Elizabeth Smart Kidnapping - Daily News/Chat Thread

PING to Day 34 - Have a good Monday!

Evening. I'm having a hard time sleeping, so I'm up trying to get sleepy...

CBS News Elizabeth Smart Time line in brief

A Utah LE rep was just on Fox and said they're still looking at various people, including an inner circle in the family , that may have removed Elizabeth from the family because of something that was going on in the family.

Now, this is something I hadn't heard before. This was on Fox News ? Wow, this case is leaving me with a feeling that there is a LOT more to it than we think.

The bottom line of course is to pray for Elizabeth's safe return.

I can't believe you people eat so readily from the media feed bag. Can anyone tell me why this Smart kid is news? How many children go missing in America every month? Every day? The media, in its infinite laziness, and recognizing the public's growing disinterest in the monotonous war against terror, has once again, manufacturered interest in a non-news story, and you people gobble it up. The media is correct. You are all starving for something to feed on, and they serve it up. I couldn't give a rat's butt about this Smart kid any more than all the other kids that are missing. It's sad, and everything should be done to find them, but this singling out of a single child so that it can serve as fodder for a lazy media is absolutely disgusting and it's pathetic that you all feed into it so blindly.

Thank you for contributing your perspective to the discussion today.

It's sad, and everything should be done to find them, but this singling out of a single child so that it can serve as fodder for a lazy media is absolutely disgusting and it's pathetic that you all feed into it so blindly.

Why are you posting here then? Do you have no life?

"...and it's pathetic that you all feed into it so blindly."

Then go to another damn thread and stop you're whinning - man, you must be a real hoot to work with,
(I pity your peers).

I couldn't give a rat's butt about this Smart kid

It would be impossible to focus one's mind on every single missing child at once. There are agencies and foundations for that, and your time is better spent donating to them rather than criticizing this thread. One of the reasons why people like the Ramseys, OJ Simpson, Gary Condit and Bill Clinton no longer really "get away" with their crimes is because of open public debate and commentary like this. If a single crime can be highlighted and focused in such a way that other future crimes are prevented then we have done a good thing. Look at the good John Walsh does. He does that good by "singling out" cases. There are thousands of murders. Why does he single them out? Because that's the only level at which evil can truly be uncovered, one crime at a time. People don't enjoy living in a universe that "works in mysterious ways." People want answers. It is part of the arrogance of this crime that has affronted free-thinking people. It was sold as a group of beautiful people in the happiest family ever enduring a totally mysterious "tragedy." A good brain won't buy that. This is not a mysterious tragedy. This is a crime. And the more people who hold law enforcement accountable the more accountable they will be.

As I've been thinking over the Smart case, I find several recent summaries here on FR helpful and I also find the absence of other facts a concern. First of all, my summary of Ricci's probability of involvement is the following:

1) Ricci is not involved at all. Either a) Moul is lying or, b) he did take back the car like Moul said and the timing is coincidental.

2) Ricci planned and executed the kidnapping for any of the following reasons: a) sex, b) money, c) for someone else.

3) Ricci played a role in someone else's scheme; he was hired to help with some of the details of an elaborate kidnapping plan.

Regardless of who planned and/or carried out the scheme, there are three primary motives: 1) sex--either personal, to be sold into slavery, or for the porn industry. ES is an exceptionally beautiful and angelic blond teen who had public exposure at the Olympics.

2) money--either a) for ransom or, b) to be paid by someone else who wanted her (see above). 3) personal reason--a) boyfriend; b) wanna-be boyfriend; c) family associate or member to protect her against unknown forces.

While the circumstantial evidence appears to signal a Ricci involvement, I do not believe that he planned this. Although he has been a career criminal and continued his activities since release from prison, they have been petty. He was recently married, a union which brought a stepson. He had a steady job and received praise as a good worker. However, some reports are that he was working hard to emerge from debt. So, he could have a financial motive to participate in the scheme. I see no reason to believe that he had any sexual motive.

