The Australian’s Australian of the Year: Cleo Smith’s police heroes nominated for award

The remarkable rescue of four-year-old Cleo Smith from a rundown house sparked an outpouring of joy across the nation.

Cleo Smith.

The remarkable rescue of four-year-old Cleo Smith from a rundown house in the early hours of a Wednesday morning in November – and the subsequent photo of a smiling Cleo, Icy Pole in hand, waving at the camera from her hospital bed – sparked an outpouring of joy across the nation.

Cleo’s recovery, some 18 days after she disappeared in the middle of the night from her family tent at the remote Blowholes campground 70km north of Carnarvon in northwest Western Australia, was also a triumph of dogged police work.

Detective Superintendent Rod Wilde was the man installed to lead Taskforce Rodia, set up to find out what happened to Cleo.

As hopes for the missing girl faded, and as wild theories around her disappearance continued to swirl, Wilde and the 140 officers working on the case remained disciplined and determined in piecing together what had happened.

In the end, despite the carrot of a $1m reward, there was no single tip-off or sighting that cracked the case. It was a combination of multiple pieces of information gathered by police, including data gleaned from mobile phone towers, that allowed Taskforce Rodia to hone in on reclusive Carnarvon man Terence Kelly as allegedly responsible for Cleo’s abduction.

As pieces of the puzzle began to fit into place, it fell to a group of four detectives – Det-Sen Sgt Cameron Blaine, Det-Sen Const Kurt Ford, Det-Sen Const Drew Masterson, and Det-Sgt Jason Hutchinson – to burst into Kelly’s home.

As Blaine would later recall, the four had no idea what to expect: whether young Cleo would be there, or what condition she would be in. As it transpired, Cleo was sitting up playing with toys as they entered. Audio of that moment, later released by WA police, captured the incredible moment as Blaine repeatedly asked her name. “My name is Cleo,” she eventually replied.

While the work of WA police reunited a family and brought jubilation to a country, it also helped further restore the standing of a police force whose reputation had been damaged in recent decades.

A series of bungled investigations and prosecutions – headlined by the years police spent pursuing innocent suspects in the Claremont serial killer investigation – now look to firmly belong in a different era.

Task-force Rodia has been collectively nominated The Australian’s Australian of the Year.

Readers are encouraged to submit a nomination for The Australian’s Australian of the Year. Prominent Australians can be nominated by filling out the form, or emailing to [e-mail]. Nominations close on Friday, January 21.