Elizabeth Smart Kidnapping - Daily News/Chat Thread - Day 23

06/28/02 - Friday | Elizabeth Smart Kidnapping - Daily News/Chat Thread - Day 23

[stlnative]

Please keep adding 6/28/02 Elizabeth Smart dated updates to this thread...
Remember to keep checking back to this thread today for today's developing news on the Elizabeth Smart Kidnapping.

Some people may consider today to actually be day 24, but I count 1 day for each
24 hours that have passed since Elizabeth was kidnapped. Elizabeth was taken from her home
at about 1:30am on the morning of June 5th, 2002.

Brigette's Ping List - (How To Join & How It Works)
If you would like on my Elizabeth Smart Ping List,
Please send me a "Private Reply" with your request... Please do not post a "Public Thread
Request" as I may accidently overlook it. Also you can click here to visit
my profile page and to view the list of people on my Ping List's.
People on my Elizabeth Smart Ping List will only receive ONE ping
daily from me at the beginning of the thread each day. This single ping will help you find the daily Elizabeth Smart thread faster
when you check your own "My Comment's" FR feature. If something large breaks in the case during
the day I will send out a new ping to everyone on my Ping List. Something breaking to me is if they find
Elizabeth or actually arrest a person for kidnapping her. It is up to you to visit this thread several times daily
as others and I will continue to add the latest breaking news reports as they are released throughout the day.

Links

Elizabeth Smart Kidnapping - Daily News/Chat Thread - Day 22
Elizabeth Smart Kidnapping - Daily News/Chat Thread - Day 21
Elizabeth Smart Kidnapping - Daily News/Chat Thread - Day 20
Elizabeth Smart Kidnapping - Daily News/Chat Thread - Day 19
Elizabeth Smart Kidnapping - Daily News/Chat Thread - Day 18
Elizabeth Smart Kidnapping - Daily News/Chat Thread - Day 17
Salt Lake City Police Department Website
FBI Kidnappings/Critical Missing Persons - Elizabeth Smart
FBI - Salt Lake City Branch
Elizabeth Smart Website
Smart Residence Real Estate Listing
Brigette's Scanned Copy of House Layout from Newsweek Magazine
(Please do not link to the picture on my server space, if you wish to use it...
copy and paste it to your own hard drive and move it to your own server space)

Short Timeline

May 30th, 2002 -Thursday
~ Ricci returns to pick up his Jeep at the auto repair shop before the shop has a chance to fully fix it
He tells the repairman that it needed for an emergency.

June 4th, 2002 - Tuesday
~ Ricci is at work from about 9am to 5:30pm
~ Ricci claims he spends the evening with friends

June 5th, 2002 - Wednesday
~ 1:05am - 2 cars are spotted on the SLC Shriner's Hospital Parking Lot by a hospital security guard
~ 1:30am (approx) - Elizabeth is kidnapped from her home
~ 1:30am - Ricci claims to be in bed asleep with his with wife.
~ Ricci is scheduled to be off work all day today.
~ 8:30am - Ricci and his neighbor talk about the kidnapping of Elizabeth, Ricci seems to know too much information about it.
~ Sometime during this day Ricci is visited by police in regards to Elizabeth's kidnapping as reported by Angela Ricci (Richard A. Ricci's Wife which is an ex-convict herself)
~ Ricci is seen by his neighbor digging a hole by his (Ricci's) trailer early in the morning. (heard the neighbor say this on TV)

June 6th, 2002 - Thursday
~ Ricci is scheduled to work from 9am to 5:30pm today, but instead works from 10:30am to 7:00pm
~ Police talk to Ricci this day about the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping. (The media is reporting this, so it could be wrong)

June 8th, 2002 - Saturday
~ Ricci returns the Jeep to the repair shop to get it fix. The Jeep is muddy and the repair shop owner sees Ricci
remove seat covers from the back of the jeep and place them into a plastic garbage bag that already contains
other stuff in it. Also the repair shop owner a muddy post hole digger tool in the back of the Jeep, Ricci removes
this also from the Jeep. Ricci has a man waiting across the street to give him a ride. Ricci takes the plastic bag
and contents along with the post hole digger with him. Also there is 500 to 1000 extra miles on the Jeep since
Ricci picked it up on May 30th, 2002.

June 14th, 2002 - Friday
~ Ricci is taken into custody for a parole violation, this being the 2001 robbery of the Smart Home in which he admitted to.



