Elizabeth Smart Thread, October 3-31

Ping away! The mystery of who abducted Elizabeth Smart and why continues into its fifth month.

Bush Vows Help to Families of Abducted Kids;

http://www.sltrib.com/10032002/utah/3512.htm

Transcript of Connie Chung Interview with the Smarts and Erin Runnion:

ERIN RUNNION, MOTHER OF SAMANTHA RUNNION: I think childhood is the most incredible, wonderful gift. And I want to protect that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT continues in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: Tonight, we're going to talk with Erin Runnion, whose daughter Samantha was kidnapped and murdered. And we'll also meet Ed and Lois Smart, whose daughter Elizabeth was kidnapped and remains missing.

Every year, thousands of American children just like theirs are abducted. About 100 of those are taken by strangers. Some of them, but not enough of them, never enough, are returned home safely.

That's why, even though abductions by strangers are actually down from 10 years ago, President Bush put the issue in the spotlight today, as CNN's Bob Franken reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the very first White House conference on missing, exploited and runaway children, bringing devastated families together with a wide range of experts and national leaders.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The kidnapping of a child is every parent's worst nightmare.

FRANKEN: President Bush announced a major expansion of the AMBER plan, a coordinated public alert system credited with rescuing 32 children. The president ordered $10 million set aside. Right now, the AMBER Alert program is hit and miss, used in only 63 of the nation's states, counties or cities.

BUSH: We should not allow another day to go by without taking steps to expand the AMBER plan's reach all across our country. And so the attorney general today is appointing an AMBER Alert coordinator.

FRANKEN: This conference follows a summer of high-profile kidnappings: Elizabeth Smart, still missing since her abduction near Salt Lake City; Danielle van Dam in California, who was found dead. That was also the tragic end of the Samantha Runnion case, also in California.

For a while, these abductions seemed to dominate the news. And that painted a distorted picture.

ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: There is some concern that media attention on these cases can lead alarmed parents to think that child abductions by strangers has reached epidemic proportions. And, fortunately, that is not the case.

FRANKEN (on camera): Kidnappings by strangers are down, from 200-300 a year in the 1980s to about 100 now. But that's small comfort to the families who have suffered such a wrenching loss. On the other hand, this conference did offer some comfort to many of them.

ED SMART, FATHER OF ELIZABETH SMART: There are certain things that you learn about that are new and we're hoping can be implemented, especially in finding Elizabeth, and for every other child.

RUNNION: At times, I'm thinking about my loss and my child. And at times I look around and, at my table, there are four other parents who have missing children.

FRANKEN (voice-over): As one family member said, it's a hard group to belong to, indescribably hard.

Bob Franken, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHUNG: Joining me now from Washington: Samantha Runnion's mother, Erin, founder of the Joyful Child Foundation.

Erin, I look at your face, and you're so beautiful, but I can see those tears in your eyes. Are you OK?

RUNNION: I'm OK. I'm OK. Thank you so much for having me again.

CHUNG: Oh, I'm so glad you were willing to join us.

I know that the president stopped to speak to you. What did he tell you?

RUNNION: Yes.

He said, "God bless you and keep strong." And he was very, very gracious, very sweet.

CHUNG: I also know that you spent a lot of time with the other families. And one in particular really struck you, Marc Klaas, the father of Polly Klaas. Why did that conversation really strike a chord with you?

RUNNION: Well, I just remember so vividly when Polly was taken. And it struck a chord with me then. And when Samantha was taken, the first thing I did was go to the Klaas Foundation. That just was the first thing that it triggered for me. I identified with Polly Klaas and her spark and charm. It reminds me, actually, now again of Samantha.

CHUNG: And when you talked to Marc Klaas, was he able to give you some comfort?

RUNNION: He was very encouraging, very supportive. It was so nice to finally meet him. And I told him how much his daughter had meant to me and that it makes me sick to think that my child and Elizabeth and Danielle and Casey, there are so many of them now that it took to raise awareness again.

And I'm really just so encouraged by the White House taking the initiative and doing this conference. It was a very inspiring and motivating conference. I was thrilled to be a part of it.

CHUNG: You know, I think we all, all of us in America want you to be OK. And I wonder, how do you spend your days? In other words, I know you're not working. And your bosses have just been wonderful, allowing you to take your time to come back to work, which you will eventually do. You work part-time.

