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I think that's why the Smarts went on and got the neighbors. I could see them not being able to stand still and wait patiently for police.

If in fact the Smarts called the police and said..." THIS IS ED SMART ! OUR DAUGTER HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED BY GUNPOINT SEVERAL HOURS AGO!! OUR 9 YEAR OLD WAS TOLD NOT TO TELL, OR SHE WOULD BE KILLED...WE LIVE AT....."

The police would NOT be casual. The question here is.......What did they tell the police on that initial call?

What did they think 40=50 ward members could do?

Excellent point, Neenah. We are usually treated to endless media replays of the 911 calls made in cases like this......yet in this case, there has been nary a word.

Another question is what did the Smart parents KNOW when they made the first call? Getting all the facts out of a traumatized 9-year-old wouldn't have been an instantaneous process, and once they realized Elizabeth really was missing, they wouldn't have waited to have a careful talk with MK before calling police. Perfectly normal to call police in a panic, yell "my daughter's missing, and I think she may have been kidnapped!", and then go try to get more out of little MK, who was probably sobbing uncontrollably at the sight of her panicked parents. Who knows when the parents heard about the gun or the threat or the stopover in the bathroom or the fact that the voice sounded familiar?