Free Republic
Browse · Search
Smoky Backroom
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

New Leads In Smart Case
The Salt Lake Tribune ^ | October 26, 2002 | Kevi Cantera and Michael Vigh

Posted on 10/26/2002 5:29:22 PM PDT by Palladin

Expert Offers 'Some New Leads' in Smart Case
Saturday, October 26, 2002

BY KEVIN CANTERA and MICHAEL VIGH

As police investigating Elizabeth Smart's kidnapping became stymied by a dearth of solid leads over the months, the case has grown conspicuously cold.

That could change following a recent visit from renowned forensics expert Henry Lee, who was recruited to examine evidence in the mysterious kidnapping. Lee, who has worked on such high-profile cases as the O.J. Simpson trial and the disappearance of congressional intern Chandra Levy, told The Salt Lake Tribune this week he gave investigators "some new leads to follow" in Elizabeth's June 5 abduction.

Citing a confidentiality agreement with police he signed before gaining access to forensic evidence in the case, Lee wouldn't discuss his findings specifically.

Chris Thomas, speaking on behalf of Elizabeth's father Ed Smart, confirmed Friday that Lee gave law enforcement "many recommendations" on how to proceed. "The police said they would pursue those leads. . . . From our understanding, investigators have been very busy, since [Lee] left," Thomas said. "It has given the family a lot of hope that things are progressing in a positive way."

The 14-year-old girl was snatched from her bedroom in the early morning hours by a gun-wielding intruder -- a crime witnessed only by her younger sister.

Lee's examination of a kitchen window screen led him to back an early police theory that the screen was cut from inside the home, possibly as a diversionary tactic by the abductor, multiple law enforcement sources tell The Tribune.

Police have been unable to determine if the kitchen window was the actual point of entry into the Federal Heights home. Investigators' skepticism is grounded in the lack of scuff marks around the kitchen window and the belief that anyone squeezing through the small window would have awakened family members.

"I went through the house and did look at a lot of evidence . . .I examined the screen and the window," said Lee, refusing to say what he determined from the analysis.

Thomas said Lee did not discuss his findings with Ed Smart or other family members because of the confidentiality agreement.

While Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse welcomed Lee's input, he said: "I don't think there was anything that [Lee] found that will change much." Dinse said he expects Lee, who was originally recruited into the investigation by Ed Smart, to provide police with a written report.

Though Dinse has not publicly ruled anyone out, the chief has called the late Richard Ricci, who worked in the Smart home as a handyman last year, the No. 1 potential suspect. Ricci, who was being held at the Utah State Prison on alleged parole violations, died in August from a massive brain hemorrhage.

He was also charged with robbing the Smart home of jewelry and other items and an earlier night-time burglary of a home nearby while he worked in the neighborhood.


TOPICS: Heated Discussion
KEYWORDS: elizabethsmartcase; henrylee; newleads; utahdisappearance
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 321-340341-360361-380 ... 481-493 next last
To: landerwy
Almost overlooked your link - thanks.

What do you think of this psychic stuff?

341 posted on 12/04/2002 9:44:43 PM PST by lakey
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 334 | View Replies]

Comment #342 Removed by Moderator

To: scaredkat
Informative reply, thank you. "Mine shaft," right, not pits.

Somehow, though, I'm going to stick with my Arab - I just don't believe Elizabeth is dead. This case is too strange, too many contradictions on the part of everybody involved.

bedtime, 'nite.

343 posted on 12/04/2002 9:59:57 PM PST by lakey
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 340 | View Replies]

To: lakey
I think that there is a power on high that knows all truth. Having said that I am not confidant that this(PSI tech) is the medium that will be used to reveal the truth to us. I do know of people who have had dreams and such that have led them to solve mysteries or prevent accidents from happening.

Otherwise I find it interesting and weigh what they say and do against other information we have. As all of us know there is not a wealth of information coming out on this case. And my five year old is still praying on her own for ES to return to her family safely.
344 posted on 12/05/2002 9:11:07 AM PST by landerwy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 341 | View Replies]

To: landerwy
Definitely, there is a higher power who knows all.

We humans are endowed with a sixth sense to one degree or another, instinct or whatever. Such as not having spoken to someone in ages and you're suddenly thinking of them, then next thing you know, they've telephoned.

I have heard some psychics say that accepting money for their efforts would remove their power.

