News from Utah this morning
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,405023779,00.html
Ed Smart suspects collusion
By Derek Jensen Deseret News staff writer
Edward Smart says he believes the person who kidnapped his daughter from her bedroom more than two months ago wasn't acting alone.
"We feel that our lead suspect is in custody, but we feel that other people were involved but we haven't been able to find those other people," Smart told a handful of reporters at the family's tri-weekly press conference Monday morning.
The "lead suspect" Smart referred to is former handyman Richard Ricci, who police said Monday still tops their list of "potential" suspects. Ricci was arrested on a parole violation following the kidnapping but has denied any involvement in Elizabeth Smart's disappearance.
As to the family's theory that Elizabeth's kidnapper was working in cahoots with others, police say they haven't ruled that out as a possibility.
"That's a good theory," Salt Lake Police Capt. Scott Atkinson said. "At this point we're not ruling out anything. We're still wide open. It could be one guy, it could be many people but we don't know that."
Smart said his theory was not based on any information police had told him but rather on his belief that his daughter "is being held out there by someone." The 14-year-old blond girl has been missing since June 5, when an armed intruder took her from her Federal Heights home in the early morning hours.
"I really, really want to hear from you," Smart said in an open plea to whoever may be holding his daughter.
At Monday's press conference, the family continued to ask anyone with possible tips to call police. Family spokesman Chris Thomas said they're hoping one of the those tips will be the puzzle piece that ties the whole case together.
"Please don't hold back, thinking that your lead is insignificant," Smart said.
Volunteers spent the weekend searching Big Mountain and the Jordan River in hopes of finding any clues into Elizabeth's strange disappearance. More than two months into the case, police have not named an official suspect or found the missing girl.
"Elizabeth, wherever you are out there, know that we are not giving up in any way, shape or form," Smart said.
E-MAIL:
djensen@desnews.com