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It gets even worse. Listen to what another SLPD detective had to say two days before Elizabeth was found. ********

Both Salt Lake City police and FBI officials said they are interested in finding Mitchell and questioning him. But they maintain he is no more a suspect than anyone else who has already been questioned.

"My personal opinion is (Richard) Ricci is No. 1 (potential suspect), and there isn't even a close second," Salt Lake City Police Sgt. Don Bell said. "There have been hundreds of these (potential suspects). They just haven't reached this level to reach the press. I don't know of anything that would elevate him above the many, many others."

An FBI spokesman agreed that Mitchell was being sought only to help answer some questions.

"When you get a lead, you run it till it's complete, and you always hope for the best," FBI spokesman George Dougherty said.

I've said some harsh things about the police in the past and recently had decided that some of my criticisms might have been misplaced (for reasons which I won't go into here). But when I read stuff like this, it makes me want to put my retractions on hold until I see just how bad their incompetence in this instance was.

I am afraid that we will find that LE was not very productive in this investigation.....

Smith, the attorney for Ricci , said one of his clients saw Elizabeth just two weeks after the abduction in Sandy, and that it was reported to LE but no follow up....geesh...

Granted, the cops had a difficult time eliminating the huge Smart clan, and they got really stuck on Ricci, who was a viable suspect for sure....but they ignored stuff right under their nose....

and I still maintain that there were clues that Elizabeth was taken by a polygamist.....

the Smart family lucked out with this one...the odds of being returned to the family after being abducted are very poor....

I am trying to keep my faith in the Modesto police...

some time, after things calm down....( and snotty scott behind bars)_ Freepers should have a long discussion here on FR on what needs to be done to decrease the danger our kids face, and what the proper police response should be, as well as the media and the public...

with all these cases, we have got to have learned some lessons....