But do you eat? Do you sleep? What do you do when you get up in the morning? How do you allow your day to pass so that you aren't gripped?

RUNNION: So that I can function?

CHUNG: Yes.

RUNNION: Well, it's really true what they say about there being phases. And I don't know what this phase is called, but I spend time with my thoughts about Samantha every day. And I spend some time crying and being honest about how much it hurts.

But I guess it's a mental discipline. And I insist that I come out of that place reinvigorated, even more committed to ensuring that we stop violence against children.

CHUNG: Do you go through all the rigors? I know you help take care of your partner's children. And they are your children as much as they are his.

RUNNION: Yes. Yes.

CHUNG: So that has to give you some comfort.

RUNNION: It does. It does. And the routine of having school again, it's helpful for the children. It's helpful for us. I don't know what I would do without them. I really don't.

CHUNG: I know you've said that you don't think you will have any more biological children.

RUNNION: Right.

CHUNG: But are you thinking -- did you mention that you might adopt?

RUNNION: Yes. Yes.

And I'm not ruling anything out. But Ken and I, actually before any of this happened, had talked about, once the children were a little older, that we would like to adopt. There are so many children that are unwanted in this nation. There are 1.2 million runaway or throwaway children, as they call them. I learned that today. And that just breaks my heart. It breaks my heart.

And the one piece of the conference that touched me so much, at the end, Colin Powell was speaking. And I was just in tears, literally.

CHUNG: Well, what did he say?

RUNNION: He was talking about an experience he had at a Boys & Girls Club, where he was saying how he had overcome a lot of obstacles and done a lot of great things and achieved great success.

And a little boy -- and he said that he had done that because he had his family to support him and the love of his family. And a little 8-year-old boy raised his hand and said, "General, what do I do if I don't have a mommy and daddy?"

And there's too many of them. There's too many unwanted children. And they need to know that America loves them and that we are working to collaborate and get together to protect them, that we are -- we are working on it. And this conference was the first step toward that.

CHUNG: Well, I can personally tell you that adoption is wonderful.

RUNNION: Yes, I know. I know. It is. I admire you for that.

(LAUGHTER)

CHUNG: Oh, I'm the lucky one.

Will there come a time when you will step out of the national spotlight? Because sometimes I think: Well, it's good that you're involved and you're doing things and it keeps you going, but, on the other hand, maybe it's better if Erin Runnion steps back.

RUNNION: It's a constant kind of debate for myself, because my personal preference is to hide, to just wallow in this pain for a while.

But you know what? Somebody is disappearing right now. Some baby is being slapped and hit and hurt. And if I just hide from that, I'm not helping that baby and I'm not doing any justice to what Samantha went through. It's just too selfish. I have to do everything I can.

CHUNG: All right. Well, we'll help you do that.

RUNNION: Thank you. Thank you.

CHUNG: Thank you so much, Erin Runnion, for being with us. And we hope to talk to you again sometime.

RUNNION: I look forward to it. CHUNG: OK.

When we return: They still don't have their daughter back. They watched the president's speech today.

Stay with us.

ANNOUNCER: Still ahead: Lili roars at Category 4.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're taking it more seriously than the previous hurricanes because of the strength of the winds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: As the hurricane heads for landfall, we go live to the Gulf Coast for a report on the path of the storm.

CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT continues in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHUNG: We just spoke with Erin Runnion, whose daughter Samantha was murdered earlier this year.

But hundreds dreads of parents never find out what happened to their missing children, never know for sure if or when they're supposed to give up hope. And Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped from her home almost four months ago. It's now just about one month until her 15th birthday. Her parents, Ed and Lois Smart, watched the president's speech today, still hoping they'll be able to celebrate that birthday with her.

Thank you both for being with us.

Lois and Ed, how are you? Are you OK today?

L. SMART: Yes. I think our emotions have run the gamut. We are happy an yet very sad, because there is a definite reminder of what has happened, possibly could have happened to her. And so it's a happy and a sad time.

CHUNG: Ed, are there any new developments, any new leads?

