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There is no conspiracy here: SLPD Press Conference (Elizabeth Smart abduction)
KSL Radio ^ | 6/19/2002

Posted on 06/19/2002 11:12:52 AM PDT by Utah Girl

Elizabeth Smart's little sister, the sole witness to the teen's abduction, waited two hours to tell her parents about the kidnapping because she feared the kidnapper was still in the house.

Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse said Wednesday that the girl, Mary Katherine, got out of bed soon after the abduction and headed toward her parents' bedroom. But she saw the man still in the house, so she went back to her room and waited for two hours.

On Tuesday, police changed a key detail in the case. Their initial report, based on secondhand accounts, stated that Mary Katherine had been threatened by the kidnapper to keep quiet about the abduction.

They now say that Mary Katherine, who was in the same bed as Elizabeth, feigned sleep during the abduction.

"She hasn't wavered one bit from her original statement that she gave investigators," Dinse said.

Dinse rejected any idea that his department was deliberately deceiving the media.

"There is no conspiracy afoot here," Dinse said. "We are not telling you everything ... and we probably are not going to until we're further along."

Wednesday was the 15th day of the investigation into Elizabeth's abduction. She was reportedly taken from her bedroom at gunpoint in the early hours of June 5, police said.

Police still have no suspect in the case. They have received a total of 8,000 to 10,000 leads, of which 1,300 warranted follow up, Dinse said. Up to 900 of those leads have been cleared and about 400 remain to be looked at, he said.

Police who interviewed Mary Katherine four times now say the man did not speak to the younger child or apparently realize she saw him.

Working from Mary Katherine's description, police are looking for 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 Scottish-style golf hat. He held a small handgun.

"This investigation would be very, very difficult without Mary Katherine. She has provided us with a tremendous amount of information, and we're very appreciative of her," Dinse said. "I'm saying again, I believe we will resolve this case eventually, and Mary Katherine is a big part of doing that."

The community is offering a $250,000 reward for Elizabeth's safe return.

Investigators still want to talk to Bret Michael Edmunds, a drifter who continues to elude them. Edmunds was spotted near the Smart home two days before Elizabeth's disappearance.

Police have repeatedly said they don't consider Edmunds a suspect, but may have seen something in the Federal Heights neighborhood that would help the investigation.

A Web site set up to find the teen is getting more than 2 million hits a day, said David Smart, Elizabeth's uncle.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: elizabethsmith
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To: brigette
And Edmunds is not making himself available either! lol No surprise there considering his record.
101 posted on 06/19/2002 1:29:33 PM PDT by ET(end tyranny)
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To: Carolina
Thanks for the link! Will bookmark it and read it.
102 posted on 06/19/2002 1:31:30 PM PDT by ET(end tyranny)
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To: SarahW
Probably a brand name which has come to be used as a generic name in some circles (like Xerox, Kleenex, etc.)
103 posted on 06/19/2002 1:31:53 PM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
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To: ET(end tyranny)
And Edmunds is not making himself available either! lol No surprise there considering his record.

I'm surprised they're not offering a deal with this guy if he's so crucial to the investigation.

104 posted on 06/19/2002 1:36:07 PM PDT by Carolina
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To: SarahW


Kangol is brand name, like Nike, Stetson, etc... not a style of cap.
Brand Name: Kangol®
105 posted on 06/19/2002 1:37:04 PM PDT by stlnative
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To: per loin
Do you include the Deseret News among the gossip-mongers.

Why not? Aside from that, how likely do you think it is that the cops really would "decline to give chase" to someone who is running from them, at the time they're looking for suspects?

When this whole story was published, it just sounded too much like something out of a Michael Douglas movie. I could almost see the camera shots, looking through the eyes of the perp, with his labored breathing as the soundtrack.

Bah.

