CLEO'S HAPPINESS AFTER HEARTBREAK

With her kidnapper safely locked up for 13 years, the little girl and her family have moved on

- Maisy Rae

After her kidnapper was sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison earlier this month, Cleo Smith and her family have begun a new life 1000 kilometres away from the horrifying scene of her abduction.

Cleo, her mum Ellie Smith, stepdad Jake Gliddon and little sister Isla have reportedly moved away from their home in Carnarvon, WA where they were living when Cleo was kidnapped by Terence Darrell Kelly and are thought to have settled near the quiet, family-friendly suburb of Lakelands, in north Mandurah.

In a new interview released hours after a WA District Court jailed Kelly, Ellie told 60 Minutes that she and her family were glad for the result but still felt anger” towards her daughter’s kidnapper.

“We feel a contentment... he is behind bars, he has been sentenced,’ she said soon after the sentence was handed down and she appeared in court in person. But there is always going to be anger, always how could there not be?”

NEW CHAPTER

Despite reportedly receiving 2 million for a multi-platform deal to tell their family’s story, Ellie and Jake clearly want life to return to normal now Kelly has been locked up.

Ellie recently launched a spray tanning business in their new neighbourhood and they have stayed out of the public eye since their appearance on 60 Minutes in February 2022, for which Nine reportedly paid the seven figure sum.