Why did Terence Kelly take Cleo Smith? The story behind the abduction that gripped the world

When Terence Darrell Kelly went to the remote Western Australian Blowholes campsite in the middle of the night, he was looking to steal a handbag. But he ended up taking a child.

The crime was as audacious as it was opportunistic.

Emboldened by the methamphetamine in his veins and masked by the din of crashing waves and clanging metal shacks, Kelly unzipped the front of a family tent some time between 2.40am and 4.40am on 16 October 2021. He scooped up four-year-old Cleo Smith, sleeping bag and all, and vanished into the night.

Horses, helicopters and drones were deployed while an army of police and rescue personnel spent days and nights scouring inhospitable terrain.

Behind the scenes were teams of detectives searching through phone, satellite and CCTV data.

But it would be 18 days before Cleo would see her family again.

As time ticked on, hope was fading that Cleo would be found alive. Abduction experts say that typically, children taken by strangers are killed within days, if not hours.

But Cleo was found looking healthy, in a house filled with dolls and not far from her own home in Carnarvon.

Three-quarters of child abductions are carried out by family members. When an opportunistic stranger takes a child, the perpetrator wants to quickly dispose of the evidence, Mallett says.

Locked in a room with a mattress on the floor, her captor would turn the bathroom radio on loudly to drown out her cries.

Despite her young age, Kelly left Cleo alone in the house for hours. He took part in meetings, went shopping, attended arts and crafts activities, and visited relatives.

His sentence is well short of the maximum 20-year penalty for child abduction in WA.

At two years old, Kelly was abandoned by his alcoholic, drug-addicted parents and handed to his maternal aunt Penny Walker, the court heard this week.

Despite the social isolation caused by hearing loss, Kelly refused to wear hearing aids because the other kids would bully him.

He grew up surrounded by violence and trauma and feared his uncles. By 12, Kelly was bedwetting, suicidal and hospitalised. He was expelled from high school for disruptive behaviour and beaten by his father when he returned briefly to live with him.

Mallett says locking up people with foetal alcohol syndrome disorders further disadvantages them because they struggle to manage their emotions or behaviour.

Carnarvon is a coastal community that is home to 5,500 people at the mouth of the Gascoyne River, and the Blowholes campsite is its seaside playground.

At 7pm on 15 October 2021 and with their young family and a new tent in tow, they set up camp, had dinner and headed to bed.

Now, they say they could never return to the spot.

A psychologist report read out in court this week said that Kelly felt euphoria when he took Cleo because he could fulfil his fantasy of having a little girl to dress up and play with.

One and a half years on, that little girl is back playing where she should be, and her parents are now making a different plea.