliddon) said her four-year-old daughter was told her baby sister was sick before she was snatched from the tent at the Blowholes campsite near Carnarvon, in Western Australia, on October 16
‘And so she needed to be taken away from us so that we could help her baby sister.’
Ms Smith and her partner Jake Gliddon were interviewed exclusively by Channel Nine reporter Tara Brown after the network seized a $2million deal, following a tough bidding war with Seven News.
Ms Smith claims Kelly had unzipped the side of the tent where she and her partner Mr Gliddon had been sleeping on the night Cleo was abducted.
The pair had been sharing the tent with the four-year-old who was sleeping on the other side.
‘Obviously he didn’t know where he was,’ Ms Smith said. ‘He didn’t know what side of the tent she was in.’
‘He must have looked at ours and realised she’s not in this side … and then gone to the other side and that’s where she was.’
Nearly three weeks passed before detectives finally forced their way into a locked room just 7km from Cleo’s family home and found the little girl playing with toys.
In heartwarming footage of the four-year-old, Cleo is seen blowing bubbles, cradling her baby sister Isla, playing on a waterslide and even painting her dad’s toenails.
Ms Smith claims Kelly had unzipped the side of the tent where she and her partner Mr Gliddon had been sleeping on the night Cleo was abducted
In a never-before-seen home video Cleo is seen dancing and singing the morning after she was discovered by detectives in a locked room 18 days after she disappeared (pictured)
Indications the ‘old Cleo’ still existed came just hours after her miraculous rescue when she happily danced on camera the very next morning, however her mother said she could sense something had shifted.
Despite the heartwarming scenes, the harrowing 18 days Cleo spent imprisoned at the mercy of a stranger has changed the little girl’s life forever.
Local man Terence Darrell Kelly, 36, has since pleaded guilty to her abduction.
‘That was such a beautiful moment just to see her as the old Cleo, but you could still see, for us … she’s still different and she always will be and that’s just our life now,’ Ms Smith said.
‘As a parent, you want to … make sure that they stay as a child for as long as they can because you don’t want them to be in this big, bad world, and she lost that, that was taken from her.’
Ms Smith revealed her small daughter still needs all the lights on in the house to fall asleep and has developed an aversion to locked doors – having been locked in a room in Kelly’s house.
She said the four-year-old woke up screaming during her first days back at home and admitted the ‘nightmare’ experience had been tough on both Cleo and the family.
Ms Smith revealed her small daughter (pictured soon after she was rescued) still needs all the lights on in the house to fall asleep and has developed an aversion to locked doors. Her hair was also cut and coloured from her usual blonde locks
‘Her emotions are very up and down .. she’s blocked out a lot as to what’s happened, she kind of went into survivor mode and pushed it very far away,’ she said.
‘We’ve got a long way to go and so does she, she’s probably going to have to be dealing with this for the rest of her life and we’re going to eventually have to find out everything that’s happened and we’re going to have to carry that as well.’
Of her time in captivity, Cleo has disclosed she was scared and locked in a room, however speaks little of her captor with her parents careful not to push too hard.
Ms Smith said receiving the 1am phone call that Cleo had been found alive had been one of the scariest but most beautiful moments of her life.
‘I was asleep when the phone call came through and I was like, ‘this is either good or bad’,’ the 24-year-old revealed.
‘I’ve answered it and straight away [the police officer said], ‘I’ve got someone who wants to say hello to you’, and I was swearing, I was like, oh my God, no way.
Of her time in captivity, Cleo (pictured with her baby sister Isla) told her family she was scared and locked in a room, however speaks little of her captor with her parents careful not to push too hard
Cleo’s disappearance sparked a desperate 18-day manhunt before the little girl was found inside the house of local man, Terence Darrell Kelly, 36, on November 3
‘Cleo got onto the phone and she’s like, ‘hi mummy’, and I was like, ‘hi baby’.’
The couple rushed to the hospital and found Cleo sitting on a bed. Ms Smith said she immediately noticed her daughter’s blonde hair had been cut and dyed.
‘I was just angry that someone tried changing her to kind of fit what they wanted,’ she said.
‘She said she got the pink put in her hair and then it washed out, she said it didn’t work, and we had to then get her hair cut again because it was basically all cut into chunks.’
Cleo’s disappearance sparked a desperate land, sea and air search before the little girl was found in the house of local man, Kelly, on November 3.
Detectives found the four-year-old awake and playing with small toy cars and have been captured asking the little girl for her name, before she replies: ‘My name is Cleo’.
