Cleo Smith was photographed in a detective’s arms 18 days after she disappeared from a Western Australian campsite.
Cleo Smith emerged from the 18-day nightmare that was Cleo Smith’s. Her honey-blonde hair was neatly brushed, her clothes were clean, and she looked like a real doll.
The four-year-old bubbly was found playing with toys in her locked bedroom in the middle of the night, with the lights on.
Cleo has returned to her family and is now a happy, healthy little girl who loves to cuddle her mother and stepfather.
Her alleged abductor, doll collector Terrence Darrell Kelly, has been charged with one count of forcibly taking a child under 16, but has so far not been publicly accused of doing the child further physical harm.
Kelly is currently in court. He is entitled to a presumed innocence and his motives are not known.
Amateur sleuths can’t help but combine what little we know about Kelly’s interests with the few details that have been revealed about Cleo’s missing years to speculate that she was treated like a toy.
They are curious if Cleo became trapped in the fantasy realm of a loner fixated upon plastic figurines – a talking, walking, and breathing doll.
Terry Kelly, Cleo Smiths’s alleged kidnapper, has been indicted on one count of forcibly removing a child below 16 years old, but has not yet been publicly accused of causing the child any more physical harm. He was pictured shortly before he was flown on Friday from Carnarvon.
Kelly, a doll collector is entitled to the presumption he is innocent. However, his motives are unknown. Amateur sleuths can’t help but speculate that Cleo was treated like a toy. Kelly is shown wearing a Bratz Tshirt and two fashion figurines.
Kelly is not on the Carnarvon list of known sex offenders and police claim he did not act alone. Kelly is linked to one social media account that shows photos of a room filled with dolls from floor to ceiling.
Kelly seems to have a special fascination with Bratz fashion dolls. Cloe, a blonde and almond-eyed teenager, was one of four original figurines from the brand released 20 years back.
Cleo Smith has a seven month-old sister named Isla. Cloe, a Bratz universe doll, has a doll named Isa.
Kelly, 36, lived alone at Carnarvon in 900km north Perth. Cleo was discovered there around 1am on Wednesday.
Kelly seems to have a special fascination with Bratz fashion dolls. Cloe, a blonde, almond-eyed girl from Bratz was one of the four original figurines.
Cleo was kidnapped by him from a tent at Blowholes camping grounds, 75km north his home, while she was on holiday with her family.
Investigators are not certain if Cleo was in Kelly’s home during her absence.
Kelly is not on the Carnarvon sex offenders’ list and police say he did not act alone.
He was not home when detectives broke into the property and rescued Cleo, who fell asleep in her mother’s arms when they were reunited.
Police claim that Kelly was not known to Cleo’s relatives, but his home is just 3km away.
Since Kelly’s arrest it has been revealed he was obsessed with dolls and he was spotted a week ago with a car full of children’s toys, a neighbour told Daily Mail Australia.
Henry Dodd said the brand new dolls were still in their packaging ‘as if they had been collected from the post office’.
‘There were around ten or twelve dolls… and it looked like he had picked them up after they were delivered somewhere,’ Mr Dodd said on Thursday.
‘You could see them in their boxes like he ordered them online. They were all piled in the back of his car.
‘I thought it was weird. But I didn’t know anything about him collecting dolls or anything. I didn’t know he had a whole room full of them in his house.
‘We didn’t know that until it [was reported] today.’
Since being reunited with her family Cleo has appeared to be the happy little girl she was before her ordeal, kissing and cuddling her mother and stepfather. Cleo is pictured before her disappearance
Ae social media account linked to Kelly shows pictures of him driving around town carrying dolls. ‘I love my dolls’, one post reads. ‘I love taking my dolls for drive arounds and doing their hair and taking selfies in public,’ says another
Cleo Smith emerged from what the world feared was an 18-day nightmare with her honey-blonde hair neatly brushed, her clothes clean and fresh, looking just like a living doll. She is pictured back in the arms of her mother Ellie Smith on Wednesday
Kelly was known to buy girls’ toys including Disney Princess and Bratz dolls from the local Toyworld and police have asked the store’s operators for CCTV footage.
