Missing Utah Girl Case To Grand Jury?-Neighbor Saw Felon Handyman Digging Underneath Trailer

CBS News Salt Lake City ^ | June 26, 2002 | Lee Cowan

[codebreaker]

CBS News Correspondant Lee Cowan reports a neighbor of Richard Albert Ricci says he has been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury investigating the Smart case.

The neighbor claims he saw Ricci digging underneath his home.

Investigators confirm they have examined the ground under Ricci's trailer home but are refusing to say what, if anything, they found.

[codebreaker]

Maybe they are calling the excavation crew in..

[TheDon]

That would be rather hard to believe.

[Utah Girl]

Actually on the news the other night, the local reporter reported that the police and FBI had been at Ricci's trailer, digging around the trailer...

[hchutch]

Oh, crap...

This does not sound good.

[Lady Jag]

Reports today say there is something missing from the Jeep Cherokee the Smarts gave Ricci and they added it is not something big like a carpet. What could it be and has that missing thing clued them into digging around Ricci's trailer? Is it a tire iron? Authorities are not saying.

[buffyt]

I hope this is all just erroneous speculation, but after the first 48 hours of a missing girl, the outcome is not good. That is what they said on the news here.

[r9etb]

Are there legitimate reasons for digging under a trailer? Potentially -- problems around the sewer line, for example. Or maybe he kept his money there, or his drugs. Doesn't necessarily have anything to do with E.S.

[Catspaw]

Oh, no...this doesn't look good, it doesn't look good at all. My prayers to the Smart family.

[codebreaker]

I'm not sure, any why is the neighbor leaking this to CBS News?

[Lady Jag]

I have heard the statistics and they are chilling. All we can do is pray our little hearts out. Miracles have come from prayer. Let us pray she is safe and freed soon.

[codebreaker]

And the handyman's alibi is crumbling according to recent reports..

[codebreaker]

I would imagine it would take several days to fully excavate the house.

[Lady Jag]

The handyman has spent half his short life in jail, not a good sign. At least he hasn't served time for anything to do with children. We still have hope to hang onto. Maybe someone paid the handyman to kidnap the girl and let us pray she is somewhere safe. I sure would like to know what is missing from that Jeep that authorities aren't telling us about. What could you take from a Jeep that would implicate you in a kidnapping?

[TheBigB]

UG, have the police or FBI given word about -anything- found/not found while digging?

[r9etb]

... why is the neighbor leaking this to CBS News?

For his 15 minutes of fame, of course. Reporters have no doubt been nosing around the trailer park ever since this story broke. People will say anything for the cameras, and the reporters found this one guy who had what appear to be juicy details.

IMHO, CBS is being really irresponsible by airing this stuff.

[FR_addict]

He worked for a nursery and it sounds like he enjoyed gardening according to the media reports.

If he had buried anything where the neighbor said he was digging, they would have already found it. She hasn't been missing that long. The dogs would have already located any body.

[FR_addict]

Ted Williams a former homicide detective just said on FoxNews that he was critical of the SLP because of the manner they have conducted this investigation.

He said the police department did not show the picture of Ricci to Mary Katherine, but they said a family member may have shown it to her.

I hadn't heard this before that the family may have shown a picture of Ricci to Mary Katherine. He said the police should have been the ones to show the first picture of Ricci to Mary Katherine. He was very critical of the SLP's handling of this part of the investigation.

[Arkinsaw]

I hadn't heard this before that the family may have shown a picture of Ricci to Mary Katherine. He said the police should have been the ones to show the first picture of Ricci to Mary Katherine. He was very critical of the SLP's handling of this part of the investigation.

If this is the case then the defense would be able to question ANY photo ID that they decide to conduct with her. If true then this is a fairly big mistake.

[per loin]

IMHO, CBS is being really irresponsible by airing this stuff.

Why so? They broadcast news, and this is a story that is being widely followed. But I do wish they'd spend a bit more air time on the facts, rather than reporting on how people "feel" about the events.