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.
Anyway, I'm a primary teacher, and one day during "sharing time" one of the counselors--a girl from some podunk Utah town--responded to a funny quip from one of the primary kids by breaking down laughing, and saying "Oh My Heck!"
I burst out laughing myself, and had to explain to her later what was so funny. It had never occurred to her that there was anything unusual about the phrase!
But my favorite "pokin' fun at Utah Saints" story is about a young mother whose family I "home taught." She told me that shortly after she moved here to Texas some neighbors invited her to the big Fourth of July blow-out we have in our community. She and her kids went, and enjoyed the food, festivities and especially the big fireworks finale.
She turned to her neighbor and said "Wow, if this is what you all do for the FOURTH, I can only IMAGINE what it must be like on the TWENTY-FOURTH!"
Her neighbor's puzzled look told her something had been lost in the translation, and it wasn't until later (say, about twenty DAYS later) that she came to understand that whereas in UTAH, Pioneer Day is THE big summer festival, the REST of the country kinda favors Independence Day!
Except for being at the MTC for two weeks, that's me also. My wife has reletives in Utah and spent time visiting with them so I pick it up third-hand. Oh, and what is Pioneer Day?
If you are going to quote the Bible, get it right...
Click "HERE"HOPEFULLY PEOPLE WILL "JUDGE RIGHTLY" instead of "JUDGE NOT"
I'll keep posting this until people get it right... As the Bible intended.
Um, Chandra Levey, Jon Benet Ramsey, etc, etc.
Don't read the papers much, do ya?
They spoke to an aunt, Angela Dumke, who said that Mary Catherine is safe, but is isolated from the family because the police don't want to have her memory tainted. The aunt said the parents would like nothing more than to gently sit down with her and try to get the information out of her, but that the important thing here is to get clean information from the little girl. The aunt lost it at this point, and so did I. I'll watch the late news in a fe minutes to see if there is any new information...
http://deseretnews.com/photos/0605missing.jpg
One thing I forgot to mention in my previous post is that the family knows it isn't a family member, they don't think it is a psychopathic stranger who randomly took her, they think it is someone who became infatuated with Elizabeth, saw the opportunity, and took her.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.