There is no conspiracy here: SLPD Press Conference (Elizabeth Smart abduction)

KSL Radio ^ | 6/19/2002

[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.

[GovernmentShrinker]

That and a lot more, if we're to believe our tabloid-touting newbie :) I passed by a newstand when I went out for lunch a while ago, and just had to check the NE cover -- not a word about the Smart case. I'm actually surprised they haven't cooked up SOMETHING about such a high-profile tear-jerker case. It's right up their alley, and it would be so easy to put out a quick-sell headline like "Elizabeth Smart's Family Involved in Polygamy", only to clarify in the article, buried in the inside pages, that they're referring to some ancestors over a hundred years ago -- that's the NE's typical style.

[Utah Girl]

I'll check out the NE when I go grocery shopping on Saturday. I think the newbie was just blowing smoke.

[EnquiringMind]

7/2/02 Issue - Pages 54-55

[GovernmentShrinker]

Who knows. All useful information surfaces sooner or later on FR. Given the alleged source, I'm hardly sitting on the edge of my seat, since there wouldn't be a whole lot more reason to believe the story if one read it in the NE, than if one just read EnquiringMind's post.

Palladin's info re the number of seized computers matches info in a story in today's Deseret News (in the online version at least). Three seized computers have now been returned to the Smart's home, and these were 3 of a total of 12 seized in connection with the investigation -- no comment on where the other 9 were seized from. I would think that if anything at all incriminating to the immediate family had been found on any of these computers, they wouldn't have been returned. But there's no information given on the status of the other nine. The police spokesman said they hadn't found anything that had anything to do with the case.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Are you trying to say that there's no mention on the cover about as scandalous a story as you described? Or that the issue currently on NYC newstands isn't the most recent issue? If it's just buried in the back pages, then the NE editors don't believe a word of it and nobody else will either.

[EnquiringMind]

Oh, it's on the cover alright. And if you looked but did not see the 7-02-02 issue, then no, your New York City newsstand does not yet have the most current issue.

[Palladin]

The news about the 12 seized computers came from today's press conf. with Rick Dinse. He did indeed confirm that computers have been taken from family and extended family, and that these were "business" as well as "personal" computers.

[Palladin]

My humble apologies for not believing you last night. This case is taking so many bizarre twists and turns. Could the kidnapper be a spurned male lover of Ed Smart, doing this for revenge, or simply out of hysterical gay angst?

[Utah Girl]

From the press conference:

Police also have searched the hard drives of 12 computers, Dinse said. Most of the computers have been returned.

"We have found nothing on computers that creates a nexus to this crime," Dinse said.

[r9etb]

Oh, it's on the cover alright. And if you looked but did not see the 7-02-02 issue, then no, your New York City newsstand does not yet have the most current issue

I'm finding it difficult to believe your story. The website does not show the alleged 7-02-02 issue as "now on the newsstand"; rather, it shows the 26 June issue:

I'll believe it when I see it. Until then, I think you're a liar.

[GovernmentShrinker]

You believe now? Does this mean you've seen the NE article in question? I'll believe as soon as I see it, or as soon as someone who's been a freeper for more than a week tells me they saw it. Even if there's some truth to it, I doubt it's related to the case since 1) per Deseret News, police spokesman said the computers yielded nothing relevant to the case, and 2) what does any gay man want with an adolescent girl?

[EnquiringMind]

A liar? That's not nice. Will you apologize to me when you see it? Gee, you guys, I've given you a big scoop and you're all so hostile...

[GovernmentShrinker]

I'm not hostile; I'm just exercising prudent skepticism.

[GovernmentShrinker]

EnquiringMind posts the truth, per freeper Plummz, registered Sept. 17, 1998. See post #9 of this thread http://www.freerepublic.com/fo cus/news/703302/posts

EnquiringMind, you are now a trusted freeper. We will now expect scoops from you on a regular basis. Do you have any scoop sources that are a little more, er, believable than the National Enquirer, or are you just a one-paper scooper? Nobody ever said being a freeper would be an easy life :)

[EnquiringMind]

Thanks Palladin, apology accepted. My gut tells me that an "acquaintance" of the Smart brothers may have been a bit more deranged than they realized.

[EnquiringMind]

Wow, I never anticipated that my first post would create such a negative stir. I've been a lurker for many years, going way back to the FR rally televised on CSPAN. I've seen the hoaxers and disrupters come and go and understand the skepticism.

You can trust me. I'll give you scoops whenever I can, but of course can never reveal my source.

[Palladin]

Thanks, EM. Your scoop has panned out. Plummz read the July 2 issue today on her lunch hour. They get the tabs early in DC....on Thursday. There are some other areas that get them early--Buffalo, NY, and some west coast cities. I have no idea how they decide which towns will get them first. The website is always two weeks behind.
If I get up the nerve to buy one (in disguise) I'll do a transcript (with lots of typos).

[GovernmentShrinker]

Well you've certainly made quite a debut. We'll look forward to your future scoops.

I don't think the stir was so much negative as highly skeptical (though the Mormons will understandably have a somewhat defensive reaction to these allegations -- they'd almost gotten the polygamy flames stamped out, and now this!). This forum would turn into a circus pretty quickly if we didn't treat startling and unverifiable posts by just-registered posters with a healthy dose of skepticism.

But somehow I was pretty sure from the start that you were telling the truth, even though your post did have all the hallmarks of a disruptor. You didn't egg us on, and the gay aspect makes little sense in a story about the abduction of a lovely adolescent girl. I figured if you'd made it up, you would have made up something that fit the existing story better so we'd get carried away further and faster. But then there was this little shadow of doubt: what if s/he is an unusually GOOD hoaxster and thought all that through ...

[Faith]

Please pray for Elizabeth. Thank you.

[PFKEY]

Oh, I think she is seeing visions.

Shesh!