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Smart Case, Tuesday, July 16
Deseret News ^ | 7/16/2002 | Derek Jensen

Posted on 07/16/2002 2:10:50 PM PDT by Palladin

Edited on 07/16/2002 4:40:41 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

Police still seeking van seen in Nebraska

Officers there have made no connection to the Smart case

By Derek Jensen
Deseret News staff writer

Police were still looking Tuesday for a van spotted Thursday at a Lincoln, Neb., gas station with a girl inside matching Elizabeth Smart's description.

No additional sightings of the van have been reported since it was spotted last week, Lincoln Police Sgt. Larry Barksdale said Tuesday morning.

The 14-year-old blond teen has been missing almost six weeks since she was taken by gunpoint from her bedroom early June 5.

"We haven't made a connection with Elizabeth Smart at all," Barksdale said Tuesday morning. "This was a check-welfare call for us. We get a dozen of those a week or more. I think it's got enhanced to connect it to Elizabeth Smart."

As the Deseret News reported Saturday, a convenience store clerk, her manager and a customer inside the Texaco Food Mart in Lincoln spotted a 12- to 14-year-old girl with blond hair. Three men, who appeared to be in their 20s, were in the van with her.

Cashier Andrea Kolarik told the Deseret News Friday the girl was crying and looked "scared and exhausted."

Lincoln police responded to the incident as a check-welfare call and have faxed their case file to Salt Lake police, Barksdale said. The van appears to have been spotted in Colorado before it was in Lincoln, but police say they have no information the vehicle was ever in Utah, Barksdale said.

The vehicle is described as light blue and gray Chevy Astro van with Pennsylvania license plate ECJ1368. Police have learned the identity of the van's registered owner in Pennsylvania but still aren't sure if that person was one of the three men seen driving the van, Barksdale said.

Meanwhile, police in Utah continue to scrutinize former Smart handyman Richard Ricci, interviewing his associates and trying to determine where the 48-year-old's Jeep Cherokee was between May 30 and June 8 and why it logged 500 to 1,000 extra miles during that time.

"We're making a lot of progress on that," FBI special agent Kevin Eaton said, declining to elaborate or say if the Jeep left Utah during that time. "I'd just say we're getting more information on where the Jeep was."

Ricci remains at the Utah State Prison and was charged last week with stealing items from the Smart residence and burglarizing another home in the Federal Heights area.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: casediscussion; elizabethsmart; kidnapping; latestreports; smartabduction; utah
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To: cookiedough
I think it is too late for the girl in question. They found a girl's body in a remote area about 35 miles from the abduction. I haven't heard a confirmation that it is the girl who was abducted, but I imagine it is. A sad day for another family.
181 posted on 07/16/2002 10:14:04 PM PDT by TheDon
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To: Bella
No kidding! They have a bit longer to keep it up though.
182 posted on 07/16/2002 10:15:12 PM PDT by TheDon
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To: IamHD
I NEVER said that bugs only happen at night. (The well-established forensic scientist, Doctor Henry Lee.) But, you can rest assured, that you get a whole lot more at NIGHT than during the daytime.

That's right, you never did and you're correct..JG appears to have some memory lapses tonite, possibly by choice?

183 posted on 07/16/2002 10:20:49 PM PDT by Bella
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To: cookiedough
Report: Body Of Child Found In Riverside County
184 posted on 07/16/2002 10:23:02 PM PDT by TheDon
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To: TheDon
They have a bit longer to keep it up though.

Can be viewed as "obstructing justice" though..

185 posted on 07/16/2002 10:23:38 PM PDT by Bella
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To: Bella
They have bigger crimes to hide.
186 posted on 07/16/2002 10:25:55 PM PDT by TheDon
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To: TheDon
They have bigger crimes to hide.

You don't think this is a big crime?? Interesting..