Ms Smith said although Kelly’s future intentions for Cleo remain unclear it was obvious he was obsessed with dolls and had collected dozens of the Bratz variety (pictured)
Ms Smith (pictured) said receiving the 1am phone call that Cleo had been found alive had been one of the scariest but most beautiful moments of her life
In a bombshell new detail it was revealed Cleo’s bright pink bike (pictured) parked outside the family tent had first indicated to Kelly a small child was inside
Ms Smith said although Kelly’s future intentions for Cleo are unclear it was obvious he was obsessed with dolls and had collected dozens of the Bratz variety.
‘That’s what he wanted, he wanted a little doll. It’s just so sickening and disgusting,’ she said.
In a bombshell new detail it was revealed Cleo’s bright pink bike parked outside the family tent had indicated to Kelly a small child was inside.
‘Cleo had a bike at the front which indicated we had a child in that tent and that was all he needed to know’ Ms Smith said.
She also revealed Kelly had been following her on Facebook and had therefore seen her desperate pleas for her daughter to be returned safe and sound.
The couple said Kelly had convinced Cleo he took her from the tent so her parents could tend to her baby sister who he said was sick (pictured, forensics at the crime scene)
‘It’s so heartless, I was begging for my daughter and someone had her and was reading me begging for her back,’ the 24-year-old said.
The couple said Kelly had convinced Cleo he had taken her from the tent so her parents could tend to her baby sister who he said was sick.
The young couple now plan to move away from Carnarvon and said they would never visit the Blowholes campsite again, planning to soon hit the road in a caravan for a family trip around the state.
‘[The girls] are going to have such an amazing life and we’re going to stay positive about that,’ Ms Smith said.
On January 24, Terrence Kelly (pictured) pleaded guilty to a single charge of taking Cleo from her family’s tent at the remote Blowholes campsite
On January 24, Kelly pleaded guilty to a single charge of taking Cleo from her family’s tent at the remote Blowholes campsite.
The 36-year-old admitted to the abduction during a brief court appearance in Carnarvon in a video link from a prison 900km south of the town.
He faces a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison on a conviction of forcibly taking a child aged under 16.
Kelly will next appear in a Western Australian state District Court in Perth on March 20, where he will eventually be sentenced but ultimately avoid a criminal trial.
He has not entered a plea to other criminal charges he faces, including assaulting a public officer the day after his arrest which have been adjourned to a later date.
CLEO DISAPPEARANCE TIMELINE
By Olivia Day for Daily Mail Australia
Friday, October 15
Cleo along with her mother Ellie Smith, her partner Jake Gliddon and her little sister Isla Mae arrive at the Blowholes campsite around 6:30pm.
They had a ‘quiet’ night and arrived at sunset.
Saturday, October 16
1:30am: Parents’ last sighting of Cleo in the tent she shared with her parents and baby sister when the four-year-old asks for some water.
6.23am: Ellie calls 000 to report her eldest daughter missing as she continues to search the camp ground.
6.30am: The first two officers are dispatched from Carnarvon police station. They travel to Blowholes as a matter of priority, with sirens and lights.
6.41am: A second police car with another two officers is sent to Blowholes, also with lights and sirens.
7.10am: The first police car arrives. The second is only minutes behind.
7.26am: Police on the scene establish a protected forensic area which is taped off to the public, surrounding the family tent where Cleo was last seen.
7.33am: A drone operator is called upon to search from the skies.
7.44am: A third police car is dispatched to the Blowholes.
8am: Family and friends of Cleo’s parents begin to arrive to help with the ground search.
Another group of detectives briefly searches Cleo’s home to make sure she’s not there.
They then head to Blowholes and begin stopping cars coming into and leaving the area.
8.09am: A helicopter from a local company arrived at the scene and started searching as police request an SES team attend the Blowholes search.
8.24am: Police air-wing and volunteer marine searchers are called in to assist with the search.
8.34am: Roadblocks are set up at the entrance of Blowholes as detectives gather the names, registration details and addresses of people coming and going. Police search cars.
9.25am: Nine SES personel arrive at the Blowholes to assist with the search.
Investigators, bounty hunters and officers from the Australian Federal Police have spent two-and-a-half weeks searching for missing four-year-old Cleo (pictured)
9.30am: Detectives sit down with a distressed Ellie and remain by her side for the rest of the day while other search crews hunt for Cleo.
11am: Homicide detectives from the Major Crime Division are called and begin travelling from Perth to assist with the search.
1pm: More homicide detectives and search experts are flown in from Perth.
3pm: Officers and search experts arrive in Carnarvon to offer their expertise.
Sunday, October 17
Ms Smith takes to social media to plead for help finding her missing daughter.
A Facebook post uploaded at 1:45am on Sunday which said: ‘It’s been over 24 hours since I last seen the sparkle in my little girl’s eyes.
