By Olivia Day for Daily Mail Australia
Friday, October 15,
Cleo arrives at Blowholes camping site with her mom Ellie Smith, Jake Gliddon, and Isla Mae.
They arrived in the evening to a quiet night.
Saturday, October 16
Cleo, four years old, asks her mother for water.
6.23am Ellie calls 000 and reports her eldest child missing. She continues searching the camp site.
6.30am: Carnarvon Police Station dispatches the first two officers. The officers travel with sirens, lights, and priority to Blowholes.
6.41 AM: Blowholes is met by a second car, with two additional officers and lights.
7.10 a.m.: Arrival of the first police vehicle. In a matter of minutes, comes the second.
7.26 am: Officers arrive on the scene and create a protected forensic zone that’s open to the public. This area surrounds Cleo’s family tent.
7.33am: The drone operator will search the sky for a missing person.
7.44 am: Blowholes receive a third police vehicle.
8 a.m.: Cleo’s relatives and friends start to arrive in order to aid with the ground search.
Cleo is also being searched briefly by another group of investigators to confirm her absence.
After that, they head towards Blowholes to stop all cars from entering or leaving the area.
8.09 AM: Police requested that an SES Team attend Blowholes’ search. A helicopter belonging to a local business arrived on the scene.
8.24am: Volunteer marine and police searchers called in to help with the search.
8.34AM: Police set up roadblocks at Blowholes to collect names, addresses and registration information of anyone coming or going. The police search vehicles.
9:25 AM: Nine SES personnel arrive at Blowholes in support of the search.
Cleo, a missing 4-year-old girl from Australia, was the target of bounty hunters and investigators (see photo).
9.30am: Ellie in distress is greeted by detectives who stay with her for the remainder of the day, while Cleo and other search teams hunt.
11.30am: Major Crime Division homicide detectives call and start travelling to Perth in support of the search.
1 p.m.: Perth receives more homicide detectives, search specialists and investigators.
3.30pm: Carnarvon officers and search specialists arrive to lend their expertise.
Sunday, 17 October
Ms Smith uses social media to appeal for the help of her daughter.
A post on Facebook that was posted at 1.45 am Sunday read: ‘It has been over 24hrs since I last saw the sparkle in her eyes.
“Please Help Me Find Her!”
If you have any information, call 911 immediately!
Cleo might have been taken by police.
Monday, October 18, 2008
Police have released an image of the sleeping bag in red and grey that was missing from Cleo’s tent.
Cleo is interrogated by Mandurah police about her biological father. They ask him to give a statement which he freely gives.
With the assistance of SES volunteers, aircraft, and SES officers, the WA Police continue their hunt for Cleo. Officers are also searching the surrounding area for vehicles and shacks.
Tuesday, September 19
Cleo’s mom Ellie Smith, and Jake Gliddon are fronting the media and discuss the moment that they realized the girl was gone.
Ms Smith said that her four year old would have never left the tent all by herself.
To assist the investigation, police release more images of Cleo as well as the pink-and-blue one piece she was wearing on the night she disappeared.
Police are urging anyone found at or near the site on October 15, to contact them.
Wednesday, October 20
Cleo was unable to access the tent’s zip because it was not high enough for her to get at, according the police.
According to officers, they have not ruled out reports that campers heard screeching tires in the early hours Saturday morning.
Daryl Gaunt (Deputy Police Commissioner) confirmed that police are currently investigating whereabouts 20 registered Carnarvon-area sex offenders.
Thursday, 21 October
Cleo is being sought by the WA Government for any information leading to her location, as announced by WA Premier Mark McGowan.
McGowan expressed his sympathy for Cleo and her family, saying that “all Western Australians’ thoughts are at Cleo’s side during an unbearable time.”
“We all pray for a positive outcome.”
It was unheard of for the reward to be issued so quickly – in just days after her disappearance.
Pictured: A group of police examines rubbish near Blowholes Campground in remote WA
Monday, 25th October
WA Police confirmed Cleo was at the camp site. The footage was captured on CCTV from an inside camera that had been installed in a beach house just 20m from where she vanished from.
Tuesday 26 October
On Tuesday, detectives and forensic officers spent a lot of time at Carnarvon home, which is 900 km north of Perth. They left with two bags full of evidence.
Even though investigators were familiar with the house, it was their first visit to search the interior of the property.
Col Blanch, Acting WA Police Commissioner said that the search of their family home was “standard practice” and didn’t indicate that they were suspects with Cleo’s disappearance.
Wednesday, October 27
WA Police forensics officers are back at Blowholes campsite and can be seen taking soil samples from several campfires close to shacks.
Federal Government announces that Australian Federal Police Officers have been recruited to assist with intelligence and forensic investigations.
Friday 29th October
Blowholes police return to Blowholes camp for aerial analysis.
Rod Wilde, the Detective Superintendent of the Blowholes Campground joins in the Cleo search as it reaches the two-week mark.
He said that Cleo is being sought by both international and national agencies.
Sunday, 31 Oct
Cleo is 5 km from Cleo’s childhood home when detectives knock on doors of a few homes in North West Coastal Highway, North Plantations.
Monday, November 1.
Police search for the vanished camper in piles of garbage at roadside bins hundreds of kilometers away.
Material was taken to Perth by forensic officers, who searched through the bags for any items that could have been used in Cleo’s disappearance.
The police issue an appeal for CCTV and dashcam footage within 1000 km of the area where the missing four-year old disappeared.
Police are renewing their appeal to Carnarvon’s businesses for footage. They will also go door-to-door in an industrial area just outside the town.
Ellie (pictured with Cleo her younger daughter and partner) was overcome by emotion when her mother broke her silence. They shared a number of love heart emoticons on Instagram.
Wednesday, November 3
Cleo Smith, after more than two-and-a half weeks spent searching for her body, was finally found in the early hours November 3.
Col Blanch (WA Police) confirmed shortly before 7am AEST, that Cleo had been reunited and is well.
“One of the officers took her into his arms, and asked her her name. He said. “She replied, “My name is Cleo.”
Ellie Smith shared the following message on social media: “Our family has been restored to its former glory.”
An unidentified Carnarvon male is taken into custody and interrogated by detectives.
Ellie Smith (pictured), with her partner Jake Gliddon, appeared before the media on October 19. They asked for information from the public, big and small.
Thursday, November 4,
Terry Darrell Kelly was 36. He was arrested for multiple infractions including forcing a minor to marry. Kelly appeared naked at Carnarvon Magistrate’s Court wearing only a black shirt and barefoot.