Good Morning...
I hope we can go over some things we may have thought of over night, and if you, Brigette, have some I missed, please add them.
I want to find the quote of one of the Smart brother's on the giving of the jeep as a gift. I will be looking for that.
I hope we get better on this running thread, and can make this is good day in our discussion.
It has been so long, too long. This poor family.
Smarts refusing to give up hope
By Pat Reavy
Deseret News staff writer On the two-month anniversary of Elizabeth Smart's kidnapping, family members said Monday they were still holding out hope.
"I can't imagine any girl who has been prayed for more than Elizabeth in the world," said Ed Smart, Elizabeth's father.
In the early morning hours of June 5, a man with a gun kidnapped 14-year-old Elizabeth from her Federal Heights bedroom. Her sister, Mary Katherine Smart, 9, pretended to be asleep while the abductor took her sister. She is the only witness to the crime.
Smart's abduction is just one of a series of kidnappings this summer. Samantha Runnion, Erica Pratt, Casey Williamson, Tamara Brooks and Jacqueline Marris were all taken by strangers. Runnion and Williamson were found dead, Pratt escaped, and Brooks and Marris were freed after police fatally shot their abductor.
Unlike the other kidnappings, Smart's disappearance remains unsolved. Ed Smart said Monday that he was still hopeful Elizabeth would be reunited with her family. The rash of girls' abductions has raised the public's awareness, he said.
"The united effort is bringing children back," Smart said. "That same awareness will bring Elizabeth back." Looking at the group of reporters and TV cameras that had gathered Monday, Ed Smart spoke directly to Elizabeth, telling her to not give up hope.
Throughout the course of the investigation, former Smart family handyman Richard Ricci has remained the main focus of police attention. Ricci has been charged with theft, burglary and bank robbery since Elizabeth Smart disappeared, but investigators have not linked him to the kidnapping.
Ricci has denied having any involvement with the abduction, but police are questioning his alibi.
The family, meanwhile, continues its weekly searches for Elizabeth. A search was held over the weekend on Big Mountain in Summit County. Searchers planned to return to the same area next weekend to search the front and back side of East Canyon, said David Smart, Elizabeth's uncle. Weekend searches were also conducted in Logan. No signs of Elizabeth were found.
deseretnews