E. SMART: The police and the FBI are still receiving a number of leads that they're following up on. But there isn't anything that just says it's this person or absolutely it was Richard. We still feel strongly that Richard had an involvement in it.

CHUNG: That's Richard Ricci...

E. SMART: Right.

CHUNG: ... the man who was a handyman and worked at your home.

E. SMART: Right. But we're hopeful that something is going to be forthcoming.

CHUNG: Lois, that had to be a very, very difficult turn of events, because Richard Ricci was in the custody of police. And then he died. He suffered a brain hemorrhage, is that correct, and simply died.

L. SMART: Yes.

CHUNG: At the time, you had to be hopeful that questioning him would lead to some information about Elizabeth.

L. SMART: We were very, very hopeful. And we'd just been to court earlier that day. And then they'd asked for an extension of three weeks. And that was hard, the extension and everything. But then, later on that night, to say he was in the hospital dying was very unnerving.

CHUNG: So, in some ways, I know that there was a statement. Perhaps, Ed, you had made it. And that is that you thought perhaps, now that Mr. Ricci had died, that perhaps someone might come forward with more information. Did that happen?

E. SMART: You know, it hasn't happened yet. We're still hopeful that somebody out there knows something. We know that. And we're just hoping that that person will come forward or somebody that knows that person will come forward and help us.

CHUNG: Now, Elizabeth, your daughter, was taken from her bed from her bedroom. And your other daughter, 10-year-old daughter, was there at the time. Did she ever identify Mr. Ricci as the person that she saw take your daughter?

L. SMART: She has always said that the voice that she heard was familiar to her. And she stands by that. Well, actually, I don't know that I can comment any further on that.

CHUNG: OK. All right. I understand.

Now, is it your belief, Lois, that there was someone else involved, in other words, two individuals, perhaps indeed Mr. Ricci and someone else?

L. SMART: Yes.

CHUNG: Why do you believe that?

L. SMART: Well, I think, when he took the jeep back to the mechanic...

CHUNG: When Mr. Ricci did?

L. SMART: Yes, when Mr. Ricci did.

There was someone across the street waiting for him to pick him up. And somebody else was with him. There was somebody else that knew something.

CHUNG: And, Ed, Mr. Ricci had racked up some 500 miles in a very short amount of time on his jeep, correct?

E. SMART: Correct.

CHUNG: And so that was a cause of concern, why he did. Did he ever answer that question before he died?

E. SMART: He never did answer that question. And we may -- who knows? We may never find out what happened with that vehicle. But we strongly feel that there was an involvement that Richard had in the case. And we're just hoping that somebody else -- we know that there's somebody else out there.

I think that things were too -- happened too quickly for Richard to have just done it on his own, or we would have found Elizabeth by now. And I feel very strongly that perhaps this person that was with Richard walking down the street may even have Elizabeth in his -- may be holding Elizabeth.

CHUNG: And you do believe Elizabeth is still alive?

E. SMART: I do believe Elizabeth is still alive.

CHUNG: And, Lois, you too?

L. SMART: I'm hopeful.

CHUNG: Tell me, Ed, someone told us -- and you tell me if this is accurate -- that, every weekend, you do go out walking looking for Elizabeth.

E. SMART: I've been out on a number of walks. We try and spend time with our family together, because, as bad as this has been, we've got to bring some normalcy, if you can call it that, back with the rest of the children. And so the kids and -- we try to spend time together as a family. But we have been out.

CHUNG: Right. And now the kids are back in school. Is there some normalcy just by virtue of the fact that they have to go to school?

L. SMART: Yes.

CHUNG: Lois, tell me about how you spend your days. I know I had asked Ed a few months ago how he spends his days. How about you, Lois?

L. SMART: Well, we have five other children. There's a lot of laundry to do, a lot of housework to do, a lot of grocery shopping. And I have a 3-year-old that's home with me all day long.

CHUNG: So you have your hands full?

L. SMART: I'm busy, yes.

CHUNG: All right, and one last bit of news: I think you were bringing in Dr. Henry Lee, an investigator, to help you out. Any new developments from his involvement?

E. SMART: He'll be coming in, in the middle of October. And we're really looking forward to having him take a look to see if there is something else there that hasn't been looked at yet.

CHUNG: OK, all right.

