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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.

Welcome back, scaredkat. You make some excellent points in your post.

Hi Scaredkat, good post.

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

Why would he want him back in his house if he thought he was of such bad character, considering there were YOUNG CHILDREN IN THE HOME?

"I just want this to be over." scaredkat, you're right. Ed does say this a lot. Never "I want my little girl back", or "I'll tear apart the guy who took her if she's not returned safely", or "I'll never rest until Elizabeth is home again". What does he want to be over? Does he want to be arrested? Is his hypersensitive Mormon conscience bothering him?

He is such a creep. I get such a bad feeling whenever I hear him interviewed on TV. To me, he is the male version of Susan Smith....whiny, needy, ME-ME-ME....the Mo version of a drama queen.

Very refreshing post. Alot of thought and care went into it. I think alot of people around the nation have come to all our points. In fact, I know many have.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, scaredkat.

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.

Or gee, answering the questions that the Trib asked him?

Glad to read your views on this, Scaredkat.

I have another question to add to your list:

The article says one of the things missing after the 2001 sneak thefts at the Smarts' was a $1000 bracelet of Lois'.
The article also says police determined that Ricci pawned this bracelet.

Pawn shops are required to keep detailed records.

Why, the minute police determined Ricci pawned that bracelet, which was clearly stolen goods, was Ricci not charged with Receiving Stolen Property? When exactly was it found out by police that Ricci pawned that bracelet?

For Receiving Stolen Property, they'd have had to prove that he held control over goods which he knew, or which he should have known, were stolen. Seems a pawn shop video and/or its receipts showing the driver's license #, etc., of the person pawning, would provide proof that Ricci had control over the bracelet. As for whether he knew/should have known it had been stolen, that would probably follow--you can bet he pawned it for much less than its value. That tends to show he didn't "pay" much to get the bracelet. (IMO, he paid nothing for it of course, he got it on a "5-finger discount.")

When did they find out he pawned it, and why was he not charged right after they found out?