Cleo Smith: $1milion reward for information about missing toddler is unlikely to be claimed

A senior police officer has revealed the $1million reward for information leading to the discovery of Cleo Smith will not be claimed. 

West Australian police officers found the missing four-year-old girl at a Carnarvon home about 1am on Wednesday, 18 days after she disappeared.  

A 36-year-old man – who was not in the home when it was raided – has been arrested in connection with Cleo’s abduction from her parents’ tent at Blowholes campsite, 74km away, on October 16.  

Acting Police Commissioner Col Blanch said detectives received new information about her location late on Tuesday and moved swiftly to rescue little girl.

A 36-year-old man with no connection to the family has been taken into custody. Pictured: The home where Cleo was found 

‘Intelligence led them to that house. They went into that house, Cleo was in the house alone,’ he said. 

However, Commissioner Blanch said no one is set to pocket the seven figure sum offered by the state government on the sixth day of the investigation. 

Asked by reporters on Wednesday whether he thought the reward would be claimed, he said: ‘I don’t believe so, no.’

The revelation has raised questions about how the intelligence fell into the hands of detectives and its potential source.

While police are remaining tight lipped about key details due to the ongoing investigation, Commissioner Chris Dawson said ‘phone data was critical’ in cracking the case open.   

Police had toiled away with few leads until they received a sudden tip-off on Tuesday night containing ‘really important information about a car’. 

Detectives confirmed it with phone data and ‘a lot of forensic leads’ – and just hours later raided the house.

Neighbours of the man who has been taken into custody have reported witnessing  the ‘quiet’ man acting suspiciously in recent days. 

WA Police acting Commissioner Col Blanch (pictured) said it is unlikely the $1million reward for information leading to the discovery of Cleo will be paid out 

A sign offering a $1 million reward for information on missing girl Cleo Smith is displayed on a digital tower in Yagan Square digital in Perth on October 30

One man said he became alarmed after seeing the suspect buying Kimbies nappies from Woolworths on Monday – just two days before the little girl was found. 

Premier Mark McGowan announced the landmark $1million reward on October 21 as police officers started winding down a land search to focus on the theory Cleo had been abducted. 

It was the first time in the state’s history that the seven-figure sum has been offered for help solving a case within the first week of an investigation. 

Commissioner Blanch said the move played a crucial part in boosting leads about the case, and ultimately leading to the toddler’s discovery. 

‘[The reward] raised the profile so much we have community come out strong support. Everybody looking for Cleo, everyone was rallying, everyone called up Crime Stoppers,’ he told Sunrise.

The first picture of Cleo Smith, safe and sound in hospital, after she was rescued from a house in Carnarvon, in northwest Western Australia, where she was held for 18 days

Neighbours of the home where little Cleo Smith (pictured) was kept prisoner before she was rescued by police on Wednesday have revealed the tell-tale signs they missed.

‘The information that came in as a result as a collective always helps point us in the right direction. It was a massive jigsaw puzzle, and we put it all together.’ 

The reward amount does not reflect the importance of a case or of the person missing but is selected based on the police tactics being used in each investigation. 

Such large rewards are offered in the belief that someone knows critical information but considers the benefit of revealing it is outweighed by the downside, particularly if it implicates them in the crime.   

The reward is designed to make the pros of giving information outweigh the cons, with $1million being the highest police will ever offer in exchange for information. 

Cleo was reunited with her family shortly after being found before being taken to hospital to receive care.

Photos shared by Western Australia Police on Wednesday afternoon showed the toddler smiling from her hospital bed as she ate an icypole.

Detective Superintendent Rod Wilde, who led the missing person investigation, said Cleo ‘is physically OK’ and had since been released from hospital to be with her mother and stepfather Jake Gliddon. 

Cleo was likely already locked up in the house when her parents awoke at 6am to find she was no longer lying next to them and her baby sister Isla in their tent.

