Elizabeth Smart Kidnapping - Daily News/Chat Thread - Day 36

07/10/02 - Wednesday - Day 36 | Elizabeth Smart Kidnapping - Daily News/Chat Thread - Day 36

[stlnative]

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

Elizabeth was taken from her home at about 1:30am on the morning of June 5th, 2002.

Links

Elizabeth Smart Kidnapping - Daily News/Chat FreeRepublic Threads

	Day 31	Day 23
	Day 30	Day 22
	Day 29	Day 21
Day 35	Day 28	Day 20
Day 34	Day 26/27	Day 19
Day 33	Day 25	Day 18
Day 32	Day 24	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)


Help keep this thread ongoing & pleasant...
Please do not let yourself get sucked into a heavy HEATED discussion or argument from
someone who wishes to come on this thread and make posts that will disrupt this thread.
The best thing to do it not to bring attention to these post or reply to them.


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.

[FR_addict]

I replayed this part and the letter was supposedly given to someone besides Ed Smart and this person gave the letter to Ed.

[Utah Girl]

The local press is saying that police were faxed copy of this letter. I didn't hear the press conference, sounded as if Smart was rather agitated (and I can't blame him.)

[Rotan]

If the letter was faxed to the police, it's my guess that it wasn't the perpetrator that did it but instead someone working on the case faxed it in to be examined. They never said it was faxed by the author.

[varina davis]

This story is bizarre. Why didn't he talk to the police himself about the letter before going public with this letter? I still think the family is involved.

Either involved or knows the reason behind the alleged abduction. Ed Smart sure didn't come across well in this news conference. But if it helps get Elizabeth home, then I'm glad he did it -- bumbling though it might have been.

Also seemed like he very flustered when asked if the letter came from another state.

[Rotan]

Er..that reply was to all, I just forgot to change it. Sorry.

[Neenah]

I am late to the thread today and only am as far as your post here, so it may be handled differently by the time the last post is stated here. The last post now is 37 at this time. 3:00 p.m. central time.

Reporters are sneeky when they ask questions, they do the same to Bush and he laughs also when they do it.

With all due respect to you Brigette..and I do respect you and all your tiring work here...President Bush may smirk or laugh, but if Jenna or Barbara were missing for 5 weeks, I doubt he would be laughing. This is totally bizaar behaviour on this father's part. # 1...If it were you or me...that letter would be RUSHED to the F.B.I. immediately, and The F.B.I. or the P.D. would be handling it, both in investigation and media attention...and would advise the family to be quiet about it, while they do their work, and that includes testing the ORIGINAL copy. They in my mind, would not thrust him out onto the media with it as a "tidbit" to keep the media satisfied instead of leaving SLC.

There is something wrong here. Think of it....they have waited all these days...a letter comes stating someone knows where she is...and the Dad breaks it to the press ? And then laughs at the questions?

You said in post # 16...(this tells us that the police are not taking the letter seriously) I can't get past the words of that ! What Dad, with his little girl missing for sooooo long,would come out with something that the police are not considering even worth a press conference ?? And #2...What Dad would USE THIS LETTER just to keep the press interested?

I am not trying to be harsh, but there is something wrong with this picture.

[Rotan]

Well, I for one would. If it were my daughter, I might do anything and everything to keep the media's attention on my child. The more attention it gets, the more likely the case will not end up unsolved.

[Faith]

Heavenly Father,

Once again, we come to You, believing in Your ominipotence and sovereignty. You are the God of the impossible. Nothing is too difficult for You. We ask You, Father, to use the details and circumstances of this letter to lead the authorities to Elizabeth. Father, we do not know whether the letter is legitimate, but You see all the pieces of this puzzle that are hidden to us. We ask You, Father, to have mercy upon Elizabeth and to allow her to be released to her family. We commit her to You, knowing that You love her and care about every minute of her life. Someone is sitting on the information that is needed, Father. Convict that person's heart to speak. Hear our prayers for Elizabeth, Father, and help her to keep her eyes focused on You. Let not a hair on her head be harmed. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

[FR_addict]

I agree. Why would he circumvent the police on this letter? Something is going on here.

[Neenah]

I might do anything and everything to keep the media's attention on my child.

I would feel the same, but I am going to give you more credit than that, Rotan. I am going to believe that you..and I...would WANT to get out there and handle it ourselves...but common sense and reality say that the F.B.I. AND P.D. are professionals, and I must trust their judgement, because if we take tha law into OUR hands, we can do harm to the case.

But I understand what you are saying.

[Bella]

http://www.sltrib.com/07102002/utah/752420.htm

Burglary Allegations Called 'Premature'
Wednesday, July 10, 2002

BY MICHAEL VIGH and KEVIN CANTERA
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

Discussion of burglary and theft charges against Richard Albert Ricci -- who has repeatedly been questioned in connection with the disappearance of Elizabeth Smart -- may be "premature," Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse said Tuesday.

On Monday, deputy Salt Lake County District Attorney Kent Morgan estimated a charge could be filed against Ricci as early as Thursday, but Dinse downplayed that possibility a day later.

