Posted on 06/20/2002 1:19:13 PM PDT by Grig
Elizabeth Ann and Mary Katherine Smart adore one another and, as any mother can tell you, that's no small accomplishment for sisters age 14 and 9.
Maybe music binds them together: They love to play duets on the harp. Or maybe it's boys -- brothers, that is. In the Smart house, the girls are outnumbered two to one.
Or maybe it's that Elizabeth is such a good role model.
"Elizabeth is just a gentle personality and she loves having a little sister to hang around with," said family friend and neighbor Charlotte Hamblin. "And Mary Katherine wants to be just like her."
With one painful exception.
In the early hours of June 5, Elizabeth was kidnapped, taken at gunpoint from the bed she shared with Mary Katherine. Police said Wednesday that the younger sister pretended to be asleep, then immediately went to tell her parents. However, she was stopped cold when she saw the kidnapper lingering in the hallway. Frightened, Mary Katherine returned to the bedroom and emerged two hours later when she thought it safe to leave.
Until two days ago, police had said the man spoke directly to Mary Katherine, warning her that if she went for help he would harm her older sister. But that information, which came from the first officers to arrive at the Smart home, was wrong, Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse acknowledged Wednesday.
Mary Katherine overheard the kidnapper threaten Elizabeth's life, but Dinse would not say if she recognized the man's voice.
It is one of many details police are intentionally withholding from the public. For instance, they won't say exactly what the kidnapper told Elizabeth. A fter insisting for weeks that Mary Katherine did not get a good look at the kidnapper's face, police are now hedging.
"The fact that we have not put out a composite, if you will, has a specific reason on our part and I'd rather not discuss that in the media," Dinse said. "She saw the individual. Now how good a look she got at his face, we are not clarifying. . . . For reasons of the investigation I'm just not going to discuss it at this point."
Amid all this uncertainty, there is one picture that has come into clearer focus: The portrait of Mary Katherine Smart, a girl whose steady nerves and quick thinking have made her a heroine in the eyes of family, friends and law enforcement.
"This investigation would be very, very difficult without Mary Katherine. She has provided us a tremendous amount of information -- I'm not going to go over every piece of it -- but a tremendous amount of information and we're very appreciative of her," Dinse said. "I believe we will resolve this case eventually and Mary Katherine is a big part of doing that."
In the two weeks since her sister's disappearance, Mary Katherine has been interviewed by police four times, been driven around the neighborhood to hunt for clues, and limited in what she can confide in family members. Through it all, she has managed to give police a detailed description of the kidnapper and his clothing.
"She was very smart. She probably saved her own life," said Bob Walcutt, executive director of the Laura Recovery Center foundation.
Alan Misbach, a licensed social worker and treatment coordinator at the Children's Justice Center, agreed.
"She did the best thing [for] her sister by being a witness," Misbach said. "Had she been detected, we may have had two missing kids instead of one."
That is probably not much comfort to Mary Katherine, who finds herself without one of her best friends. "She was asking 'What can I do to help' just this morning," Edward Smart said of his youngest daughter.
Leslie Rudd lives a few blocks from the Smarts and her daughters play with the two girls. She said one reason the sisters are so close is that they are so much alike.
And that may be the best reason yet to believe Elizabeth is still alive.
The only place I've seen that claim is here, and on one other thread. Noplace else, including the Enquirer's website.
Have you got a source other than the other thread to substantiate your claim?
So if, instead of being "pretty sure" she's still alive, they were only hoping that was the case, they'd be more willing put her at risk? I don't think so. They certainly could be keeping a lid on the information just in case she's still alive, even if they thought the odds were low.
Pronunciation: di-'t&r-m&n, dE-
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): de·ter·mined; de·ter·min·ing
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French determiner, from Latin determinare, from de- + terminare to limit, from terminus boundary, limit —more at TERM
Date: 14th century
transitive senses
1 a : to fix conclusively or authoritatively b : to decide by judicial sentence c : to settle or decide by choice of alternatives or possibilities d : RESOLVE
2 a : to fix the form, position, or character of beforehand : ORDAIN b : to bring about as a result : REGULATE
3 a : to fix the boundaries of b : to limit in extent or scope c : to put or set an end to : TERMINATE
4 : to find out or come to a decision about by investigation, reasoning, or calculation
5 : to bring about the determination of
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When you have time, could you transcribe a little of page 54-55 for us? There are many skeptics here, but I think it's altogether possible. After all, what do you do if you are male, gay, and Mormon? They marry you off anyway, and you have to have all those kids to get your inheritance.
This is going to turn into a big Mormon scandal. Wouldn't you love to see Ed Smart's blackbook?
If they do get to the bottom of this case, is the family going to let it fly without any arrests, as it's now a criminal matter.
Also, why is it that the other missing children in the US aren't getting the publicity as a few have, any idea??
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