Cleo is now back in the arms of her mum Ellie and stepfather Jake (pictured together)

Locals in the street where Cleo Smith was held prisoner for 18 days missed telltale signs their ‘oddball’ neighbour was allegedly keeping the little girl captive her after a brazen abduction.

Residents in Tonkin Crescent where she was imprisoned admit they didn’t connect the dots and report key clues that could have led police to the home days earlier. 

Sahntayah McKenzie recalled hearing a little girl crying one night, but did not think anything of it at the time.

‘Not last night, the night before it… I heard a little girl crying but I wouldn’t expect it to be Cleo,’ she told the West Australian.

‘I didn’t expect it would happen in this little neighbourhood, a lot of people know each other.’ 

It’s reported that police were tipped off to the address after neighbours spotted the suspect buying nappies.

One of them told Seven News he became suspicious after seeing the suspect buying Kimbies nappies from a supermarket. 

Commissioner Dawson reportedly broke down in tears upon learning the heartwarming news. He said the youngster (pictured) was good as can be expected

‘The other day, I think it was Monday, we saw him in Woolworths buying nappies but we didn’t click on who it was or what he was buying them for,’ she said. ‘Until now.’

Another neighbour told Nine he had spotted the arrested man behaving bizarrely in recent days, hooning through the streets with his dogs in the front seat of his car.

‘He’s been acting a bit strange lately,’ Henry Dodd told Nine News. ‘He will get in his car, drive that fast. 

‘He doesn’t have his dogs at the front [normally], he has his dogs out the back, but through this week he had his dogs out the front and he has been acting weird.’

Henry Dodd said police spent several hours driving up and down the street before breaking into the home.

Neighbours described the man as ‘quiet’ and said they wouldn’t expect him to be involved.

‘Everyone that knows the person that stays in that house, wouldn’t think that it would be him,’ he said.

‘We got a shock ourselves that it was him.’

In the early hours of the morning, police smashed through the locked door of a home (pictured) in the Brockman suburb of Carnarvon, Western Australia, to rescue the four year old

Another neighbour told the Today show: ‘S**t, she’s been that close.’

Another local described the man in custody as an ‘oddball’.

‘He is a very quiet guy, bit of an oddball… definitely wouldn’t have picked him… it has completely derailed me,’ Rennee Turner said.

‘I’d heard whispers… I kind of figured the police might have had an idea of what was going on, because I have never seen such a massive amount of cops here for so long.’ 

Others said he in recent weeks bought food he didn’t usually buy, and that he moved his dog that usually stayed in the backyard to the front yard.

Neighbours who witnessed the dramatic police raid, after which officers were seen carrying a crow bar and a battering ram out of the house, described how Cleo was carried to safety.

‘We stood back and waited but after that, we saw someone, on the detective shoulder. We thought it might be the little girl, which it was,’ Henry Dodd told Seven News.

‘I went closer to the detectives car and I saw her in the back of the car with the detective, he was holding her. They put her in the back and I came over, rushed over here and seen her there. She looked at me, a bit scared.’ 

Mr Dodd said he was shocked he had been just metres away from her while the nationwide hunt was going on for her.

‘I just can’t believe it and get over the fact that she is just the house down from us and locked up here for a couple of weeks,’ he added.

‘Going on three weeks, she is straight across from us. I’ve got little sisters there…’ 

Daily Mail Australia understands a local police officer rang Cleo’s mother to break the incredible news. 

Ms Smith wrote on Instagram hours later: ‘Our family is whole again.’

A close family friend also revealed the emotional message Ms Smith earlier wrote to her loved ones to let them know her ‘beautiful girl is home’.

‘To be woken at 4.50am with my phone going crazy and see the words Cleo is home alive and safe,’ she wrote on Facebook.

‘Seeing Ellie saying her ‘beautiful girl is home’ is nothing short of a miracle.’

