The mother of the missing 18-year-old Cleo Smith spoke to 60 Minutes about how her daughter went through a lot while she was gone.
Abduction Story, They woke up every day with nightmares about her being taken from them, and how they feared for their lives and those of their children..
Now she’s gone, and they’re struggling to learn how to live without her.
A film by Moto magazine photographer turned director, David complicated the issue by offering a voice of hope, strength and humanity in the face of death.
“When you’re losing a loved one, you think you’re losing your future, but then you think about their life ahead of them and how they were planning
“It’s a terrible, painful thing to go through, and
“I think a lot of people die with too much stuff in their house. They have so many things they’ve collected over the years. When they lose that final thing, they lose their reason to live.”
—Shea Gilday
When you think of a biography, you are likely to imagine the life of a person, rather than the life of a house. But the two are closely linked. A book can be a collection of facts and figures, but without the story behind them, they can be hard to understand. Here, one of our authors, Sheaffer Holt, takes a closer look at what houses tell us about their owners.
If you own a house, you are in charge of its maintenance. You are the responsible party if things get broken, stolen, or destroyed. Yet, when it comes to how much you should spend on repairs, you might be surprised by how little the experts know.
According to one survey, 60% of homeowners think their home needs a total make-under, including the roof. Yet, our expert here at Cozy Home Insurance knows that only a small percentage of homeowners actually need a total make-under. Most people just need some maintenance or TLC.
That’s why we are here to help you out.
Cleo was kidnapped from her family’s tent at the Quobba Blowholes campsite in Western Australia in the early morning of October 16, 2021.
She was just 15 years old.
Within hours, the media was rife with headlines about the “kidnapping” of a young Indigenous girl. But as I soon as I read those headlines, I knew something wasn’t right.
I kept thinking about my friend’s daughter, who was also calling herself a “kidnapper.” In my mind, I kept drawing similarities between what was happening to her and the stories I’ve seen on TV. But the more I did this, the more I realized two things.
One, the stories I’d seen on TV were fake. Two, real stories were much more interesting.
So I’d like to share some of the things I’ve learned as I’ve explored the past two years of This Week for Families.
What I’ve learned from my family life posts is that real stories are always better than fake stories.
A worldwide manhunt was launched when she went missing. Police found her at a residence near Carnarvon, around 80 kilometers from where she was kidnapped, on November 3. Terence Darrell Kelly, 36, was arrested after Cleo’s body was discovered.
Smith was told by her daughter what she had to say about 18 days apart. Smith spoke to Tara Brown, a reporter.
She stated that she was lonely and that she missed us.
She wasn’t sure where we were since she was imprisoned in a room.
Kelly appeared in court via video link from Casuarina Prison in Perth in late January, after he pleaded guilty to kidnapping a minor.
The case was delegated for a sentencing mention to the District Court of Western Australia in March. “She’s a fan,” she said to Brown. “I love that song.”
When she learned the lyrics, she sang them aloud in the courtroom. “I think that did something for the mood of the court, because it was quite emotional,” she says. “I know that song can be very powerful for people.”
Her performance ended with a gasp, as if she had been singing for years instead of seconds. “Oh, my goodness,” she said. “I’m still breathing. I’m still alive.”
That moment, and the power of music she shares, is what has been keeping her alive for the past two years. It’s what has kept her from being just another victim of violence along with so many other women.
“I’m very grateful to be alive,” she says. “When you are alive, you have a choice. You can be on the wrong side — or the right side. And if you’re on the right side, it means you are choosing to take action, to improve your life, to become more mindful.”
Those were the words of Chelsea Handler, born 1964, when she was asked to reflect on her life and give a talk about it. She has three children, two of whom were born after her first book, Auneroble: A Memoir of Food, Friendship, and Family.
In Perth, someone approached her and said, “Hi Cleo,” to which she responded, “Hello!”
The child is perplexed by the situation.
As we drove away, astonishment filled her mom’s eyes. Smith went on to say even more.
The realization that her daughter had been kidnapped was discussed by her.
She said she had been led to believe that her change in behavior was the result of her being influenced by her teacher. But when she wrote her teacher a letter, she discovered that her problems actually stemmed from a shortage of oxygen at mastering stage. She was taught throughout the school year that creative writing was just one more piece of homework. But she discovered that her ability to write creatively was being dumbed down by over- Zealotry.
For all those who are skeptical about how much sleep is too little, or too much, I applaud you. It is possible to get too little sleep, but it is also possible to get too much. Once you account for the complexities of health and behavior, it is easier to understand that true minimum sleep requirements do exist.
But really ? What is a healthy dose of sleep?
What is a healthy dose of sleep?
Eating food is one of life’s greatensuals, but only if you feel well and enjoy it. There are experts who believe that the way to enjoy healthier food is to stop eating it. Instead, focus on finding ways to add Smith said the moment was “such a nice one.”
Millions of people across the globe expressed satisfaction that the little girl had been found safe and sound after she said “My name is Cleo” when she was discovered.
It had been 9 years since she was last seen.
An immediate bond was formed between the child and the man who would become her husband. They were inseparable for the next decade until she passed away in a automobile accident.
Tara Brown was interviewed via video conference because of the Covid lockdowns in Western Australia. The family is said to have earned A$2 million, which is a new record for Australian television.
Content for Channel 9’s website and print publications were included in the agreement. In the months since, production has been stopped once again, and the interviews have been rescheduled.
But the tensions between the family and the network remain. In an interview with for this story, an insider at the firm representing the family said they were no longer willing to continue working with the cameras because of issues with the editing process.
They craved control. But the cameras, well, they wanted to run the show. And in many cases, they still do.
