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Those here that continue to analyze every word said by the Smart’s and read all kinds of meanings into it should consider the very real possibility – in fact, the strong likelihood - that the parents are saying almost EXACTLY what LE is telling them to say?

I think it was when Samantha was grabbed that one of the news shows interviewed Clint Van Zandt, a former hotshot FBI profiler. After showing a clip of the mother pleading for her return, Van Zandt was asked if he thought LE had given the mother any tips or suggestions on how to appeal to the kidnapper. Van Zandt said that he certainly had scripted many such pleas in the past.

As long as the Smart’s haven’t turned on the police, and say they are letting the police handle everything, I’ll bet they are receiving constant advice from the FBI on what to say at the press conferences. They almost certainly have been told how they should address the kidnapper, and the FBI might well have worked out actual scripts with them.

The parents might even have been told something like Ricci most likely did it, and that Liz is dead, but if they want to recover her body, they should appear hopeful that she is still alive. Perhaps FBI studies have shown such a ploy is the best way to make the perp feel guilty, feel sorry for the parents, and want to help them by confessing. I don’t know – but I do think it is a likely enough possibility that people shouldn’t tear apart everything the family says and read all kinds of sinister things into their words and accuse them of being weird because of what they say in front of a camera.