A note to the people who read this thread because they hope and pray that Elizabeth will be returned to her family and who wish to stay up to date with the facts in the case. Please do not let yourself get sucked into a heavy discussion or argument from someone who wishes to come in to this thread and makes a post that will disrupt this thread. The best thing to do it not to bring attention to these post or reply to them.

[stlnative]

What we learned yesterday...
(some facts may not be exact as there is alot of conflicting media reports)

~ Ricci's auto mechanic testified in front of the Federal Grand Jury on Wednesday. We have learned from this mechanic that Ricci took the Jeep in sometime before May 30th to have it repaired. The auto machanic started working on the Jeep, but received a call from a woman near on or before May 30th, saying she was Ricci's wife and that needed the Jeep for an emergency. The mechanic allowed Ricci to pick it up and Ricci picked it up on May 30th, 2002. Ricci then returned it on June 8th, 2002 so that the mechanic could finish the repair work on it. When the Jeep was returned on the 8th, the Jeep was muddy and dirty on the outside. The mechanic observed Ricci remove and place into a plastic bag, seat covers that were laying in the back the Jeep and he watch Ricci also remove a post hole digger tool. The mechanic also took down the new mileage on the Jeep and noticed that from 500 to 1000 extra miles had been placed on the Jeep from the time Ricci picked it up on May 30th, 2002.

Also we learned that several items were taken from Ricci's father-in-laws mobile home by police (Ricci lives next door to his in-laws). A golf cap (from inside the home), a machete (from the storage shed), a white polo shirt (from the storage shed ?), a light colored pair of pants (from the storage shed ?).

SLCPD are still not calling Ricci a suspect in this case and no charges have been filed against him in the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart.

[stlnative]

(PING)... Day 23

[stlnative]

I am still suffering from brain farts... I was trying to hurry up and type a recap of what happened yesterday... Sorry folks... just ask questions if I am too confusing on my notes!

[cherry]

I just think that if all these witnesses are honest that we have one butcher in the form of Ricci.....to think of things like the machete and the post hole digger...and it had to be all planned...all planned ....

how sad..how sad for our society that the innocent are sacrificed....and for what>

very discouraged tonite....I will hold out hope for some kind of ransom with Lizzie locked away ...but its tough to think about that too

[stlnative]

Whew... what a day packed full of information and leaks!

Everything is starting to truly point Ricci... but they have no hard evidence yet or at least any that we know of.

If Ricci is the one... then I feel he did not do this on his own. I also think this was meant to be a ransom kidnapping that went bad quickly. I think maybe Ricci's Jeep was used at some point and that maybe he delivered Elizabeth to people that had planned hold her hostage. I think that since the police were on Ricci so fast that they may have decided to kill her instead of making the ransom demand, maybe Ricci did not make the decision to kill her... but the people holding her hostage did it. Maybe they left her out in the open and Ricci out of guilt or care returned to where they left her body and decided to bury her. (yes I know that sounds nuts...but he did know this young lady and was facinated with her harp playing).


A post hole digger makes a poor digging tool for someone who want to dig a large hole fast for putting a body in. A machete... well that could be used for many reasons that I will not go into detail over... but it also can be used to cut brush and branches down to cover a body from plain view. Besides Ricci is a landscaper... having a machete and post hole digger in not uncommon, these are items he would use on his DAY job. I cannot explain yet about the seat covers or the clothing & cap found. As far as the mileage... on Ashleigh Banfield I heard the mechanic say he was not sure how many miles were put on the Jeep, but he thought it was more like 500 and not 1000 miles. 500 miles is easy to do over an 8 day period.

Well that is just some of my thoughts on what we have learned over the last day.

[stlnative]

Correction to my last post...

Everything is starting to truly point TOWARDS Ricci.

[cherry]

the jeep was taken out on May 30th....and it was gone the whole time?....was the jeep there at the trailor park when the cops visited on the 5th?....Did they look around then ?

[stlnative]

If Ricci is the one... then I fear Elizabeth is dead. Something tells me that these thoughts are also sinking in with Lois & Ed Smart, this may be why they have not made any press releases. Or they have been going in front of the Federal Grand Jury these past couple of days and are busy with that on top of other things. or they just might be wore down and are both sick, but these parents do not stike me as people who would not get it out in front of the camera even if they were sick. (no they are not media hogs) I just think that they would like to get a daily message out to Elizabeth if she is still alive, like they have been doing daily or to plead with her kidnapper(s) to let her go. Something tells me that they are giving up hope from what has been floating out in the press, plus they may know more than the press does.

[JudyB1938]

Your point is well taken (#228 on the last thread). However, something as simple as an alert dog that sleeps in the child's room would take a lot of the worry away. I truly don't understand why parents don't take advantage of a dog's natural instinct to protect children.

