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Smart Family Living in Limbo of Dreams, Hope, What Ifs, Acceptance
Sunday, September 29, 2002

Ed Smart says he has a dream in which Elizabeth comes to him, her arms outstretched, and he hugs her. (Trent Nelson/Tribune file photo)

BY ASHLEY BROUGHTON and KEVIN CANTERA
© 2002, THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

Nearly bereft of hope, Ed Smart finds comfort in a dream.

It went like this: As Smart sleeps, his daughter Elizabeth enters her parents' bedroom, her arms extended out to him. She is whole and healthy, smiling and brimming with life.

In the dream, it is easy for the girl's father to believe the past four months have been nothing but a terrifying nightmare.

Smart's voice cracked with emotion as he recounted the "vivid" nighttime illusion during an interview with The Salt Lake Tribune last week.

"I just hugged her," he said. "I held her . . . I wasn't going to let her go."

Smart -- who hasn't hugged 14-year-old Elizabeth since he bid her good night June 4 -- said the dream helps fuel the belief his kidnapped daughter remains alive.

He refuses to accept the police's strongest theory -- that Elizabeth was snatched by an armed intruder after being awakened during a burglary -- in part because he does not want to believe she is dead.

But his wife, Lois, who declined to be interviewed, feels differently, Smart said. Lois has to take the scenario that she is dead because she cannot bear thinking what Elizabeth could be suffering at the hands of a captor, he said.

Ed Smart believes the intruder intended to abduct Elizabeth, who he said is a heavy sleeper and likely would not have awakened unless touched. Besides, he said, there were no valuables in her bedroom.

"It had to have been a [planned] kidnapping," Smart insisted. "It was either a ransom [plot] that blew up with all the [ensuing] attention, or somebody handed Elizabeth off." A kidnapper might still be waiting for the media frenzy to subside before issuing a ransom demand, he said.

Speaking of a potential ransom, Smart said: "We would do whatever it takes to get her back."

Meanwhile, Smart worries that the now-10-year-old Mary Katherine, the lone witness to her sister's abduction, has not dealt with emotions stemming from that night. The younger girl acts "almost like it never happened," he said softly.

The fateful night Elizabeth disappeared was much like any other, Smart said. At bedtime, the family said their usual prayers on a landing at the top of the stairs before bidding each other good night.

That landing squeaks, Smart said, because of his childrens' habit of leaping over the top two steps, and anyone entering Elizabeth's room would have had to navigate it. "I can't believe that I didn't hear [the squeak]. It just -- it drives me nuts."

Mary Katherine came into her parents' room at 3:58 a.m., Smart said -- he looked at the clock when she woke him and said, "A man's taken Elizabeth," he remembered.

Smart's first thought was that Mary Katherine had had a nightmare. But he rose and went to look for Elizabeth. Sometimes she would sleep with 3-year-old William, sometimes she would stay up late and study.

But Elizabeth wasn't anywhere -- upstairs or down. As Smart continued searching, he fought a rising panic. The study. The guest bedroom. "I was frantic," he said. "I was running from room to room . . . Lois was getting pretty worked up."

Then, Smart recalled: "Mary Katherine came [downstairs] and said, 'You're not going to find her. A man took her.' "

Lois Smart spotted the cut screen in a kitchen window and screamed at her husband to call 911. Police logs show he did, at 4:01 a.m.

With officers on the way, Smart ran across the street to a home where there had been an attempted abduction years before. Moving through "a blur," Smart warned his neighbors to check their children, he said.

Then, he went home and started calling friends, neighbors and relatives, saying his only thought was finding as many people as possible to start looking for his daughter. "We almost called the entire ward."

The first call was to Suann Adams, a family friend living nearby. She and her husband arrived within minutes and found a lone police car, she said. One officer sat inside and gave them permission to enter the home. Another patrolman stood in the kitchen.

Adams dismissed reports that arriving officers found more than a dozen people in the home, trampling through the crime scene and hindering the investigation. "It's not like Ed went out and called a bunch of high school kids," she said. "These are responsible adults, who aren't going to put their handprints all over everything."

Many only came by briefly, then went to check all-night convenience stores and restaurants in the hope Elizabeth hadn't gotten far, Adams said.

Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse stands by the initial police report that arriving officers found a number of the Smarts' neighbors searching inside and outside the house. But he acknowledged that police "didn't do a good job of securing the scene.

"But remember," Dinse continued, "at the very beginning, these officers were trying to determine what sort of case they had."

