WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Kidnapped Aussie child's miracle outback rescue | 60 Minutes Australia

Mar 18, 2024

I said "hey, I'm like I miss you, she's like, I missed you too and um, yeah, it was just that she was beautiful and I'm like I'm hugging her and I'm like I miss you, she's like, I think It's like I'm hugging her. And I'm like, Hey, Jake's right behind me and we're trying to take turns, but we both don't want to let him pass. This was the iconic image of Cleo seen around the

world

, proof that she. She was fine, radiant and cheerful as always. And seemingly unfazed by her ordeal, what do you think Cleo understood from that moment?

I still don't think she really understood what happened in general. You know, being so young and at that age, do you think Cleo had an understanding of time? Do you think she knew that she hadn't seen you for 18 days? I don't think she understood like in those days, but she knew it was a long time. Yes, I think she surprised everyone by looking so good. In the images that were published of her, she spent 18 days away from you, she looked healthy, she didn't seem traumatized, that caught your attention, right? I think because we've seen that they cut her hair, they dyed her hair like that.

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world exclusive kidnapped aussie child s miracle outback rescue 60 minutes australia...

I guess we saw the little things that people didn't see and you saw that immediately, yes, knowing that her daughter's hair had been cut off and died felt like such a personal intrusion that it stole some of the joy of the long-awaited reunion of her. just angry because someone tried to change her to fit what they wanted. Did she tell you about that? Did she tell you about her haircuts and hair color and she said yes, like you knew she had pink? hair and then she washed it she said it didn't work and um and then we had to cut our hair again because it was basically all cut up in pieces and Cleo told you how she felt about that happening to her, not again.

I think she was really confused, yeah, as to why it was happening in general, that you knew a stranger had done this to your daughter, what was that like? I was like, I'm going to like it, yeah. She just exploded. I was so angry at the things she was saying and she just needed a second to walk away, so wouldn't you know, I let out my anger while she was there because I didn't want her to know. how that's how i felt i was here in this nondescript house cleo is believed to have been held for almost three weeks terence kelly's social media posts revealed the inside and his strange obsession with bratz dolls as if that's what he wanted, she won a little doll that is so disgusting and disgusting, is there anything else you can tell me about what you know about that house or the conditions they kept cleo in? ah, when the police found cleo, she was awake, so at one in the morning she was awake playing with cars, just little cars, so her night and her day were very mixed, she told us that she could hear the dogs barking and the police confirmed that the house is basically as it was posted on social media, yes, so there are the dolls and everything like that and you understand that she was locked in that room for 18 days that's where they kept her we don't know exactly what room um and we don't know if they moved her at all in the house in that house for 18 days we don't know if she was yeah we don't know if she was in that room or if they moved her like in the same house but in different rooms , all we know is that she washed out that pink dye. out of her hair and that's what we know about her moving around the house knowing that Cleo is very young knowing that she is afraid of the dark knowing that she is without you what is it like knowing that he left her in that room ?

He wasn't there when they found her other times they had seen him around town, either betting on her account or supposedly buying diapers so he knew she was alone, what does that do to both of them? Oh, it makes them angry. Yeah, I think there's a lot of anger, but at the same time I guess for me as a mother, he wasn't there to be able to hurt her too, so I feel like you know that could have been that moment where she was. safe from him, I know this is a very difficult area to analyze, but has anyone suggested to you what this man intended to do with Cleo?

I don't think we really know what his intentions were. I think from what we know, I don't know. I know if he even knew what his intentions would be in the days and weeks after the meeting at the hospital. Ellie and Jake learned more from Cleo, but it's understandably slow going to this day. We don't know the full story, but it was just. Minor things that she would say, they took off her necklace and she would turn around and say, you know, but my necklace is still in that place and, yeah, she's blocked a lot, as far as what happened, like she's gone. in survivor mode and she pushed him too far, yeah, do you remember she got kicked out of the store or did she block him?

She remembers why they took her, so she tells us that she was taken because her little sister was sick, yes, etc. He needed her to be taken away from us so we could help her little sister. She only knows one reason for what he told her. What was that like to learn? Yeah, pretty angry after we start to realize that you already know the story that she's been. I told her that we had a lot of anger, but because we wanted to have our hearts full of you know, there's no hate or anything like that while we help her heal and we heal ourselves, yeah, and that's to this day what we are doing to what extent. since cured you feel like you are and she we have a long way to go um and she also you know she's probably going to have to deal with this for the rest of her life and you know we're going to eventually have to find out everything that happened and we're going to have to carry with that too.

You can keep this one, it's her photo, but as you will see, this family is far from broken and has big plans for the future. Are you defiant? that this man cannot steal everything from you we do not want to let go of everything we have we are and who we are I think it is the beginning of our new beginning what is your name what is your name my name is reliving This precious moment, the

rescue

of his daughter Cleo, is an emotional experience for Jake Glidden and Ellie Smith, not only because of the 18-day ordeal she went through, but because of the extraordinary work it took to get her back.

