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Elizabeth Smart case, August 13, 2002

Posted on 08/12/2002 9:08:54 PM PDT by IamHD

If you would like me to ping you, please let me know. :)


TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: elizabethsmart
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To: IamHD
Really? I've never noticed that at all. I really enjoy reading most everyone's posts and have only noticed 2 or 3 posters that "have no patience," and spore-gasm isn't one of them. :0)

Perhaps my perception is incorrect. She certainly is not flagrant or abusive at all in her criticism. Maybe I just don't appreciate her sarcasm.

61 posted on 08/13/2002 7:20:02 PM PDT by sandude
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To: IamHD
http://www.msnbc.com/news/793424.asp?0na=x2101570-

Missing L.A. girl found safe, police say

Woman in custody after 4-year-old walks into California health clinic

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 13 — Jessica Cortez, the 4-year-old girl whose disappearance from a park during the weekend triggered a frantic search statewide, was found at a medical clinic Tuesday, police said. A woman was taken into custody.

JESSICA WAS TAKEN to Children’s Hospital, where she was being examined, said police, who said she appeared to be fine.

“This turned out to be a great day. Our prayers were answered,” said Mayor James Hahn, who announced Jessica’s recovery at Echo Park, where she disappeared Sunday.

NBC affiliate KNBC-TV reported that Jessica walked into St. John’s Well Child Clinic near the University of Southern California on Tuesday afternoon. She was barefoot and dirty, her hair had been cut short and jagged, and she was wearing different clothes from those she had on when she was last seen Sunday at Echo Park, about seven miles away.

Jessica arrived with a woman who asked clinic workers to examine her child. The workers recognized Jessica from her photos and immediately called 911.

Clinic workers asked Jessica if the woman was her mother and she said no, KNBC reported. The 30-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping, police said.

The Associated Press reported that crowds gathered at the Echo Park lake after hearing news that the girl had been found.

“Jessica, Jessica,” the crowd chanted as news spread through the community.

GIRL SEEN WITH MAN, DOG
Jessica had been at Echo Park with her parents and brother Sunday. Her mother, Maria Hernandez, often sold tacos from a nearby stand.

The family discovered that she was missing about 7:30 p.m. Police divers spent hours searching the park’s murky lake as hundreds of officers canvassed the neighborhood. The city and the FBI offered a total of $45,000 in rewards.

Police released this sketch of a man wanted for questioning in the disappearance of Jessica Cortez.--(I don't know how to post this sketch , sorry..If someone knows how, would you please post it..THANKS!)

Police Chief Martin Pomeroy told reporters earlier in the day that four witnesses had reported seeing Cortez in the company of a man whom police described as Latino, 20 to 25 years old, 5-feet-8 to 6 feet tall, with a tattoo of a cross on his lower left leg.

But no witness reported seeing the man and the girl outside the park — nor did anyone tell the police that they had seen the man taking her from the park.

The arrest of the woman Tuesday did not mean investigators had abandoned interest in the man with the dog. “We still have a suspect out there,” FBI Special Agent Richard Garcia said.

After interviewing several people who recognized a composite drawing of the man, authorities issued a statewide “Amber Alert” asking for the public’s help in finding her.

The alerts, named after a Texas girl who was kidnapped and murdered, are now used in California and other states when police believe quick disclosure of information in a case might lead to a child’s safe return. Such an alert was credited with assisting in the recent rescue of two teenage girls abducted near Lancaster, Calif.

62 posted on 08/13/2002 7:30:36 PM PDT by Bella
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To: sandude
There has certainly been confusion generated in this case.

That's an understatement.

I think that the media frenzy has certainly contributed but more confusion has come from the tightness with which LE has held information in this investigation.

I agree with the media frenzy, but the tightness of LE is debateable.

I just don't think MK really got that good of a look at the guy.

I don't know about that..maybe, maybe not. How were they able to get a COMPLETE description of the perp, including; hat, shirt style, pants, shoes, hair on hands, hand on arms, but no facial features, at all? I have to assume that this guy had no mustache. Can you point me to any verifiable sources that the perp had a mask on? I know that I read it on one of the threads, but was it in print anywhere?

If everyone had been looking for guys driving cars that morning wearing a golf hat rather than a baseball hat then maybe they could have got a break. They should have corrected that as soon as they realized they were in error but for all we know maybe they didn’t recognize their mistake until several days had passed.

I couldn't agree with you more.

I might also add that I do not believe that they are trying to railroad Ricci.

I'm not sure about this one...at least, not yet.

If they were, there would be a lot more heat on him right now. Why, for the life of me, weren't they watching Ricci from the 5th, when they first "interviewed" him? If they had been watching him from that day, they would have seen whether or not he dropped that Jeep off, and also, they would have seen the person that supposedly picked him up. They messed up on this on. IMO

They can take their time building a very strong case and at the same time go after anyone else who may be involved.

Yes, they can, but in the meantime, Elizabeth is still missing because of mistakes. And I do think that they made mistakes.

