Neighbour Reveals Man Bought Nappies Before Police Found Cleo Smith Locked In His Home

A neighbour of the man who has been taken into custody after Cleo Smith was discovered in a West Australian home has spoken out.

The four-year-old girl had been missing for 18 days after disappearing from her family's campsite at the Quobba Blowholes campground, Macleod.

Police believed Cleo had been abducted and after following a bunch of tipoffs, they found her locked inside a home 70 kilometres away from where she was last seen.

A resident in the town told 7News he was shocked to discover the man he lived next to was allegedly harbouring the girl.

Channel 7

"Everyone that knows the person that stays in that house, wouldn't think that it would be him. We got a shock ourselves that it was him," he said.

He said he saw the man buy nappies from the supermarket and now that Cleo has been rescued he's finally registered why.

"We didn't click on about who it was he was buying it for until now," he added.

Another neighbour told The West Australian that she heard a girl crying recently and didn't think it could have been the missing girl she had seen on the news.

"Not last night, the night before it...I heard a little girl crying but I wouldn't expect it to be Cleo," she said. "I didn't expect it would happen in this little neighbourhood, a lot of people know each other."

Rennee Turner, who lives in the town where Cleo was found, told also the newspaper everyone is shocked about the man who has been taken into custody.

She explained: "Definitely wouldn't have picked him. It has completely derailed me. I'd heard whispers...I kind of figured the police might have had an idea of what was going on, because I have never seen such a massive amount of cops here for so long."

Police busted down the door of the Carnarvon home just before 1am and found the girl locked inside.

When an officer picked her up asked what her name is, she replied 'Cleo Smith'.

WA Police Deputy Commissioner Col Blanch explained to Sunrise: "They have been looking for that needle in a haystack and late last night they found that needle that led them to that address and rescued Cleo."

A 36-year-old man is now being questioned by police, however he wasn't found inside the home where Cleo was discovered.

No charges have yet been laid and police have confirmed he's not connected to Cleo's family.

Topics: Australia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

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