I have several questions that I have not seen addressed. Admittedly, I may have just missed the discussion.

1) If Ricci was hired because of his relationship to the Smart family, then someone close to the family must have directed the mastermind to Ricci; I don't know the names of the workers that work for casual acquaintances. This person would also probably have had access to criminal records. You would not want to approach someone that might run to the police instead of agreeing to the plan; therefore the mastermind would investigate ties to the Smarts that also had a criminal past. Ricci had also violated parole. If someone knew this, and if they had access to his records then it is quite possible that he could have been threatened with exposure if he did not agree to help. I think that even though it appears Ricci is involved, it still means that someone close to the family--and criminal records--is also involved.

2) Why did Ricci retrieve the jeep on May 30 if the kidnapping did not take place until May 5? Could the kidnapping have been planned earlier, then was delayed for some reason? May 30 was a Thursday. When was the kidnapping originally planned? Did other circumstances force Ricci to Plan B? Myron Francom died Saturday afternoon and was buried Monday. Could that have required him to change plans? What was on the Smart's calendar between Thursday and Tuesday when E disappeared? Or was the June 5 kidnapping Plan A all along? He did have June 6 off from work. Has anyone heard about any weekend plans that could shed light on who the mastermind could be?

3) Assuming Ricci was involved and for money, where IS the money? I would doubt that he got a transfer into his account--too obvious. After he delivered E, how and when did he get the money? Is this what he buried in his neighbors yard? Close but not on his own property in case LE came first thing? Is this what he buried with the post digger? Does Angela seem to have more money at her disposal now than before?

A lingering question for me is the level of exposure of the children who performed in the Olympics. Were any pictures published that included Elizabeth? People from all over the world were there and could have seen her. Were records of charter and personal flights out of the area and surrounding areas checked?

If I were to draw a flow chart of possibilities, I believe that all viable choices would still lead to someone close and trusted to the family (not Ricci) as the mastermind.

Any thoughts?

If it was someone close to the family who orchestrated the abduction they wouldn't need Ricci to do the job. They would already have a good knowledge of the layout of the house and possibly could have gotten a key. If I remember right, MK's description of the perp doesn't quite fit Ricci.

On the other hand, the guard (Shriners Hospital) who knew Ricci well has expressed that Richard was very intelligent. I wouldn't put it past him to have planned this with some of his ex-con buddies helping to execute the plan. I think we will know by the end of this week if Ricci's alibi's pan out. On the other hand if he and his associates haven't got their stories down then it may take some time to wear one of the gang down.

Richard was very intelligent.

I've heard him say that Ricci was very cooperative, but I've never heard him say that he was intelligent. Do you have a source? Even if he is intelligent, I still don't buy that he masterminded this, although I can certainly be proven wrong! While it's true that someone with a knowledge of the house would not necessarily be needed if someone close planned this, someone with a vehicle that had already carried Elizabeth could be the motive. I still don't believe that Ricci was the intruder. He doesn't fit the description very well. The vehicle seems to be key.

Richard was very intelligent.

I'm not sure of the interview but I am sure I heard it. Perhaps someone else can confirm this. I also believe that if Ricci is involved then the jeep is a key element.

I'm off to the doctor so I won't ge responding for awhile.

What in hell does my job have to do with a meaningless thread about a girl who the media has singled out for no other reason than sheer laziness? Just because you're one of the millions of sheeple who gobble up this pablum without a second thought doesn't mean you should attack me for pointing the fact out.

excerpt>>>I can't believe you people eat so readily from the media feed bag. Can anyone tell me why this Smart kid is news? How many children go missing in America every month? Every day? about this Smart kid any more than all the other kids that are missing...,... and it's pathetic that you all feed into it so blindly.

