Police instruct Cleo Smith’s parents not to discuss details of her disappearance with her

WA Police have had to issue “hard” advice to Cleo Smith’s parents following her amazing rescue on Wednesday morning.

Police in Western Australia have revealed the advice they had to give Cleo Smith’s parents after her incredible rescue early on Wednesday morning.

Detective Senior Sergeant Cameron Blaine told reporters on Thursday that police had to be careful what they said to Cleo, and had requested that her parents exercise the same caution.

“We’ve given them advice around that, and that must be incredibly hard for them, so we appreciate their assistance and cooperation with that,” he said.

“As we’ve said all along, they couldn’t have been more cooperative and more understanding of the police work that has gone on.

“It’s not always the case that people understand that, you know, we want to see a successful prosecution at the end of the day for the people who are responsible.

“They have been absolutely fantastic the whole way through.”

Cleo pictured in her mum Ellie’s arms, leaving the house where she spent her first night after being rescued. Picture: Richard Wainwright/AAP

Cleo Smith pictured in hospital after she was found by police. Picture: WA Police

Discussing the intricacies of what occurred with Cleo would have the potential to jeopardise the accuracy of information she relays when she is interviewed by police.

“They understand where we are going with the investigation and what remains to be done,” Senior Sergeant Blaine said.

“Our family liaison officer is going back out there now to speak to them and talk them through the next steps.”

A reporter asked whether that meant the family was largely being “kept in the dark for the time being”, not really knowing what happened.

“We share with them what information we can. They know what they need to know,” Senior Sergeant Blaine said.

“Obviously it’s still a time where we’re exploring all the facts. We’re getting information from, still, a number of different sources. Some of that information is completely wrong. So we’re careful about what information we share with people, we want to make sure we’re 100 per cent sure of the facts.”

He also revealed that when officers arrived at the locked Carnarvon home and found her alone in a bedroom, she was playing with toys and the light was on.

Police had to refrain from discussing too many details, however.

“This is still a matter that needs to go before the courts, there’s certain aspects of what we saw that is going to be evidence, and I don’t want to say anything that’s going to prejudice that,” he said.

The 36-year-old suspect, who is expected to be charged later on Thursday, has been released from hospital after being admitted twice for unspecified injuries.

Why Cleo’s case is so different to others

A criminologist has revealed the strange details of the Cleo case that set it apart from other abduction cases not only in Australia, but throughout the world.

The University of Newcastle’s Xanthe Mallett said she had “never seen anything like this” when talking about the four-year-old girl’s discovery after her 18-day disappearance.

“I’ve looked at a number of cases not only in Australia but in the UK and US have never seen anything like this when a child is taken by a stranger. Sadly they are normally killed quickly during the first three hours,” Dr Mallett told the ABC.

“So when we stretched into 24 hours, 48 hours, and the days progressed I became more and more fearful that the news would be bad.”

She said she was “elated” when she heard that Cleo had been found alive and well, adding seeing those images of her smiling in the hospital “was really special”.

Police searched the area where 4yr old missing girl Cleo Smith was last seen at the Blowholes campsite, 70km north of Carnarvon. Supplied: WA Police

Cleo disappeared from her family’s tent at the Quobba Blowholes campground near Carnarvon in on October 16.

She was rescued in the early hours of Wednesday morning after police found her inside a locked house in Carnarvon, just minutes from her own family home.

A 36-year-old man has been arrested and has been questioned by police, with charges expected to be announced today.

Big question police want answered

Speaking to Sunrise this morning, Deputy Commissioner Col Blanch said police are now trying to piece together exactly what happened inside the house where Cleo was discovered.

When asked if anyone else other than the suspect had entered the home during this time, he said that was not the “immediate information” police had at this time.

“That is all subject to the investigation and the investigation is underway at the moment about the circumstances of those 18 days in that house,” he told the program.

“It is not our immediate information that that is the case but certainly we have to go through each day forensically and work out who came, who didn’t and what the circumstances were and what took place in that house.”

He told 2GB that police have to be “really careful with Cleo” and that they have been giving her time with her family before interviewing her.

“We will be talking to Cleo, but we have to do it very carefully. We have professional child interviewing experts and we will try to get information out of her about those 18 days,” Deputy Commissioner Blanch said.

“That is a really hard, slow process and it is OK if she doesn’t want to tell us.”

Critical decision that led to Cleo’s discovery

Fresh details have emerged of the critical moment police made the decision to break into a Western Australian home in the dead of night, which led to Cleo’s discovery.

She had been missing for 18 days when investigators received a late-night lead, which led officers to a house in Carnarvon.

