By Olivia Day for Daily Mail Australia
Friday, October 15,
Cleo, along with Ellie Smith and Jake Gliddon, arrive at Blowholes campsite about 6:30pm.
They arrived in the evening to a quiet night.
Saturday, September 16
Cleo, four years old, asks her mother for water.
6.23 AM: Ellie dials 000 to report her oldest daughter missing while she searches the camp grounds.
6.30am: Two officers arrive at Carnarvon’s police station. The officers travel with lights and sirens to Blowholes in order of priority.
6.41 AM: Blowholes is the recipient of a second car police with two additional officers, equipped with lights and sirens.
7.10 am: First police car arrives. In a matter of minutes, comes the second.
7.26am: On the spot, police establish a protected forensic zone which is taped to the public around the family tent that Cleo last visited.
7.33 am: The drone operator will search the skies.
7.44am: Blowholes receive a third police vehicle.
8 a.m.: Cleo’s family and friends begin arriving to assist with ground searches.
A second group of detectives searched Cleo’s house briefly to ensure she wasn’t there.
After that, they head towards Blowholes to stop all cars from entering or leaving the area.
8.09 a.m.: Police requested that an SES Team attend Blowholes’ search.
8.24 AM: Volunteer marine and police searchers called in to help with the search.
8.34 am: 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: 9 SES persons arrive at Blowholes for assistance in the search.
Cleo is missing from her home in Australia. This was Cleo’s search by bounty hunters, police officers and investigators (pictured).
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.
11am: Major Crime Division Homicide Detectives are called to assist in the search. They travel from Perth.
1pm: Perth is home to more homicide detectives, search specialists and other investigators.
3pm: Carnarvon police officers and search professionals arrive to share their knowledge.
Sunday, October 17,
Ms Smith uses social media to appeal for the help of her daughter.
A Sunday Facebook post that stated: “It’s been more than 24 hours since the sparkle in my girl’s eyes last time I saw it.”
“Please Help Me Find Her!”
Please call 911 if you have any questions.
Cleo might have been taken by police.
Monday, 18 October
Police have released an image of the sleeping bag in red and grey that was missing from Cleo’s tent.
Cleo’s biological dad is interviewed in Mandurah by police and asked for a statement. He does.
The WA Police, assisted by SES, volunteers and an aircraft, continue to hunt Cleo. They are searching for Cleo in nearby vehicles and shacks.
Tuesday, October 19, 2009
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 claims that her 4-year-old daughter would not have been able to leave the tent on her own.
Cleo’s pink and blue one-piece that she wore the night she vanished is now available to police for their investigation.
Police are urging anyone found at or near the site on October 15, to contact them.
Wednesday, October 20
Cleo could not reach the zipper of the family tent because it was too high, as police revealed.
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, October 21,
Cleo will be located by WA Premier Mark McGowan, and the WA Government is offering a $1million reward.
McGowan stated that all Western Australians are in Cleo’s thoughts during this difficult time.
“We are all praying for positive outcomes.”
Unprecedented was the speed at which she received her reward – just days after her disappearance.
Pictured: In remote WA, police are seen inspecting rubbish that was left at the Blowholes campsite
Monday, 25th October
WA Police confirmed Cleo’s presence at camp site. This was confirmed by CCTV footage taken from a camera mounted inside a beach house, just 20 meters from her family tent.
Tuesday 26 October
On Tuesday, detectives and forensic officers spent a lot of time at Carnarvon home, which is 900km north from Perth. They left with two bags full of evidence.
While investigators have been in the house before, they were unable to conduct a thorough search inside without a forensics team.
Col Blanch, Acting WA Police Commissioner said that the search of their family home was “standard practice” and didn’t indicate they were suspects with Cleo’s disappearance.
Wednesday, October 27
WA Police officers returning to Blowholes Campground and collecting soil samples near the shacks are visible.
Federal Government announces that Australian Federal Police Officers have been recruited to assist with intelligence and forensic investigations.
Friday, 29 October
Blowholes Camp is being reopened by police to conduct aerial surveys of the surrounding area.
As the search nears the two week mark, Detective Superintendent Rod Wilde is back at the Blowholes campsite and joins the hunt for Cleo.
He confirmed that both national and international agencies were involved in the Cleo search.
Sunday, 31 Oct
Cleo is 5km 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.
It was then transported to Perth where recruits and forensic officers sorted through hundreds more bags looking for items that might have led them to Cleo.
The police issue an appeal for CCTV and dashcam footage within 1000 km of the area where the missing four-year old disappeared.
Police appeal to more Carnarvon businesses to take footage of an area in the industrial outskirts.
Ellie, Ellie’s mother (pictured here with Cleo and her daughter younger) broke her silence when Cleo was discovered. She shared several love heart emojis via 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 Deputy Commissioner confirmed that Cleo was alive and well just before 7am AEST and has been reunited to her parents.
“One of the officers took her into his arms, and asked her her name. He replied. “She replied, “My name is Cleo.”
Ellie Smith shared the following message on social media: “Our family has been restored to its former glory.”
Terence Darrell Kelly (36), is taken into police custody in Carnarvon and brought to the station for questioning
Ellie Smith (pictured), with her partner Jake Gliddon, appeared before the media on October 19. They asked for information from the public about any information that was ‘big and small’.
Thursday, November 4.
Kelly was charged with several offences, including the forcible taking of a child younger than 16. Kelly appears before Carnarvon Magistrate’s Court naked and in a black T shirt.
Friday, November 5,
Terence Kelly is taken to Casuarina Prison by a flight from Perth.
Monday 24 January 2022
Kelly pleads guilty to Cleo Smith kidnapping via AVL while in prison and is required to appear before Perth District Court on March 3.