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ABC News
ABC News
National

How a police operation over 18 agonising days led to Cleo Smith's rescue and her kidnapper's jailing

The very first minute must have been terrifying for Ellie Smith and Jake Gliddon,  when they woke up to find their four-year-old daughter Cleo Smith had vanished from the family tent.

It got worse.

They then had to endure every painful minute, in all the agonising hours, making up each unimaginable day, for the next 18 days as one of the most monumental policing operations in Australian history swung into action.

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