106 posted on 06/19/2002 1:44:28 PM PDT by Illbay
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To: Illbay; per loin
I agree that this doesn't make much sense. In all likelihood the Deseret News got the details wrong when rushing to make a deadline. Even though that newspaper is hardly known as a "gossip monger", it is just a newspaper, and we can't assume everything it prints is accurate.
107 posted on 06/19/2002 1:52:39 PM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
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To: Illbay
And the Washington Times another rumor monger? This from them:

Edmunds, however, has two outstanding arrest warrants pending on unrelated matters and has thus far refused to contact police. He was last seen June 9 at a candlelight vigil held in support of the missing girl in a Salt Lake City park, but was not picked up by officers in the area.

108 posted on 06/19/2002 1:58:52 PM PDT by per loin
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To: Utah Girl
And she told her daughter to remember the song "If the Savior Stood Beside Me". Elizabeth just learned the song on the harp. Her mother told Elizabeth to remember the words of the song, and to know that her Heavenly Father loved her and was watching out for her.

Lyrics

If the Savior stood beside me, would I do the things I do? Would I think of his commandments and try harder to be true?

Would I follow his example? Would I live more righteously If I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me?

If the Savior stood beside me, would I say the things I say?

Would my words be true and kind if he were never far away? Would I try to share the gospel? Would I speak more reverently

If I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me?

He is always near me, though I do not see him there And because he loves me dearly I am in his watchful care So I'll be the kind of person that I know I'd like to be If I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me.

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

Hmmmmm.

109 posted on 06/19/2002 2:01:38 PM PDT by Neenah
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To: Neenah
I thought it was a strange song to be referenced myself.
110 posted on 06/19/2002 2:08:35 PM PDT by freedox
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To: per loin
Almost certainly their source was the Deseret News article. Unfortunately, the way newspapers gather information on time-sensitive stories isn't a whole lot different from the way freepers gather information for their posts (you know: read somebody else's speculation or misunderstanding, assume it's true, and then compose a post based on the assumption it's true).
111 posted on 06/19/2002 2:10:26 PM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
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To: tippytoes
These bedrooms are large, high ceilinged, and virtually cavernous by the standards of us bungalow dwelling peons, but the large 6600-foot Smart home is vaguely cross-shaped (cruciform) or X-shaped, and each of the 4 wings contains bedrooms upstairs, that shared by the girls being the largest and having a wing to itself. Another wing has the master suite, and the other 2 wings each have 2 bedrooms, so there are 4 rooms in those, for the 4 boys.

Somewhere in the house is said to be a 7th bdrm, but I am assuming it is downstairs for guests with its own bath (just an informed guess).

112 posted on 06/19/2002 2:12:33 PM PDT by crystalk
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To: Utah Girl; freedox
The first statement was provided by the first reponders at the scene (police) and they hadn't interviewed Mary Katherine thoroughly yet. But they felt like the information should be gotten out about the abductor immediately because of the Rachel alert. Info went out that wasn't accurate at the time, police thought it was, and realized it wasn't after the interviews with Mary Katherine, that is why the statement was clarified yesterday

The POLICE hadn't interviewed Mary Katherine yet? And they gave that statement, that LASTED FOR 2 WEEKS, and you FIRST NOW are clarifying that it was FALSE?And Mary Katherine is the most important witness in this case? The ONLY WITNESS?????

We're not going to until we are further along and identify some people

Huh ? people?

Why false info? Heresay from police dispatchers, etc.

No one was doing thorough interviews with Mary Katherine and the family at the very beginning. The police put out the info quickly, basics were there of the description of the perp. And the information needs to get out quickly for the Racheal alert system.

No one was doing THOROUGH INTERVIEWS with Mary Katherine AND the family at the VERY BEGINNING. (!!!!!!!!!!!)

For crying out loud....WHY NOT ???

So you put out false information (which you didn't clarify for 15 days, and sent thousands of people out to search for days, fed the media FROM THE BEGINNING...and you hadn't talked with MK or the immediate family about VERY IMPORTANT DETAILS ???????? WEll...THAT RESTORES MY FAITH IN THE P.D. !!

