The sympathy after her disappearance was enormous – not only in Australia. After 18 days, Cleo Smith was discovered safe and sound in a house – and she seems to be doing amazingly well.
Perth – One day after the missing four-year-old was rescued, Australian media released a video of the reunited family for the first time.
You can see Cleo in a pink and white dress as she is carried out of the house by her radiant mother and holds a pink balloon in her hands. The girl seems to be doing amazingly well, she looks “happy and cheerful”, quoted the broadcaster 7News Chief Sergeant Cameron Blaine, who first discovered Cleo in a room of a locked house.
The fate of the child and his family had held the whole of Australia in suspense for 18 days. Cleo disappeared from the family tent on October 16 from a campsite 75 kilometers north of her hometown Carnarvon. When the parents woke up in the morning, both their daughter and her sleeping bag were no longer there. The zipper of the entrance was pulled up so far that the toddler couldn’t have opened it himself. The investigators quickly assumed a kidnapping. Then yesterday the redeeming news: Police discovered Cleo physically unharmed in a house in Carnarvon.
BREAKING: Little Cleo has emerged from her Carnarvon family home, safely in the arms of mum Ellie, for the first time since her remarkable rescue. #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/cVb8xwKowE
— 7NEWS Perth (@7NewsPerth) November 4, 2021
“I can only see her from the outside, of course,” Blaine said. “But from this point of view I am amazed that she seems so balanced and happy.” It is heartwarming to see that she is cheerful and laughing after this experience – and can finally fall asleep again in her mother’s arms.
A 36-year-old suspect was taken into custody around the same time as Cleo’s discovery, he was questioned. Charges may be brought against him shortly, Australian media reported. Much in this case is still unclear. The police are still trying to find out whether the girl was kept in the house for the entire 18 days, said lead investigator Rod Wilde. The suspect is said to have no connection with Cleo’s family. dpa