As far as the identity of the kidnapper, the Smart family suspects career criminal Richard Ricci, a handyman who worked for them a year ago, played a role.

"Lois feels that there is no doubt in her mind it was Richard," Smart said, adding that he believes Ricci was likely involved, but did not act alone.

Ricci died Aug. 30 after suffering a brain hemorrhage in his cell at the Utah State Prison, where he was being held on parole violations. Police still say he tops the list of "potential" suspects in the abduction.

A month before his death, he was charged with a June 6, 2001 theft at the Smart home and a nighttime burglary at a nearby home two months earlier. Investigators believe Ricci's history makes it likely he broke into the Smart home to steal valuables and accidentally awakened Elizabeth.

"He was such a convincing con," Smart said. "The fact was that he lied, and very convincingly, too."

Smart alleges that over the course of several months in 2001, Ricci stole a number of items from the home, including a bracelet Lois Smart had received as a Christmas gift. When the bracelet, valued at more than $1,000, turned up missing, police interviewed Ricci along with two other subcontractors working in the Smart home. Smart now questions why police didn't tell him then that Ricci was a parolee with a long criminal history.

Officers should have passed along whatever they may have discovered about Ricci's criminal past, Dinse said. But "keep in mind, it wasn't a kidnapping" they were investigating, he said. "It was just a potential theft."

At the time, investigators found no proof Ricci was behind the thefts, Smart said. But while investigating Elizabeth's disappearance a year later, he said, police determined Ricci had pawned the bracelet along with other items.

When the Smarts decided in spring 2001 to sell Ricci their 1990 Jeep Cherokee, Ed Smart drew up a contract specifying that 30 of Ricci's 40 weekly hours worked would go toward paying for the vehicle. After the two men signed the agreement, he let Ricci drive the Jeep away.

But Ricci failed to show up to work afterward, and Smart became concerned he was being taken for a ride.

After two days, he went to the Capitol Hill apartment complex where Ricci lived at the time, and discovered the Jeep sitting in the parking lot with the engine idling.

Smart got inside the Jeep, and Ricci appeared, asking him what he was doing. An angry Smart told him he was taking the Jeep back, that he believed he had been taken advantage of after going "the extra mile" for him.

Ricci began showing up for work again but was chronically late. After Smart was convinced Ricci would live up to their agreement, he again let him have the Jeep.

Ricci stopped working for the Smarts in late June 2001. His widow, Angela Ricci, continues to maintain his innocence, as Ricci himself did before his death.

"He was always so sad to think he was a suspect. He'd say, 'Oh my God, everybody thinks I'm a monster,' " Angela Ricci told The Tribune. "I loved him, and I know he was innocent."

Meanwhile, as leads in the case continue to dwindle, the Smarts hope the fall season's hunters will keep an eye out for anything suspicious. Although Smart wants to believe his daughter is alive, he knows the possibility of her death exists.

The family continues to exist in a kind of limbo. They have seen several child abduction cases across the country solved this summer -- some happily, some tragically -- without a resolution of their own.

"I don't feel like I've had a scrap" of luck, Smart said. "I just want this to be over."

aebroughton@sltrib.com
kcantera@sltrib.com
http://www.sltrib.com/09292002/utah/2419.htm

This article almost leaves me speechless......almost. I have to react to at least a few of these statements.....

"A kidnapper might still be waiting for the media frenzy to subside before issuing a ransom demand, he (Ed) said."
How is the media frenzy going to die down if Ed keeps giving these INTERVIEWS??

"Meanwhile, Smart worries that the now-10-year-old Mary Katherine, the lone witness to her sister's abduction, has not dealt with emotions stemming from that night. The younger girl acts "almost like it never happened," he said softly."
Come on, Ed!! ALL we have heard for 4 months now is how NOBODY has talked to MK about what happened so she wouldn't be "traumatized" by it!! What do you expect?? Is Ed warning us that our star witness might have "forgotten" some of the details of her story?

"The fateful night Elizabeth disappeared was much like any other, Smart said. At bedtime, the family said their usual prayers on a landing at the top of the stairs before bidding each other good night."
I see nothing has changed here......between the time they arrived home from the awards ceremony and the time they went to bed, saying their family prayers is the ONLY thing that Ed will mention about that evening.

"Mary Katherine came into her parents' room at 3:58 a.m., Smart said -- he looked at the clock when she woke him.....
Finally.....after 4 months, we are told the exact time that SOMETHING happened......why did this take so long?

