WA police tell press conference a man is in custody but no charges laid – as it happened

• 5.27am GMT05:27 'We all wanted to take turns holding her'
• 5.12am GMT05:12 Police have a 36-year-old man in custody but have not laid charges
• 5.05am GMT05:05 Police press conference begins in Carnarvon
• 4.04am GMT04:04 Press conference to be held at 1pm local time
• 12.55am GMT00:55 'He sent me a photo of little Cleo in a hospital bed'
• 12.50am GMT00:50 Mark McGowan: 'it's an amazing piece of police work'
• 11.22pm GMT23:22 Police have body camera footage of the moment Cleo Smith was found

You can read Elias Visontay’s full story of Cleo Smith’s rescue here:

We’ll end our rolling coverage here. Thank you for your company today and please hug your kids tight.

Let’s just recap the main points of that press conference:

• Cleo Smith was rescued by four police officers just before 1am today.
• There was no one piece of information that led to her rescue, it came out of police analysing thousands of pieces of data.
• Police did not have time to warn Cleo’s parents, Ellie Smith and Jake Gliddon, before raiding the house in Carnarvon this morning. The first they heard of it was when the family liaison officer called them once Cleo was out of the house and said, “there’s someone here who wants to speak to you”.
• Cleo was taken to hospital this morning for a medical examination but is physically well. Detective Sergeant Cameron Blaine, one of the officers on the four-person rescue team, said that after reuniting with her parents Cleo had become “a little Energiser bunny” with more energy than any of the exhausted detectives. She is a “very sweet, energetic girl”.
• A 36-year-old man was in custody at Carnarvon police station and helping police with their inquiries.
• The man was not a suspect before yesterday and had no connection to the family.
• He was not at the house when Cleo was rescued.
• Detective Superintendent Rod Wilde said police believed it was an “opportunistic” crime.
• Police expected to lay charges later today.

Detective Superintendent Rod Wilde says he expects charges to be laid today.

Police are asked a number of questions about comments made by neighbours to the media today, which they decline to answer because the investigation is ongoing.

They also will not comment on the condition of the house, for the same reason, and say they are still investigating the case.

Blaine is asked: “Is this the best moment of your career?”

He replies:

No doubt.

Detective sergeant Cameron Blaine says Cleo was full of energy after being reunited with her parents.

He says he is not sure if she is aware that she had been abducted and police were careful what they asked her, so as not to influence her record of events.

We also need to be mindful of their mental health and welfare. The questions that, it was more or less that we were talking to her, that she was talking to us.

What can I say, having seen her a couple times this morning, she is a little Energiser bunny. How she has that much energy – I wish I did, I am about ready to go to sleep. Very sweet, energetic girl. Very trusting and very open with us. We all wanted to take turns holding her. It was a really good experience.

Detective Sergeant Cameron Blaine was one of the four police officers who raided the house in Carnarvon this morning and found Cleo.

He says he was shocked and elated to find her.

There could have been anyone of the team but it turned out that I was of four guys that was fortunate enough to go through that door and make that rescue. We had always hoped for that outcome but were not prepared for it. It was absolutely fantastic. Originally, to see her sitting there in the way that she was, it was incredible.

Blaine was the officer who asked Cleo for her name.

One of the guys jumped in front of me and picked her up and I just wanted to be absolutely sure that – it certainly looks like Cleo – I wanted to be sure it was her.

I said, ‘what is your name?’ She didn’t answer, I asked again and she didn’t answer. I asked a third time and then she looked at me and said, ‘my name is Cleo’. And that was it. Then we turned around and walked out of the house.

The victim liaison officer then called Cleo’s parents, telling them “there is someone here who wants to speak to you”.

You can imagine, absolute surprise and they were ecstatic. Things developed so quickly. We didn’t really have time to prepare them. And we didn’t want to give them any false expectations about what might happen. We didn’t know ourselves. It is always a delicate process when it comes to that.

But still to be able to give them that news and say they can make their way to the hospital and we will meet them there, that was fantastic. It was an honour to be able to witness that reunion. So many of the guys had been doing long days and long hours. We are only the pointy end here but we are backed by a massive taskforce. More than half back in Perth. It was certainly an honour to see that reunion and have a part in it.

Cleo was taken to hospital this morning but has since been discharged into her parents’ custody.

Wilde says there was no single piece of information that led to the discovery of the house, but says that the information about an unknown car at the campground was a crucial piece.

He says the man who is in custody was not a suspect before yesterday.

Asked how Cleo’s family are feeling, Wilde says:

Ecstatic, obviously, they have the little girl back.

Wilde says the alleged abduction “appears to be opportunistic”.

Detective Superintendent Rod Wilde, the lead investigator, says police had more than 10,000 calls from the community to provide information about the case.

People worked basically without sleep from the first occurrence when this happened 17, 18 days ago. They have been working here tirelessly, never gave up hope, and got the result that we are all so grateful for.

Asked how he felt when Cleo identified herself, Wilde says:

It was amazing. It really was. It was really emotional to see that. Obviously we had hopes for that. We had real concerns for her welfare and, as time passed by, they grew worse. So to see that, it was amazing, an amazing outcome.

He adds:

People were in tears, it is fair to say. It is an amazing outcome. We hoped, we kept working with that belief that we could get there, you could find Cleo. I don’t know what happened, but we were lucky.

The WA police commissioner, Chris Dawson, confirms police have a 36-year-old Carnarvon man in custody who is helping with their inquiries, but does not provide any further update.

I am not going to elaborate further in terms of that man, other than to say he is a local man from Carnarvon, and we will be having something further to say later.

I once again want to reinforce my thanks to a great team, assisted by a great community, the town of Carnarvon, and it can stand strong. And, as a community, I appeal to the community to come together, as you have. Yes, we have one man and a custody, but that is not the town of Carnarvon, that is one person. I want the town of Carnarvon and everyone else to come together as a community, as we move forward, and we can rejoice that this little girl has been found, but we need to move forward as a community as well.

Dawson thanks volunteers, army members and SES volunteers who helped with the investigation.

He also thanks members of the public for their support, which included deliveries of chocolate and flowers to the police station today, and he thanks the media.

You have kept the story running, kept in front of mind for everyone, which is important because we needed to get these messages out. I thank you for keeping the hope of finding Cleo alive a real and present story, which we now can all celebrate in terms of this.

Dawson thanks Cleo’s parents, Ellie and Jake, for their stoicism.

He also thanks the police team, which he says was about 140-people strong.

Many of them are still at work here right now, and a whole bunch of them are back in Perth. We will be working through this for the next week or two at least, there is much more work to be done, but I am just so proud, the proudest police commissioner in the world at the moment, right now, I think.

To everyone who has worked tirelessly, police, analysts, forensic officers, people behind the scenes, media teams. They have gelled together from day one here, from the moment Inspector Jon Munday and the uniformed officers declared a protected forensics scene within minutes of arrival, that commenced an enormous operation to the outcome that was achieved at about 1am this morning.

Dawson is joined by the WA police minister, local police commanders, local taskforce commanders, and one of the detectives who was directly involved in Cleo’s rescue.

He says:

We now have returned Cleo to her loving parents. It is a wonderful day for this little girl and her loving family. It is a really special day for Western Australia. Indeed, I know the nation is rejoicing over the fact that we have been able to conduct this operation and we never gave up hope. I know that Cleo’s parents never gave up hope, and it is just a such a wonderful opportunity for me to say, thank you.

The police minister, Paul Papalia, said:

If you feel the need to thank God today, thank God for the West Australian police force.

The WA police commissioner, Chris Dawson, has begun speaking in Perth.

What a great day.