Police will interview Little Cleo Smith ‘carefully’ to find out what happened in the 18 days of hell she was missing.
The four-year-old girl was finally reunited in the early hours Wednesday morning after police broke into a Carnarvon, Western Australia locked house and found her alone with a toy in a bedroom.
She vanished without a trace from the Blowholes camping grounds tent she was staying in on October 16. There was a $1million reward for information, and a nation watching closely.
Col Blanch, WA Police Deputy Commissioner, stated that detectives had been giving Cleo some time with her family the day before she was found.
“We will be talking with Cleo, but it must be done very carefully. TwoGB was informed Thursday morning by Cleo that they have child interviewing experts. They will try to get information from her over the next 18 days.
“It is a slow, hard process. It is okay if she doesn’t want us to know.”
Police will interview Little Cleo Smith “carefully” as they attempt to discover exactly what happened during the 18 days she was gone.
Mr Blanch stated that Cleo slept in the same bedroom the first night she was reunited with her mom Ellie and stepdad Jake Gliddon.
He said that Jake and Ellie had been through 18 days in hell, and that Australia has felt the same with them.
Sunrise police were not under the impression that anyone else than Cleo’s abductor had entered the home during the 18-day period, he stated earlier.
He stated that “that is all subject to investigation” and that the investigation was underway about the circumstances of the 18-days spent in the house.
“It is not our immediate knowledge that this is the case, but we must go through each day forensically to determine who came and who didn’t, what the circumstances were, and what happened in that house.”
Cleo is now reunited with her stepdad Jake Gliddon, her mother Ellie Smith and baby sister Isla (pictured together).
Cleo was allegedly abducted from her home in the presence of police officers. Charges are expected to be filed later Thursday.
Terry Kelly, 36, was arrested in connection to Cleo’s alleged kidnapping. He was taken to hospital on Thursday morning. However, Mr Blanch confirmed that his injuries are not serious.
He was pulled over by police and taken into custody before detectives broke into the home and found Cleo – which was just seven minutes away from the home she shares with her parents and baby sister Isla.
Detectives will investigate the mystery surrounding Cleo’s disappearance in the house she had been hiding in for almost three weeks.
Neighbors described Kelly as a reclusive odball’ who kept his distance.
Four police officers used a battering-ram and a barbell to knock the door down and free the four year-old girl who said’my name’.
Cleo was captured by bodycam on remarkable footage. The brave little girl held onto her rescuer, as detectives gently spoke to her and said she would soon see her mummy.
‘Four fathers walked into that room… they might have been wearing guns and detective suits but they were four fathers,’ Mr Blanch said.
After being rescued by police on Wednesday, Cleo beams and is seen lying in her hospital bed.
The four-year-old vanished after a family camping trip at Blowholes campsite 75 km from Carnarvon.
Detectives located the little girl at a late tip-off on Tuesday night, which was the ‘final piece’ of the puzzle police needed to take action.
The public intel contained “really important information about car” which was later confirmed by phone data and a ‘lot of forensic leads”.
Shortly thereafter, officers placed the kidnapper in handcuffs and executed a search warrant at the home nearby where Cleo was found.
Investigators say there are no other persons interested and are expecting to file charges on Thursday.
Police confirmed that the suspect was not on a sex offenders’ register.
After an 18-day absence, the small town of Carnarvon rallied to welcome Cleo home.