WA Police reveal Cleo Smith was uninjured and ‘energetic’ when they found her alone in a locked house

WA Police have revealed during a powerful press conference that four-year-old Cleo Smith was a “a little energiser bunny” after they found her.

Members from the taskforce responsible for finding Cleo Smith have spoken out following the miraculous discovery of the missing four-year-old who they linkened to “a little energiser bunny”.

Detective senior sergeant Cameron Blaine from the homicide squad revealed Wednesday afternoon that Cleo was uninjured when she was found and full of energy.

“We were talking to her and she was talking to us. What can I say, having seen her a couple of times this morning, she is a little energiser bunny,” he told reporters.

“How she has that much energy, I wish I did, I am about ready to go to sleep. Very sweet, energetic girl. Very trusting and very open with us. We all wanted to take turns holding her. It was a really good experience.”

It came as the 36-year-old man in custody in connection to Cleo’s abduction was delivered from a local police station to hospital Wednesday afternoon.

According to 6PR, the man was seen leaving the station holding a bandage to his head. The cause of his condition has yet to be revealed.

WA Police said no information would be publicly released on the matter.

Cleo pressed to confirm name

Detective senior sergeant Cameron added that he had to ask Cleo, who was found in a bedroom, several times to confirm her name.

“I asked her what her name was. One of the guys jumped in front of me and picked her up and I just wanted to be absolutely sure that, it certainly looks like Cleo, I wanted to be sure it was her,” he said.

“I asked three times and then she looked at me and said, ‘my name is Cleo’. And that was it. Then we turned around and walked out of the house.”

Officers became emotional immediately after the incredible discovery.

“We all cried. Most definitely. It was an amazing moment. Suddenly after hearing that, we were on such a high. It was fantastic,” lead investigator superintendent Rod Wilde said

A short time later, an officer contacted Cleo’s parents to deliver the incredible news.

“You can imagine, absolute surprise and they were ecstatic. Things developed so quickly. We didn’t really have time to prepare them. And we didn’t want to give them any false expectations about what might happen. We didn’t know ourselves,” senior sergeant Cameron said.

When police reunited Cleo, who was not physically injured, with her parents at hospital, there was “a lot of kisses, hugs and tears”.

Cleo let out an ecstatic, “Mummy” when she first laid eyes on her mum, he said.

She has since been released from hospital, where medical staff confirmed that she was in fine health and had not been injured.

Superintendent Wilde confirmed police were not seeking any further suspects, and revealed the man currently in custody was not a registered sex offender and had no ties to Cleo’s family.

He added that no individual element led to the location of Cleo, rather it was a combination of several details that pieced together to solve the mystery.

“We had real concerns for her welfare. And as time passed by, they grew worse, so to see that, it was amazing, an amazing outcome,” he said

“We collected a lot of data. That is what we do in these situations. It is a thorough investigation. You would have seen officers going around to every single CCTV location around Carnarvon, within 1000km.

“That is the level of detail you go through in these kinds of investigations. We analyse, we find what we are looking for, and we are lucky that we found it.”

Western Australia Police Commissioner Chris Dawson expressed his elation to have found Cleo, and extended his immense gratitude to the team of 140 people who had worked around the clock to bring her home.

“I am just proud, the proudest Police Commissioner in the world at the moment, right now, I think. To everyone who has worked tirelessly; police, analysts, forensic officers, people behind the scenes, media teams, they have gelled together from day one here,” he told reporters.

“We said we wouldn’t give up, we said we would keep on searching, and we dared to hope.”

Crucial phone call

Mr Dawson earlier detailed the crucial hours before Cleo Smith was found, recalling a phone call at midnight from colleagues confident they had a “strong lead”.

“We’d been following some leads up and just after midnight I got a call to say, ‘look we’ve got a strong lead’, and they briefed me on it and said, ‘we’re going to have to get into this house’,” he told 6PR Wednesday morning.

“They broke into the house, and she was in there.”

Mr Dawson said a short time later he was able to view body-worn camera footage from the rescue, revealing the moment Cleo was found inside a locked Carnarvon house brought him to tears.

Cleo Smith after being rescued. Picture: WA Police

“It unashamedly brought a tear to the eye. It’s just so remarkable, and I’m just so proud of the way they worked their way through this,” he said.

Detectives found Cleo in the early hours of this morning after breaking their way into a house in Carnarvon, about 70km from the campsite where the four-year-old disappeared 18 days ago.

A 36-year-old man from Carnarvon is now in custody and is being questioned by police, with neighbours revealing new information about the man’s movements in the lead up to Cleo being found.