187 posted on 07/16/2002 10:30:23 PM PDT by Bella
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To: Bella
Either that, or he's trying to clear RICCI. :-)
188 posted on 07/16/2002 10:30:25 PM PDT by IamHD
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To: IamHD
Either that, or he's trying to clear RICCI. :-)

You might have hit the head on the nail because we know that Ricci's in jail for robbery.

189 posted on 07/16/2002 10:34:42 PM PDT by Bella
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To: Bella
You might have hit the head on the nail because we know that Ricci's in jail for robbery.

OOppssss...Hit the nail on the head....guess I'm getting tired..

190 posted on 07/16/2002 10:36:37 PM PDT by Bella
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To: IamHD
You're referring to me, and I'm going to answer to it! I NEVER said that bugs only happen at night. (The well-established forensic scientist, Doctor Henry Lee.) But, you can rest assured, that you get a whole lot more at NIGHT than during the daytime.

Gee, did I mention you by name? Did my criticism of a half-baked theory cut a little close to home?

I'll repeat my previous comment on the subject for those not familiar with it. I have lived in Utah in the summer time and know all too well that you can hit pockets, especially near marshes, where you can hit thousands of bugs - day or night. The original poster, (who I don't recall) claimed that bugs came out only at night.

191 posted on 07/16/2002 10:42:12 PM PDT by Jolly Green
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To: Jolly Green
"Gee, did I mention you by name? Did my criticism of a half-baked theory cut a little close to home?"

No, you didn't! But this was a conversation between you, me, and another poster that "god forbid" spelled Dr. Lee's name wrong...specifically, "LEIGH." And, you did not hesitate to go after that poster.

Half-baked theory? Not even. And, I'm not going to go into the "bug" thing with you again. So 'bug' off!

192 posted on 07/16/2002 11:07:18 PM PDT by IamHD
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To: IamHD
And, I'm not going to go into the "bug" thing with you again. So 'bug' off!

Wonder if JG has a "bug" fetish??

193 posted on 07/16/2002 11:13:09 PM PDT by Bella
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To: Bella
Frankly I don't understand the furor over whether a sketch has been released or not. Whether it be a 5 year old or a 9 year old - for whatever reason there must not be enough information to release a sketch.

I don't think it's fair for us to speculate or put that type of burden on Mary Katherine. She is a little girl - who knows what was going through her mind when this happened. I've seen adults make stranger decisions.

As to your comment that some members take offense due to their faith - I am not Mormon either - but I do find all the sniping offensive. I can't say I agree with the Mormon faith BUT I will say that in my experience Mormons are decent, clean living folks - and all the silly speculation that seems to relate the the Smart's faith is uncalled for. Why is it that when a group of people want to live decently that there is always a group that wants to find any little unsavory thing they can to hang their hat on it?

194 posted on 07/17/2002 4:10:02 AM PDT by pamlet
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To: Bella
The "bigger crime" refers to their involvement in the abduction of Liz. Sorry to disappoint.
195 posted on 07/17/2002 7:34:25 AM PDT by TheDon
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To: DoughtyOne
i admit that i haven't followed this as closely as others, but my impression from what I have read suggests that someone in the household is holding back information... I don't recall there ever being a police sketch of the guy MK saw that night, and there's something about the uncle that seems odd... I think that Elizabeth is still alive, but that something went wrong during this tragedy and was supposed to have been returned long ago.
196 posted on 07/17/2002 7:42:56 AM PDT by InvisibleChurch
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To: InvisibleChurch
I haven't followed it closely either.  I do know the police did not provide a sketch of the perp.  I do know the police lied to the public.  I do know that the police have withheld evidence.  I'm sure some of this could be defended.  The end result is that Elizabeth has not been found.  Would she have been found if the police had acted differently?  Well, that is a valid question.
197 posted on 07/17/2002 8:10:31 AM PDT by DoughtyOne
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To: TheDon
I just saw a "breather" in the conversation, if you will, and decided to jump on in. I'm new here, but being a mother to two very spirited little girls, I'm certainly *not* new to bickering and cat-clawing.

