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To: Illbay
Who peed in your cornflakes? I didn't accuse the little girl of lying. I'm only asking reasonable follow-up questions. If it's light enough in a bedroom at 1 or 2 a.m. to see hair on the back of a person's hand, it follows that it might be light enough too see his face, and I wonder why she didn't. If the guy was wearing a jacket - presumably covering his arms - I wonder how she saw hair on his arms. My guess is that whatever she told the police is losing something in the translation by the time it hits the press and gets to us.
46 posted on 06/18/2002 11:43:13 AM PDT by mountaineer
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To: mountaineer
You are right about this losing something in the translation. Below is an article that appeared a week ago, on June 11, in the Deseret News. It is important because it contains this supposedly "new" information about the abductor not knowing the sister was awake and watching. It is also important because it says the little sister's story has been consistent from the beginning.

The url for this story is http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,405010970,00.html (I don't remember how to do links)

**********************

'We are going to get you'

By Derek Jensen

Deseret News staff writer

In a major development in the 7-day-old Elizabeth Smart kidnapping case, police say they may have already talked to the man who abducted the 14-year-old from her Federal Heights home last week.

Salt Lake Police Chief Rick Dinse said Tuesday that investigators believe the unidentified suspect is in the area of the Smart home.

"My caution to this suspect is we are going to get you," Dinse told reporters at a late morning news briefing. " And if he's got Elizabeth he'd better release her now."

Forensic evidence, crime scene analysis and "promising leads" led investigators Tuesday to announce they had narrowed their search for Elizabeth's abductor to family, friends and individuals who may have had contact with the family at the time of her abduction, Dinse said.

"It is possible we have already talked to or will soon talk to the suspect responsible for this crime," Dinse said. "We believe that we have an understanding of this suspect . . . I think it is someone who had access to that area, who would have access to that residence."

Despite the narrowing of the search, Dinse said police have not zeroed in on any specific person. Police are also not ruling out the possibility that more than one person was involved in Elizabeth's kidnapping, Dinse said.

To date, police have received 6,000 leads, 600 of which merited follow-up, Dinse said. As of Tuesday morning, detectives had already followed up on about half of these 600.

Police won't say what tools investigators used or what, if any, evidence they discovered inside the Smart home after a search Monday night.

"They wanted to be in the house at the same time the events all occurred," Salt Lake Police Sgt. Fred Louis said. "They went to check lighting and that sort of thing."

Police were in the home between 1:15 a.m. and 2:15 a.m. when it appears Elizabeth was taken by gunpoint from her room, and investigators left the home about 3 a.m., police said.

The search of the Smarts' million-dollar home near 1500 E. Kristianna Circle (420 North) was the latest in a series of developments in a case that has continued to baffle investigators.

Police say a man took Elizabeth by gunpoint from her bedroom between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. last Wednesday as her 9-year-old sister watched. Police originally said the kidnapper threatened to harm Elizabeth if the 9-year-old told anyone what had happened, but in recent days they've remained vague about what exactly the girl saw or heard.

Police interviewed Elizabeth's sister Monday but wouldn't say exactly what she told detectives.

"Her story has been consistent throughout," Salt Lake Police Capt. Scott Atkinson said.

Elizabeth Smart's father also submitted to a polygraph test Sunday, but authorities won't say what questions were asked, whether he had an attorney present or what the results showed.

"When asked by law enforcement I fully cooperated because I have nothing to hide. We are doing everything in our power to bring back Elizabeth," Edward Smart said in a statement released Monday evening.

Edward Smart's brother, Deseret News photographer Tom Smart, said his brother described the polygraph test as "four hours of hell."

Police said the lie detector test is a common tool used by investigators.

As of Tuesday morning, Elizabeth's father was the only family member who'd taken a polygraph test, police said.

"I think that's a normal thing," Elizabeth's grandmother Dorotha Smart told NBC's "Today Show" Tuesday morning. "It's all right. Any one of us would be happy to go through with that."

As investigators narrowed their search for Elizabeth's kidnapper Tuesday, volunteers once again poured into the Federal Heights Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to take part in the search for the missing 14-year-old.

Air and ground searches were planned for the day, with more ATV searches planned for Wednesday, said cousin Rob Sanders, one of several family members who are helping coordinate the search for Elizabeth.

Volunteers on ATVs searched the West Desert near Tooele on Monday. Searchers on horseback also looked for clues in Utah County, and people on mountain bikes have been searching in various wilderness areas, Sanders said.

"The ATVs and the horses have been extremely critical for us because we're able to cover larger areas we can't cover on foot," Sanders said.

While volunteer numbers have dwindled since the weekend, almost 1,000 people helped look for Elizabeth on Monday, Sanders said. Searchers continued to arrive Tuesday morning at the Federal Heights Ward building from which the search is being coordinated.

While the search for Elizabeth entered its seventh day Tuesday, family members still believe the girl is alive somewhere.

"I would say this," Elizabeth's grandfather told "Today" on NBC, "whoever took her, there isn't a more wonderful girl that's more pure and innocent than Elizabeth. And the greatest thing they could possibly do is just to release her and let her come home. We have great faith as a family that the perpetrator of this will soften his heart and let her come home."

53 posted on 06/18/2002 11:54:00 AM PDT by lady lawyer
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To: mountaineer
I did see an interview with Tom and Lois Smart last night on the local Fox News, and they wouldn't comment on whether or not the little girl saw the perp's face. They said they couldn't comment because of the ongoing investigation, and police had asked them not to. I've seen in the media where she didn't see his face, she just saw him in profile, etc, so... This can get very frustrating to have reporters reporting stuff that the police have no comment on officially, and the reporters are reporting clues from their 'inside' sources, and some of the stuff has turned out to be wrong already (the screen cut from the inside.)
54 posted on 06/18/2002 11:54:28 AM PDT by Utah Girl
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To: mountaineer
I'm only asking reasonable follow-up questions.

No, you're concocting silly fables based on zero information, just like most of the people on these threads.

59 posted on 06/18/2002 11:57:52 AM PDT by Illbay
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To: mountaineer
If it's light enough in a bedroom at 1 or 2 a.m. to see hair on the back of a person's hand, it follows that it might be light enough too see his face

Don't be too hard on Illbay. Some of us Mormon freepers are more than a little tired of having to answer the same questions over and over from people who are quite eager to jump to conclusions when they know very few facts.

Now, you asked: If she saw all that, I wonder how she missed a glimpse of his face. and the way that question is phrased does lead the reader to think that you think she is lying.

Do you know what light sources were on? Do you know what phase the moon was in and what the sky conditions were like? Do you know what direction the bedroom window faces and were the beds are placed in the room? Were they bunk beds, and if so was she in the top or bottom? All these things would have a big effect on what she saw (while trying to pretend to be asleep) and I don't think its reasonable to hold a scared 9 year old to the standards you set.

You quickly pass judgment without pausing to consider anything more then how it can be interpeted to fit your pet theory, and that is what bugs so many of us.

126 posted on 06/18/2002 12:54:22 PM PDT by Grig
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To: mountaineer
I wonder how she saw hair on his arms

Mark Klass had the best point on the hairy arms. He said this tells him the guy wasn't wearing gloves, thus not hiding fingerprints. Therefore they know who it is due to prints or he is someone who had no fear because he's left his prints in the home due to having been in the home before.

313 posted on 06/19/2002 10:24:11 PM PDT by JustPiper
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