While this advice may sound like common sense, it’s not always easy to avoid the feeling of stress when you’re in a foreign country, says Smith. If you’re able to step back from the conversation and enjoy your surroundings, however — if you feel confident in your ability to communicate and adapt to local conditions — then you’ll be less likely to stress out.
Police officers are not expected to take part in the interview.
The man who kidnapped Cleo Smith is still on the loose.
Kelly admitted to kidnapping Smith from her family’s tent and holding her for 18 days. OOn November 3, at 12.46 a.m. investigators raided Kelly’s Carnarvon home and discovered a little girl alone in a bedroom playing with toys. A man named Kelly was taken into custody. He was held at Casuarina Prison in Perth after being arrested on suspicion of kidnapping.
Kelly pleaded guilty to kidnapping in the Carnarvon Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
After getting her head shaved, Kelly seemed pensive and spent most of the hearing staring at the ground. Ben White told him to plead guilty to abduction, but nothing else.
On October 16 at the Quobba Blowholes campground, he admitted to stealing Cleo from her parents as they slept.
The biggest search in Australian history took place when four cops invaded his house at midnight. They ransacked every room looking for information that would incriminate him.
Police searched Kelly’s home after finding evidence of a vehicle entering Carnarvon on the night Cleo went missing. They found nothing.
That was in 2002. Since then, conviction rates have risen, police practices have changed, and the scale of the search has grown. But to this day, no one knows where Cleo is.
Here’s a rare video of the search aftermath, including interviews with both Pilley and Freiberg about what it felt like to fail.
Pilley was so sure he knew where Freiberg was that he offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to a conviction. It was later reduced to $2,000. Years later, the case File 13-3 was reopened when new evidence emerged. This time, Pilley and Jack, who had been his driver during the original investigation, were both assigned to the task.
No information about why Kelly stole Cleo or how police solved the case has been presented in court in more than ten weeks. A message thanking the community for their support and seeking privacy from Cleo’s family has been issued following her safe homecoming.
The surveillance video of the burglar(s) entering the Smith residence on the night of the theft shows two people, with one wearing a dog costume. Additionally, a fur sample recovered from the Smith kitchen showed DNA matching Kelly’s. These pieces of evidence were presented by the prosecutor during the first week of trial.
It was revealed last week that Nine Network had agreed to spend over $2 million for an interview with a family, making it one of the most expensive shows ever produced in Australia.
The survivors of the Beaconsfield mine collapse received $1 million apiece, while unknown sums were given to the two men who were trapped underground for two weeks.
Among them was the millionaire W.A. “Tiny” Hanna, who also owns Phoenix Media & Entertainment, the company that produced Cleo Smith: A Woman of Our Time.
Police have verified that no sex offenders were involved in the kidnapping of Cleo Smith, and that she is physically fine after spending more than two weeks away from her family. Despite spending more than two weeks away from her family, the man suspected of abducting her is not on the sex offenders list. This has led to rising concerns that this might be a case of child-snatching by a well-to-do family who wanted a child.
Police have not verified any comments made by friends and neighbors that the child appeared to be treated well. However, they are verifying that she was well fed while she was away from home. According to investigators, the girl was kept in a private home and not kept in a basement or other confined space. They are verifying comments made by neighbors and friends that the child was well cared for and appeared to be happy and healthy.
The four-year-old was found unharmed at 12.45 a.m. There was a locked room in a dilapidated property in Brockman, a suburb of Carnarvon. She was asked her name three times before she was found alive and well. The police believed that the toddler was dead until they asked her name.
As the news spread, thousands of people across Australia breathed a sigh of relief. The rescue was a miracle, especially considering how the police had already done a thorough search of the property. There were dozens of rumors and theories as to how the girl could be alive.
Detective Superintendent Rod Wilde has identified no sex offender as the 36-year-old man questioned her disappearance.
In response to a reporter’s question regarding his reputation in the community as having an “unhealthy interest in youngsters,” he said that the police “had not received such information.”
Is Cleo Smith still around?
I burst into celebration when my deputy editor told me that Cleo Smith had been found alive in Carnarvon 18 days after she went missing. She was located inside after a residence was broken into. Evelyn is banging on a door in Rob’s hotel room. Thankfully, she was discovered.
I burst into celebration when my deputy editor told me that Cleo Smith had been found alive 18 days after she went missing.
The police broke down the door to find her hiding in the house.
Everything in our possession is being thrown at this. We need you to leave Perth at 7 am. on the next day.”
The young parents I met only two weeks before were etched into my memories. Evelyn Manfield and Rob Koenig-Luck, my colleagues at Carnarvon, woke up as well, so I hurried out the door with my luggage in hand. Evelyn is banging on a door in Rob’s hotel room. She was found. She remains with us.
By 5:00 a.m., the news of the discovery was broadcasted on television.
Rob noted that he had never had to tell a tale that made so many people laugh and cry at the same time.
At 8:00 a.m., I met Richard and Vicki Turner at their home. They were among the first to receive the good news.
Richard recalled, It was like a miracle. An officer told me that they found a dog that looked like Cleo and they took the dog to check if it was her. When they opened the trap, I heard the familiar cry of my baby and I just broke down.
I bet you can’t hold back the tears reading this.
I agreed with Richard that it was a miracle and wondered if it was a result of so many petitions and messages. Weeping with joy, Richard thanked me for all that I had done. It was not until the following morning that I realized the miraculous outcome was due to a film that had aired the night before on Channel 4.
The channel had produced a documentary on the life and work of the late, great, British actress Cleo Smith. She had been famous in the 1960s and 1970s for her impressive stage roles, most notably that of Medea. The documentary was slightly outdated but it had lots of archive footage and interviews with people who had worked with her or knew her. It was a humble, yet honorable tribute and the channel wanted to make sure it reached as many people as possible.