Bret Michael Edmunds
- 6"2'
- 235 lbs.
- 1997 green Saturn
- Considered Dangerous
Posted on 06/22/2002 10:17:01 PM PDT by stlnative
June 22, 2002 - Late Evening Report
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. (AP) _ A hospitalized drifter sought for questioning in the disappearance of a teenager in Utah was alert and talking with investigators Saturday.
Bret Michael Edmunds, 26, was cooperating with investigators, said FBI spokesman Kevin Eaton. Salt Lake City police sought Edmunds for questioning in connection with the disappearance of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart from her family's home June 5.
Bret Michael Edmunds
|
"He's talking to us. He's not telling us, 'go away, I want a lawyer,"' Eaton said.
But investigators won't say what information Edmunds is giving them. They will release information after Salt Lake City detectives have a chance to interpret Edmunds' responses.
Questioning Edmunds likely will not substantially affect the Smart case because he was only a possible witness and not a suspect, Eaton said.
"We've been hitting five to six promising areas, and we've been concentrating on a lot of important stuff" not related to Edmunds, Eaton said.
Edmunds remained in serious condition in a secure section of intensive care at City Hospital under the watch of U.S. marshals. He is being treated for a drug-related liver damage.
"He's conscious, he's coherent and he's talking," hospital spokeswoman Teresa McCabe said.
Edmunds, who appeared at the hospital Friday, began talking with a Salt Lake City police officer and FBI agent Saturday morning. Doctors monitored Edmunds' condition to ensure he was up to the questioning.
McCabe said Edmunds would stay at the hospital at least three or four days. She would not divulge details of his condition, citing confidentiality rules.
Edmunds is being held on a federal warrant charging him with fleeing to avoid prosecution for a probation violation. The charges are unrelated to the Smart case.
"He is still not a suspect at this time," Police Chief Rick Dinse said. "He's a question mark, and we want to put a period on that question mark."
Edmunds, who was living out of his Saturn sedan, had been seen in the Smart neighborhood the week the girl vanished. While Elizabeth's sister described the alleged kidnapper as a 5-foot-8 man, Edmunds stands 6-foot-2.
A Saturn found in the hospital parking lot was photographed, impounded and towed away. Police saw nothing suspicious through the windows, and are seeking a search warrant.
Also Saturday, sheriff's deputies said cadaver dogs were unable to find a scent at a subdivision near Salt Lake City. A police search was prompted after dogs owned by search volunteers apparently picked up an unusual scent.
Edmunds has been sought since last fall for outstanding warrants on charges of fraud and assault on a police officer in Utah. He had served 60 days and was put on probation in 2000 for stealing and forging checks.
When he is physically able, Edmunds will be taken to a magistrate for a hearing, the marshals service said.
The current result is that she's missing, perhaps kidnapped, perhaps dead.
By VICKI SMITH, Associated Press Writer
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. (AP) - The FBI ( news - web sites) searched the car Saturday of a hospitalized drifter sought for questioning in the disappearance of a Utah teenager.
|
||||||||||
The search warrant did not allow a vacuum search to gather fibers or hair, but Edmunds allowed FBI agents to conduct a full search, Eaton said.
"He gave us permission to search that car however we wanted," Eaton said.
Results of the search were not available.
Edmunds, 26, was sought for questioning as a possible witness to the June 5 abduction of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart. Police repeatedly have said they do not consider him a suspect.
Edmunds was cooperating with investigators during Saturday interviews, Eaton said. Doctors monitored Edmunds' condition to ensure he was up to the questioning.
"He's talking to us. He's not telling us, 'go away, I want a lawyer,'" Eaton said.
Edmunds remained in serious condition in a secure section of intensive care at City Hospital under the watch of U.S. marshals. He is being treated for a possible drug overdose.
"He's conscious, he's coherent and he's talking," hospital spokeswoman Teresa McCabe said.
McCabe said Edmunds, who appeared at the hospital Thursday, would stay at the hospital at least three or four days. She would not divulge details of his condition, citing confidentiality rules.
Edmunds is being held on a federal warrant charging him with fleeing to avoid prosecution for a probation violation. The charges are unrelated to the Smart case.
"He is still not a suspect at this time," Police Chief Rick Dinse said. "He's a question mark, and we want to put a period on that question mark."
Edmunds, who was living out of his Saturn sedan, had been seen in the Smart neighborhood the week the girl vanished. While Elizabeth's sister described the alleged kidnapper as a 5-foot-8 man, Edmunds stands 6-foot-2.
Also Saturday, sheriff's deputies said their search dogs were unable to find a scent at a subdivision near Salt Lake City. A police search was prompted after dogs owned by search volunteers apparently picked up Elizabeth's scent there.
Edmunds has been sought since last fall for outstanding warrants on charges of fraud and assault on a police officer in Utah. He had served 60 days and was put on probation in 2000 for stealing and forging checks.
When he is physically able, Edmunds will be taken to a magistrate for a hearing, the marshals service said.
There are thousands of People that are killed or starve to death every year in this country, and there is always a war somewhere in the World. Why is it that many of you are following this one event? Because you keep your face in the News too much.
Focusing in on one situation and harping on it, simply because the mainstream media does is pretty lame. We are by and large, conservatives who shouldnt get caught up in the hype.