63 posted on 08/13/2002 7:34:46 PM PDT by IamHD
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To: sandude
That's kind of you to admit that. :)
64 posted on 08/13/2002 7:37:40 PM PDT by IamHD
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To: IamHD
debateable

:) I'll take a letter E

65 posted on 08/13/2002 7:39:54 PM PDT by IamHD
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To: Bella
Thanks, Bella! What is wrong with these parents? You would think that they'd get a clue and watch their children! Especially with all of these perverts on the loose. This grinds me to no end! Glad that the little one is safe, though, for sure.
66 posted on 08/13/2002 7:43:01 PM PDT by IamHD
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To: IamHD
www.alumni.unh.edu/unhnews/021502.html

Finkelhor said most child abductions involve a family member, often a divorced parent involved in a custody dispute. Nationally, about 350,000 children are taken by family members each year, he said.

A 2000 study of child abductions for the U.S. Department of Justice found that family members were responsible for 49 percent of the kidnappings, and acquaintances were responsible for 27 percent. Strangers committed 24 percent of the kidnappings.

The study found differences in kidnappings that were committed by acquaintances, such as a neighbor or a boyfriend, and a stranger.

Acquaintance kidnappings more often involved female and teen-age victims, and more often were associated with crimes such as sexual or physical assault. They often occurred at home, and a high percentage of the victims were injured. Kidnappings by a stranger occurred primarily outdoors, and more often occurred in the evening or at night.

Despite the popular conception that kidnap victims most often are young children, it is teen-age girls who face the greatest risk, said Ben Ermini of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

"At that age they have more freedom, they're out on their own," Ermini said. "They go to the malls without other people, so they are vulnerable to abduction."

67 posted on 08/13/2002 7:46:58 PM PDT by Bella
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To: sandude
With the FBI involved, we cannot be certain that Ricci isn't being railroaded.

I hope you don't want me to give you a run-down on past performances.

68 posted on 08/13/2002 7:47:26 PM PDT by lakey
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To: Bella
No way do I believe that this is a stranger abduction..nothing adds up to that at all.
69 posted on 08/13/2002 7:56:48 PM PDT by IamHD
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To: lakey
We all know what FBI stands for, don't we? I learned it right here on FR. :)
70 posted on 08/13/2002 7:58:41 PM PDT by IamHD
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To: IamHD
Tell us again. I've forgotten.
71 posted on 08/13/2002 8:07:53 PM PDT by lakey
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To: lakey
No you didn't. :) Fumbling Bumbling Idiots? LOL
72 posted on 08/13/2002 8:14:02 PM PDT by IamHD
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To: IamHD
LOLLOL! And they are, too.
73 posted on 08/13/2002 8:16:48 PM PDT by lakey
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To: TXLady
there are still too many things we don't know and too many things that don't add up

There are many things that we don't know because the police see no purpose in broadcasting every detail of their investigation. I've said before and I'll say again, Dinse is very sensitive to police lawsuits. We've been able to glean insight from press conferences and from Boylan, yet many continue to second guess the SLCPD/FBI with a thimble-full of information.

Based upon your and my limited knowledge of the specifics of the case, just because YOU think they don't add up, doesn't mean they don't add up.

74 posted on 08/13/2002 8:18:48 PM PDT by Jolly Green
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To: IamHD
Two questions to whomever can answer them:

Where is the source that states that the perp wore a mask?

Where is the source that stated, that when Ricci returned the Jeep to the shop, all of the windows were rolled down?

75 posted on 08/13/2002 8:19:03 PM PDT by IamHD
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To: sandude
So, you see, sandude, often, quite often, the best & the brightest get shoved in the background, in order for the kingdom builders to maintain their lofty positions.
76 posted on 08/13/2002 8:20:12 PM PDT by lakey
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To: Jolly Green
They also don't mean they do add up.
77 posted on 08/13/2002 8:21:54 PM PDT by lakey
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To: lakey
LOL! My daughter was going to work for them, and, well, as any concerned mom, I begged her to reconsider. :)
78 posted on 08/13/2002 8:22:58 PM PDT by IamHD
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To: Palladin
In the Beesley case, the Police were fortunate enough to have someone that told them well in advance of Campbells' plan, so they were able to prepare. They cut the guy a huge break, as a result of his co-operation with them. The man that spilled the beans, Moll, I believe, was not only disabled but the articles say he was 'slow'.

I would imagine that any Police force could put on a good show, given the script of the crime in advance.

I'm not saying that SLC Police are bad. I'm sure they are much like any other police force, just more politically bent towards the Mormon church because it's influence is so great in SLC. I've read that 70% of SLC is Mormon. Bias. The church indirectly pays their paychecks, so of course there would be an influence.

Furthermore, I think they do suspect something is wrong witin the Smart family, extended or otherwise. I'm sure that within the SLC Police force, there are different opinions on that, but there were articles about the subject.
(suspected family tie to kidnapping).
79 posted on 08/13/2002 8:25:33 PM PDT by L84AD8
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To: Iwo Jima
One reason of course that the police hadn't fouled things up with respect MK's statements and memory is that they hadn't done much, apparently hadn't seriously interviewed her at all.

It "apparently" doesn't bother you that you don't know what the hell you are talking about. They sure as hell did interview MK - numerous times.

Of course, had she been allowed to do her work earlier, it might have made a huge difference.

You are also totally ignoring published reports quoting police sources who say MK never saw the perp's face. Does that mean that with Boylan's involvement earlier they could have determined earlier that a facial sketch that they still don't have, they wouldn't have been able to produce even earlier?

80 posted on 08/13/2002 8:30:46 PM PDT by Jolly Green
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