CLEO Smith’s alleged kidnapper has spent his first night locked up with some of Australia’s most violent villains.
Terence Darrell Kelly, 36, arrived at Casuarina Prison south of Perth in shackles yesterday afternoon after being arrested by officers who swooped on a property and rescued the missing four-year-old.
Meanwhile, alleged kidnapper Terry Kelly watched her mother pour out her anguish by following her on Facebook, reports claim.
The doll-obsessed loner is also said to have posted a cryptic message about online privacy at 5am on the morning little Cleo was snatched from her family's tent.
Read our Cleo Smith live blog below for the latest updates..
- Louis Allwood
Suspect spends first night in tough maximum security jail
CLEO Smith’s alleged kidnapper has spent his first night locked up with some of Australia’s most violent villains.
Terence Darrell Kelly, 36, arrived at Casuarina Prison south of Perth in shackles yesterday afternoon after being arrested by officers who swooped on a property and rescued the missing four-year-old.
It is alleged Kelly shut little Cleo in this room for 18 days until officers burst in and rescued her in the early hours of Wednesday.
Until at least his next court appearance in December, Kelly will be held at the maximum-security jail, which is home to some of Western Australia’s notorious criminals.
This includes Dante Arthurs who brutally raped and strangled an eight-year-old girl in 2006.
Another lifer is the Claremont serial killer, Bradley Edwards.
- Louis Allwood
Reward will not be claimed
A huge $1million AU (£540,000) reward for finding a missing four-year-old will not be claimed, police have said.
The large sum was put on the table after Cleo Smith went missing from her tent at the Quobba Blowholes camping ground.
Acting Police Commissioner Col Blanch said: “Intelligence led them to that house. They went into that house, Cleo was in the house alone.”
Asked by reporters on Wednesday whether he thought the reward would be claimed, he said: “I don’t believe so, no.”
- Joseph Gamp
Timeline: The 18 days of Cleo’s disappearance
- October 15 – Cleo arrives with her parents and baby sister at Blowhole Campground in Carnarvon, Western Australia
- October 16 1.30am – The four-year-old wakes her mum up for a drink before going back to sleep in the tent she shared with her parents and sister
- October 16 6.30am – Cleo’s mother Ellie wakes to find her daughter has vanished without a trace
- October 18 – Locals urged to check their bins for the missing child’s sleeping bag
- October 21 – Police offer $1million reward to anyone with information that leads them to Cleo
- October 24 – Cleo’s voice is heard on CCTV 20 metres from where she disappeared from the campsite
- October 25 – Cops look for the driver of a car seen between 3am and 3.30am on the morning she vanished
- October 30 – Police launch an air, land and sea search for the four-year-old
- November 2 – Cleo is found by police “alive and well” locked in a room in Carnarvon – just 43 miles from the Blowholes camp
- Joseph Gamp
Who is Cleo Smith suspect Terry Kelly?
Terry Kelly was arrested in connection with her disappearance on the morning of Wednesday, November 3, 2021.
The next day, Kelly was charged with forcibly taking Cleo.
The 36-year-old man was pictured lying down in the ambulance with his bandaged head covered in a blanket.
Sahntayah McKenzie who lives nearby said she heard the sound of crying one night, but did not connect it to the missing girl.
She told The West Australian: “Not last night, the night before it… I heard a little girl crying but I wouldn’t expect it to be Cleo.
“I didn’t expect it would happen in this little neighbourhood, a lot of people know each other.”
- Joseph Gamp
Dramatic arrest
Grainey dashcam footage shows the moment police swooped on Kelly on Tuesday night.
The doll-obsessed man was just metres away from his home where the four-year-old Cleo was locked inside.
On Tuesday at 11.24pm, over an hour before Cleo was rescued, police surrounded Kelly in front of shocked onlookers.
“It was like a high-speed chase first, there was one car and then police cars,” Deane Mitchell told 7NEWS.
“[I thought] something’s going on, that’s not right.”
It is understood that Kelly’s female relatives were in the car when he was bundled out of the vehicle.
Another witness said that police were “chasing” the suspect before surrounding him.
- Joseph Gamp
‘Kidnapper’ watched her parents’ pleas for help by following her mum on Facebook
CLEO Smith’s alleged kidnapper Terry Kelly watched her mother pour out her anguish by following her on Facebook, reports claim.
The doll-obsessed loner – who winked as he was led to jail in shackles today – is also said to have posted a cryptic message about online privacy at 5am on the morning little Cleo was snatched from her family’s tent.
Kelly wrote on his Facebook status on October 16: “I can’t accept friend requests from strangers.
“I live a private life and I respect those who are on my friend list to ensure their privacy is respected too.
“Us adults have to be careful online too.”
