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Posted on 06/11/2002 6:33:20 AM PDT by MVV
BY KEVIN CANTERA
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
Six days after a teen-age girl reportedly was kidnapped from her Salt Lake City home by an unknown gunman, police said Monday they have ruled out the possibility Elizabeth Smart staged her own abduction and was a runaway.
With no credible leads and almost no physical evidence, baffled investigators have re-examined the family's Federal Heights home, reinterviewed members of the family and administered a polygraph test to the 14-year-old girl's father, said Salt Lake City police Capt. Scott Atkinson. He emphasized Edward Smart is not a suspect in his daughter's disappearance.
Edward Smart took the lie detector test willingly Sunday and the results were being scrutinized by FBI agents Monday, said Atkinson.
"We are looking at every possible angle. [The polygraph] is just one of the tools we've been using," Atkinson said.
Investigators refused to say what questions Smart had been asked during the interview. He is the only family member to be tested, but Atkinson said other relatives could be asked to take a similar test.
"We are no closer to solving the case," Atkinson said, noting that 100 detectives, including about 40 federal agents, were sifting through "hundreds" of leads pouring in to police dispatchers from around the country.
In a brief statement Monday, Edward Smart said he took the test because he had "nothing to hide. . . . It's not uncommon in a case like this for a polygraph to be administered. When asked by law enforcement, I fully cooperated."
Elizabeth was taken by an armed intruder inside her family's Federal Heights home between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. Wednesday, according to police. The man, who reportedly carried a small black handgun, entered the bedroom shared by Elizabeth and her 9-year-old sister. He forced Elizabeth to go with him and threatened the younger girl that if she told anyone, her sister would be hurt, the child told police.
The girl -- the only witness to the abduction -- waited two hours or more, then woke her parents, police said. The abductor "didn't leave any clues," Atkinson said. Police planned to question the 9-year-old girl, but would probably not issue a more detailed description of the suspect, he said.
Dozens of off-road enthusiasts were asked Monday to bring their all-terrain vehicles to a wide expanse of barren desert west of Salt Lake City to hunt for clues.
"Every day we want a place where we can do one search," said Tom Smart, Elizabeth's uncle, in making the plea for the off-road quest. No specific information prompted the plan to search the desert, said Smart, who suggested "horse posses" might be used to hunt for the girl in the future.
Between 400 and 500 volunteers took part in other search efforts, going through neighborhoods, city parks and surrounding foothills, calling Elizabeth's name and posting fliers.
Residents throughout Utah have been asked to search their own property -- under boat covers and inside vacation cabins, for instance -- and the Utah Farm Bureau Federation encouraged the state's farmers to comb their farms, fields and outbuildings.
As the hunt continues, Elizabeth's loved ones remain hopeful.
"The whole family believes she is alive," said Elizabeth's cousin, Sierra Smart, who said she is as perplexed as police investigators by the girl's disappearance. "It is exactly as confusing as it appears. There's no secret."
kcantera@sltrib.com
She's the right age for this type of thing, as bizarre as it seems. Her family wouldn't have to be involved in any way, but someone who knows the community could easily have been.
The parents don't seem too concerned.....sorry....I wuldn't be able to talk and I SURE wouldn't be going on EVERY TV show out there.
The SLC Police must be REALLYYY slow since there were many neighbors at the house BEFORE the police got there.
Tonight, Tuesday, on O'Reilly, he had Mark Klass (sp). Mark said that he was having interference with the Uncle (Mr. Smart's brother Tom ). Mark wanted to bring in a noted artist to draw a composit of the man who abducted Elizabeth.He also said that one of the main important things that should be done is to talk with the young girl, and get a picture of the man out to the public. This is what I said in an earlier post ! Why put out the Red Berret' guy ??? UNCLE STOPPED THAT IN IT'S TRACKS !
Mark Klass also said that the Uncle is running the show, the Dad is doing the same., and they are not co-operating , I missed maybe the first 3 min. of the interview, and plan on catching the repeat at 10 central time.
He also interviewed two daughter's of this Uncle Tom, who are working with the organization to rally people for the cause. They hedged on WHY their father (Tom) is saying and doing what he is doing. It was very very strange. Catch the repeat if you can.
There is something very fishy going on. Klass was visably agitated tonight. Frustrated.
It is even logical to assume that she didn't wait that long but the police and parents didn't want to anger the abductor by a public announcement that the girl didn't wait. It would not be prudent to do that and anger someone who is deranged.
Let me see if I understand. Yoour premise is they delayed in calling the police because they had something to do with the abduction and so to cover their tracks they invited the neighborhood over instead of the police.
Interesting theory.
Keep up with your homework, Miss Neenah.....as you know, FR slackers are dealt with harshly. Smile........
And IMO the girls of this age will scream over any imagined or real excitement or stimulation, but if frightened would clam up and crawl silent into a hole and die. [n q lit, but almost]
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