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A new suspect was mentioned by John Walsh on LKL last night....also Walsh says MK said it was NOT Ricci--

TUESDAY
December 24, 2002

Top Detective in Smart Case Leaving
BY MICHAEL VIGH
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

Although the lead investigator in the disappearance of Elizabeth Smart has taken a police chief's job in Idaho, the move is not a sign that the investigation is at a halt, an assistant Salt Lake City police chief said Monday.

Salt Lake City Capt. Cory Lyman, 45, has been leading a police task force since the armed abduction of the teenager occurred June 5. At its height, the task force included more than 100 officers and FBI agents, but it has been whittled down to six officers.

Now, months after the investigation stalled, Lyman has taken a job as the police chief in Ketchum, a resort town in central Idaho. Lyman will begin Feb. 1 and replaces Cal Nevland, who is retiring after 22 years at the helm of the department.

"It's still a high priority with this department to get this case solved," Salt Lake City Assistant Police Chief Arthur "Mac" Connole said of the Smart case. "Although [Lyman] is the supervisor, the detectives at the street level will be the same."

Lyman, who has been with the Salt Lake City police for two decades, will supervise a force of 10 sworn officers in Idaho. He had been captain over the 70-person detective division.

Connole said Chief Rick Dinse has not decided who will replace Lyman as lead investigator.

Elizabeth's father, Ed Smart, said Monday he is confident the team of police and FBI agents will continue to track leads in the confounding case. He also praised Lyman for his kindness during the nightmarish ordeal.
"Cory has been the epitome of what I would hope for in a policeman," Smart said. "He's been there night and day since this happened, and he has been Johnny-on-the-spot to let us know immediately [what's going on in the investigation]."

Smart added that Lyman told him he regretted leaving while the case remains unsolved.

"He said 'I feel like I am abandoning you,' " Smart said. "But I think [the new job] is wonderful, he deserves it."

Lyman was unavailable for comment Monday, but the frustrated detective told The Salt Lake Tribune last month that leads were drying up and he asked the public to come forward with solid information.

Police continue to put the late Richard Ricci, a career criminal who died in August, at the "top of the list" of potential suspects.

Before he died of a massive brain hemorrhage, Ricci told detectives he was home with his wife when Elizabeth was kidnapped.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported that John Walsh, host of "America's Most Wanted," is preparing an episode of the television show on the Smart kidnapping, which will profile a young roofer who had worked for the Smart family.

Smart told the AP Monday night he wasn't ready to go public with information on the roofer.

"I didn't know (Walsh) was going to do that," Smart said. "I'm surprised he said what he said. We're working with the police."

Smart said many of Elizabeth's friends have visited the family and brought them letters expressing their hope that the girl will be found alive. The letters also discussed how much they missed their classmate.

"It's really hard when you start reading those," Smart said, his voice breaking. "It's just a hard time right now."

mvigh@sltrib.com

Thanks for the article. I've always said Ricci did not go into the house and kidnap Elizabeth but whoever did was an associate of his and working with him to his game plan. Walsh is pretty sharp. If this roofer is athletic, has thick dark hair with wide sideburns, hair on the back of his hands, and a red, green, and blue tatoo on his shoulder, I will find him most interesting.

America's Most Wanted Will Profile Smart Case Mystery Man
http://kutv.com/specialsection/local_story_358115647.html

Dec 24, 2002 9:54 am US/Mountain

John Walsh, host of the high-profile anti-crime crusade ``America's Most Wanted'' television program, says he is helping Elizabeth Smart's family look for a man who once worked for them who they believe had something to do with Elizabeth's abduction.

On CNN's ``Larry King Live'' show Monday night, Walsh said that a future ``America's Most Wanted'' will profile a roofer he said was ``a young homeless guy who lived at a homeless shelter'' who may have used an alias when he worked for the Smarts.

Salt Lake City Police Capt. Scott Atkinson said though the suspect is someone they've been looking for, he is not near the top of their list of potential suspects.

``We've known about this guy. We would like to talk to him to clear up that lead. He was only at the house one time several months before the incident happened,'' Atkinson said.

Walsh also said Mary Katherine, Elizabeth's younger sister, says it wasn't former handyman and career criminal Richard Albert Ricci who came into the girls' bedroom in the middle of the night and took Elizabeth away at gunpoint. She remains missing.

However, police spokesman Dwayne Baird said Walsh's claim is inconsistent with what the child has told them.

``Ricci is our primary suspect and remains that way,'' Baird said.

Ricci, 48, on Aug. 27 suffered a cerebral hemorrhage in his Utah State Prison cell, where he was being held on a parole violation. His family took him off life support three days later.

He had been under scrutiny for possible involvement in the 14-year-old girl's disappearance on June 5. He always maintained his innocence.

Walsh made his ``America's Most Wanted'' plans with Elizabeth's parents, Ed and Lois Smart, in New York last week, after taping a segment for ``The John Walsh Show,'' a daytime talk show on NBC.

Ed Smart said Monday night he wasn't ready to go public with information on the roofer. ``I didn't know (Walsh) was going to do that,'' Smart said. ``I'm surprised he said what he said. We're working with the police.''

