Garage Door Was Open at Smart House

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[Rodney King]

SALT LAKE CITY

[r9etb]

It's time for the Smart family to come clean with the facts of the case.

You became an FR member on 6/14/02 just to say this? The Smart family owes you nothing.

[twigs]

Probably not. But I do have a daughter who is very dramatic and there are times when I have to stop and determine whether or not to take her comments seriously. I have always hoped that I would never have to make the kind of decision that the Smarts had to make. Obviously, they made the wrong decision. However, I do not think that means they are guilty. From what I can tell from other threads, a mentality exists in Utah where people rely on one another and are typically suspicious of central authority. I'm getting that way myself, so I do not think that makes one necessarily guilty.

[GovernmentShrinker]

But that scenario is also not in the sects' MO. If the Smart parents were believers in one of these sects, why wouldn't they join it and go live with them, like all the other adherents? Why doesn't Ed Smart have multiple wives? Why are he, his wife, and his children, all fully active in their mainstream LDS ward?

If there were even the slightest hint of a possible connection to any of the polygamist groups, the Utah authorities would have stormed their little villages way before now. The Utah politicians and religious and law enforcement authorities would like nothing better than an excuse to to investigate these sects, get warrants to search their homes, and interview the adolescent girls away their family members. It hasn't happened because not one iota of evidence has turned up suggesting a connection between Elizabeth Smart's disappearance and the activities of these sects.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

I have not been keeping up with this story in depth, just an occassional check to see the latest. Because I admire your logic and consistency I would like to ask what you think happened? There are several things which trouble me in what I have heard:

I origninally heard that according to the nine year old sister the kidnapper entered through the bedroom window and took the girl out the same way. However, later pictures of the house showed that to be unlikely if not impossible. What is the truth to that story?

This article says the kidnapper told the girl to "grab some shoes." That sounds like a very familiar thing to say, not a command by a kidnapper. In order to get shoes the girl probably turned on a light or the closet had a light that turned on automatically when the door was opened. This should have given the nine year old a better look at the man. If not,how could she get even a vague description in the dark?

Did the house have a security system? It seems a house of that size, neighborhood, and cost would have had an alarm system. What is the story on that?

Again, seeing the improbability of a person entering through a window and taking the girl back out the window from the location of her bedroom near the top of a house which was also on a hill, there must be another scenario as that one probably couldn't have happened. Secondly, all of this seems to have taken place with the girls cooperation rather than her resistence else it could not have been done so quietly. With so many people in the house surely someone would have heard something if she had resisted. Were there no pets, like dogs?

Basically, according to the information that is public, things could not have happened as the family says. Therefore, something else happened and freepers are free to speculate as to what that was and why the family was telling a story that could not be true.

Please correct any misinformation I may have and also tell me what you think happened.

[cynicalman]

If I called a friend and said that my child was taken from her bedroom I would PRAY that my friends would be out looking and NOT just at the house.

I would hope my friend would realize I'm not thinking straight and immediately call the POLICE. This is not just a missing child this is a child who was TAKEN.

[lady lawyer]

From the very first story I heard -- on the way to work at 7:00 a.m., three hours after the police were called, the story was that the kidnapper may have entered through a kitchen window that was technically on the second floor, but at ground level in the back of the house, which is built on a slope. The media were very clear that the kidnapper had not entered the bedroom window. It is not near the ground. Everyone was very careful to say that the method of entry was speculative, because nobody saw him, and nobody knew how long he was in the house before spotting and taking Elizabeth.

The media were also very clear that police believed the kidnapper had walked out a door -- and had not taken Elizabeth out through a window. A tracking dog had picked up her scent, and had followed it out the front door to the edge of the street, where the scent disappeared.

Elizabeth "cooperated" because the perp was holding a gun on her. He did not speak directly to the younger sister. The threats were made to Elizabeth, to keep quiet, or he would hurt her, or words to that effect. The exact words used by the perp have never been released, but the message taken by the little sister was that if she alerted anyone, Elizabeth would be hurt, but if she kept quiet, Elizabeth might not be hurt. The little sister is not sure that the perp even knew she was awake. The little sister saw, at most, the perp's profile. This has been consistent from the beginning. The best she could offer was an approximate description of his clothing and skin color, and the fact that he was "soft-spoken." It has always been stated that the room was dark. There never was a light on.

There has never been a family dog mentioned, so I assume there isn't one. The alarm system was not activated. They used it when they were gone, but not when the family was in the house, because the motion sensors picked up normal movement in the house at night. All of this has been reported numerous times in the local media, which are less sensationalistic than the cable networks.