I would agree with you. I think the media singled this gal out because of the circumstance in which she was abducted; (i.e. at gunpoint from her home.) As for FReepers, I believe that everyone here participating in these daily discussions would gladly take on each one of these missing children/persons. If only the media could offer more information than just the vitals. All to often the basic circumstance of their disappearance are not even offered. I think I can speak for every one here, when I say that; We all hope for the best concerning each and every one of those that are missing. Hopefully, this forum and what we learn here will evolve as time goes by. Thanks for your thoughts on this dilemma.

Because you're a meaningless WHINER.
There are scores of threads here to post on, why do you feel you have to flame everyone who's interested in this?
Is it because it gives you something to WHINE about?
WHINERS make horrible work partners, we just dumped someone like you last week - hmmm, maybe it WAS you!

Does Videotape Hold A Clue?
SALT LAKE CITY, July 8, 2002

The FBI is trying to enhance a security videotape from a hospital parking lot a half-mile from the home where a 14-year-old girl was taken from her bedroom at gunpoint.

The videotape from Shriners Hospital shows two cars meeting in the parking lot hours before Elizabeth Smart disappeared June 5. A security guard described one driver as vaguely similar to the man Elizabeth's sister saw in their shared bedroom that night.

Authorities are reconstructing a one-minute portion of the videotape, FBI special agent Kevin Eaton said. The crime lab is expected to extract still pictures by Tuesday.

"We're not going to get a license plate or anything like that," Eaton said. "I'm not sure how much help it's going to be, and then again I'm not sure if these two cars have anything to do with the kidnapping."

The video is washed out by the glare of the cars' headlights and what is may reveal is uncertain, police Sgt. Fred Louis said. Police reviewed the video last month but didn't find it useful.

The lab work is part of an investigation that has scrutinized Richard Ricci, 48, an ex-convict who worked as a handyman at the Smart home a year ago. He has said he had nothing to do with the girl's disappearance.

Police have said that two other associates of Ricci, both ex-convicts who worked as repairmen in the neighborhood, are also being questioned.

Attorneys for those two men - Douglas Rex Young and John Russell Remington - have said that neither had anything to do with the abduction.

On Friday, the Smart family marked a full month since Elizabeth was snatched from her home.

"I just want to make a plea to this perpetrator," said Elizabeth's father, Edward Smart. "I would ask him that he would see that for whatever reason he kept Elizabeth, it is time for her to come home. And I would ask him to please find it in his heart, find it in his mind that it is time to let her go and to please let her come home, where she's loved and where she's comfortable."

Police have found no trace of Elizabeth, an eighth-grade graduate and accomplished harp player, since the early morning hours of June 5, when a man oddly attired in an English driving cap entered her bedroom carrying a handgun and ordered her out of the house wearing only her red satin pajamas and sneakers.

The abduction was witnessed by Smart's terrified 9-year-old sister, Mary Katherine, who shared a queen-size bed with the teen and pretended to sleep through the abduction and has provided authorities with their only clues to his identity.

Elizabeth's disappearance has competed with America's ongoing war on terrorism as the top story on most national news programs and a $250,000 reward stands for her safe return, but authorities say they have no clue to her whereabouts and cannot name a suspect.

"We've cast a wide net in this case," Salt Lake City police detective Jay Rhodes said. "Anybody could be responsible, we're not eliminating anybody."

While officially police maintain that their investigation is wide open, they have focused heavily in recent weeks on handyman Richard Albert Ricci, whose activities on the days surrounding Elizabeth's abduction, 30-year criminal record and connection to the Smart family has raised suspicion.

Ricci has reportedly confessed to stealing from the Smart family while he did work on their $1 million home, and published reports said on Friday that police are considering robbery charges against him.

A representative of Ricci's lawyer, David Smith, said: "No charges have been filed today to our knowledge."

On Friday, Ed Smart said some items had been taken from the home.

"I have had some things that were stolen. They have been brought to my attention," said Smart, without getting into details.

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