It’s understood the post was made about 5am, reports Daily Mail Australia.
- Joseph Gamp
Where was the four-year-old found?
Police smashed their way into a home in Carnarvon last Tuesday following forensic clues.
Deputy Commissioner Col Blanch from WA Police said in a statement: “They found little Cleo in one of the rooms.
“One of the officers picked her up into his arms and asked her, ‘What’s your name?’ She said ‘My name is Cleo’.”
The girl has been reunited with her parents, who had made desperate pleas for Cleo’s return.
Her mother, Ellie Smith, wrote on Instagram: “Our family is whole again.
- Joseph Gamp
What happened to Terry Kelly in prison?
Mr Kelly was admitted to hospital for a second time after he was allegedly attacked by another prisoner inside a police holding cell, according to the Mail.
The 36-year-old had only been at Carnarvon police station, in Western Australia, for a few hours on Wednesday, November 3, when he was allegedly set upon by an angry inmate.
That prisoner’s mother told the outlet that her son was “furious” when he discovered why Kelly was being detained.
The woman alleged: “As soon as he heard this bloke was arrested over that little Cleo, he blew up, beat him black and blue.
“I tell you what, he got a real hiding… my son had to be taken out in shackles, and he was taken for treatment.
“He was in a bad way. He is a big bloke but he really copped it.”
A spokesman for the Western Australia Police Force said they would not be commenting on the woman’s claims, but confirmed that Kelly had been treated in hospital for a range of injuries.
- Joseph Gamp
Cleo’s family thank everyone for the support
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those involved in the rescue of our daughter Cleo Smith,” mum Ellie Smith and stepfather Jake Gliddon said in the statement, released on Friday.
“In particular, we would like to thank WA Police, all those involved in the initial search, the Carnarvon community, local businesses and of course our family and friends.
“We are humbled by the love and support that we have received from not only our local community but the whole of Western Australia and across the country.
“We are so thankful that our little girl is back within our arms and our family is whole again.
“As we try to get on with our lives, we ask that you respect our privacy.”
- Joseph Gamp
Cops trawled tonnes of rubbish during hunt
Australian police searched through 50 cubic metres of rubbish from bins all over the outback as they desperately searched for clues – before finding her minutes from her house.
Speaking before Cleo was found, police said: “Police investigating the disappearance of four-year-old Cleo Smith continue to leave no stone unturned.
“As part of the investigation, officers collected more than 50 cubic metres of rubbish from roadside bins as far north as Minilya to as far south as Geraldton.
“The rubbish was packed into two trucks and transported to Perth, where four forensics officers and 20 officers spent two days sorting through hundreds of bags, in an effort to find any items that may assist in the investigation.”
- Joseph Gamp
Suspect in shackles
Terence Kelly has been charged with kidnap and appeared in court in Carnarvon.
This week the barefoot suspect was seen with his hands and feet in chains as he was flown to a high-security prison in Perth.
Looking up at waiting press, he squinted against the sun and appeared to wink as specially trained cops escorted him on board a private jet.
- Joseph Gamp
Police ‘elated’ when they found her
Detective Sergeant Cameron Blaine said his team were “elated” when they discovered the little girl – just 18 days after she vanished from her tent at Blowholes campground site in Western Australia.
According to Sky News, Blaine said: “Cleo is physically okay – that was evident from the start.”
“It was absolutely fantastic. To see her sitting there was incredible.”
- Joseph Gamp
Answers we still need
There are still several unanswered questions in the Cleo abduction case.
Although everyone is happy the 4-year-old now back with her family people will see be wondering the following:
- What was the suspect’s motive?
- Was she moved about or kept in the same house all the time?
- How did the kidnapper get in the tent without waking the rest of the family?
- Why was Cleo snatched and not her sister?
- What is the suspect “known to police” for?
- Who or what tipped off the police to that house?
- Had the suspect do or tried to do anything like this before?
Neighbour heard little girl crying
Local resident Sahntayah McKenzie said she heard the sound of a child crying recently.
She told The West Australian: “Not last night, the night before it…I heard a little girl crying but I wouldn’t expect it to be Cleo.
“I didn’t expect it would happen in this little neighbourhood, a lot of people know each other.”
‘I heard a little girl crying’
Sounds of children crying was heard by local resident Sahntayah McKenzie and she did not think Cleo would be found in her neighborhood .
She told The West Australian: “Not last night, the night before it…I heard a little girl crying but I wouldn’t expect it to be Cleo.
“I didn’t expect it would happen in this little neighbourhood, a lot of people know each other.”
- Milica Cosic
Explained: How long was Cleo missing for?
Little Cleo was carried to safety when she was found safe 18 days after vanishing from Blowholes Campground – just 43 miles from Carnarvon.
