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Your theory is intriguing, but I see no basis to assume that the mastermind is a drug dealer. I try to make as few assumptions as possible and only assumptions which are consistent with the majority of known facts, which to me would not justify an assumption of drug dealer. Of course, you are free to make whatever assumptions you wish to in order to test theories.

Here are some basic assumptions which I have made and conclusions which I have reached at this point. I think that most of them are consistent with the assumptions which you are making.

1. Ricci was involved in the abduction but was not the actual abductor and was not the mastermind. He was not present at the time of abduction or later events that night and was at home in bed asleep.

2. Ricci's involvement was primarily the provision of information about the house and the family. Or at least he thought that that was all that he would be required to do. He definitely knew that the "plan" involved entry into the Smart's home. I don't know if he knew that the plan was to kidnap Elizabeth, although I think it more likely that he did know. If so, he may have been the "manager" of this "project."

3. The mastermind did not participate in the actual kidnapping. He contacted one of Ricci's gang, maybe Ricci himself, to be in charge of the others including the actual abductor and to co-ordinate and direct their efforts, including the payoff.

4. The mastermind wanted Elizabeth for himself. He coveted her. His desires were not entirely evil in that he had genuine affection for her and thought himself in love with her. He never intended to kill her after a brief interaction with her. He wanted her for keeps and wanted her to love him.

5. The mastermind is a "respected member of the community" who sees himself as being so important and beyond reproach in his world that he acutally believed that he could do this and get away with it. He may or may not have a connection or relation to the family, but I believe that Elizabeth knew and respected him.

6. Ricci's car was used for some purpose connected with Elizabeth after the abduction. Ricci never intended to allow his car to be used or anything which could so connected to him. But something happened which required a four wheel drive, off road vehicle and Ricci's jeep was the only such vehicle that the bad guys had access to. Ricci was pretty mad when his car was used. He may have felt compelled by rapidly deteriorating circumstances to allow it OR he may not have known that it was going to be used until after the fact.

7.The police know who the ringleader is, but he is so important that they have to be ABSOLUTELY SURE AND HAVE AN AIRTIGHT CASE before they go public. So far, nobody is talking, but the police are working them.

8. The police do not know where Elizabeth is or what happpened to her and presume her to be dead.

9. The family knows that the police know but may or may not know themselves the actual identity of the mastermind. They do not believe Elizabeth to be dead, and are in conflict with the police about what should be done and how rapidly. The family wants action NOW even if that jeopardizes the investigation and prosecution.

10. The biggest mystery (along with who Mr. Big is) is who the actual abductor was. I do not have any infoamtion which allows me to make an informed guess. The description we have, such as it is, does not match anyone in the picture as far as I can see. Boylan's work with MK is very important in supplying this key piece of the puzzle.

I am sure that I am making more assumotions without explicitly realizing it, but these are the key conclusions which I have reached at this point based on what is currently known.

5. The mastermind is a "respected member of the community" who sees himself as being so important and beyond reproach in his world that he acutally believed that he could do this and get away with it. He may or may not have a connection or relation to the family, but I believe that Elizabeth knew and respected him.

I know that you don't like to have hard facts get in the way of your theory, but the quote from police never said "respected member of the community" and it never said "trusted member of the community". MadisonA provided the following on the July 25th thread:

I think the exact quote by Atkinson on June 19th is "We believe that this person may be a trusted person in the neighborhood or in the community. [It] might be someone ... that had reason to be here, that had reason to come across the family, all those kind of things we still believe,"

The quote provides a far wider interpretation than the incorrect "member of the community" you are assuming to be the case. Ricci fits nicely into the interpretation of the exact quote without any assistance from a Mr. Big neighbor.