We're all concerned for any person that dies but this is no longer about us commenting on the news as much as it is just plain vanity.
It smacks of the OKC bombing, flight 800, the 93 World Trade Center bombing, or the China spy plane mess. As well as the other kind of stories we have been focused on about Muslim terrorists bringing down the World Trade Center, Pentagon and White House and in doing so kill thousands of Americans.
I dont mean to imply that we are to not hear anything else but "Terrorism Terrorism Terrorism" but be real you guys.
We are currently involved in a War. Thousand of people have been killed so far and I am sure that thousands more will die in the days weeks and months to come. Harping on terrorist stories to the point of creating a daily thread is just nonsense.
Some of the people here have surrounded themselves with this 911 story....get a grip. /sarcasm
Go make your own website, newspaper, TV program and you can discuss whatever you want and control what others discuss. Feel free to talk about whatever you want while on this site. Everybody else also has the same privelege of discussing any subject we want.
| Edmunds Questioned, Police are mum after hospital visit |
Sunday, June 23, 2002 |
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- Police interviewed Bret Michael Edmunds as he lay in a hospital bed here Saturday, but refused to say if he revealed anything about the disappearance of Elizabeth Smart. Edmunds was alert and coherent during police questioning, although he remains in serious condition at City Hospital's intensive-care unit, said hospital spokeswoman Teresa McCabe. Edmunds is being treated for an apparent drug overdose, but hospital officials are refusing to disclose details of his condition. Salt Lake City police launched a nationwide manhunt for Edmunds June 12 when they announced that the drifter -- already wanted on two outstanding warrants -- was a potential witness in 14-year-old Elizabeth's disappearance on June 5. He turned up Friday, after checking himself into the hospital under a false name a day earlier. Hospital staff found his mother's Sterling, Utah, phone number on an emergency contact card Edmunds carried, and he was subsequently identified as the only person police have publicly sought in the kidnapping case. Elizabeth reportedly was snatched from her Federal Heights home early on the morning of June 5, police say. As her parents slept, the girl's 9-year-old sister Mary Katherine secretly watched an armed intruder abduct Elizabeth from the bedroom the two girls shared. Mary Katherine has provided the only description of her sister's captor. He is described as about 30 to 40 years old, 5-foot-8, with dark hair, and wore a tan, golf-style hat, a Polo shirt and a tan jacket. The 26-year-old Edmunds is 6-foot-2. Police insist they do not consider Edmunds a suspect in Elizabeth's disappearance, and simply want to talk to him "because he might know something," Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse has said. A milk deliverer told police he had spotted a suspicious-looking vehicle prowling the Smarts' neighborhood two nights before the apparent abduction. Police believe it was Edmunds, who was reportedly living in his car, and said he was often spotted in the area. The car -- a green Saturn sedan -- was found in the hospital parking lot here Friday and towed to a nearby garage. Detectives searched the car Saturday, but would not say what, if anything, had been uncovered. Edmunds was questioned by a Salt Lake City police officer and an FBI agent from Utah in a cordoned-off area of the hospital as a doctor stood nearby monitoring his condition. Security remained tight in the hospital as Edmunds was moved to a secure part of the intensive care unit so the rest of the 8-bed unit could be reopened, McCabe said. The three other patients in intensive care had been moved Friday to allow federal agents to guard Edmunds. And as news crews from across the nation descended on this town of about 14,100, security officials roped off a large section of the parking lot where reporters, producers and camera crews set up shop, apparently ready to stay as long as Edmunds remains hospitalized. McCabe said Edmunds would stay at the hospital at least three or four days. Edmunds is being held on a federal warrant charging him with fleeing to avoid prosecution for a probation violation. The federal charge allows U.S. marshals to bring Edmunds back to Utah without an extradition request. He is wanted by Utah prosecutors for outstanding warrants on charges of fraud and assault on a police officer. Meanwhile, a once-hopeful search for clues in steep terrain of south Draper turned up empty Saturday as a team of Salt Lake County sheriff's deputies used a trained German shepherd to search piles of dirt at a construction site on Traverse Ridge. Volunteer searchers late Friday told deputies that three of their dogs had detected a scent in the area. Eager to pursue any possible lead, the sheriff's office dispatched a dog team along with search and rescue personnel to scour the area at first light Saturday. "We didn't come up with anything," said Peggy Faulkner, Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman. Loosely heaped mounds of earth dotting the construction site -- at the southern tip of the Suncrest housing development -- combined with steep and overgrown topography hindered the search effort, said Sgt. Jim Winder. The sheriff's office's trained cadaver dog failed to confirm the scent that was reportedly detected Friday night and a subsequent ground search also yielded no clues. "We're committed to following any lead that develops," Faulkner said. "We'd rather not discount anything." David Smart, Elizabeth's uncle, showed up for the search, saying the lead could have been meaningful because Edmunds had been spotted several times in the hills of south Draper. _________ Tribune reporter Kevin Cantera contributed to this story. |
| Smart search still barren The Associated Press on Sunday, June 23 |
|
|
And 4ourprogeny......surely you understand that under the scenario presented by Partisan Hack, Ed Smart wouldn't actually be the one who stepped forward to collect the money..........
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
