Police now say abductor of 14-year-old Utah girl didn't know he was watched by her sister

AP | June 18, 2002 | RICH VOSEPKA

[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.

[Utah Girl]

OK, I'll wait until you post it before I go to bed. :)

[stlnative]

Here is a layout picture of the Smart Home... Remember the Kitchen is on lower level and that part of the back of the house on the 2nd level is at ground level as the home is built into a hill. Notice that her bedroom is right in front of the home with the big windows on the second level. Was someone or could someone have watched her easily from the street? I would say yes!!!



From this weeks Newsweek Magazine Issue.

[stlnative]

Here is the notes from the bottom of the picture...

[cherry]

there has been no discredidation of the theory that the screen was cut from the inside.... they are doing more intensive research on that however I greatly admire the Trib for its courage ....somebody has got to eck out the facts since the cops and the family don't seem to want to....maybe for good reason, I might add...

[stlnative]

I know this drawing of the home is not to scale, but I find it hard to believe that the window in the kitchen would be a small window. Most kitchen windows are not small and the kitchen window in the picture above is not small. But this drawing is not very good at showing the lower level of the house.

[Utah Girl]

This might be second hand information, because I can't remember the source, but the cut screen theory has been discredited. I remember because I thought that the SL Trib should issue a retraction for printing half-truths in their rush to get a scoop on everyone else. I will continue looking for that article so that I can properly atrribute the information.

[Utah Girl]

Thanks for scanning that picture and posting it. It is late, so my memory is faultier than normal, but I thought I read somewhere that it was another window the perp might have entered the home through, but it was too small. And the kitchen window screen was torn, but that the window was big enough for a grown man to get through, but the kitchen window was still locked. Ugh, it is late. Thanks again, I'm off to bed.

[cherry]

Unfortunately, most posters are only adding to the noise, rather than providing clarity

ain't that the truth...

between some posters convinced that Elizabeth ran away with her boyfriend or taken to a polygamist colony, to the Mormon support brigade who find any questioning of the family unfounded....and all of those who just can't read and listen and learn but need to critisize anyone with a differant opinion...

NO one who knows anything should be on this thread...if you are police or family, you should not be devulging any details or insights that might need to be kept secret....therefore.

THe fact is, no one here has one iota what is the truth..

But this I do know:..about 80% of all child abductions are family are family acquaintances....

So if one is guessing that some family member or acquaintance was responsible...they would be probably right...

It is insane to not to thoroughly check out the family, the extended family, the friends and the neighbors....

The window story has not been debunked.....it has been denied or the cops have feigned ignorance...but that theory still exists...besides,, how could a man wearing a golfing cap and dress clothes with a gun climb up on a wall 6feet up and enter a skinny window....that guy walked into that house and he walked out again..

Prayers to the family....I see a sense of utter desparation in some of them...I hope LIz is found alive....

[cherry]

the only thing we need to know about Elizabeth is that she slept with her little kid sister....

Now tell me, how many 14 year old girls do anything with their little sisters or brothers and here this girl is sleeping with her

most teenagers are loathe to be associated with their kid sisters and brothers...not "cool" enough...and what would the other kids think?...

Elizabeth sounds to me like a wonderful, loving sister, and where people get this idea that she might have had a secret wild side is beyond me...

this is shaping up to be a major tragedy..

[stlnative]

More recent pictures of Elizabeth have been posted on the family website for her at www.elizabethsmart.com

Please take the time to view the pictures

[homeschool mama]

Thank you for posting updates and graphics. I checked out the website and was pleased to see more photos.

May God be with this young girl. <><

[The G Man]

Um, I wasn't aware the SLC Police were involved in those cases

Um, I wasn't aware I said the SLC Police. Please provide a quote.

[Illbay]

I can't look at the pictures, sorry.

[Atsilvquodi]

um...okay, except I wasn't quoting the Bible...

keep up the good work.

[Illbay]

Here's the quote:

I hope the cops continue their lousy track record and are wrong on that one.

I guess you mean "all police." I don't think that's a valid generalization. The police department in D.C., for example, is rife with political correctness and advancement due to group identity. So the Levy case, IMO, suffered from the incompetence bred from that.

Now, I don't know anything about the SLC Police Department, but I think it fair to suggest they be judged on their OWN merits, and not based on what a police department 800, or 1,800 miles away might have done.

That's my point.

[The G Man]

Fair enough. Mine was a flip comment that could have been worded better.

[twigs]

I just can't stop thinking over all this. You'd think I was on the police force! But I have been wondering. What would be the possibility that the police and family think they probably know the perp, and that person is emotionally unstable. That would account for a lot of things--Tom Smart's press conference, for instance, when he said this could be a beautiful thing. (I did not see it and am recalling from memory what others have said.) The pleading of the family and their continual speaking to Elizabeth, trying to keep her calm. They seem pretty sure it is someone trusted by the family. This would fit, and would also explain their concern. Emotionally unstable people are unpredictable. Maybe it's a neighbor--or maybe it could be a family member, which would again explain their caution and concern.

Is there anyone in the family considered a little "different"? A little odd? Father Francom was just buried two weeks ago. Could his death have pushed a normally gentle person over the edge? This person has dark hair. The Francoms do as well, yet I have seen nothing that would indicate guilt from any one of them. Any thoughts? I'm really not trying to point any fingers here. I think the family has cooperated fully. But I am trying to put together facts into something that makes sense.

[twigs]

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.

I just saw this. I hadn't heard this. Eveything I've been seeing emphasizes that it could be family or an acquaintance, particularly from the neighborhood. Someone trusted. I realize that we have been getting the media's interpretation of evidence which is often incorrect. Is this then the latest thought? How do we evaluate the credibility of different sources of information?