Well, we thank you so much, Lois and Ed, for being with us. And I know that the news media was with you day after day after day and we sort of left you for a while. But you call us if you need to bring your situation to the media again, so that you can keep Elizabeth's story alive.

L. SMART: Thank you.

E. SMART: Thanks, Connie.

L. SMART: Thank you.

CHUNG: OK, you take care.

You're right--one has to watch the tape to see the contrast in the demeanor of Erin Runnion and of Lois Smart.
This cannot be determined entirely from the transcript. Certain people seem to enjoy the fame that is brought to them after being caught up in a tragedy. Book? Movie? What's next for Lois and Ed?

RUNNION: Well, I just remember so vividly when Polly was taken. And it struck a chord with me then. And when Samantha was taken, the first thing I did was go to the Klaas Foundation. That just was the first thing that it triggered for me. I identified with Polly Klaas and her spark and charm. It reminds me, actually, now again of Samantha.
CHUNG: And when you talked to Marc Klaas, was he able to give you some comfort?

RUNNION: He was very encouraging, very supportive. It was so nice to finally meet him. And I told him how much his daughter had meant to me and that it makes me sick to think that my child and Elizabeth and Danielle and Casey, there are so many of them now that it took to raise awareness again.

There is also a stark contrast in the way Erin Runnion feels about the help and encouragement given by Mark Klaas and the Smart's negative viewpoint towards Mark Klaas, when he reached out to help the Smarts. The Smarts used the excuse that he was a paid consultant by Fox News. Evidently his paid consultancy wasn't enough to stop Connie Chung from asking about Mark Klaas' support for Erin Runnion.

Ping !!

Thanks for the ping...going in to 5 months. Elizabeth will be 15 next month.

Thanks for posting the Connie Chung interview on the other thread. I think it was you, Bella. I didn't know it was on, and watched Ashleigh Banfield, which wasn't much.

Erin Runnion is a person I think is going to go far in her heartfelt deligence in working on behalf of children. She exudes being a woman with a heart. I was so blessed by the funeral at the Crystal Cathedral for little Samantha. I actually cried when they did the Peter Pan music as a backdrop when the pictures of this little child were shown. It was a wonderful presentation of life.

I thought Mrs. Smart looked very beautiful. I cannot pretend I know her heart or pain. Everyone is different. I just see something different, and I hope it is a sort of peace she has now, but I am sure it is not true peace. Something is different about her. She seemed to me, more confident, and more light. Like a burden has been ebbed to some extent. I hope so. She has been doing more of the talking, which is good.

I truly wish that there wasn't so much inconsistency in the Smart case all the way around. I still feel beyond measure that something is wrong, and we may never learn it. I know many in this country share it, and it comes directly from statements made in public. How anyone would miss it is beyond me.

However, I do hope that one person who knows something will speak up and let this thing go forward. No matter what. Incidentally, I do believe that Elizabeth is alive.....somewhere.

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Incidentally, I do believe that Elizabeth is alive.....somewhere.

Actually, I sort of do, too. It is hard to think so sometimes, but I just have a hunch. The pregnant in Yuma, for some odd reason, seemed to make some sense. Not that it is likely her, but a similar scenario seems possible.

There is also a stark contrast in the way Erin Runnion feels about the help and encouragement given by Mark Klaas and the Smart's negative viewpoint towards Mark Klaas, when he reached out to help the Smarts.

I'm wondering if it wasn't Mark Klaas's celebrity status that unnerved the Smarts. Maybe they thought if they aligned with him, the probes into their private lives by the media, etc., might be more intense?

PING!! Palladin started a New thread :-)

Hey Bella, where's my ping?

I already freepmailed JimRob to explain that my usual quarterly donation will not be forthcoming this quarter, unless the unwarranted banning of poster jengaio is reversed. She was a valued contributor to the Elizabeth Smart threads, and is missed by many.

Hey sandude, how's the engineering?

I already sent my donation to freerepublic. With pleasure.

How was the age of the perp determined to be 30-40 without MK seeing a face?

Beats me.....kids are notoriously bad at guessing ages of adults. Most overestimate by at least ten years. Don't believe it? Go and ask some kid how old he/she thinks you are.

It would be nice to have jen's colorful and thought provoking posts back in the fray.