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Thanks for posting this, Neenah. Once again, from reading this article, it seems pretty clear to me that the police have known from the beginning who is responsible for Elizabeth's disappearance. Dinse's statement that it might be "sooner, later, or quite a while" before they track him down suggests to me some knowledge of who they are dealing with, along with a distinct lack of urgency in finding him. This, along with the statements and attitudes of family members, tells me that they have probably known all along that Elizabeth is in no real physical danger. Perhaps the MOST telling statement in the article is the one referring to the number of tips received from the public......one week into the investigation, only 600 of the 6000 tips received were deemed worthy of police follow-up. If the police were able to discount 90% of the tips they were getting this early in the investigation, it is obvious that they had a great deal more information than they were making public.

I agree, and JUST SPEAKING FOR MYSELF...this is not a theory, but how I feel as a parent if I were in this situation.....

The fact is, right now, Aug.27th, 2002, my child (if I were the Smart's) is still missing. I have stated in quotes, that my youngest daughter, Mary Katherine saw her taken AT GUN POINT...

I am now faced with the reality, after a long, difficult summer, that school is starting tomorrow. Somewhere out there, there may be the abdustor or God forbid, the killer of our daughter, Elizabeth.

Does it make sense to ME, that I would trust my little 9 yr. old to even go to the school bathroom alone? What if the KILLER is a custodian? How can I allow my kids to go back to school? If I were hoping and praying our daughter is alive....inside my heart, I would also be thinking she is dead. If she is dead, then there is a killer out there. Someone who hated us so much they took our daughter right from our home while we slept !!! There is no way, I would send any of the kids out that door until the perp is arrested with good cause, and behind bars awaiting trial. I would get curriculum to teach at home, until it was safe, and even then, with all our resources, I would be working to transplant our family in another area far from where this happened.

I would be thinking of THEM, and how difficult this will be for them. I would not trust the press for one second !!! Even if I deliver them to school, and pick them up...there are 6-8 hrs. they will not be supervised by me. I believe that children need independence and cannot be put in a box to be protected...but this is ME...and those are MY KIDS...and until the KILLER or ABDUCTOR are found, my kids would not casually go back into "normal" lifestyle of school. NOTHING IS NORMAL NOW...and if someone came into my house, MY HOUSE!!!.and took my baby...and IS STILL OUT THERE. SOMEWHERE...they would not get out of my sight.

I am not the Smarts...I am speaking for myself, and not blaming the Smarts....I am saying I would not send them back to school, ..feeling horrible I couldn't..but not horrible enough to take the chance.