‘Real concerns for Cleo’s welfare’

Lead investigator Superintendent Rod Wilde detailed the extent of the resources engaged in the 18-day-long search for Cleo during press conference Wednesday afternoon.

“We collected a lot of data. That is what we do in these situations. It is a thorough investigation. You would have seen officers going around to every single CCTV location around Carnarvon, within 1000km. That is the level of detail you go through in these kinds of investigations,” he told reporters.

“We analyse, we find what we are looking for, and we are lucky that we found it.

“It was the hard work of the team that did it. Analysing all that information, gathering it and finding the needle in the haystack.

Deputy Commissioner Col Blanch said in a statement on Wednesday morning Cleo had been found “alive and well”.

“A Police team broke their way into a locked house in Carnarvon about 1am. They found little Cleo in one of the rooms,” a statement read.

“One of the officers picked her up into his arms and asked her ‘what’s your name?’ She said – ‘My name is Cleo’.”

Cleo was reunited with her parents a short time later.

Cleo’s mum Ellie Smith has since revealed in a Facebook group Wednesday that her daughter had seen missing posters displayed around town and thought they were “beautiful”.

Ms Smith was responding to a comment suggesting the missing signs be taken down out of respect for Cleo’s family, but many argued it was a way they could display their continued support.

“Cleo has seen her photo. She thought it was beautiful,” Ms Smith wrote in a comment.

Late night tip ‘snowballed’ rapidly

Deputy Commissioner Col Blanch said police reacted “in a heartbeat” after extensive searches – including of critical phone data – presented their “needle in the haystack” late Tuesday night.

“We had a strategy very early on from day one to collect everything,” he said. “We had to find that needle. Now, last night, that needle in the haystack came out and they acted in a heartbeat,” he said.

“It’s a big jigsaw, you know, everything contributed, certainly phone data helped us and that will come apparent.

“But there were lots of things, that when we put the puzzle together it all led to one place, and that’s where we found Cleo.”

He added that a information received Tuesday night rapidly “snowballed” and resulted in the discovery of Cleo.

Cleo Smith has been found alive in Western Australia.

Mr Dawson told the ABC that “there is no family connection” between the man and the family.

“I can simply confirm there is a 36-year-old man in custody,” he said.

Neighbours of the “quiet man” have described seeing him buying nappies just two days before Cleo was discovered.

One man told Sunrise he saw the man in Woolworths buying Kimbies, a brand of nappies, which he thought was odd as the man doesn’t have children.

“The other day – on Monday – we saw him in Woolworths buying Kimbies and that,” he said.

“But we didn’t click on what he was buying them for.”

The neighbour said everyone on the street was familiar with each other, but said the man tended to keep to himself.

“Everyone knows the person who stays at that house, but no one would have thought it would be him,” he told reporters.

“We were shocked.”

It was unlikely the $1 million reward offered by the WA government for information that led to Cleo being found would be handed out, Deputy Commissioner Blanch said.

Asked on Wednesday morning if it would be claimed, he told 6PR, “I don’t believe so, no”.

A neighbour revealed they saw the 36-year-old man buying nappies. Picture: Sunrise

Another neighbour, Sahntayah McKenzie, told The West Australian that she heard a girl crying a few nights ago, but didn’t piece together that it could be Cleo.

“Not last night, the night before it … I heard a little girl crying but I wouldn’t expect it to be Cleo,” she said.

“I didn’t expect it would happen in this little neighbourhood, a lot of people know each other.”

Another local, Rennee Turner, told the publication she had done a construction course with the man, describing him “very quiet”.

“Definitely wouldn’t have picked him … it has completely derailed me,” she said.

“I’d heard whispers … I kind of figured the police might have had an idea of what was going on, because I have never seen such a massive amount of cops here for so long.”

Cleo’s mum breaks silence after daughter found

Deputy Commissioner Blanch thanked investigators, Cleo’s parents, the Western Australian community and the many volunteers who helped in the search for the missing girl.

“This is the outcome we all hoped and prayed for. It’s the outcome we’ve achieved because of some incredible police work,” he said.

Deputy Commissioner Blanch said investigators would have more to say on Cleo’s rescue as the day unfolds.

“For now – Welcome home, Cleo,” he said.

Cleo’s mum, Ellie Smith shared a short message to Instagram this morning, writing: “Our family is whole again”.

Police said Cleo was reunited with her family shortly after being rescued. Picture: Facebook.

Cleo disappeared from the family tent at the Quobba Blowholes campground, in Macleod near Carnarvon in Western Australia’s north, on October 16.

