Cleo Smith, a four-year-old Australian girl, was abducted on 16 October 2021 from a campsite in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia (WA).
She was found alive and well on 3 November, after police raided the home of Terence Darrell Kelly in the nearby town of Carnarvon.
Her safe recovery after eighteen days was described as extremely rare, and received widespread news coverage and social media reaction both across Australia and internationally.
[2] At approximately 6:30 p.m. on 15 October 2021, the family arrived at the Blowholes campsite in Macleod, around 80 km north of Carnarvon, for a weekend visit.
[11][12] Various Australian media organisations reported this reward attracted bounty hunters to Carnarvon to search for Cleo.
[19][20] On 3 November 2021, Cleo was found by police, alive and well, inside a locked house located minutes from her family home in Carnarvon.
[37] On 4 November 2021, police charged 36-year-old Carnarvon resident Terence Darrell Kelly with two offences including one count of forcibly taking a child under 16.
[40] He appeared via video link and pleaded guilty to one count of child stealing, but did not enter a plea on a charge of assaulting a public officer.
[41] The assault charge was subsequently downgraded to obstructing police officers, to which he pleaded guilty on 30 January 2023 and was fined $1000.
He was subject to child protection intervention and at the age of two was placed into the care of his aunt Penny Walker, whom he referred to as his grandmother.
[52] On 3 November 2021, media outlet Seven News named the wrong person as Cleo's alleged abductor, retracting and apologising later that day.
[54] The person misidentified claimed that the incident led to him receiving death threats and required him to undergo medical treatment following a severe panic attack; in response he planned to sue Seven for defamation.