Investigators believed the four-year-old may be inside, though Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said officers really had no idea what waited for them on the other side of the locked door.

“They really did not know what they were going to encounter,” he said

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

This is the moment four-year-old Cleo Smith was rescued by police. Picture: WA Police/AFP

Officers acted within a “matter of hours” of the new lead, breaking into the home at 12.46am where they found Cleo alone, physically uninjured and playing with toys.

Deputy Commissioner Blanch announced Cleo had been found “alive and well” no Wednesday morning.

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

“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.

Incredible 1am call to Cleo’s mum

The incredible moment Cleo Smith’s mum heard her daughter’s voice for the first time in 18 days has been revealed.

At about 1am on Wednesday, Ellie Smith received the phone call she had been hoping to receive every day since her four-year-old daughter went missing on a family camping trip.

Cleo was in the car with homicide squad Detective Senior Sergeant Cameron Blaine and family liaison officer Detective Sergeant Hutchinson on the way to the hospital when the call was made, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

“We’ve got someone here that wants to speak to you,” Ms Smith was reportedly told.

Cleo Smith pictured with mum Ellie Smith, stepdad Jake Gliddon and her sister. Picture: Facebook.

Deputy Commissioner Blanch told 2GB’s Ben Fordham that Ms Smith and Cleo’s stepdad Jake Gliddon spent all night cuddling her after she was returned to them.

“Ellie and Jake had been through 18 days of hell and I know Australia have felt that with them,” he said.

“I’m pretty sure they all slept in the same room just cuddling all night.”

Suspect was arrested before Cleo’s rescue

A 36-year-old man was also taken in to custody in the early hours of Wednesday morning. He is currently being questioned by police and charges are yet to be laid.

The West Australian revealed the man was pulled over by police in a car and arrested near Carnarvon at about midnight, with officers then breaking into the home to rescue Cleo.

Officials said the man only became a suspect in the case on Tuesday.

Police have released minimal details about the man, who is believed to be a Carnarvon local, with Commissioner Dawson only revealing “there is no family connection” between him and Cleo’s family.

“I’m not going to elaborate further in terms of that man, other than to say he is a local man from Carnarvon, and we will be having something further to say later,” he said.

Yesterday, 7 News captured video footage of the man in the back of an ambulance.

A photo provided to NCA NewsWire showed the man under heavy police guard with what appeared to be a bandage wrapped around his head.

The first image of the man arrested over the alleged abduction of Cleo Smith. Picture: Supplied by Simon Hydzik/7 News

Deputy Commissioner Blanch told 2GB he had to be taken to hospital for a second time on Thursday morning, though he had “no serious injuries”.

“Police have a very clear role under law that if we are going to interview anyone they must be of sound mind, they must be healthy, they must be fed, they must have had sufficient rest,” he said.

“If any answers in a police interview are going to stand up in court, we must satisfy those things.”

Lead investigator Detective Superintendent Rod Wilde told reporters police did not have any other suspects in the case.

“It appears as though it was opportunistic,” he said.

The man has been described by neighbours as “quiet” and “lonely”, with many expressing shock following his arrest.

Neighbours claimed the man had been seen purchasing nappies despite not having a child.

Police said they were not aware of any nappy purchase when asked during a press conference on Wednesday.

One neighbour said the man’s dog was usually at the back of the house but had more recently been at the front.

Henry Dodd said he saw the moment Cleo came out of the house being held tight on a detective’s shoulder.

“She looked at me and she was a bit scared,” he told 9 News.

Police forensics at the house where Cleo was found. Picture: Colin Murty

‘Real concerns for Cleo’s welfare’

Superintendent Wilde detailed the extent of the resources engaged in the 18-day-long search for Cleo during a press conference on 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.

A sign thanking police for finding Cleo Smith is seen on the main road into Carnarvon. Picture: Tamati Smith/Getty Images

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.

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

Family reacts to miracle rescue

Cleo’s mum, Ellie Smith shared a short message to Instagram on Wednesday morning after being reunited with her daughter writing: “Our family is whole again”.

Ms Smith later revealed in a Facebook group that her daughter had seen missing posters displayed around town and thought they were “beautiful”.

She 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.

Cleo’s biological father, Daniel Staines, also spoke out following Cleo’s rescue.

“We are all absolutely overjoyed at the good news this morning and so happy that Cleo has been reunited with her mum and dad,” the typed statement, handed to the West Australian, read.

“Thank you to everyone who helped look for her and bring her home, particularly the WA Police, SES and the Carnarvon community.”