Cleo Smith’s parents, Ellie and Jake, have shared the terrifying moment they realised their daughter had vanished during a family camping trip in 2021.
In the early hours of October 16, 2021, the family was asleep at the remote Blowholes campsite in Western Australia, where four-year-old Cleo was in the tent with her parents and younger sister, Isla.
While they slept, Terence Darrell Kelly was moving through the area, later described as being there with the intention of stealing a handbag.
Instead, prosecutors said he took Cleo.
After using methamphetamine, Kelly abducted the child sometime between 2.40am and 4.40am. Ellie only discovered something was wrong at about 6am, when she woke to find Cleo missing — along with her sleeping bag.
Her disappearance triggered one of the country’s largest search operations, with extensive resources deployed across the rugged landscape, including air support and ground teams.
Cleo remained missing for 18 days.
Police eventually located Kelly, who was later sentenced to 13 years in prison over the abduction. When officers found Cleo, they were stunned by the conditions — she was in a room containing a mattress inside a house filled with dolls, according to The Guardian.
For Ellie and Jake, the experience left a lasting impact.
In an interview with 60 Minutes, the couple described the moment their fear turned into certainty.
“The second we realized she was gone and her sleeping bag was gone. Yeah. That was the second we knew she did not walk away,” said mom Ellie.
They said there were “no drag marks of this sleeping bag”, and that Cleo “couldn’t have carried it” herself.
Ellie added: “I mean, we were hoping she was around the corner and that’s it was just a nightmare. You know, deep down we knew. Deep down we knew she did not walk away. She was taken.”
Even with that realisation, the parents were still shaken to learn the offender had ties to their own community. Kelly was from the same town as the family, and kept Cleo at his home in Carnarvon — close to where they lived.
“We grew up there. I was born there. And someone that lived there and grew there was the person that did it,” said Ellie.
Despite what happened, Ellie and Jake say Cleo is doing well now and is approaching her ninth birthday.
They also revealed she has recently returned from a trip to Singapore, where she took part in an international gymnastics competition.
After such a devastating ordeal, the family says it’s a relief to see her moving forward and thriving.