345 posted on 12/05/2002 3:43:29 PM PST by lakey
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 344 | View Replies]

To: scaredkat
well, if she is in a mine shaft God forbid , I would think the lower temps might help preserve some evidence....

wish I could search with you....it is very frustating following a story and not knowing how to help from so far away...

I hope I am prepared if this ever happens nearer to me....

346 posted on 12/05/2002 9:13:43 PM PST by cherry
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 340 | View Replies]

To: landerwy
about this psychic stuff....here is what I feel....

I feel that there are many unexplained phenomenom in our world....

we believe in a lot of those phenomenom because we see the results...eg....electricity....photagraphy...radio waves....sound waves ...light waves...microwaves...

has anyone really seen any of these waves...?????

if we can expect that you can get a little picture from around the world coming into your living room and into a tv set...even thought we can not actually see what is happening from the sky....why is it so out of the question that there may be some sort of brain waves that exist that can be picked up by some very intuned people...????

afterall, the human body does exist with the help of electrical impulses....

maybe all of us could be psychic readers if we learned what to listen for....

OTOH...I do think there are a lot of quacks out there .....don't know anything about psitech.......

347 posted on 12/05/2002 9:22:58 PM PST by cherry
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 344 | View Replies]

To: scaredkat; All
I haven't been following this thread, but wanted to throw something new in here for you all to ponder.

A 13 year old girl from Arkansas was abducted from her own home in Greenbriar. She had been corresponding with a 47 year-old California man named David L. Fuller. It is believed she thought she was corresponding with a much younger man.

Police stormed a mini storage unit, where he had parked his rented silver Dodge Caravan. Kacie Rene Woods, "bound body was found in the back of the van, in a space where a seat had been removed. She was shot once in the head.

Fuller's body was in the storage unit, slumped over in the seat that had been removed from the van".

Kacie's father is a Police Officer. Now, the article appears on the front page of today's Arkansas Democrat Gazette, and the picture of Rick Woody, bears a remarkable likness to Ricci.

From the article "The FBI is looking at simiiar crimes across the nation to see if any unsolved murders might be linked to Fuller. One law enforcement Officer hinted at a possible match in Utah in the case of a murdered 13-year old girl."

They highly suspect this isn't the first time he has done this. If you all want to read the whole article, you have to go on-line www.ardemgaz.com.

Just my 2 cents. Carry on.

sw

348 posted on 12/06/2002 6:11:55 AM PST by spectre
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 340 | View Replies]

To: cherry
Well said!
349 posted on 12/06/2002 8:52:19 AM PST by landerwy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 347 | View Replies]

To: lakey
I watched a show not long ago where a Native American was involved in the serch for a missing child. He used a map and water witching sticks, I believe, and the sticks pointed to a spot on the map. He went to the LE in the area and they allowed him to go with an officer to the spot on the map. They found the little boy in the woods on the exact spot. There was more to the story but those are the main points as I remember them.

350 posted on 12/06/2002 9:07:48 AM PST by landerwy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 345 | View Replies]

To: spectre
I couldn't open that site but did read about Kaci on another web site....

that is too, too strange....to have him be from both SLC and San Diego, the cities of notorious abductions this year....

the father of the man states emphatically that his son would never do such a thing....wonder how the little girl bond herself and then killed herself....

I never did see his pic.....

too bad the creep took the coward way out and killed himself...if he was related to other crimes and especially Liz's abduction , then we will never learn the truth...

anybody who knows anything on this guy Fuller who is originally from Salt Lake, please chime in....you know...where he lived, went to church, school , etc...thx

351 posted on 12/06/2002 10:02:30 AM PST by cherry
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 348 | View Replies]

To: spectre
Could you please give us the link or the story. This is an interesting case in it self. I would like to read it but haven't been able to locate any information on the names or story.

Also was the storage unit locked up? Would like to know who rick woody is?

Thanks
352 posted on 12/06/2002 12:29:54 PM PST by scaredkat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 348 | View Replies]

To: cherry
read about Kaci on another web site

What web site was this? I can't find anything on it.
353 posted on 12/06/2002 12:31:45 PM PST by scaredkat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 351 | View Replies]

To: spectre
I found the story unable to read because you have to subscribe to it; however, The picture is scary it does make you wonder with the likeness of it to Ricci.
354 posted on 12/06/2002 12:54:12 PM PST by scaredkat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 348 | View Replies]

To: scaredkat; cherry
Sorry, I KNEW the newspaper makes you subscribe to get the articles, and that's a shame.

