Cleo Smith’s parents sell Australian home years after kidnapping ordeal

Cleo Smith was missing for 18 days after being abducted during a camping trip in Australia. Photo / Supplied

An Australian family thrust into the global spotlight after their daughter was abducted have relocated from the home where they lived during the ordeal.

Ellie Smith and Jake Gliddon, the parents of Cleo Smith, have sold their three-bedroom, one-bathroom house in Carnarvon, Western Australia.

The couple sold the property last month for A$300,000 ($359,000), Daily Mail Australia reported.

The couple lived in the house during the weeks-long search for Cleo, who was abducted while on a family camping trip in 2021, prompting a massive police and search-and-rescue operation across the region.

Cleo Smith's parents Jake Gliddon and Ellie Smith. Photo / 60 Minutes

The family had been camping at the remote Point Quobba when Cleo was taken from her tent in the early hours of October 16, 2021.

The case quickly gained international attention as search efforts intensified, with police deploying horses, helicopters and ground crews to comb through the rugged terrain.

As the search dragged on, and with leads dwindling, many experts believed the girl was dead.

However, Cleo was found alive 18 days later inside the home of Terence Darrell Kelly, who lived 3km from her family’s house.

Terence Kelly in a social media post before Cleo Smith's abduction. Photo / Facebook

Viewers around the world watched footage of the emotional moment a police officer asked a young girl for her name.

“My name is Cleo,” she responded.

Kelly pleaded guilty to kidnapping Cleo and holding her in his home and was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Police investigations revealed he had an obsession with Bratz dolls, filling a room in his house with the figurines.

Cleo Smith pictured with mum Ellie Smith, her sister, and stepdad Jake Gliddon. Photo / Facebook

Gliddon and Smith sat down for an interview with Nine Network in 2022, for a reported A$2 million.

They told 60 Minutes journalist Tara Brown they were disgusted by a psychologist report that detailed Kelly’s motives behind the kidnapping – it found he snatched Cleo to fulfil an idealised fantasy of having a girl to dress up and play with.

“She still has her sad nights, her nightmare nights,” Smith said.

“She doesn’t have the words to explain what she’s sad about, she just knows that’s how she feels, so they’re just sad nights.

“Obviously, we’re still sad, hurt, scared, angry, terrified, but we try not to let it rule our life.”

In 2024, Kelly lost an appeal to have his sentence reduced.

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