She was discovered by police in the early hours of Wednesday after they received a sudden tip-off of her whereabouts.
Officers used battering rams and crowbars to kick in the door to the house – which was just seven minutes away from where she lives with her family.
- Milica Cosic
The trash can hunt
Australian police searched through 50 cubic metres of rubbish from bins all over the outback as they desperately searched for clues – before finding her minutes from her house.
Speaking before Cleo was found, police said: “Police investigating the disappearance of four-year-old Cleo Smith continue to leave no stone unturned.
“As part of the investigation, officers collected more than 50 cubic metres of rubbish from roadside bins as far north as Minilya to as far south as Geraldton.
“The rubbish was packed into two trucks and transported to Perth, where four forensics officers and 20 officers spent two days sorting through hundreds of bags, in an effort to find any items that may assist in the investigation.”
- Milica Cosic
‘Best big sister’
Cleo Smith has a younger half sister called Isla, whose father is Jake Gliddon, Cleo’s stepfather.
Though the two sisters do not share the same father, their mother Ellie has described Cleo as the best big sister.
They often played together in pictures shared by mum Ellie.
Isla is reported to be seven-months-old.
Cleo’s biological dad is Daniel Staines.
- Milica Cosic
Not far from home
The property where the little girl was found was just a seven-minute drive from her family home.
She vanished from the Blowholes campsite on October 18.
Western Australia Police confirmed that cops broke their way into a locked property at around 1am in Carnarvon, Western Australia.
- Milica Cosic
Explained: How did police rescue Cleo?
Police revealed Kelly was held by plain-clothed officers who were tracking his car and swooped before he returned home.
The “quiet” suspect was arrested in the car, and then police proceeded to bust into the locked house.
But they admitted they had no idea if they would find the tot alive when they broke down the locked front door of his property with a crowbar and battering ram.
The rescue has sparked a flurry of questions, including why she ended up there after being snatched 43 miles away.
- Milica Cosic
Remembering Cleo’s best friends plea
During the 18 days she was missing, Cleo Smith’s best friend pleaded for the “abducted toddler” to come home because “she needs to stay with her family”.
Lenaya “Naya” Forbes posed beside a drawing she made for her pal who had vanished.
“I still miss her,” little Naya told 7News. “And I reckon she got taken from the tent.
“I still miss her cause she’s lost and I want her to come back.”
No doubt the little girl, who may not fully understand what is going on, will be delighted to she her friend very soon.
- Milica Cosic
Police ‘elated’ when they found her
Detective Sergeant Cameron Blaine said his team were “elated” when they discovered the little girl – just 18 days after she vanished from her tent at Blowholes campground site in Western Australia.
According to Sky News, Blaine said: “Cleo is physically okay – that was evident from the start.”
“It was absolutely fantastic. To see her sitting there was incredible.”
- Milica Cosic
Where was Cleo found?
Police cameras show the four-year-old in an officer’s arms as she’s taken outside after cops burst in at 1am following a sudden tip off.
The house where Cleo was found is about six minutes’ drive from her family home in Carnarvon, which has about 5,000 residents in a locked house.
Deputy Commissioner Col Blanch said they scoured thousands of pieces of information looking for a “needle in a haystack”.
he told Network Seven: “Late last night they found that needle that led them to that address and rescued Cleo.”
Police said it involved information about a car, but would not elaborate.
- Milica Cosic
Handcuffed Terry Kelly was seen appearing to wink
The doll-obsessed loner – who winked as he was led to jail in shackles yesterday – is also said to have posted a cryptic message about online privacy at 5am on the morning little Cleo was snatched from her family's tent.
The 36-year-old has been charged in connection with Cleo Smith's abduction.
Read more here.
- Milica Cosic
Dolls ‘obsession’
One of Kelly’s many social media profiles is a Facebook page devoted to his obsession with Bratz dolls, an American brand featuring scantily clad teenage figures.
On the page, posted a video of himself with a filter showing hearts with the words “I love my dolls”.
Another picture shows a room dedicated to the dolls, with shelves stacked to the ceiling showing a large number still in the boxes, the Sydney Morning Herald Reports.
Kelly is also pictured with one of the dolls in each hand wearing a Bratz t-shirt with the words: “Nothing beats chilling at home with by Bratz dolls”.
He also uploaded photos to Facebook in April 2020 showing him taking a doll for a car drive.
“I love taking my dolls for drive around and doing their hair and taking selfies in public”, he captioned the post.
Police were asked about the alleged doll obsession and whether Kelly might have used the toys to lure Cleo but said they would not be commenting on it.
It's emerged that the suspect has spoken of his love for Bratz dolls online
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