Posted on 06/18/2002 10:50:57 AM PDT by The Energizer
Police now say abductor of 14-year-old Utah girl didn't know he was watched by her sister
By RICH VOSEPKA=
Associated Press Writer=
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Police investigating the disappearance of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart said Tuesday the man was not aware that the girl's little sister witnessed the apparent abduction.
Two weeks ago, Elizabeth was taken by gunpoint from the queen-sized bed shared by the two girls in the Federal Heights home.
He told Elizabeth to grab some shoes and as he left with her.
Although it was earlier reported that 9-year-old Mary Katherine Smart had been warned to remain quiet, police who interviewed the youngster several times now say the man did not speak to the child. The little sister waited two hours before alerting her parents.
``We believe this man may be a trusted person in the neighborhood or community,'' said Salt Lake City Police Capt. Scott Atkinson. The kidnapper was calm, he added.
Police reiterated their description of their suspect: A white man, 30 to 40 years old, with dark hair and hair on his arms and back of his hands. He was wearing tan pants, dark shoes, lighter jacket and a golf hat. He held a small handgun.
``He spoke nicely and dressed nicely,'' Atkinson said.
On Tuesday, Atkinson held up a similar pair of tennis shoes that the kidnapper allowed Elizabeth to take with her. They were white Ralph Lauren athletic shoes with dark stripes and thick soles.
Investigators still want to talk to Bret Michael Edmunds, who continues to elude them. Edmunds isn't a suspect, but he was spotted near the Smart's home two days before the kidnapping, leading police to think he might have information in the case.
``I believe Edmunds is a witness to something, we don't know what,'' Atkinson said.
Edmunds is wanted for parole violation and spraying pepper spray at a West Valley policeman who stopped him.
The community is offering a $250,000 reward for the girl's safe return. Neighborhoods are organizing searches for the teen after a centralized search effort was disbanded Friday.
A Web site to help find Elizabeth has had more than 8 million hits, which overloaded the system, said Ted Wilson, former Salt Lake City mayor.
I do not recall hearing or reading of anyone "pointing" a gun at anyone.
Further, I won't be shocked to find *surprise* ... there was no gun.
And if you are sleeping facing the wall and someone say "be quiet or I'll shoot you", are you going to roll over and ask if he was talking to you or your sister?
Now we are told that the man had "hair on his arms," even though we are also told that he was wearing a jacket. I no longer think there are any solid facts at all in this case.
We know that the police are there. We also know that the police have a routine they follow in all such cases, including first checking out the family. That's understandable, and they have, and are now doing, everything in that direction.
I had some friends several years ago, also "Mormons," like myself, who had a child die of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
It was horrifying. The infant was found by a young sibling, dead in his crib with blood all over the place around his head (a major artery had apparently burst).
After getting over the shock, calling friends and neighbors frantically, someone said "you need to call the police."
The police came, treated the place like a crime scene, asked very probing questions of the parents, and the family members were made to feel quite uncomfortable especially in the face of their sudden loss.
But afterward, the mother commented to me "that was horribly painful to go through, but we realize the police were doing their job, and that they have to be suspicious initially because of the kind of world we live in."
So it goes. And I suspect the Smarts are ALSO having to go through the probing questions and the suspicion on the part of the police, who are THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO ARE OWED ANSWERS. From all appearances they are cooperating fully with the police and everyone hopes the case is solved soon.
But the fact that the Smarts aren't "cooperating" with the public, and especially the news media, doesn't mean one diddly-d*mn. I wouldn't give anyone in the media so much as the time of day were I in their shoes. I'm sure they have advisers who are telling them "just don't comment, have spokespersons do that, and tell the media as little as possible."
That's just sensible. In the end, I believe a lot of people around here will have egg on their faces, because what has been happening is NOTHING like an attempt to be helpful and "solve" anything, but merely speculation, innuendo and good old-fashioned gossip-mongering. It's shameful.
... and those who find it odd that an assailant would go through the trouble of staging their own forced entry by cutting a screen from the inside.
Well, first of all, we see these 'inconsistancies' as contrived, not real, and the result of a lack of information about the case, Mormon culture, poilce procedures, and sometimes even from bigotry against Mormons. Second, it is very easy for us faithful LDS to relate to the Smarts, and there is no indication AT ALL that they are anything other than faithfull Mormons. I don't think too many people could relate with the Ramseys or the to the VDs, and the facts of their situation alone gave VALID causes for concern.
Don't get me wrong though, if it does turn out to be some family member, so be it, but trying to elevate some trivial event that has MANY interpetations into the foundation of the proof of someone's guilt is just mob mentality at work.
to the Ostentators with you! We'll have your fleem-jacket for this!
Each on a different river.
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