Posted on 08/01/2004 7:25:22 AM PDT by JockoManning
Search now 'unnecessary,' say families of Lori Hacking By Jennifer Dobner Deseret Morning News
Mark Hacking told his family something important Saturday — and whatever it is, it apparently makes any further volunteer searches for his missing 27-year-old wife unnecessary.
That news came late Saturday, not from Salt Lake City police but by way of a statement faxed to the Deseret Morning News and other media by Mark and Lori Hackings' families. "The families understand that Mark Hacking has provided information that makes it unnecessary for individuals or groups to continue the volunteer search," the statement reads. "At this time, the families ask that all efforts from volunteers cease and that anyone with information that they feel might be helpful contact the Salt Lake City Police Department directly." Salt Lake City police were to meet with family members late Saturday, and the family was expected to share with investigators details of their conversation with Mark Hacking, detective Phil Eslinger said. "To my knowledge we are going to work through the night with the family to determine what that information is," Eslinger said. "All I know is that it was a legitimate fax from the family. This is not another one of those cruel jokes or rumors." Police are expected to hold a news conference sometime today.
No further statements are likely from the Hacking or Soares families in the near future. Their statement included a plea that their privacy be respected in what was described in the families' statement as "this difficult time" and indicated they plan to make no further statements about the case. Contacted at his home Saturday night, attorney D. Gilbert Athay, who has been hired to represent Mark Hacking, said he had no comment. Lori Hacking disappeared July 19, allegedly while jogging in Memory Grove just before 6 a.m. Volunteers' search efforts in the park and nearby canyons, which over a week drew more than 4,000 people, were unsuccessful.
Police now say they believe Lori, who had just learned she was five-weeks pregnant, was never in the park. Mark Hacking has been hospitalized since the day after he reported his wife missing. He has also been named a "person of interest" in the case by police but as of Saturday had never officially been called a suspect. However, investigators took numerous pieces of evidence from the couple's apartment at 127 S. Lincoln St. (945 East), including box springs and computers. Also among the evidence being evaluated by forensic experts is a knife said to have blood and hair samples. Before Lori Hacking disappeared, the couple was supposedly moving to Chapel Hill, N.C., where Mark was to attend medical school. But three days into the case, it was learned that Mark Hacking had lied about his acceptance to medical school, as well as his recent graduation from the University of Utah. Over the past two weeks, more and more information has trickled out indicating that Mark may have been lying to his friends and family for as long as 18 months about his present and future life. The details and the time line of events Hacking shared with police also quickly crumbled. Mark Hacking said on July 19 that he had learned Lori had failed to arrive at work about 10 a.m., but a mattress store clerk said Mark was shopping for a mattress at the time. A credit card receipt showed he had indeed purchased one, just 26 minutes before he called police at 10:49 a.m. Until Saturday, it appeared that Mark had also maintained he knew nothing about his wife's disappearance. In a conversation with his father, Douglas Hacking, Mark said he had lied about his life because he felt pressure to be successful like his father and siblings. But he said he didn't know what had happened to his wife.
"He looked me in the eye and said, 'No,' " Douglas Hacking said when recounting his conversation with his son to reporters July 23. No one is certain what Lori Hacking knew of her husband's deception or when she knew it. However, co-workers at Wells Fargo Bank have said that the Friday before she disappeared, Lori received an upsetting phone call and left in tears. Police have focused most of their search efforts on the Salt Lake Valley Solid Waste Facility, sifting through piles of refuse on four separate occasions with investigators and four cadaver dogs. That search was temporarily suspended on Friday, with police saying the dogs needed a day or two of rest. So far, the only comment from police about the landfill searches has been that "nothing of consequence" had yet been found. Landfill searches are expected to resume, but police have not been specific about when. The task of finding what is presumably Lori Hacking's body in the landfill could be seen as nearly impossible. More than 2,500 tons of refuse is deposited there daily by more than 600 dump trucks. Police have focused their efforts on a one- to two-acre segment of the facility. Police apparently believed the landfill held significant clues as to Lori Hacking's whereabouts as early as one day after she went missing. Landfill executive director Romney Stewart told the Deseret Morning News last week that police asked him on July 20 to suspend dumping in a certain area so that it could be searched.
E-mail: jdobner@desnews.com
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595081258,00.html
That occured to me right after I posted, that he was leaving the hospital and the police, fearing he might flee the jurisdiction, knew they had enough already to hold him in custody. Thanks for confirming.
For what it's worth, there's a fairly recent AMA article online (PDF/acrobat) that evaluates HPT reliability.
Go to Google and type:
That's very funny about the old ladies with the false positives. I'm guessing, but it could well be that the hormonal and metabolic changes reflected in their urine constituents could mimic the urine of a pregnant woman -- in which case, the study of women who are way past child-bearing age would not reflect on the reliability of the test medium itself.
