Bizarre Tom Smart Statement On Larry King Show

Larry King Show ^ | June 12, 2002

[PJ-Comix]

GRACE: Well Tom, I would have to agree with you. If police are searching the area with helicopters looking for this guy, that leads me to think that he's got some very important information that they want.

Tom Smart, message to the kidnapper tonight, what do you have to say?

[GovernmentShrinker]

It sounds great in the movies, but if an experienced profiler had told you that such a statement was likely to provoke an otherwise non-violent abductor into killing your daughter, you'd probably be willing enough to talk mushy sweetness to the abductor via the TV cameras. For all we know the Smart men are going home at night, shutting themselves in the bathroom and screaming at the top of their lungs "If you don't bring my daughter back or if you hurt her, I will spend the rest of my life hunting you down like a dog. By the time I'm through with you death will be a relief."

[GovernmentShrinker]

Fortunately, they don't have to deal with the FR threads ...

[GovernmentShrinker]

Have you noticed that folks on these FR threads are a lot more interested in having the little girl work with a sketch artist, than the SL police or FBI are? Does this raise any questions in your mind?

[Fracas]

What is the local thinking on why the little 9 year old is staying with relatives? Of all the things about the kidnapping, THIS is the one thing I find odd. I can understand wanting to shield her from the media, but I would think the parents would not allow her out of their sight.

[bonfire]

Stay on these threads, GS. We need you COMMON SENSE!!!

[bonfire]

you =your

[willyone]

It would appear there are no smarts in the whole family. Maybe they are really the halfbrights.

[Utah Girl]

I don't find anything bizarre about it. People I have talked to at work don't find anything bizarre about it. The question is: are the rest of the children at relatives too? Right now, the parents are concentrating their energies on finding Elizabeth, they've got five other children. So no, I don't find it odd that a grandparent or aunt or uncle would be taking care of the kids during this time. And one thing I do know (gut instinct here), the Smarts are seeing their children on a daily basis, but day to day life is probably being taken care of by relatives or neighbors or church members. Again, just my opinion, I do not know these things for a fact, but it would fit in with what happens with tragedies or bad situations here.

[GovernmentShrinker]

It's an interesting piece of information, but doesn't really tell us a great deal. Given that the house had been under renovation, any number of painters, plumbers, carpet-layers, electricians, carpenters, tile-setters, and all their helpers could have had keys. If someone who got a key via this route was the abductor, he might well have tried to steer suspicion away from that group of people by trying to make it look like a break-in.

[Exigence]

Your comments are spot on. Thanks.

Dittos.

[Utah Girl]

Oh come on, give the family a break. I don't know how I would act if a child of mine was abducted in that fashion. Having the scrutiny of the police, the stress of thinking all the horrible thoughts about what could be happening to your daughter, and then to have the dimwitted media shouting stupid questions at you. I'm willing to cut them some slack, and pray for them too. :)

[GovernmentShrinker]

Thank you for bringing some factual information to this thread. We were going through a real bad dry spell :)

[Utah Girl]

I don't know if you heard the news conference this morning, but the brother (David Smart) was asked if the family had hired a lawyer. His answer? "No, why should we?" I almost stood up and cheered.

[savedbygrace]

Well, he has issues.

[kcordell]

It sounds great in the movies.

You're probably right.

Just out of curiosity has there ever been a case where the predator felt guilty or compassionate and returned the child?

[PJ-Comix]

Several people on the Larry King Show tonight (hosted by Nancy Grace) were strongly suggesting that this was an inside job. Grace even said that the police stated that they may even have talked to the suspect already. BTW, what happened to that Edmunds guy? Has he been dropped from the suspect list? If so, why?

[Fracas]

This is the first I've heard the other children addressed. The press has focused on the little girl, indicating that she was spirited out of the house to stay with relatives - without her siblings.

Thanks for your nightly updates. You are providing a much more factual and clear picture of the situation than nearly anything I'm seeing and hearing from the media.

[Utah Girl]

Thanks. I'm really trying to stick to the facts, and listen to what the police have to say. I DO NOT trust the media, even though they perform a valuable service in getting attention drawn to cases like this, after a few days, they make it a three-ring circus.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Yes, it does seem a little odd. But remember that the parents are being yanked all over the place as part of the investigational and media coverage process. Perhaps the little girl wouldn't benefit from being around all the commotion, hearing her parents making strangely nice comments (at the authorities' direction, we assume) about the man who terrified her, or constantly being put out of the room when she was trying to cuddle up to mommy, to keep her from hearing all this stuff. The family home is undoubtedly a madhouse, and the parents said the girl was afraid to be there. The parents also have several other children to worry about, the youngest of whom is three. All in all, I'm willing to trust their judgement in placing her in a grandparent's home. They probably visit her there, in a calm reassuring environment. And possibly one or more of her younger siblings is staying there too, helping her feel some semblance of normalcy, and taking some added stress and responsibility off the parents.

[Utah Girl]

Edmunds was never a suspect, the police were very careful to say that they just wanted to question him to see if he had seen anything in the neighborhood.