It wasn't just his statement that was bizarre but also the fact that he CANCELLED an interview by a professional sketch artist with Elizabeth Smart's sister even tough Ed Smart approved of this.
There's also been a lot of discussion of that issue on other threads. From what I've read, the only person recommending the sketch be done was Marc Klaas, who has previously worked with the artist in question. It is entirely possible that the police, FBI, etc. were advising against it. We're talking about a 9 year old who saw the perp in the dark, probably from a lying down perspective, in profile only, and while absolutely terrified. If interviews with the girl led the professionals to believe she wouldn't be able to guide an artist to a meaningful sketch, the process could easily do more harm than good to the investigation and subsequent prosecution, and would almost certainly cause additional stress to the child as well, as she'd be forced to re-live the terror yet again. The last thing investigators need is a sketch floating around out there that looks absolutely nothing like the actual perpetrator, and a defense attorney would have a field day with such a sketch in court.
If the authorities make any statement to the effect that THEY want an artist of THEIR choice to try to produce a sketch with the little girl's help, and the family tries to interfere with that process, I'll be convinced there's something the family's hiding. But the fact that the self-appointed and rather pushy Marc Klaas got rebuffed by the family in HIS efforts to get HIS chosen artist to work with the girl to produce a sketch just doesn't strike me as anything we ought to be concerned about.