This was cleared up in the Tribune article that came out after Ricci’s death. The initial officers who arrived at the scene failed to protect the residence. Instead, they searched for Elizabeth in the neighborhood. They failed to tell the Smarts to keep everyone out of the house. I think that they believed this was a runaway situation and didn’t think it was important. They decided several hours later that detectives needed to be called in. By then the scene was contaminated. The SLPD has taken full responsibility for this and has said they need to train their patrolmen on how to handle matters like this. I know the Smart haters will say that the family should have known better. There is no course of study that a parent must pass. I ‘m sure that the Smarts wish that things had been handled differently that morning but to indict them for this lapse in knowledge is not fair. Please send your complaints to the SLPD, they blew it, not the Smarts.
In my mind, the behavior of the neighbors is inconsistent with the belief that a dangerous gunman was running loose in the neighborhood. I would think that their primary thoughts would have been for the safety of their own families.
How many times in the last year have we seen ordinary citizens put themselves in harms way to help complete strangers. They do this out of a sense of duty to their fellow man. Why would you expect anything less when it is a neighbor who is in danger?
Perhaps what makes me most doubtful about the abduction story is the lack of "fleshing out" of details… Perhaps the police have their reasons for keeping such details to themselves, but I can't imagine what they might be.
LE owes us no explanation of the events of that night. Their job is to do what they can to bring Elizabeth home and to successfully prosecute her abductor and his accomplices. We are all going to have to be patient. Hopefully it will all make sense when we find out the details. There are many good reasons for them to be tight lipped about their investigation. Jeanne Boylan found that peace of mind, maybe we will to.
Sandude, I think there would be much more fuss and stir if LE really thought there was a perpetrator out there -- that is, a total stranger not connected in any way to the Smart family or their acquaintances.
This case is inactive, IMHO, because LE either knows or suspects someone is being protected or harbored or both, and they're waiting for something or someone to tip their hand.