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Also Thursday, Ricci's mechanic said Ricci was acting strangely when he dropped off his 1990 white Jeep Cherokee for repairs just three days after Elizabeth's kidnapping.

At 5:30 p.m. June 8, Ricci took his car to Net Moul for minor repairs. Moul describes Ricci as an easy-going person who is normally pleasant to talk to. But not on that day.

"He didn't even look me straight in the face. He was not in a good mood," he said. "He seemed more frustrated. I figured he must have had a problem. Something was up."

The Cherokee was caked in mud as if it had been four-wheeling, Moul said. Newspapers lined the floor of the vehicle as if someone were taking precautions to keep it clean. But when he tried to joke about it with Ricci, he got no reply.

Moul saw two seat covers lying behind the Jeep's back seat. Ricci put the seat covers in a plastic bag, grabbed a post-hole digger that was in the Jeep, and walked to the sidewalk in front of the auto shop near 3500 South and 4500 West, Moul said.

Ricci waved to a man who was at the gas station across the street. Ricci told Moul the man was waiting to give him a ride home. The man was Caucasian, had dark hair and was about 5-foot-8, Moul said.

Ricci went back to his Jeep and grabbed a second bag out of the vehicle and took it with him. The bag was full, but Moul said he couldn't tell what was in it.

What also caught Moul's attention that day was the odometer. Ricci had picked up his Jeep May 30 after having a fuel line fixed. Between May 30 and June 8, Moul estimated between 500 to 1,000 miles had been put on the car.

Several days later, investigators from Salt Lake City police and the FBI came to Moul's shop looking for the Jeep, which they eventually took.

Wednesday, Moul was called to testify before the federal grand jury investigating the Smart kidnapping.

Morse said that police told him the man who dropped off the Jeep at the shop was wearing a machete in his belt. Moul did not have any comment on that information.