 Brian David Mitchell; his current appearance is unknown. |
BY KEVIN CANTERA
and MICHAEL VIGH
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
Two divergent theories about who kidnapped Elizabeth Smart -- one advanced by detectives and the other formulated by the girl's family -- have led the missing teenager's family to openly criticize police for the first time.
Since the June 5 abduction, the Smart family has been careful not to fault Salt Lake City police investigators trying to crack the case.
But now Tom Smart, Elizabeth's uncle, says police are dragging their feet in the pursuit of a homeless drifter fingered by the crime's lone witness, Elizabeth's sister, 10-year-old Mary Katherine Smart, in October. To that point, she had not mentioned vagabond preacher Brian David Mitchell, who worked odd jobs for the Smarts for five hours in November 2001.
"They should have caught this guy by now," said Tom Smart, who has often spoken on behalf of the family. But "the police are too vested in [their top suspect Richard] Ricci. . . . It's a way to cover your ass."
Tom Smart called Mary Katherine's possible identification of Mitchell "the biggest lead right now."
While Elizabeth's father, Ed Smart, tempered the harshness of his brother's criticism, he too expressed "frustration" at public statements made by police dismissing Mitchell as a potential suspect.
"I hope police comments aren't downsizing the chance to find Elizabeth," Ed Smart said. "We can't afford to make assumptions. . . . When the only eyewitness says it could be [Mitchell], that is important."
The family also became frustrated when police chose not to publicize the information about Mitchell, Ed Smart said.
"They said if we go public it could scare him off. . . . I say the public can be very helpful," he said.
Lt. Jim Jensen, the lead detective in the Smart case, said he understands the Smarts' frustration, but said "this is a lead we're looking into. It's a lead we've been actively following for a while now."
Jensen said "as we speak" an FBI agent in Miami is following a credible sighting of Mitchell, who worked on the Smarts' roof and yard, according to Ed Smart.
Jensen added that "every cop in Salt Lake City is looking for him, his family is actively looking for him. He's one of many people in this investigation we want to speak to."
Since early in the investigation, police have placed the late Richard Ricci, a handyman who worked on the Smart's home in 2001, "at the top of the list" of potential suspects in the teen's disappearance. Arrested days after the kidnapping on a parole violation, Ricci died in custody in August of a brain hemorrhage.
"Right now our leads have pointed us in one direction -- to Ricci," said Salt Lake City Assistant Police Chief Scott Folsom, "but we will look at other possibilities."
Jensen, too, bristled at Tom Smart's suggestion that investigators are too heavily focused on Ricci to look thoroughly at Mitchell.
"Look, if we wanted to blame Ricci for this, we would have closed the case by now and told the Smarts we were no longer investigating it," Jensen said, adding that two full-time investigators, several part-time investigators, and agents with the Salt Lake City FBI are still trying to solve the case. At its peak, the investigation involved more than 100 police officers and FBI agents.
"I believe the police are trying to help us. I have tried to work with the police and I continue to do that," Ed Smart said. "The frustration isn't with detectives. . . . I believe the detectives on the ground are trying to do the best they can."
Until his death, the Smarts repeatedly begged the incarcerated Ricci to come forward with any information, saying he had not fully explained his actions and whereabouts around the time of the kidnapping. But in an interview Tuesday with The Salt Lake Tribune, Tom Smart defended Ricci, saying "he cooperated with police. . . . Ricci gave voluntary polygraphs."
Tom Smart added that Mary Katherine, who shared a bed with Elizabeth and feigned sleep during her sister's abduction, "has always said it wasn't Ricci, [but] the police did not want us to tell anybody [that]."
In October, when the girl told her father she thought the abductor was Mitchell, "it was the mother of all epiphanies," Tom Smart said.
The family went immediately to police but did not publicize the development until February, when Elizabeth's parents announced a $10,000 reward to anybody who could definitively clear Ricci.
"We believe there is somebody out there who can clear him," said Tom Smart, adding that Mary Katherine "would have known [if it was] Ricci." Based on Mary Katherine's description of the abductor's movements in the home, he said the intruder did not seem familiar with the house, as Ricci would have been.
Although Ricci, a career criminal, was never charged with the kidnapping, before his death prosecutors alleged he had burglarized the Smart home while working odd jobs.
Police theorized that Ricci was attempting a similar burglary at the Smart home when the girl awoke and was snatched.
"It could be that it's somebody other than Ricci, it could be somebody other [than Mitchell]," Jensen said. "I believe this case is going to be solved. . . . We're going to find out who did this."
kcantera@sltrib.com
mvigh@sltrib.com