Missing four-year-old Cleo Smith found ‘alive and well’ in Western Australia
The suspected kidnapper of four-year-old Cleo Smith has been treated in hospital for a second time amid reports he was “attacked” while in custody.
The 36-year-old man was detained by Western Australia Police after its officers found the four-year-old girl alive and well in a house in Carnarvon, 18 days after she disappeared from a remote campsite.
He has gone to hospital twice to receive treatment for injuries since his arrest, police said. One unconfirmed report said a fellow prisoner “beat him black and blue,” while another said the suspect had tried to self-harm.
Meanwhile, Cleo has been reunited with her parents. “Our family is whole again,” Ellie Smith, Cleo’s mother, wrote on Instagram as she shared the news.
The Australian prime minister Scott Morrison described the breakthrough as “a huge relief”.
“The fact that that nightmare has come to an end and our worst fears were not realised, is just a huge relief,” he added.
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