"A man's taken Elizabeth," he remembered......"You're not going to find her. A man took her."
Ed has described himself as being "franic" and Lois as "getting pretty worked up"......yet all we have from MK are these two clearly spoken, dry, informative statements. Did MK show NO emotion whatsoever? More to the point.....NEITHER OF THESE STATEMENTS MENTION A GUN.

"With officers on the way, Smart ran across the street to a home where there had been an attempted abduction years before. Moving through "a blur," Smart warned his neighbors to check their children, he said.
Then, he went home and started calling friends, neighbors and relatives, saying his only thought was finding as many people as possible to start looking for his daughter. "We almost called the entire ward."
If Ed's first thought was "finding as many people as possible to start LOOKING FOR HIS DAUGHTER, why was his first action to "warn his neighbors to check their own children"? If Ed's first concern was LOOKING FOR HIS DAUGHTER, why was he on the phone calling "almost the entire ward" instead of out LOOKING FOR HIS DAUGHTER? Contrary to what has been suggested by some, it appears that a "phone tree" calling system was not used that night......rather, it seems Ed stood there calling people on the phone while precious minutes ticked by. It appears that Ed's FIRST concern was getting people over to his house......NOT looking for Elizabeth.

"The first call was to Suann Adams, a family friend living nearby. She and her husband arrived within minutes and found a lone police car, she said......Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse stands by the initial police report that arriving officers found a number of the Smarts' neighbors searching inside and outside the house."
Well, who are we going to believe here? Chief Dinse is standing by the original reports of the responding officers. Why is Ms. Adams the ONLY neighbor who has come forward to contradict these police reports?

"Adams dismissed reports that arriving officers found more than a dozen people in the home, trampling through the crime scene and hindering the investigation. "It's not like Ed went out and called a bunch of high school kids," she said. "These are responsible adults, who aren't going to put their handprints all over everything."
Wait a minute.....is Ms. Adams denying that the people were there, or is she just denying that they were "trampling and hindering"? What would Ms. Adams know about what is required in securing a crime scene? Contrary to what trained police investigators have told us, Ms. Adams seems to believe that "responsible adults" are incapable of disturbing a crime scene. I find her statement here downright embarrassing.

"Many only came by briefly, then went to check all-night convenience stores and restaurants in the hope Elizabeth hadn't gotten far, Adams said."
Wait a minute......I've got to ask again......WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ARMED GUNMAN??? An armed gunman is going to take his victim to an all-night convenience store or a restaurant???

I'll have to tie into the rest of the article later.....the inconsistencies contained in the first half alone have worn me out!! I have to wonder what in the world is going on with this case.....I find this absolutely incredible.

Ok, I'm refreshed. I have a few comments on the remainder of the article.....

"When the bracelet, valued at more than $1,000, turned up missing, police interviewed Ricci along with two other subcontractors working in the Smart home. Smart now questions why police didn't tell him then that Ricci was a parolee with a long criminal history. Officers should have passed along whatever they may have discovered about Ricci's criminal past, Dinse said. But "keep in mind, it wasn't a kidnapping" they were investigating, he said. "It was just a potential theft."
Since when does "just a potential theft" justify failing to inform a citizen that he has an ex-con working in his home? Ricci's criminal history is a matter of public record. There would have been no reason in the world for this information to have been kept secret from Ed. I have to wonder if the investigating officers have ADMITTED that they failed to inform Ed of Ricci's history, or if this is just Ed's story.

"At the time, investigators found no proof Ricci was behind the thefts, Smart said. But while investigating Elizabeth's disappearance a year later, he said, police determined Ricci had pawned the bracelet along with other items."
Wait a minute.....a $1000 bracelet goes missing from a home where an ex-con is working, and the police don't check the pawn shops immediately?? What DID they do to "investigate" this apparent theft? I would love to see the police reports on this 2001 "theft investigation."

"After the two men signed the agreement, he let Ricci drive the Jeep away. But Ricci failed to show up to work afterward, and Smart became concerned he was being taken for a ride."
This is the first I remember hearing anything like this! Ed's previous descriptions of the jeep transfer have made it sound like it went off without a hitch. Why is Ed bringing this out now?