Investigators believed the girl was abducted in the early hours of the morning, after ruling out that she would have been able to wander out of the tent on her own.

Her mum, Ellie Smith, said her daughter woke up at 1.30am asking for water before going back to bed.

Ms Smith then woke up at about 6am to find the tent unzipped and Cleo missing. The Police were called just before 6.30am.

For weeks officers have been questioning people who were at the campsite, mapping CCTV cameras, using drones to help with the search and even shifting through tonnes of rubbish for any clues to her whereabouts.

Cleo was alone when she was found

Details of the lead up to Cleo’s discovery have begun to come to light, with Deputy Commissioner Blanch saying the intelligence that sent police to the home in Carnarvon had only recently been flagged.

“Literally this was a needle in a data haystack and our very, very good officers and investigators and analysis in that task force found that needle late last night and as a result executed that search warrant … just incredible," he told 6PR radio.

He also revealed the 36-year-old man who is in custody wasn’t in the home when Cleo was discovered.

“When the detectives went in and rescued Cleo, she was alone at the time,” he said.

The house where Cleo was found is reportedly just minutes from her family home.

Deputy Commissioner Blanch also told Sunrise that police acted on the intelligence within “a matter of hours”, which saw them enter the home at 12.46am.

“They went into that house, Cleo was in the house alone. A man is assisting us with inquiries at the moment so I’m not going to speak to much more about that given that is part of the current investigation,” he said.

Deputy Commissioner Blanch added that it was still “very early” in the investigation.

The house where Cleo Smith was found. Picture: Sunrise

A group of young men who witnessed the rescue operation told Nine News they saw one of the detectives carrying a young girl as they left the home.

“One of the boys shouted and said, oh they’ve got a little girl there, it might be Cleo … I ran there, stood up toward the detective’s window and I saw Cleo in the back. Yeah, that’s her there,” they said.

One of the major focuses of the investigation has revolved around a report from two people who said they saw a car turn right off Blowholes Rd onto North West Coastal Highway, heading towards Carnarvon, between 3am and 3.30am on the day Cleo vanished.

The car was described as a “passenger vehicle”.

Police haven’t revealed whether the man in custody is the driver of the vehicle that officers have been searching for.

Yesterday it was revealed police had discovered multiple escape routes that avoid CCTV cameras between the campsite and the town of Carnarvon, which is about 70km away.

This means the suspect could have left the campground without being spotted by any cameras.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison praised the officers involved in finding Cleo, following the “wonderful, relieving” news of her discovery.

“Cleo Smith has been found and is home safe and sound. Our prayers answered,” Mr Morrison said in a tweet.

“Thank you to the many police officers involved in finding Cleo and supporting her family.”

What wonderful, relieving news.

Cleo Smith has been found and is home safe and sound.

Our prayers answered.

Thank you to the many police officers involved in finding Cleo and supporting her family.

— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) November 2, 2021

Finding Cleo after 18 days ‘a miracle’, expert says

Criminologist Dr Xanthe Mallett told Sunrise on Wednesday morning that she had been “expecting the worst” due to the length of time Cleo had been missing.

The four-year-old disappeared 18 days ago, with Dr Mallett telling the program it is highly unusual to find an abducted child alive and well after so long.

“This is a miracle. Fantastic news for me to wake up to. I was extremely pleased to hear that,” she said.

Dr Mallett said the last few days indicated police were moving towards a “conclusion strategy”.

She said police would have looked into every single lead that was brought to them.

“It may be that car that was the key to solving this, it may have been something else. Obviously they have looked closely in the local community.”

Abduction likely an ‘opportunistic’ event, police say

Lead investigator into Cleo’s disappearance, Detective Superintendent Rod Wilde revealed on Tuesday that police believed the four-year-old was likely targeted in an “opportunistic type event”.

“We know they got there … on the Friday night. It was getting dark and so there would have been limited opportunity for people to observe Cleo at that time,” he told 6PR radio.

Superintendent Wilde said police were examining how someone could take Cleo from the tent without attracting attention.

“That’s what we’re trying to resolve, that’s what were trying to understand,” he said on Tuesday.

“We’re doing a lot of work forensically … we’ve had over 1000 calls to Crime Stoppers.”

Before Cleo’s discovery, Acting Police Commissioner Col Blanch told ABC radio that the working theory was that she was likely still in WA.

He said the focus at the moment was eliminating “as many people as possible” as suspects, along with forensically going over the ground “inch by inch” for any evidence or clues.

“It could be tyre tracks, it could be the sleeping bag — it could be anything,” he said.