Tortured Lois Smart, Coping Courageously Day After Day
Tuesday, June 25, 2002
BY HOLLY MULLEN
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
Nearly three weeks after her daughter vanished in the darkness, Lois Francom Smart found the will to move to the microphone again Monday.
Another day had dragged by without any real news. Another revolution of the Earth and still no sign of Elizabeth, her golden-haired baby snatched in the night.
As she has done many times before, Lois spoke to Elizabeth, as only a mother summoning all her power can do. She relayed a story of when Elizabeth was 9 years old. She was on horseback at the family ranch, had jumped off the horse and had lost hold of the reins. The horse dashed away. And the little girl was alone, frightened and desperate to get back to her family.
"Remember what you did, Elizabeth," Lois said. "You knelt down and prayed . . . you are a strong, strong girl."
But the strong little girl is still missing. Monday marked a substantial day in the investigation of Elizabeth's abduction, at least to those of us on the outside looking in.
In what has become his predictably guarded way of sharing information, Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse painted Richard Albert Ricci as a subject of intense scrutiny in the case.
The 48-year-old prison parolee from Kearns had worked for a few months last year as a handyman at the Smarts' home. Ricci, apparently, has an alibi for the early morning hours of June 5, the day Elizabeth disappeared. But his story has been tough to confirm. And questioning the man just leads to more questions.
Nothing is certain. Official information is flowing at a trickle, so reporters have taken to standing around the manicured grounds of Federal Heights LDS Ward, guessing at whether Dinse has a plan.
He revealed that evidence has been seized from Ricci's home and car, but refused to name the items. He said Ricci and his wife have undergone polygraph tests, but declined to reveal the results. He repeatedly cautioned that Ricci has not been named as a suspect or charged with the kidnapping, but rolled out a long rap sheet -- including felony burglary, aggravated robbery and attempted murder -- for this "witness."
Do officials, led by Dinse, have their man? Or do they, as many reporters have taken to speculating, hope to aim a laser on Ricci, keeping the case white-hot and drawing someone else out in the process?
With this latest smidgen of news in a case that defies logic and challenges our deepest trust in humanity, how does a mother move forward?
My own 14-year-old daughter sashays through this world with the same lovable, adolescent combination of innocence and confidence as Elizabeth, seemingly impervious to harm. So I ache for Lois at these media events, and I watch and listen. I look for clues in how she is coping. How, I wonder, does she grieve her baby's disappearance while simultaneously clinging to the hope that Elizabeth is alive and well. And what of everyone else she must also remember to mother? There is, let's not forget, Mary Katherine, the 9-year-old who witnessed her big sister's abduction, but out of sheer terror, kept the news from her parents for some time. In her grief and even guilt -- however misplaced -- this child needs a mother, soul-weary as she is.
And now this. A lead in the case. Not exactly solid, but the biggest bump so far, and enough to keep attention on the case. Enough, perhaps, to give Lois Smart another ounce of mother's courage and the strength to count down another 24 hours.
LOL!! So did I.......but not as fast as you did......sighhhhhhhhh.