"After two days, he went to the Capitol Hill apartment complex where Ricci lived at the time, and discovered the Jeep sitting in the parking lot with the engine idling. Smart got inside the Jeep, and Ricci appeared, asking him what he was doing. An angry Smart told him he was taking the Jeep back, that he believed he had been taken advantage of after going "the extra mile" for him."
Hmmmmm....sounds like Ed and Ricci had some sort of an angry confrontation in the parking lot at Ricci's apartment complex. This would have likely been witnessed by others. Maybe after 4 months, Ed has decided that he needs to explain what he was doing over at Ricci's apartment. One thing has me confused here.....how did Ed get to Ricci's apartment? Did Ed leave his own vehicle there at the apartment and drive the jeep back home? Did someone accompany Ed on this "repossession" mission? Since Ed doesn't mention anyone being with him, we are left with the question of HOW DID ED GET TWO CARS HOME?

"Ricci began showing up for work again but was chronically late. After Smart was convinced Ricci would live up to their agreement, he again let him have the Jeep."
This is the first I've heard of the jeep going from Ed's possession, to Ricci's possession, back to Ed's possession, and then back to Ricci's possession. If Ed really wanted to sell the jeep, why did he put up with all of this melodrama? This doesn't sound like a business arrangement......it sounds more like a spat over who gets to wear someone's high school ring. Did Ed continue to carry insurance coverage on this vehicle while he and an ex-con bickered over it?

"I don't feel like I've had a scrap" of luck, Smart said. "I just want this to be over."
What about ELIZABETH, Ed?? YOU haven't had a scrap of luck?? What about ELIZABETH, Ed?? YOU just want this to be over?? Take a look at it, folks.....this article is all about ED. Where does he even mention ELIZABETH???

My opinion on the SL Article........

"I just hugged her," he said. "I held her . . . I wasn't going to let her go."

**I wonder what it is that he wanted to say to her? **

Ed Smart believes the intruder intended to abduct Elizabeth, who he said is a heavy sleeper and likely would not have awakened unless touched. Besides, he said, there were no valuables in her bedroom.

**If she is a heavy sleeper that would rule out the theory that it’s a theft gone bad because Elizabeth woke up and caught him.**

"It had to have been a [planned] kidnapping," Smart insisted. "It was either a ransom [plot] that blew up with all the [ensuing] attention, or somebody handed Elizabeth off." A kidnapper might still be waiting for the media frenzy to subside before issug a ransom demand, he said.

**Isn’t that INteresting he would state someone handed her off.**

Speaking of a potential ransom, Smart said: "We would do whatever it takes to get her back."

**Hoping that someone has been kidnapped and held for ransome is a lot better than thinking of abduction. There was never a ransom there was never a kidnapping, This was an abduction! Abduction is when someone is taken and you never hear anything from the abductor. He doesn’t care what the family thinks he just wanted Elizabeth. It’s still just as bad but kidnapping takes you in one avenue while abduction takes you in another direction. How does Ed know this was a kidnapping if there was no ransom**

Meanwhile, Smart worries that the now-10-year-old Mary Katherine, the lone witness to her sister's abduction, has not dealt with emotions stemming from that night. The younger girl acts "almost like it never happened," he said softly.

**I think she is being treated like nothing happened. I am sure she has tried her best in remembering for the police but remember we don’t know what has really been said.**

That landing squeaks, Smart said, because of his childrens' habit of leaping over the top two steps, and anyone entering Elizabeth's room would have had to navigate it. "I can't believe that I didn't hear [the squeak]. It just -- it drives me nuts."

**I could only think who knows about this squeak?**

Then, Smart recalled: "Mary Katherine came [downstairs] and said, 'You're not going to find her. A man took her.' "

**Are you not listening to your daughter? Don’t you believe her? Why not?????? Is there a cry wolf story we don’t know about?**

With officers on the way, Smart ran across the street to a home where there had been an attempted abduction years before. Moving through "a blur," Smart warned his neighbors to check their children, he said.

**Why oh why are you worring about others you should be worrying about Elizabeth. I can see you going and asking for help, but I wouldn’t even do that. I would be calling the police and not hanging up until they arrive. You never know how you would react, but I would have to question why you would leave your home and yard to waste time on someone else. I would instantly be looking for clues as to where they went what grass has been just walked on or even the dirt. I would be listening to the night air. It just seems there was a want and need for confusion.**

The first call was to Suann Adams, a family friend living nearby. She and her husband arrived within minutes and found a lone police car, she said. One officer sat inside and gave them permission to enter the home. Another patrolman stood in the kitchen

**Thanks for answering the questions that keep cropping up on the thread. I think that will help them.**

Adams dismissed reports that arriving officers found more than a dozen people in the home, trampling through the crime scene and hindering the investigation. "It's not like Ed went out and called a bunch of high school kids," she said. "These are responble adults, who aren't going to put their handprints all over everything."

