Chloe Campbell’s shocking disappearance – and then remarkable return to her family – has dominated headlines for the past week.
The disappearance of a little girl always sparks a media storm, but her astonishing reappearance raises as many questions as it solves.
Her whereabouts are now known – and she is thankfully safe, and back with her family. But why she disappeared and who took her are still unknowns.
Three-year-old Chloe was snatched last Thursday and was reported missing from her Ridgeway Street address at around 7am that morning. She had been sleeping in the lounge room in front of the television with her siblings.
At the time of her disappearance, Chloe’s father, Garth Campbell, was quick to say that he suspected his missing three-year-old was taken by a friend of the family. Campbell made a plea to Nine News saying that his daughter was his best friend, the closest thing to the “son he always wanted” and he just wanted her back.
“I don’t think there’s any possible way she’s wandered off,” her father told AAP. “She wouldn’t leave the yard by herself.”
He said he believed that she had been taken by someone who knew the family.
He told News Limited, “I think it’s got to be someone who knows me, in how they got in, where she sleeps. They knew she was sleeping in front of the TV.”
“I hope someone that’s taken her is looking after her. Giving her breaky, lunch, I don’t know, I don’t know what to think.”
But after being found at the local showgrounds nearby her house over the weekend, Chloe has now provided a clue for the investigation into her abduction.
When speaking to family about her two-day disappearance, Chloe has reportedly used the phrase “daddy’s friends”.
Detective Inspector Bruce McNab told The Courier-Mail that she had given the police “information (they) can use” to continue the investigation.
However, while Chloe has used these words while talking to family, she did not use the same phrase when talking to the police – and so the authorities are still investigating a number of angles.
Last week, there was speculation that the toddler’s snatching may have been involved in a threat against her father. Sources revealed that a threat was made against Chloe’s father, Garth Campbell, two months ago. A family friend, Melissa Small, told the Sunday Mail: “They’ve done this to scare Garth.”
Another source suggested that a friend of the family must have been involved in the abduction as no one else would have known that Chloe was not sleeping in her room the night she was taken.
Now, some sources are speculating that Chloe may have been taken by individuals who were trying to pressure Chloe’s father over his drug debt.
7 News has reported:
7News can reveal the three-year-old Queensland girl was abducted and held hostage over her father’s drug debt.
She’s the picture of innocence, a beautiful child, who became a bargaining chip for a drug dealer.
Chloe was a pawn in a blackmail bid to force her father to settle a drug debt involving thousands of dollars worth of speed.
Mr Campbell was reportedly assaulted on the main street of Childers just a few hours before Chloe’s return.
He maintained a high level of visibility in the media while his daughter was missing, imploring her abductors to return her – and look after her.
Police investigations are ongoing.
Top Comments
Where is the update where it says apologies. Apparently all of what I wrote was not true. Chloe was kidnapped by someone they did not know and it had nothing to do with drugs or her parents? So 7news were very very wrong.
bikies.