Personally, I feel such an overwhelmingly, heavy heart for little Mary Catherine...*especially* each and every time *anyone* publicly speculates or digs for information into what MC has said or not said, heard or not heard, told or not told since that awful night. Let me explain...

It astounds me how, minus a small percentage, that each and every person in this world seems to feel it is their right to know everything THEY FEEL THEY DESERVE to know. It doesn't matter that national security is at stake when leaks come from the Pentagon. Who really cares that each time a "secret" or "highly confidential" document mysteriously appears on Dan Rather's desk & is reported, that our service members' lives are placed within firing range? As long as it isn't affecting me, seems to be the feeling, because otherwise....

Please tell me there are some folks here who feel as I do about Mary Catherine. FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE, her mind will forever contain the events of that night, and how her big sister, who sheltered her and cared for her, was snatched away right before her eyes.

Maybe, just maybe, the family understands this deeply, and had the foresight to agree to protect MC from a snarling public. WHAT IF she was too distraught to remember anything? What were the Smarts to do? Toss that out to the media to chew on and rip to shreds? Years later, MC could then do a media search, and have hours of affirmation...that everything hinged upon her, and she failed to produce.

WHAT IF MC *has* seen photos, heard Ricci's voice, and he just isn't the guy? Divulging that sure would give the plaintiff much to wave around.

WHAT IF Ricci IS in this up to his moustache, but only realized how deep he was in, after all was in motion? Isn't it possible there are others who wanted this girl, who knew Ricci had the home memorized, and that he broke in successfully on prior occasions?

Isn't is possible he's not going to talk because telling what he knows is going to kill him, or his own family? I see him as the Chihuahua of the pack of dogs in the prison yard.

Ricci sure seems puny to me, inside and out. His fellow prisonmates and parollees may have had one owed to them by Ricci, and he had no choice but to pay up. His fellow parollees may have even been clever enough to think about using the old Smart jeep as their abduction vehicle, given the likely possibility they could use the old DNA excuse if things started to get closer to the truth. Maybe Ricci even realized that he could wind up being the fall guy in all this, and the group solution was to place the jeep in the shop (but somehow gain access to it)? Ricci may have even slept well for a night or two thinking they had thought of everything...

WE DON'T need to know anything, in my opinion, about MC, her thoughts, her assistance, her fragile memory. Even Sean Hannity continues to probe this line, to my amazement.

WHATEVER MC knows, has already been collected, don't you think? I imagine her to be a juicy orange that everyone has wanted a piece of, and now what's left is an all- squeezed- out little 9 year old girl, who misses the big sister she absolutely adored.

This is an incredibly strong family, that leads their family with the faith that their loving, Heavenly Father is in control. That is their rock, their direction and their hope. We are so used to seeing dysfunctional, and nutball cases all the time, that when something pure happens to come along, the majority of us become suspicious, and can't accept a good thing when one should appear.

Just my opinion, is all. And for the record, I believe in folks having their right to speak freely, however I feel even stronger about protecting the defenseless, and promoting the common sense to look around to consider others needs, too.

198 posted on 07/17/2002 8:12:56 AM PDT by getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL
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To: DoughtyOne
I do know the police lied to the public. I do know that the police have withheld evidence

anything in particular?

thankx

199 posted on 07/17/2002 8:27:25 AM PDT by InvisibleChurch
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To: Palladin
Yes, I agree. I marvel at these people who have suffered this loss, and in the Smarts case, are still going through it...that they talk about other's in need.

I guess we can only find true compassion for other's in situations, when we have visited the same pain. It is like..if there is a group of people in a room that have lost children to death. One may have lost their chlld in a car accident, and the other lost their's to cancer. Different circumstances of death, but both felt the same pain of loosing their little one.

I stand personally in awe of those who reach out to other's that have visited and live in the pain they are. they are the ones who will touch more lives, and in the long run, help awareness to this nation wide problem. God bless all of them.

200 posted on 07/17/2002 8:53:11 AM PDT by Neenah
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