I have no problem with anything you've said. I think a jury should be a representative cross-section of the community as nearly as possible and without going overboard. If an unbiased jury is unlikely to be empanelled, then trial venue should be changed.
So have I, since July 20. Which increased for me as each day passed. Everything I was hearing, all pointed to no one but Mark.
One problem with letting too many folks off juries is that you DON't get a good cross section. Then the criminal defendants start challenging the jury pool. That's why they are very reluctant to give any excuse around here, although they'll put you off til the next term . . . once.
Since the Alday murder case in GA, judges tend to grant a venue change if there's even a little evidence to support it. They'll usually bus the venires in from another county.
Aside from what's already been discussed, another discouraging factor for potential jurors is the problem of directed verdicts. Jurors may slave away devotedly through weeks of testimony and many hours of deliberation, only to have all their work thrown out by a directed verdict. The Louise Woodward "nanny" trial is a perfect example of this. Judges take umbrage at jury nullifiers, but don't hesitate to essentially do away with the very heart of the jury system themselves.
A DV is necessary because sometimes the State talks big but doesn't prove its case. And witnesses have been known to testify otherwise than what they told the lawyers beforehand. "Then we was just talkin', but now we're under oath."
Thank you for that explanation! It makes it easier to digest the behavior of Lori's parents--you realize that for most of us, it would be difficult to be civil to the family of our child's murderer.
My brother-in-law fell off the garage when he was a boy...after my late husband hog tied him up there and told him not to move till he got back! (he moved)
Lots of broken bones in that household of 6 boys!
It's late in the day and I am just now ck-ing in. Thank you for clarifying how the families being Mormon fits in with their reactions at this time.
I have prayed for my children since before they were born and still do and always will and I say God forbid that either one ever get themselves in a nightmarish mess of any kind. If that were to happen, again, God forbid, I would stand by them and love them always.
L.L., you say, 'The family of the murderer loses that child for eternity.'
What about repentance? What about the forgiveness of the Lord? With that the child wouldn't be lost for eternity; that child would be cleansed by the Blood of the Lamb ... let the water and the Blood from Thy wounded side which flowed, be for the sin the double cure, save from wrath and make me pure.
Not the labor of my hands can fulfill Thy law’s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know, could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone; Thou must save, and Thou alone.
Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress; helpless look to Thee for grace; foul, I to the fountain fly; wash me, Savior, or I die.
While I draw this fleeting breath, when mine eyes shall close in death, when I soar to worlds unknown, See Thee on Thy judgment throne, Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee.
Beautifully stated. Thank you.
The SLPD started focusing on Mark Hacking almost immediately.
As did I.
This was released by Thelmas Soares this afternoon.
Statement written by Lori’s mother, Thelma Soares, on behalf of herself, Lori’s father and her brother Paul.
My family and I are profoundly anguished to lose Lori, our precious daughter and sister. Our lives will never be the same and we will grieve for her and miss her until the day we die. But when that day finally arrives, we know with absolute certainty that she will be there with open arms to greet us and our reunion will be glorious. Until then, we know where she is and who watches over her.
To the wonderful Hacking family who has shared this double tragedy with us, may Heavenly Father strengthen you in the difficult days ahead. You know of our love for you.
To the Elizabeth Smart family, you have been an unending source of guidance, support and love, both in organizing the volunteer search effort and on a very personal level.
To our dear extended families, kind neighbors, personal friends, church congregations, work colleagues and the multitudes of people near and far who have prayed for Lori and for us, God heard your prayers and the comfort we have derived from them has enabled us to endure this ordeal.
To the thousands of volunteers who have given your time to search for Lori, your sacrifice and dedication have overwhelmed us.
To Lori’s many friends, former roommates and work colleagues, please know that you are part of our lives because Lori knew and loved you. You are welcome in our home.
To those who have sent or quietly slipped money into our hands or pockets, we are humbled by such generous caring. We consider these funds sacred and every dollar that was not used to search for Lori will be used to establish a scholarship or other type memorial to honor her name.
To all the mothers who have written their love to me personally, I thank you. We share a mother’s heart.
We thank all of the corporations and individuals who so generously donated goods and services.
We are truly grateful to the Salt Lake City Stake for offering the use of its stake center for use as our search headquarters.
The letters and pictures written and drawn with crayons, along with the little handmade gifts sent to us from children have touched our hearts and strengthened our faith in the rising generation and the goodness of people everywhere.
We thank the Salt Lake City Police Department for their diligence in this investigation.
And finally, we especially thank the media who have kept Lori’s beautiful little face before the public and wept with us off camera.
Mere words cannot begin to express our gratitude to everyone. You hold a very special place in our hearts and always will.
God bless you all for your outpouring of love and support. Now, please let us mourn for our little Lori in private.
Christ's atonement is infinite. If Mark Hacking truly repents, he can be saved, in the sense that he will not be consigned to spent eternity with Satan. But, for us, there's a difference between salvation and exaltation, where we are united with our families.
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