Police are facing a race against time to charge the man suspected of snatching little Cleo Smith and holding her prisoner at his home in Carnarvon for 18 days.
Terry Kelly, 36 was arrested in connection with the abduction of the four year old after she was grabbed from a tent while on holiday with her family 75km from home.
However, almost 36 hours later, Kelly has still not been charged over the incident.
The process has been delayed after Kelly was allegedly attacked by another prisoner inside a police holding cell within hours of his arrest.
Kelly was taken to hospital with head injuries and released after medical treatment.
Terry Kelly, 36, had only been at Carnarvon police station, in Western Australia, for a few hours on Wednesday when he was allegedly set upon by a prisoner
But police revealed on Thursday he had been returned to hospital for a second time after he is understood to have suffered new injuries while alone in his police cell.
Kelly is now again back in police custody, but police chief Col Blanch warned the suspect must be in good health before he can be interviewed.
Any future trial could be jeopardised if detectives try to rush the process, the WA Deputy Police Commissioner told Seven's Sunrise.
'The important thing for police, if we're going to interview someone about offences as serious as this ... we will need them in a condition where they have had a rest, they're in a good mental state, they've been fed,' he said.
'So, we've got to make sure we give them the best opportunity to answer questions and that's to ensure that the court process is validated if we get to that point.'
Remarkable bodycam footage captured the moment Cleo was rescued by detectives, with the brave little girl clinging to her savior as she is gently spoken to and told she would soon see her 'mummy'
Police are legally required to charge suspects within a 'reasonable time' of their arrest, allowing for medical treatment and the seriousness of the crime.
A senior officer can sign off the first 12 hours in custody but after that a magistrate must approve further extensions every eight hours.
Theoretically, it can be unlimited, but in practice a magistrate will end the process within a few days if charges are not laid - and the clock is now ticking for Kelly.
However it is understood the suspect could be charged with some minor offences later on Thursday to hold him in custody while the investigation continues.
Cleo, four, was found by startled detectives in the early hours of Wednesday morning in a locked house in her hometown of Carnarvon, 18 days after she disappeared from a remote campsite while on holiday with her parents
Kelly, 36, had only been at Carnarvon police station, in Western Australia, for a few hours on Wednesday when he was allegedly set upon by a prisoner and taken to hospital the first time.
That prisoner's mother told Daily Mail Australia her son was 'furious' when he discovered why Kelly had been arrested.
'As soon as he heard this bloke was arrested over that little Cleo, he blew up, beat him black and blue,' the woman said.
'I tell you what, he (Kelly) got a real hiding... my son had to be taken out in shackles, and he (Kelly) was taken for treatment... he was in a bad way. He is a big bloke but he really copped it'.
A spokesman for the Western Australia Police Force said detectives would not be commenting on the woman's claims.
Kelly was loaded into an ambulance outside the police station yesterday morning and taken to hospital for treatment. A large white bandage was wrapped around his head.
Cleo, four, was found by startled detectives in the early hours of Wednesday morning in a locked house in her hometown of Carnarvon, 18 days after she disappeared from a remote campsite while on holiday with her parents.
Detectives used crowbars and battering rams to kick in the door and free Cleo about 12.46am Wednesday from a home just seven minutes away from where she lives with her mum Ellie, stepdad Jake Gliddon and baby sister Isla.
West Australian Police shared an adorable first photo of Cleo since she was rescued, smiling with an ice block in hospital. 'The miracle we all hoped for,' they captioned the picture
Remarkable bodycam footage captured the moment Cleo was rescued by detectives, with the brave little girl clinging to her savior as she is gently spoken to and told she would soon see her 'mummy'.
'Four fathers walked into that room… they might have been wearing guns and detective suits but they were four fathers,' Mr Blanch said.
Shocked neighbours tell Daily Mail Australia they were first alerted to the commotion when police flood lights lit up their cul-de-sac, which is normally bustling with children playing in their front yards and at the park across the road during daylight hours.