"To my knowledge, there is no imminent filing of burglary charges against Mr. Ricci," Dinse told The Salt Lake Tribune.

Salt Lake County District Attorney David Yocom agreed Tuesday, saying, "I haven't been told one way or another. I don't know when any filing will take place."

Ricci, who worked as a handyman in the Smart's home last year, is one of a handful of ex-cons being scrutinized by police in connection with Elizabeth's apparent abduction.

The girl disappeared early in the morning of June 5 when an intruder in her Federal Heights home abducted her at gunpoint, police say. The girl's 9-year-old sister -- who shared a bed with Elizabeth that night -- is the only witness to the kidnapping, and has provided investigators with only scant details of the suspect.

"We are continuing to look at Mr. Ricci and his associates, as well as associates of the Smart family," Dinse said. "We are also looking at others who had access to the Smart's neighborhood. No one has been eliminated" as a suspect.

At the Smart family's daily news briefing, one of Elizabeth's aunts expressed frustration that Ricci has not been more cooperative with detectives, who say they are not convinced by the alibi Ricci has given for the night Elizabeth disappeared.

"We would love to have [Ricci] be more open," said Cynthia Smart Owens.

But Ricci, who is being held on an alleged parole violation, maintains he is innocent. In a recent statement he said he has "fully cooperated" with investigators, consented to 26 hours of questioning, given blood, DNA and surrendered his Jeep Cherokee, given to him by the Smart family in exchange for work at their home.

The warrant that returned Ricci to prison for alleged parole violations claimed he had committed a burglary of a dwelling, but did not specify when or where.

Dinse warned against focusing on any one individual. "We are not putting all our eggs in one basket," he said. "We may need to go in another direction. We are going to go where the evidence takes us."

Meanwhile, in the month since Elizabeth's June 5 disappearance, thousands of fliers and posters featuring her smiling visage -- ubiquitous on lamp posts and store fronts throughout Utah -- have become faded and torn.

Family members of the missing 14-year-old asked Tuesday for volunteers to replace the old fliers with a crisp, new version that can be downloaded from the Internet. "We've got groups going through to renew the tattered fliers," said Angela Smart Dumke.

She urged volunteers to visit www.elizabethsmart.com to download fliers and find information about searches planned to hunt for clues for Elizabeth's whereabouts.

mvigh@sltrib.com
kcantera@sltrib.com

[Sunshine55]

I have a friend that's a skip-tracer, and I presented her with the story of the mysterious Bridget. Here is what she told me:

I found a Bridget that worked for the Attorney General in SLC. So far, no Bridget that worked for the SLC Police Dept. She refrained from posting Bridget's last name, because as she said, lawyers are the first to sue.

The Bridget that worked for the Attorney General is an Attorney, herself and had worked also in the courtroom of a Judge Behren who is a Juvenile Court judge in SLC. She works for the AG in Utah and did sit in as Representative in the courtroom of the Juvenile Court. He was hearing cases about custody of minors. I don't know why the Assistant to the AG was present. That was Bridget's function, in that court. Found this on the Deseret News, Legal postings.

[cherry]

good work..

[freedox]

"And #2...What Dad would USE THIS LETTER just to keep the press interested?"

This family's use of the media is starting to raise some red flags with me. Why does the family not use their camera time to focus on finding Elizabeth, rather than using it to discuss how much fun they had on past family vacations or who may or may not be a suspect in the case? If they truly want the public's assistance in finding their daughter, why do they not come to EVERY press conference armed with photos of who the public should be looking for??? Why do they not come to EVERY press conference armed with the address to the website containing details on who the public should be looking for??? Why would the entire Smart family use their time on Larry King to discuss THEMSELVES rather than focussing on who the public should be looking for???

ELIZABETH is getting more and more lost in this family media circus. I'm beginning to question the family's motives for maintaining it.

[Bella]

Key statements--
"We are continuing to look at Mr. Ricci and his associates, as well as associates of the Smart family",Dinse said. "We are also looking at others who had access to the Smart's neighborhood. No one has been eliminated" as a suspect.

Dinse warned against focusing on any one individual. "We are not putting all our eggs in one basket," he said. "We may need to go in another direction. We are going to go where the evidence takes us."

[r9etb]

"We may need to go in another direction. We are going to go where the evidence takes us."

Could mean a lot, or nothing, depending on whether or not there's any evidence to be had.

[mystery-ak]

Dinse: We may needto go in a different direction....I wonder if he means Ricci is not their man?

Can they hold him indefinitely on parole violations, is he automatically sent back to prison?

Bella, what do you think of this letter...to me it must be different from other letters Ed has received...something must stand out for him to come forward with it......or he is using it to keep media attention.

[Rotan]

While that's true and my rational mind completely agrees with you on the point, I can't really say what I'd do after a month of investigation and no trace. The media coverage was\is falling off. If there is any new evidence, the police haven't shared it. Ed may be at the point where he feels he has to take it on himself if he ever wants to see his daughter again. So he takes a letter, possibly one of scores they've received, that he got in the mail and goes public with it to light the fire under the media again. The more media focus, the more pressured the police feel to get this thing solved.

That's all speculation on my part, of course.