‘Please help me find her!
‘If you hear or see anything at all please call the police!’
Police suggest Cleo may have been abducted.
Monday, October 18
Police release an image of the red and grey sleeping bag missing from Cleo’s tent.
Cleo’s biological father is interviewed by police in Mandurah and is asked to provide a statement, which he does so willingly.
WA Police with the help of SES members, volunteers and aircraft continue the land hunt for Cleo, with officers searching nearby shacks and vehicles in the area.
Tuesday, October 19
Cleo’s mother Ellie Smith and her partner Jake Gliddon front the media for the first time and describe the terrifying moment they realised the little girl was missing.
Ms Smith says her four-year-old would never have left the tent by herself.
Police release new images of Cleo and the pink and blue one-piece she was wearing the night she went missing to aid the investigation.
Investigators urge anyone who was at the campsite or in the vicinity on October 15 to get in contact with police.
Wednesday, October 20
Police reveal the zip of the family tent, which was found hanging wide open by her mother at 6am on Saturday morning, was too high for Cleo to reach.
Officers say they ‘haven’t ruled out’ reports from campers who heard the sound of screeching tyres in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Deputy Police Commissioner Daryl Gaunt confirms officers are investigating the whereabouts of 20 registered sex offenders in the Carnarvon area.
Thursday, October 21
The WA Government offers a $1million reward for information that leads to Cleo’s location announced by WA Premier Mark McGowan.
‘All Western Australians’ thoughts are with Cleo’s family during what is an unimaginably difficult time,’ Mr McGowan said.
‘We’re all praying for a positive outcome.’
The speed of the reward being issued – within days of her disappearance – was unprecedented.
Pictured: Police are seen examining rubbish left near the Blowholes campsite in remote WA
Monday, October 25
WA Police confirm Cleo was definitely at the camp site – on CCTV footage on a camera installed inside a beach shack just 20 metres from the family tent she disappeared from.
Tuesday, October 26
Forensic officers and detectives spent much of the day at her home in Carnarvon, 900km north of Perth, on Tuesday and left with two bags of evidence.
Although investigators had been to the home before, this was the first time they thoroughly searched inside with a forensics team.
Acting WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch said the search of the family home was ‘standard practice’ and did not indicate they were suspects in Cleo’s disappearance.
Wednesday, October 27
WA Police forensics officers return to the Blowholes campground and are seen collecting soil samples from a number of campfires near shacks in the area.
The federal government announce Australian Federal Police officers had been drafted in to support forensic and intelligence efforts.
Friday, October 29
Police return to the Blowholes camp to analyse the area with drones.
Detective Superintendent Rod Wilde returns to the Blowholes campsite to join the search for Cleo as the search hit the two-week mark.
He confirms national and international agencies are engaged in the search for Cleo.
Sunday, October 31
Detectives go door-knocking at a number of homes along the North West Coastal Highway in the North Plantations, 5km from Cleo’s hometown on Sunday.
Monday, November 1
Detectives sort through mounds of rubbish from roadside bins located hundreds of kilometres away from the campsite she vanished from.
The material was transported to Perth, where forensic officers and recruits sorted through hundreds of bags in search of items that may have helped them find Cleo.
Officers issue a plea for dash cam and CCTV footage from within a 1000km radius of where the four-year-old disappeared.
Police renew an appeal for more businesses in Carnarvon to provide footage and go door to door in an industrial area on the outskirts of the town.
Her elated mother, Ellie, (pictured, with Cleo, her partner and younger daughter) broke her silence the morning Cleo was found, sharing a series of love heart emojis on Instagram
Wednesday, November 3
After two-and-a-half weeks of searching Cleo Smith is found alive and well in the early hours of November 3.
WA Police Deputy Commissioner Col Blanch confirmed just before 7am AEST that little Cleo is alive and well and had been reunited with her relieved parents.
‘One of the officers picked her up into his arms and asked her ‘what’s your name?’ he said. ‘She said: ‘My name is Cleo’.’
Ellie Smith posted to social media: ‘Our family is whole again’.
Police arrest Carnarvon man Terence Darrell Kelly, 36, and take him in for questioning.
On October 19, Ellie Smith (pictured) and her partner Jake Gliddon fronted the media for the first time and begged the public to report any information ‘big or small’
Thursday, November 4
Kelly is charged with multiple offences including forcibly taking a child under 16 and appears in Carnarvon Magistrate’s Court barefoot and wearing a black T-shirt.
Friday, November 5
Terence Kelly is flown to Perth and taken to Casuarina prison.
Monday, January 24, 2022
Kelly pleads guilty via AVL from prison to kidnapping Cleo Smith and is ordered to appear in Perth District Court in March.
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