One neighbour Henry (pictured)  said he had spotted the arrested man behaving unusually in recent days, hooning through the streets in his car with his dogs in the front seat

Police Air Wing PC12 picked up the suspect, who has no relation to Cleo’s family, from Carnarvon and landed at Perth’s Jandakot Airport late on Wednesday 

What happened to Cleo in the house where she was held captive for more than two weeks, without her family, is yet to be determined, but psychologists said she would have a long road to recovery.

Police Air Wing PC12 picked up the suspect, who has no relation to Cleo’s family, from Carnarvon and landed at Perth’s Jandakot Airport late on Wednesday morning. 

Police Commissioner Chris Dawson was on board the plane and will spend the day meeting with police involved in the rescue and checking in with Cleo’s family.

The police chief broke down in tears upon learning the heartwarming news. He said Cleo was as good as can be expected.

‘I saw the vision, Cleo is a beautiful little four-year-old girl,’ he said.

‘She’s as well as we could expect in the circumstances. She’s alive, well, smiling, so it is a wonderful, wonderful result.’

He said Cleo’s parents were emotional but doing well.

‘They’re strong people, they are really strong people. They have good support around them,’ Commissioner Dawson said. 

‘It’s a wonderful result today but it’ll be a tough journey for them.’

CLEO DISAPPEARANCE  TIMELINE

 By Olivia Day for Daily Mail Australia

Friday, October 15

Cleo along with her mother Ellie Smith, her partner Jake Gliddon and her little sister Isla Mae arrive at the Blowholes campsite around 6:30pm.

They had a ‘quiet’ night and arrived at sunset.

Saturday, October 16

1:30am: Parents’ last sighting of Cleo in the tent she shared with her parents and baby sister when the four-year-old asks for some water.

6.23am: Ellie calls 000 to report her eldest daughter missing as she continues to search the camp ground.

6.30am: The first two officers are dispatched from Carnarvon police station. They travel to Blowholes as a matter of priority, with sirens and lights.

6.41am: A second police car with another two officers is sent to Blowholes, also with lights and sirens.

7.10am: The first police car arrives. The second is only minutes behind.

7.26am: Police on the scene establish a protected forensic area which is taped off to the public, surrounding the family tent where Cleo was last seen.

7.33am: A drone operator is called upon to search from the skies.

7.44am: A third police car is dispatched to the Blowholes.

8am: Family and friends of Cleo’s parents begin to arrive to help with the ground search.

Another group of detectives briefly searches Cleo’s home to make sure she’s not there.

They then head to Blowholes and begin stopping cars coming into and leaving the area.

8.09am: A helicopter from a local company arrived at the scene and started searching as police request an SES team attend the Blowholes search.

8.24am: Police air-wing and volunteer marine searchers are called in to assist with the search.

8.34am: Roadblocks are set up at the entrance of Blowholes as detectives gather the names, registration details and addresses of people coming and going. Police search cars.

9.25am: Nine SES personel arrive at the Blowholes to assist with the search.

Investigators, bounty hunters and officers from the Australian Federal Police have spent two-and-a-half weeks searching for missing four-year-old Cleo (pictured)

9.30am: Detectives sit down with a distressed Ellie and remain by her side for the rest of the day while other search crews hunt for Cleo.

11am: Homicide detectives from the Major Crime Division are called and begin travelling from Perth to assist with the search.

1pm: More homicide detectives and search experts are flown in from Perth.

3pm: Officers and search experts arrive in Carnarvon to offer their expertise.

Sunday, October 17

Ms Smith takes to social media to plead for help finding her missing daughter.

A Facebook post uploaded at 1:45am on Sunday which said: ‘It’s been over 24 hours since I last seen the sparkle in my little girl’s eyes.

‘Please help me find her!

‘If you hear or see anything at all please call the police!’

Police suggest Cleo may have been abducted.

Monday, October 18

Police release an image of the red and grey sleeping bag missing from Cleo’s tent.

Cleo’s biological father is interviewed by police in Mandurah and is asked to provide a statement, which he does so willingly.

WA Police with the help of SES members, volunteers and aircraft continue the land hunt for Cleo, with officers searching nearby shacks and vehicles in the area.

Tuesday, October 19

Cleo’s mother Ellie Smith and her partner Jake Gliddon front the media for the first time and describe the terrifying moment they realised the little girl was missing.

Ms Smith says her four-year-old would never have left the tent by herself.

Police release new images of Cleo and the pink and blue one-piece she was wearing the night she went missing to aid the investigation.

Investigators urge anyone who was at the campsite or in the vicinity on October 15 to get in contact with police. 

Wednesday, October 20

Police reveal the zip of the family tent, which was found hanging wide open by her mother at 6am on Saturday morning, was too high for Cleo to reach.

Officers say they ‘haven’t ruled out’ reports from campers who heard the sound of screeching tyres in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Deputy Police Commissioner Daryl Gaunt confirms officers are investigating the whereabouts of 20 registered sex offenders in the Carnarvon area.

Thursday, October 21

The WA Government offers a $1million reward for information that leads to Cleo’s location announced by WA Premier Mark McGowan.

‘All Western Australians’ thoughts are with Cleo’s family during what is an unimaginably difficult time,’ Mr McGowan said.

‘We’re all praying for a positive outcome.’

The speed of the reward being issued – within days of her disappearance – was unprecedented.

Pictured: Police are seen examining rubbish left near the Blowholes campsite in remote WA 

Monday, October 25

WA Police confirm Cleo was definitely at the camp site – on CCTV footage on a camera installed inside a beach shack just 20 metres from the family tent she disappeared from. 

Tuesday, October 26

Forensic officers and detectives spent much of the day at her home in Carnarvon, 900km north of Perth, on Tuesday and left with two bags of evidence.

Although investigators had been to the home before, this was the first time they thoroughly searched inside with a forensics team.

Acting WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch said the search of the family home was ‘standard practice’ and did not indicate they were suspects in Cleo’s disappearance.

Wednesday, October 27

WA Police forensics officers return to the Blowholes campground and are seen collecting soil samples from a number of campfires near shacks in the area.

The federal government announce Australian Federal Police officers had been drafted in to support forensic and intelligence efforts.

Friday, October 29

Police return to the Blowholes camp to analyse the area with drones.

Detective Superintendent Rod Wilde returns to the Blowholes campsite to join the search for Cleo as the search hit the two-week mark.

He confirms national and international agencies are engaged in the search for Cleo.

Sunday, October 31

Detectives go door-knocking at a number of homes along the North West Coastal Highway in the North Plantations, 5km from Cleo’s hometown on Sunday.

Monday, November 1

Detectives sort through mounds of rubbish from roadside bins located hundreds of kilometres away from the campsite she vanished from.

The material was transported to Perth, where forensic officers and recruits sorted through hundreds of bags in search of items that may have helped them find Cleo.

Officers issue a plea for dash cam and CCTV footage from within a 1000km radius of where the four-year-old disappeared.

Police renew an appeal for more businesses in Carnarvon to provide footage and go door to door in an industrial area on the outskirts of the town.

Her elated mother, Ellie, (pictured, with Cleo, her partner and younger daughter) broke her silence the morning Cleo was found, sharing a series of love heart emojis on Instagram 

Wednesday, November 3

After two-and-a-half weeks of searching Cleo Smith is found alive and well in the early hours of November 3.

WA Police Deputy Commissioner Col Blanch confirmed just before 7am AEST that little Cleo is alive and well and had been reunited with her relieved parents.

‘One of the officers picked her up into his arms and asked her ‘what’s your name?’ he said. ‘She said: ‘My name is Cleo’.’

Ellie Smith posted to social media: ‘Our family is whole again’.

A Carnarvon man is currently in custody and being questioned by detectives.

On October 19, Ellie Smith (pictured) and her partner Jake Gliddon fronted the media for the first time and begged the public to report any information ‘big or small’