[lady lawyer]

You asked what I think. I think somebody took her, but not a member of the family -- immediate, or uncles, or close cousins. I think it could have been a crime of opportunity, but somebody likely had spotted this girl earlier.

[Stingray51]

Another incisive post, Rodney.

Hours before the abduction, the Smart family returned from an end-of-the-year function at Bryant Intermediate School, where Elizabeth was supposed to perform her harp. Her family arrived too late for that, but she received awards for academics and physical fitness.

So it was not just the family missing Elizabeth's performance. It was Elizabeth herself who missed it. Of course, stuff happens and there are a million reasons why the Smarts did not arrive at the awards ceremony in time for Elizabeth to perform. But I would think that (a) this would definitely be upsetting to a girl her age, and (b) with two parents, two cars and lots of local family members, friends, fellow churchgoers, there were probably plenty of ways to have gotten her there on time. Combined with the overall oddity of the story, this tidbit raises my suspicion that something more went on within the Smart family earlier in the evening.

[Ann Archy]

You said he probably spent an hour...the article said the family without him spent an AFTERNOON. We don't think YOU are responsible for Elizabeth's abduction, so why are you so defensive? When are the ward services?

I notice that you don't say Church....are Mormons not Christians? I dn't know any Mormons or their habits except I don't think they drink caffeine or hot drinks or cold drinks...one or the other.

[Ann Archy]

You said he probably spent an hour...the article said the family without him spent an AFTERNOON. We don't think YOU are responsible for Elizabeth's abduction, so why are you so defensive? When are the ward services?

I notice that you don't say Church....are Mormons not Christians? I dn't know any Mormons or their habits except I don't think they drink caffeine or hot drinks or cold drinks...one or the other.

[steveo]

O.K. Everybody how about this one? We've all seen pictures of the house. Pretty nice wouldn't you say? Lots of rooms and very roomy? So what sets my mind to thinking is why would they store a $20,000 harp in the garage?

Hmmm? Well?

[crystalk]

Just to clarify, the story was that the whole family, including Elizabeth, were so late for the 8th grade graduation ceremony at her middle school, that her scheduled harp performance did not take place--- not that she did play, but the parents were late and did not hear it.

You probably understood that; I just wanted to clarify it for others....

[mhking]

The father of missing 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart says he left a garage door open for at least two hours on the night before the girl's disappearance.

This has degenerated from a heart-wrenching story to something you might see on "The Simpsons."

I hate to think like this, but I'm half way expecting them to find the girl's body in a forgotten closet in the basement -- then find out the remainder of the family has moved to Atlanta....

Oops...that's Jon Benet Ramsey.

But you all get the picture...

[crystalk]

I feel that by now, if Elizabeth had anything that remotely resembled a boyfriend, we would have seen that fact, and probably his identity, bannered over every paper from here to Sheboygan.

[mountaineer]

I would hope that the Mormons at FR and elsewhere would understand that they are not under attack just because someone questions some peculiarities in the Smart family's statements or actions. The issue here is not their religious beliefs and practices, it is whether the police have all the information they need to try to find this child and/or her abductor.

We would raise these same questions if the family were Baptist, Hindu, Unitarian or whatever. I sense a "circling the wagons" or defensive posture on the part of the Mormons both here and in SLC, however, which observation is not a criticism of the religion or its members. In deference to JimRob's requests, perhaps we should save the doctrinal discussion for a some other venue.

[lady lawyer]

I'm not defensive. I just think it is obnoxious when people take perfectly innocent details and try to spin them into something sinister.

You're question gives you away as just another Mormon basher. Of course we're Christians.

[lady lawyer]

I didn't understand that she had missed her performance. Thanks. Did they say why the family was late?

[lady lawyer]

You also misread the article. It said the family was spending the afternoon at home. It didn't say that Ed Smart was at church the whole afternoon.

Re the harp. It didn't say they stored the harp in the garage. If it is like most houses, you would enter the house through the garage.

[crystalk]

If this family had any remote tie, any second-cousin-once-removed, any friend or former business associate-- anyone at ALL, who was involved in some such cult in the Page/S Utah/N Ariz area, we would have heard it bannered about 10 days ago, I should think.

If they not only HAD such a black sheep, but CONSIDERED HIM LESS THAN BLACK, even more scandal would have resulted, with orthodox Mormons leading the x-pos-A.!

I just don't think so.

[Ann Archy]

My gosh...I NEVER said they stored the harp in the garage!!! What are you reading???

Since you live there, why don't you call the reporter and have them CLARIFY for your sake, because it suggests that the father was NOT at home with his family and other chl;ldren on Father's DAY