As Cleo Smith was reunited with her family after an intensive two-and-a-half week search, many who have been gripped by her case want answers on her alleged abductor.
The missing four-year-old was found locked inside a Carnarvon home at 1 am on Wednesday morning, and an arrest of a 36-year-old man was made nearby.
Western Australia police have said the man has no connections to Cleo’s family.
Homicide Detective Superintendent Rod Wilde confirmed that the man in custody has been known to local police before.
“He is known but I have to be very careful around that,” Detective Superintendent Wilde said when questioned by reporters.
WA Police said he only became a suspect in the case on Tuesday and had previously not been of interest.
While in his holding cell, the man in custody sustained serious head injuries and was taken to the local hospital by police.
The man, who has remained nameless, has since returned to custody.
After Cleo was taken to safety and reunited with her parents, police spent the day collecting evidence and seized several items from the man’s house, including a rug which was flown to Perth for forensic examination.
Det. Supt. Wilde confirmed Cleo was taken from the campsite and that police didn’t believe anyone else had been involved except the man, as he said, “It appears to be opportunistic.”
EDITOR’S UPDATE: Terence Darrell Kelly has been taken into custody and questioned before police released a statement late on Thursday Nov 4, saying he had been charged with “various offences” relating to Cleo’s Smith’s alleged abduction, including one count of forcibly taking a child aged under 16.
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