113 posted on 06/19/2002 2:33:59 PM PDT by Neenah
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To: Neenah
I don't see the point of your rant. It's not like the police can do everything instantly. And we're simply learning from the SLCPD that getting good information from a kid takes time and multiple interviews.

Aside from that, you're quit simply ignoring the fact that the SLCPD says they're not telling us everything they know, and that they have a careful review process for deciding what information to release.

114 posted on 06/19/2002 2:56:41 PM PDT by r9etb
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To: Neenah; freedox
That is a beautiful hymn, I've sung and played it many times. I think Lois Smart was just telling her daughter to remember the Savior right now, and to feel his presence right now. Nothing sinister there, it was a favorite hymn of the girls I taught in church (ages 14-15.)
115 posted on 06/19/2002 3:05:23 PM PDT by Utah Girl
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To: r9etb
I believe in a case such as this, you do not give out information such as they did, without something relatively on target..and then let it ride for two solid weeks !! Now they have completely changed the entire thing.

There is something wrong here.

116 posted on 06/19/2002 3:07:30 PM PDT by Neenah
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To: exlibris
exlibris wrote:
Actually, I think the gloves and the hat go together quite well if you consider them in terms of a sports car enthusiast. Leather driving gloves do have the back of the hand exposed (and little open circles around the knuckles).

Perhaps so...but that is why I suggested that this is a detail (if true) that the police should have given to the public.

After all, who wears such a get-up? C'mon, I can see the guy driving off in a convertible MG with a pipe in his mouth to go with his sporty driving cap and driving gloves. Have they checked the area for fellows with english accents and elbow patches on their sweaters?

117 posted on 06/19/2002 3:16:23 PM PDT by ER_in_OC,CA
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To: Neenah
If you read the press conference notes carefully, there was an initial description given by Mary Katherine, that is what was broadcast. It took four formal interviews to get the information we have today. Police Chief Rick Dinse said that the hairy hands and arms details wasn't known until Saturday, June 15. And this is my supposition, that the police did believe the intial description was correct, and they only realized that it wasn't last Saturday.

Dinse didn't give an exact timeline, but Mary Catherine has been interviewed formally four times between June 4 and June 15. The police have also talked to her kind of informally, he said that they took her on a ride through the neighborhood (and he wouldn't say what they discussed.) So the fault is not with the police, it is with my notes... :)

118 posted on 06/19/2002 3:17:05 PM PDT by Utah Girl
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To: Neenah
What exactly have they changed? They gave out an initial description of a man 5'8", medium build, in a hat, possibly light clothing, soft-spoken, age thirties.

Now we find out it is a man 5'8" to 5'10", medium build, a tan polo shirt, a tan jacket, hairy hands and arms, a tan cap, age 30 to 40, 'nice' voice. The only thing that has changed are added details.

I thought it was very interesting today that Dinse clarified when Mary Katherine saw the abductor again, it was after she decided to go tell her parents. She saw the perp with Elizabeth, and went to bed to hide until (I assume) she knew they were gone. There was a threat on Elizabeth's life by the abductor.

119 posted on 06/19/2002 3:22:37 PM PDT by Utah Girl
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To: Utah Girl; Neenah
The song that Lois Smart specifically asked Elizabeth to remember today does indeed speak of the Savior being nigh. However, the lyrics to this particular song do not focus upon His presence as a source of strength and comfort, as one might expect in a situation such as this. Rather, this song focuses upon how His presence might affect one's choices in behavior......"Would I do the things I do?"......"Would I live more righteously?"......"Would I say the things I say?"......."Would I speak more reverently?"

Once again, I have to agree with Neenah's suggestion that this was an interesting choice of songs by the mother. It sounds more like an admonition to an errant child than an attempt to offer comfort. (And Neenah, feel free to correct me if I have misinterpreted here......)

120 posted on 06/19/2002 3:39:19 PM PDT by freedox
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