Meanwhile--as several have indicated before--our society has changed to one of tolerance and blindness. We do not know our own neighbors anymore. We have come to expect police officers to know our neighbors better than we do. Perhaps our expectations are skewed.
The experienced "street cop" who brought Elizabeth back from her private hell had intuition, people skills, street smarts, courage, persistence, and keen powers observation. A rookie, a "profiler," or a scientist/geek of a cop likely would not have been equipped to save the day.
That said, John Walsh's formidable media machinery also helped save the day by broadcasting, at the behest of the Smart family, that which the professionals within the SLC-PD had discounted....