**You may not put your fingerprints on the walls, but what about the staircase railing, on counters, and doors. How many people touched the door knob to Elizabeths room, the the door and wall. Anything and everything in the kitchen and don’t forget the carpet, all of your feet tramped all over it. Adults should have known to stay out of the house! What about the garage? When did that door come down? Was someone hiding in there for an amount of time? How many stepped in there?**

Many only came by briefly, then went to check all-night convenience stores and restaurants in the hope Elizabeth hadn't gotten far, Adams said.

**It’s good to check everywhere, but I think I would be on the streets finding lone cars, My first thought would be immigration canyon then any street or freeway. Has Elizabeth snuck out before?**

Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse stands by the initial police report that arriving officers found a number of the Smarts' neighbors searching inside and outside the house. But he acknowledged that police "didn't do a good job of securing the scene

**Once someone is let into the house its over for evidence. It would be thrown out of court so fast it would make your head spin. It would only make the LE want to watch the going ons in the house all the more.**

"But remember," Dinse continued, "at the very beginning, these officers were trying to determine what sort of case they had."

** HMMMM so the police are even confused? Well then, what was it, runaway, abduction, or kidnapping must have been a lot of confusion for the police to not be sure. Just what was stated on the 911 tape, obviously not MY DAUGHTERS BEEN KIDNAPPED AT GUNPOINT!**

As far as the identity of the kidnapper, the Smart family suspects career criminal Richard Ricci, a handyman who worked for them a year ago, played a role.

**Identity? like what was stated on AMW, He has a beard was the beard real? Was it obvious that it was a man?(most likely but, anyone can put a beard on wear clothes like he did). I find it interesting that Ricci if he did do it would wear tan color clothes and a white shirt, something that can be seen at night. He does this for aliving, he would be wearing dark clothes possibly jeans. --Now if someone comes back and says that this is what the Adams women states that he was wearing last year. I think I will shoot myself, only proving again that the Smarts are on this thread!**

"Lois feels that there is no doubt in her mind it was Richard," Smart said, adding that he believes Ricci was likely involved, but did not act alone.

**I would also think Ed and Lois would think Ricci did it because if he didn’t then there is an unknown out there.**

Police still say he tops the list of "potential" suspects in the abduction.

**depends, who you talk to, in the police or fbi departments.**

A month before his death, he was charged with a June 6, 2001 theft at the Smart home and a nighttime burglary at a nearby home two months earlier. Investigators believe Ricci's history makes it likely he broke into the Smart home to steal valuables and accidentally awakened Elizabeth.

**Ricci volinteered this information, why oh why again would he do that if he was part of this abduction/kidnapping?**

Smart now questions why police didn't tell him then that Ricci was a parolee with a long criminal history.

**Have you ever heard of the privacy act? You have to ask, it’s not a given. Ed you should be smarter than you are but I really think you knew about these cons working for you, always trying to save a buck.**

But Ricci failed to show up to work afterward, and Smart became concerned he was being taken for a ride.

**Why would you want him back in your house cut your losses.**

After two days, he went to the Capitol Hill apartment complex where Ricci lived at the time, and discovered the Jeep sitting in the parking lot with the engine idling.

**Where? Jeep sitting in parking lot running. Sorry Can’t buy that story nomatter how innocent Ed is on this. Ed has his own set of keys on this Jeep. I can see however, Ed not giving him all the sets of keys to Ricci until the job is done.**

Smart got inside the Jeep, and Ricci appeared, asking him what he was doing. An angry Smart told him he was taking the Jeep back, that he believed he had been taken advantage of after going "the extra mile" for him.

**This sentence is too damaging. I can’t express my horror with Ed stating these facts. It sounds like he is leading up to something that will come out at a later date.**

The family continues to exist in a kind of limbo. They have seen several child abduction cases across the country solved this summer -- some happily, some tragically -- without a resolution of their own. "I don't feel like I've had a scrap" of luck, Smart said. "I just want this to be over."

** This statement is said by him continually. It kindof bothers me. I think he should be saying I just want Elizabeth back no matter what.**

**As I read this, in my OPINION all I could see was, someone answering some of the questions that were being asked on this thread.