Someone might want to look into connections.
BY MICHAEL VIGH and ASHLEY E. BROUGHTON
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
After a day of fruitless searching for a missing 14-year-old Salt Lake City girl, her father begged her presumed abductor to allow his daughter to come home.
"Please let her go, please," a tearful Edward Smart said. "She doesn't do anything to anyone and there's no reason you should have her."
Elizabeth Smart's early morning disappearance from her home in the affluent Federal Heights neighborhood occurred as her parents slept and her 9-year-old sister watched. Police said a man with a handgun entered the girls' bedroom around 2 a.m. and threatened to harm Elizabeth if the younger sister told her parents.
Hours passed before the frightened girl ran into her parents' bedroom and the couple called police about 4 a.m. Wednesday.
Neighbors and police with a helicopter and dogs began scouring the neighborhood and foothills near 1500 E. Kristianna Circle (430 North) in northeast Salt Lake City. The search initially was expanded to include neighboring states and later, with FBI assistance, became a nationwide hunt. Salt Lake City police Chief Rick Dinse said Elizabeth, missing for so long, could be almost anywhere. "There's no way of telling where she is," Dinse said. "You just don't know how far they could have gone by now."
Mayor Rocky Anderson said a $10,000 reward was posted for information about Elizabeth's disappearance. Countless fliers containing her picture were posted all over the city.
"Elizabeth, we are doing everything we possibly can to help you," the girl's father said, addressing television cameras. "We love you. We want you to come home."
Smart, a mortgage investment broker, said he is unaware of any enemies.
The younger sister described the man as soft-spoken, 5-foot-8, wearing white pants, a white baseball cap and light jacket. She told police she did not hear a car and police have no vehicle description.
Investigators say there is no indication the man knew Elizabeth, who is 5-foot-6 and weighs 105 pounds, with blond hair and blue eyes. She was wearing red satin pajamas and the sister said the man allowed Elizabeth to grab a pair of shoes.
"It appears as though they walked out a door," said Detective Dwayne Baird.
Dinse refused to say whether the family home had an alarm system or whether it functioned properly. He also would not say whether the suspect had cut the window screen to get inside.
The Smarts' $1.19 million home, being partially renovated, is for sale. Police were trying to interview potential buyers or contractors who may have had recent access to the house.
Baird said investigators were also trying to determine whether any neighbors had surveillance cameras that might have videotaped anything suspicious. Police also searched the family's computer to see if Elizabeth had had contact with any strangers online.
Authorities were investigating recent parolees and contacted t he National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. "We're not going to leave any stone unturned," Baird said.
Elizabeth's parents and five siblings were interviewed, said Dinse, adding, "We have no reason to believe the family was involved."
At least two nearby residents called authorities overnight to report hearing the rumble of motorcycles, said Salt Lake County Sheriff 's Office spokeswoman Peggy Faulkner.
Elizabeth's classmates at Bryant Intermediate School were struggling with the news. Principal Frances Battle made an announcement about the Smart's suspected kidnapping Wednesday morning during the year-end talent show.
A crisis team of four or five counselors went to the school to talk with teachers and students.
"Right now, it's a bunch of questions that nobody can answer and that's what's really scary," said Jason Olsen, Salt Lake City School District spokesman.
The principal described Elizabeth as a polite, good student who plays the harp and sings in the school's show choir.
"She's really smart . . . everybody loves her," said Sissy Galbraith, a teen-age neighbor who attends the Smarts' church and plays on the same basketball team as Elizabeth.
Elizabeth's cousins described her as innocent, sweet and loyal. "I've heard her say 'idiot' once," said Elise Dumke.
"It's impossible" that the girl would have contacted strangers in an Internet chat room, cousin Sierra Smart said. "There's just no way."