'My nephews went up to see what was going on and then they saw cops leading out the little white girl,' a neighbour who has known Kelly for more than a decade said.
He described the accused as a 'loner' who never really made an effort to speak with people in the cul-de-sac, and never brought friends back to his house.
Others woke to the news that Cleo had been rescued, filing into the streets before the sun even rose to watch the scene unfold.
Cleo is now back in the arms of her mum Ellie and stepfather Jake (pictured together)
West Australian Police shared an adorable first photo of Cleo since she was rescued, smiling with an ice block in hospital in her Frozen pyjamas. 'The miracle we all hoped for,' they wrote.
The neighbour said he was a loner who 'kept to himself' and was not the type of person anyone else in the street would 'have a yarn with' despite being a long term resident.
He last saw Kelly just three days after little Cleo disappeared. Former friends say Kelly had not long been freed from jail.
Detectives allege Kelly was behaving suspiciously in the 18 days since Cleo vanished, doing laps of his street at all hours of the day and buying toddler nappies from his grocery store despite not being known to have children.
Dogs that he usually kept on the backyard of his home were also suddenly moved to the front of the home.
'His grandmother raised him... but after she died a year or so ago, nobody went over to yarn to him,' he said.
'He got a new car after… he used to park it in the driveway and then close the gate, every day, always went and put the car in the same spot and closed the gate.'
Cleo was found alone in this suburban home in Carnarvon, in the north-west of Western Australia, shortly before 1am on Wednesday morning
Commissioner Dawson reportedly broke down in tears upon learning the heartwarming news. He said the youngster (pictured) was good as can be expected
Forensic officers in full protective gear including gas masks as they searched through rubbish left near the Blowholes campsite in remote WA - where Cleo went missing
That very car was reportedly crucial to cracking the case, with police revealing they received 'important information about a car' which they confirmed with phone data and 'a lot of forensic leads'. Within hours, they'd raided Kelly's home.
'We've collected phone data, witness statements, DNA, fingerprints, rubbish along the highways, CCTV - we've collected everything,' Mr Blanch said.
It's not yet clear if Cleo was held at the home for the entire three weeks she was missing or if she'd been moved around several times.
The vital tip-off was the last piece of the puzzle in a case that until then frustrated and eluded detectives and had Australians fearing Cleo would never be found, let alone alive.
Neighbours would often see Kelly walking to and from the local grocery store, 'keeping his head down and talking to nobody'.
Neighbours would often see Kelly walking to and from the local grocery store, 'keeping his head down and talking to nobody'
Neighbours of the home where little Cleo Smith (pictured) was kept prisoner before she was rescued by police on Wednesday have revealed the tell-tale signs they missed.
A man arrested over the alleged kidnapping of Cleo Smith was allegedly attacked by another prisoner inside a police holding cell at Carnarvon police station (pictured)
But when one man saw Kelly buying toddler diapers, he was confused because he didn't know the 36-year-old to have any children.
Even though he knew it was strange, he didn't report his suspicions, police have confirmed.
'But we didn't click on what he was buying them for.'
He'd also been seen doing laps of the street at different times during the day, driving in and out repeatedly and at random hours.
'He doesn't have his dogs at the front [normally], he has his dogs out the back, but through this week he had his dogs out the front,' neighbour Henry Dodd told Nine News.
Mr Dodd revealed he watched Cleo come out on the shoulder of a detective in the middle of the night.
'I went closer to the detectives car and I saw her in the back of the car with the detective, he was holding her. They put her in the back and I came over, rushed over here and seen her there. She looked at me, a bit scared.'
Mr Dodd said he was shocked he had been just metres away from her while the nationwide hunt was going on for her.
'I just can't believe it and get over the fact that she is just the house down from us and locked up here for a couple of weeks,' he added.
'Going on three weeks, she is straight across from us. I've got little sisters there.'
Cleo Smith, four, has been found alive and well, 18 days after she vanished from her family's tent at the remote Blowholes campsite in Western Australia
