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.
This is one of the biggest lumps of coal stoking the gossip-mill on these threads.
Lumps of coal....
That reminds me -- I heard that the perp wore red stockings and enetered the house via the chimney...
That's because you don't know The Code.... 8~)
for clarification, it is true that up to 80%of child abductions are family or family acquaintance related....
the stats are not skewed just because we have a lot of child custody battles
Children that suffer fatal injuries from abuse do so substantialy at the hands of family or family friends...that is just the facts,,sad, yes, but the facts..
My only point in bringing it up is that the cops MUST always look at family and friends first and foremost...THey should do that , and then move on to stranger abductions....
Eliminating the family and friends first off makes finding the true perp/s that much easier, in all cases not just this one.
Also, unless one is here posting is SLPD or fbi, or perhaps an inner circle of family member that does have the same info as the cops or FBI, then , no , none us really really know what is going on...everything that the family or cops say could very well be planned disinformation....
of course, I would hope that if you or anyone who is SLPD or FBI would have the intelligence to NOT be posting here on this open forum , which is widely read by God know who. even the perp.
Oh my heck, you are sooooooooo right! I'm not even Mormon but I've learned the code just from reading these threads! LOL!
Somebody better call the Brotherhood of Krenh to wipe all memory of The Code from the mind of this unbeliver.
Too late. I have already mass produced tens of thousand of "Little Mormon Annie" Secret Decoder Rings. Whats going to be great about them is they can also come in handy for all those additional wedding rings that Mormon men need. :>)
And a good day to you, sir!
(please duck quickly to avoid the INCOMING! rounds which are sure to follow) 8~)
A crummy commercial? Son of a beech! (errr, I mean 'oh my heck!)
Ah, nothing like an official Red Ryder repeat action, carbine loading, range model, air rifle, with a compass in the stock and a thing that tells time. They're great for Pioneer Day!
You have the answer exactly. Polygamy and Semi-Partriarchical Clan-ism in the Mormon church is a subculture which goes with the religion itself. They gave up open practice, as it was a precondidition to Utah becoming state in the first place. But don't think for a minute that that meant they would foreswear Brigham Young's example entirely.
The parents appear to be "disciplined" into spouting a protect-family-line devised by the brother, Tom ("patriarch" possibly?).
The speculation I have is that there was to be an arranged marriage of some sort to some extended cousin/family member. Parents were not ready for daughter to marry the "intended." The "intended" with the blessing of the patriarch perhaps decide steal away one night exiting through a cut screen window (although the "assailant" couldn't possibly have entered through it, so we're told.) Maybe he had a gun, maybe he didn't. What the 9 year old is worried about is that she'll be next, in a few short years. And when it's family...well...what can a father say except to call the kidnapper "well-meaning" or well-intentioned" or what ever the strange term was that he used. He got his script and marching orders from "Tom, the patriarch." Most American's wouldn't understand the culture, which is why it is so puzzling.
Elizabeth's "safe" alright, maybe actually married by now, living in one of those more traditional Mormon enclaves in southern Utah, where such "traditionalists" are typically found.
Yes, there are polygamists in Utah, and they do marry young girls (which makes my skin crawl), but they are NOT associated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Most of the polygamist groups will have a name that is similar. The polygamists grow their own wives, they will marry young girls within their group.
I just heard a police news conference, and they said there was NO doubt that the abductor had a gun when he took Elizabeth. I am posting the notes from the press conference right now, I'll ping you.
Spoken like someone who wouldn't recognize a clue if it walked up and called him "daddy." But that never stops folks like you from putting your oars in anyway, does it?
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