Mr Dodd has also said in the days before Cleo was found he saw Kelly buying nappies from a nearby supermarket.
‘The other day, I think it was Monday, we saw him buying Kimbies in Woolworths but we didn’t click on why he was buying them or who he was buying them for,’ he said.
Multiple social media accounts have emerged which allegedly belonged to Kelly, including one under the name Bratz DeLuca which details an obsession with Bratz dolls.
That account features images showing a room with boxed toys carefully stacked from floor to ceiling and pictures of Kelly driving around town carrying dolls.
‘I love my dolls’, one post reads. ‘I love taking my dolls for drive arounds and doing their hair and taking selfies in public,’ says another.
Kelly is shown in one picture wearing a Bratz doll T-shirt.
Kelly was found to be obsessed with dolls after his arrest. He was spotted with a car stuffed with children’s toys a week prior, according to a neighbor who told Daily Mail Australia. Kelly was linked to this social media account that shows a picture of a room stuffed with dolls.
Kelly is also alleged to have other profiles that mention children and family members. However, friends and neighbours claim they are unaware that Kelly ever had kids.
Kelly is alleged to have linked an account to another belonging to Ellie Smith, Cleo’s mother. Ellie Smith asked for help in finding her missing child and Cleo was granted permission to open an account.
Police were asked by Kelly about his doll obsession and whether he might’ve used the toys to lure Cleo. They declined to comment.
Cleo was recovered from Kelly’s house by Detective Senior Sergeant Cameron Blaine (Homicide Squad).
He can be heard on a police recording asking the little girl, ‘What is your name?’ three times before she finally falteringly replied: ‘M-my name is Cleo.’
That magic moment has been played around the world but Detective Senior Sergeant Blaine has withheld other details about the moment Cleo was found.
Kelly, 36, lived alone in a house at Carnarvon, 900km north of Perth, where Cleo was found about 1am on Wednesday. Hey is accused of kidnapping Cleo from a tent at the Blowholes camping ground, 75km north of his home, on September 16 while she holidayed with her family
Detectives have not yet established if Cleo was kept at the property for all the time she was away from her parents. Kelly is not on a list of known sex offenders in Carnarvon and police allege he acted alone. Cleo is pictured in hospital after her rescue
‘The lights were on and that she was playing with toys,’ he said. ‘I think that’s about all I want to say, this is still a matter that still needs to go before the courts.
‘There’s certain aspects of what we saw that is going to be evidence and I really don’t want to say anything that’s going to prejudice it.’
Police have told Cleo’s parents not to talk about the events of the 18 days she was missing with their daughter.
Detective Senior Sergeant Blaine said discussing the details of what happened could jeopardise the prosecution’s case by diluting the accuracy of Cleo’s information.
He visited the family on Thursday and said Cleo appeared to be holding up well.
‘I can only see her from the outside,’ Detective Senior Sergeant Blaine said. ‘But from that point of view, I’m amazed that she seems to be so well-adjusted and happy.’
‘It was really heart-warming to see that she’s still bubbly and she’s laughing.
Detective Senior Sergeant Cameron Blaine of the Homicide Squad was one of four officers involved in recovering Cleo from Kelly’s house. On a police recording, he can be heard asking the little girl “What is your name?” Three times, he asked the little girl, “What is your name?”
“It’s great to see her adjust, she’s getting some rest, and she’s playing in our backyard exactly as you would expect.
Detective Senior Sergeant Blaine stated that police had shared as much information with Cleo’s parents as possible, but that the investigation still had a lot to do.
He stated that “Obviously it’s still the time when we are exploring all of the facts.” “We still get information from many different sources. Some of the information is incorrect.
“So we are careful about what information is shared with people, and we want to be 100 percent sure of the facts.”
When Kelly faced Carnarvon Magistrates Court on Thursday afternoon he took several moments to acknowledge his name when it was called and only nodded to indicate he understood the kidnapping charge against him.
Detective Senior Sergeant Blaine stated that police had shared as much information with Cleo’s parents as possible, but that the investigation still had a lot to do. Cleo is seen in the arms of police