Cleo Smith found: first pictures of smiling girl as Australian police detail moment of rescue

A photograph of a smiling and waving Cleo Smith eating an icy pole in her hospital bed has been released by Western Australia police after the four-year-old was rescued from a Carnarvon house more than two weeks after she vanished from a remote campsite.

WA police on Wednesday afternoon said a 36-year-old man taken into custody following Cleo’s discovery was yet to be charged but they expected that to occur “probably” later in the day.

Investigators have said the man had no connection to Cleo’s family and he only became a suspect in the alleged abduction on Tuesday night.

In a press conference outside the Carnarvon police station on Wednesday afternoon, the commissioner, Chris Dawson, held up the picture of Cleo declaring “it is a wonderful day”.

The picture was taken earlier on Wednesday when Cleo was in hospital where she had been taken for medical tests. She had since been discharged and was back with her parents.

Police also released footage from an officer’s body camera showing the moment Cleo was carried out of the Carnarvon house.