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I'll be back later to see if either of you have come up with anything.

There are other articles which address the issue of who was at the house first. The article you're talking about contained surprisingly candid statements by police, blaming themselves for allowing the scene to be contaminated. As I told Sandude, I haven't paid too much attention to the furor over whether the police or the neighbors were called first. This is b/c it does not seem unnatural to me for a man in that position to maybe call his neighbors early on, maybe even b/f the police. A person wants to only call police if necessary, not waste their time on a momentary episode of mistake and hysteria.

So I'll root around among some articles, perhaps at Brigette's site, and see what I can dig up about who got there first. But, other than the idea of people trampling forensic evidence, I don't really consider it a key point whether the police or the neighbors were called first, and I don't think it necessarily tells us much. I do find it odd that Sue Ann Adams' name keeps coming up in this case.

"I don't really consider it a key point whether the police or the neighbors were called first, and I don't think it necessarily tells us much."

I see. Now that I have asked you for sources to back up your statements, the whole issue suddenly becomes unimportant. Well, Devil, I think the issue IS important. As I lined out several posts back, I think that the presence of several neighbors in the home when the police arrived goes to the very heart of this case. Specifically, I think that the presence of neighbors prior to and after the arrival of the police raises questions about MK's "armed gunman" story.

It is my contention that reports of an armed gunman in a neighborhood would NOT prompt people to leave their own homes and families unattended to rush to the aid of a neighbor. I would think that their first concern would be for the safety and security of their own families. The story of an armed gunman falls under even greater suspicion when one reads reports that these neighbors were literally "beating the bushes" outside the Smart home in search of Elizabeth and/or her armed abductor. Perhaps you would find one or two people foolhardy enough to do this, but not a whole neighborhood full of them. Simple logic tells me that these neighbors showed no fear because they were not told anything about an armed gunman. Why not? Did MK not "remember" that the man had a gun until some time later? I thought it was the GUN and the threats of harm that had scared her back under the covers for 2 hours. Did she "forget" to tell her parents that part when she woke them? Did Ed "forget" to mention it to the neighbors when he summoned them in the middle of the night? I don't think so.

If there was reportedly an armed gunman in the neighborhood, why did the police allow neighbors to continue milling about after their arrival? Were the police not concerned for the safety of these citizens? Were the police not told about the armed gunman until sometime later, or were they told and they simply didn't believe it? Wouldn't you think that even if they had their doubts, they would have erred on the side of caution? What was it about this case that seemingly caused the police to throw all standard procedures out the window?

I don't know how Elizabeth left that house, or with whom, but I do not believe that she left with an unknown man holding a gun at her back. The only eyewitness to this alleged event has been kept sequestered throughout this investigation. We have never heard any direct quotes of what she has allegedly reported. In my opinion, the behavior of the neighbors and the police that night argues against the presence of danger in the area, and I have seen no logical explanation that would resolve my doubts.

Oh, and btw, here are my sources for the assertion that neighbors were indeed present before police arrived:

"The police chief also expressed frustration with the crime scene. He said at least 10 of the Smarts' neighbors were invited into the house before police could arrive at 4 a.m. Wednesday." (CBS, 06/08/02)

"Dinse said Friday that some of the evidence at that scene was disrupted by neighbors who were allowed to enter the house to search for Elizabeth before police arrived." (Deseret News, 06/08/02)