Smart said investigators have long known about the roofer and are looking for him but don't know where he is. And though he confirmed Walsh's claims about the upcoming episode, he was cautious about what the television host said.

``That room was very dark at night,'' Smart said. ``What Mary Katherine saw and what she didn't see is really hard to know. She's told her story and I hope at some point soon to basically say exactly what she said.

Mary Katherine, then 9, was the sole witness to her 14-year-old sister's abduction. At investigators' request, her parents haven't questioned their younger daughter on what she told police. Children have malleable memories, and they don't want to taint her as a witness.

In a November interview, the Smarts told The Associated Press that their understanding was that while Mary Katherine feigned sleep, Elizabeth stubbed her toe, and her kidnapper said either ``if you don't scream, I won't hurt you,'' or ``be quiet or I'll hurt you.''

Mary Katherine got out of bed to follow them. But when she stood in her doorway and saw them looking into her brothers' room, she went back to bed, her parents said.

Police have documented and followed up over 16,000 leads from the public, most of them dead ends.

The kidnapping of Walsh's 6-year-old son, Adam, brought national attention to the problem of missing children. The crime remains unsolved 21 years after his severed head was found in a canal. Adam's body was never found, and the prime suspect, now dead, was never charged in the case.

The slaying led Walsh to press lawmakers to create a national clearinghouse of computerized information on missing children and a toll-free hot line to help parents. He claims that ``America's Most Wanted'' has helped capture 735 fugitives in its 16 years on television.

John Walsh on the Smart Investigation
http://tv.ksl.com/index.php?nid=84&sid=4536

Dec. 24, 2002

Salt Lake Police say claims made by John Walsh.. in connection with the Elizabeth Smart Case.. aren't true.

Walsh.. the host of America's Most Wanted says he plans to highlight a roofer of the Smart family

He says the family believes the roofer had a role in the abduction.

Detective Dwayne Baird tells K-S-L radio the roofer has been looked at.. and is towards the bottom of the supect list.

Baird also says no one has replaced Smart Handyman Richard Ricci at the top of the suspect list.

As for Walsh's claims that Mary Katherine Smart.. the sole witness to the abduction.. now says Ricci wasn't in the bedroom.

Baird says that isn't consistant with what she has told police.

Smart Case: "America's Most Wanted" Gets Involved
http://tv.ksl.com/index.php?nid=84&sid=4508

Dec. 24, 2002
(Salt Lake City- KSL TV) America's Most Wanted host John Walsh says he is helping the family of Elizabeth Smart look for a potential suspect.

Walsh broke the news last night on CNN's "Larry King Live."

Walsh says the man being sought is described as a young homeless man who worked as a roofer for the family under an alias.

Walsh also said Mary Katherine, Elizabeth's younger sister, says it wasn't former handyman Richard Albert Ricci who kidnapped Elizabeth at gunpoint from the room shared by the two girls.

Smart's father Ed says that until now he wasn't ready to come forward with the information about the roofer.

CNN LARRY KING LIVE

Interview With John Walsh

Aired December 23, 2002 - 21:00 ET

http://www.silenter.com/cgi-bin/nph-go.cgi/00000/687474702f7777772e636e6e2e636f6d2f5452414e534352495054532f303231322f32332f6c6b6c2e30302e68746d6c
Excerpts:

KING: All right, let's talk about the Elizabeth Smart case, which the media has kind of left now. What is your best read on that tragedy in Utah?

WALSH: I spent yesterday by coincidence with Ed and Lois Smart. I had them on "The John Walsh Show" to kind of give an update to the case. You know, Ricci, the guy that was the main suspect, died in prison of an aneurysm. He's the guy that was the handyman at the house that put 1,000 miles on his pickup truck during the two days that she was missing. He was a burglar. He also had a rap sheet, which a lot of the media doesn't understand. He spent 10 years in jail. He tried to blow the head off of a cop with a shotgun. This is a real bad guy.

I hope that he didn't take the secret of Elizabeth Smart to the grave with him. I talked to Ed and Lois yesterday. I said, don't give up hope. Justice delayed isn't justice denied.

What's killing them is the fact of the not knowing. I think they're prepared for the worst. Most parents of missing children are prepared for the worst. But their young daughter has now said that she believes that Ricci wasn't the guy in there that night, that it may have been another guy that did some work on their roof, an itinerant guy that worked at a homeless shelter, and he may be a suspect in this. And I don't want to give away a lot of breaking information here, but "America's Most Wanted" is going to take a look at the Smart case, because I know one thing, we have been able to solve crimes after 10 years.

So I gave the Smarts, you know, the best encouragement I could and said, look, don't give up hope. We'll relook at the case. It is normal for the media tension to die down, and to try to have a good holiday. This is going to be the first Christmas without this beautiful girl, and the Smarts have five other beautiful children. So they're trying to hold that family together.

I said, you know, do the best you can with your five children. Don't give up hope, and, you know what, we'll take another look at this case and try to keep it alive.