Mom, big hugs, kisses, um, yeah and. a lot of tears, honestly, I can't thank everyone who was involved enough, everyone who helped, a police community, every volunteer place, it was a very difficult time, going through everything we are going through, but everyone did everything. they could and they really showed it, that is, we got the result we wanted thanks to them, thanks to everyone who helped little Cleo, the joy of being home that first morning is captured in this video that the family shared for the first time time there. It's nothing sweeter, but even in those first magical hours together, Ellie could see that her daughter had changed.

It was probably like seven in the morning, so it was only six hours after we got her back and she was jumping around, you know, dancing, singing. she was so happy um and that was yeah, it was such a beautiful moment just seeing her as old cleo um but you could still see that it was like for us, you know, we've seen her do it a million times before and now. a million later and she's still different, she's still different, she and she always will be, but that's our life now. Is there pain involved in that for you?

Yes, definitely, as a parent, you want to make sure they stay kids for as long as possible. as long as they can because you don't want them to be in this big bad

world

and she lost that and that was taken away for the girl who was afraid of the dark, the terrifying kidnapping of her has left Cleo with new fears and sleepless nights . Yes, she hates doors closing, yes, even still, yes, to this day, like the first week, it was probably the worst. We had to have all the doors open, all the lights on, just for her to go to sleep and still she.

I'll wake up screaming uh and yeah, it was nightmare after nightmare um after going through the nightmare, it must really be heartbreaking to experience, yeah, yeah, it was and then you know you should try not to cry in front of your

child

, it was. Seeing him go through so much and feel so much pain again, you know, and people are still on social media and attacking us and they don't even know what we've been through or what we're still going through, it's yeah. it's terrible two weeks ago terence kelly pleaded guilty to kidnapping cleo will be back in court next month facing other charges for ellie and jake knowing who took their daughter is a crucial step towards normality in terms of moving on with their lives without afraid um having some resolution is important oh definitely yes, that you know who the person was and that he is being punished for it yes, it was a relief that we could still return to our family home, you know without thinking that someone is watching us um or to think that you know something like that could happen again um so it was nice to know that yes, I guess we were as safe as possible, yes, again you talk about your own anger directed at the man who took her, Cleo has expressed. angry or has she expressed any feelings or thoughts about this man uh not directly um but her emotions are very up and down um yeah, she was very angry, she lashed out a lot of the time like she never really understood her feelings, so you already know. during our healing process, that's what we're doing, helping her understand, it's okay to be angry, it's okay to be sad, it's okay to be happy, now we're just helping her on the path of her journey and I guess I mean you .

I'd be desperate to know everything there is to know, but you can't, you can't, you can't pressure a

child

like that, oh no, never, we're glad we didn't want her to relive that, um, so we don't let her. I asked no questions about what happened, why would you want to put your child through it again? Which was the place they loved the most but where they experienced the worst. Camp Quavo Blowhole where Jake and Ellie spent much of their childhood. It's a place they can never go back to. Pretty much our favorite place to go is ruined now yeah, we really don't want to go back, we can't go back there now, I know there's no way in hell I'll ever get to see those heels. again and not think about the moments when you know I was, I was sitting and waiting for Claire to run into my arms and say, you know I'm here, okay, what are you doing creating nails whose nails are you painting daddy and so on? they have done? a big announcement to make with great enthusiasm and some regret for leaving your beloved community behind.

They're hitting the road. We are going to move. Let's get a caravan. And we are going to tour Wa. as much as we can, but since you can't cross the border, yes, we can't cross the border, so until the borders are open, we want to go all over Australia, but until we find a place to have a new beginning, yes, a new start so there's a lot of camping ahead just not in the blowhole and it'll have locks and oh my gosh it all looks really beautiful baby it's not so much about running away from bad memories but creating better ones so Now I go to school on Tuesday. go to school you're defiant about that this man can't steal all of that from you yeah we're trying to put it on a positive side you know we're going to travel let the girls experience you know a different life than what we originally thought but they're going to have an amazing life and we're going to stay positive about it.

I mean, who wouldn't want to travel? What do you think Cleo's story is about, what is your story? I truly captured the imagination and hearts of complete strangers around the world. I think it struck a chord with everyone when she was taken away and then when she was found. I think she really touched everyone's hearts and made them feel like they were part of our family. Maybe I. was able to alleviate Cleo's

rescue

left everyone breathless her kidnapping was a shocking and outrageous act that seemed certain to end in tragedy, but while Ellie and Jake suffered every minute of those 18 torturous days, they always believed that Cleo would return home and finally He did it, we knew it.

From the beginning we knew how strong she is and a lot of people laughed when I said you know she's very strong but she is and she showed it and we knew from the beginning that she could overcome it, we're just crying happy. Tears now because Cleo and our family are whole again, of course, you know, your story makes everyone want to come home and hug their kids a little more. Yes, it definitely makes us want to grow. The women hug the girls a little more. Hello. m tara brown thanks for watching 60