Fuller also has been known to go by the name of David Fagan.

I think he was going to drop the body off at the mini-storage and blow town, but they followed him there and it is "assumed" he took his own life.

You all can read it on CNN, but only a part of the story. Reuters should have it also.

Sorry I can't be of more help. But if they do a follow-up in the paper tomorrow, I'll get back with you all with more info.

regards, sw

355 posted on 12/06/2002 2:14:04 PM PST by spectre
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 352 | View Replies]

PS...IF this guy was going to use a rented mini storage to hide the body, then maybe somewhere in the country, there is a mini storage facility that he rented, under another name perhaps, and was paying on it. Now, that he is dead, the payments will stop, and they may find Elizabeth's body in there. Could be....? Wouldn't that be something.

sw

356 posted on 12/06/2002 2:18:29 PM PST by spectre
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 355 | View Replies]

To: scaredkat
San Diego Man Kills Girl He Met In Chat Room
Man Allegedly Abducted 13-Year-Old Arkansas Girl

POSTED: 6:53 a.m. PST December 6, 2002
UPDATED: 9:05 a.m. PST December 6, 2002

SAN DIEGO -- A San Diego man is suspected of murdering a 13-year-old Arkansas girl he met over the Internet.

FeedRoom


Arkansas Teen Murdered





Kacie Rene Woody was found shot to death Wednesday night in the van of a 47-year-old man from the San Diego area, David Fuller, who police say then took his own life. Kacie had disappeared from her home in Holland, Ark., the night before.


Conway police Lt. Chip Stokes said investigators believed Kacie and Fuller had communicated through Internet chat rooms for about a month.

Police don't think Kacie went with the man willingly, though officials did not release further details of how the two wound up together Tuesday.

"Every indication is that she was abducted," said Jack Pike, public information officer for the Faulkner County, Ark., Sheriff's Office.

They consider the case a murder-suicide and said both suffered gunshot wounds, though autopsy results were still pending. Stokes would not comment on whether the girl was sexually assaulted.

Authorities expressed fears Thursday that Kacie wasn't Fuller's first victim. The FBI is looking at similar crimes across the nation to see if any unsolved cases might be linked with Fuller.

Conway police Chief Randall Aragon said details learned since Kacie's death could shed some light on other cases.

"Honestly, I'd be surprised if that weren't the case," Aragon said.

Conway Police Lt. Mark Elsinger echoed that sentiment. "It's doubtful this was (Fuller's) first time," Elsinger said.

Police in La Mesa, Calif., in San Diego County, where Fuller had lived before going to Arkansas in November, were preparing Thursday to help federal agents serve a search warrant on a residence.

But Fuller's father, Edward Fuller, of Salt Lake City, said it was ridiculous to believe that his son would commit any such crime. "He would never do anything of the sort," he said.

The dead man's father said he and his wife, June Fuller, hadn't been notified of their son's death. The couple said their son was living in the San Diego area, and was in the middle of divorce proceedings.

Wednesday evening, a tip led officers to a cluster of storage units in west Conway, Ark., and a shot rang out as they opened one of the sheds.

After 2 1/2 hours of trying to negotiate, a SWAT team set off a "distraction device" and police entered the building to find two bodies.

The girl was reported missing about 10 p.m. Tuesday, when her older brother called deputies because he hadn't heard from the girl for four hours.
Copyright 2002 by NBCSandiego.com. Th
357 posted on 12/06/2002 5:16:39 PM PST by cherry
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 353 | View Replies]

To: cherry
What a sad and horrible story! These predators are everywhere. We must all become more proactive in keeping them away from the children.

The internet is becoming an increasingly dangerous place for children. Yet many public libraries allow children to engage in internet chatrooms, far away from the surveillance of their parents. Maybe this is one area where we can all step in, and demand that library computers be used for reference and research only.
358 posted on 12/06/2002 7:26:44 PM PST by Palladin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 357 | View Replies]

To: Palladin
Here is a comprehensive article about the abduction of Kacie:

http://www.thecabin.net/stories/120602/loc_1206020007.shtml
359 posted on 12/06/2002 7:36:12 PM PST by Palladin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 358 | View Replies]

Comment #360 Removed by Moderator


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 321-340341-360361-380 ... 481-493 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Smoky Backroom
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson