Cleo Smith’s mother has revealed more information about the night her daughter was abducted.
In her first interview since her daughter was found, Ellie Smith said her daughter still has nightmares.
4-year-old Cleo was abducted from a family campsite in Western Australia last October.
36-year-old Terrence Darrell Kelly lured the young girl out of the tent. He lied to her and told her her baby sister was sick.
Cleo’s mum shared: “She tells us that she was taken because her baby sister was sick.
“And so she needed to be taken away from us so that we could help her baby sister. She just knows a reason as to what he’s told her.”
Cleo was missing for 18 days but was later found on November 3rd.
Her family received a call when police officers found the young girl alone in a house, just minutes away from their own home.
Speaking of the moment she found out Cleo was safe, Ellie said she was in shock.
“I was asleep when the phone call came through and I was like ‘this is either good or bad’. I answered it and straight away the officer said, ‘I’ve got someone who wants to say hello to you.
She continued, “I was swearing, I was like ‘oh my God, no way.”
“Cleo got on to the phone and she’s like ‘hi mummy’ and I was like ‘hi baby’.”
Her mother said Cleo is making progress, but she fears what happened will affect her forever.
“She’s blocked out a lot as to what’s happened. She kind of went into survivor mode and pushed it very far away,” she shared.
Cleo’s mum said she is happy and bubbly, but she is also sad and angry.