[kcvl]

This all makes me so sick I want to scream. Why does anyone want to harm a child? I don't get it at all. They have to be sick, sick, sick. Why was the guy let out of prison to begin with. I hope the parole board feels a little(a lot) guilty about this.

[stlnative]

The mechanic says Ricci picked it up on the 30th (May) and the repair work had not been completed, but that Ricci needed the Jeep for an emergency. Ricci then returned it to the repair shop on June 8th so that they could complete the repairs on it. Nothing is being said if the Jeep was parked outside mobile home or if anyone saw Ricci driving it during those days. The father-in-law says that Ricci never took the Jeep from the repair shop... Ricci lives next door to his in-laws.

What needed to be repaired on it I don't know... I don't know if Ricci was using the Jeep during this time to get to work or not. But something tells me that Ricci had the Jeep somewhere and maybe his wife and relatives didn't know he took it out of the shop... but then again a woman called the shop saying she was "Ricci's wife" and that needed the Jeep for an emergency. Was it Ricci's wife? or some other woman that Ricci knows?

I assume we will learn more tomorrow as little by little gets out each day.

[kcvl]

I don't understand how someone comes into a home and STEALS a child! How many times does this happen? My parents let it be known that ANYONE who tried to harm us would pay, BIG TIME.

I also agree with you about the dog but DON'T remove the bark, DUH.

[stlnative]

Actually Ricci has served the average time for his crimes, some people get out alot faster for the same type of crimes and criminal history. I think he spent 10 years for shooting the cop after a robbery and over 50 month this last time for the food pantry robbery. The truth is the prison system does not work...

[TheDon]

[Wild Irish Rogue]

I agree 100% with your analysis-especially the absence of the the mother. Nancy Grace on Larry King tonight, said the same thing-if he's involved,the prognosis for a happy ending is almost nil and she also said, that the authorities may have to make some kind of deal with him, to find her exact location.The police must have known about the odometer reading for a long time-have there been reports of searches in more outbound areas ?

[kcvl]

The truth is(told by one on the parole board) that they had DOUBT if they SHOULD let him out. Well, they should have listened to that DOUBT and left him in jail. And, YES the prison system would work if IDIOTS would stop feeling sorry for KNOWN criminals.

You DON'T attempt to kill someone unless you INTEND on killing them. That should have given someone a clue. Attempted murder gets ten years? The guy has spent most of thirty years in prison and he is allowed to roam the streets with innocent people? WHY?!

[JudyB1938]

My 12 year old granddaughter's dog stays outside. Drives me nuts! BUT ... her mother got her an alarm. All she has to do is push the button, and the alarm goes off in her mother's bedroom. That is, if she's AWAKE if anything happens. The only "alarm" I trust is a dog.

When I was a little girl in the 40's and 50's, my deaf grandmother who raised me would feed the bums when they'd knock on our door. She could never turn away a hungry person. They would often come back at night and try to break in. It was the DOGS who alerted us and averted a potential tragedy.

Since I've lived it, that's why I feel so strongly about dogs. And that's why I am talking about it. If any of you young parents take this warning, maybe YOUR child will be spared!

[kcvl]

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (CNN) -- The handyman being investigated in the disappearance of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart has admitted burglarizing the Smart home while working there as a carpenter last year, a state official said Wednesday.

Richard Albert Ricci, the handyman, is in jail on parole violations that include the alleged burglary, said Mike Sibbett, chairman of the Utah Board of Pardons and Paroles.

"He's admitted to stealing," Sibbett said, noting that he did not know what items were taken.

"I would say that we have learned more things about Mr. Ricci's whereabouts on the week in question that have made him more interesting to us," said FBI agent Dan Roberts.

He said the information related to Ricci's movements was gleaned from interviews of neighbors in the trailer park where he lived.

In another development, the FBI said there had been a third ransom demand for Elizabeth's safe return, but agents determined it was not credible, as was the case with the first two demands.

The FBI traced the demand -- "$350,000 for the safe return of Elizabeth Smart" -- to a prison facility in California and said it was talking to the U.S. attorney in San Diego about possibly pressing charges.

snip...

Neither of Elizabeth's parents were at the news briefing because they are ill, Smart said.

It sounds as if they already know the outcome. That is so sad!

[kcvl]

We have always owned dogs too. There is no way someone could come into our home without us knowing it. Then they would be shot immediately. Don't screw with people and their children especially MEAN people. lol! Sometimes that's not a bad thing. Protect your family because that's the only guarantee that you have against criminals.