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.
Ed Smart receives letter about Elizabeth
By Pat Reavy and Derek Jensen
Deseret News staff writers
Ed Smart, the father of Elizabeth Smart, said Wednesday that he had received a letter from a person who claimed to be in contact with Elizabeth's abductor and that that person wanted to negotiate a release.
"The person indicated the perpetrator was wanting to release Elizabeth, and I don't know how credible the communication was," Ed Smart said.
The one-page, typed letter postmarked July 3 was delivered to another person somewhere in the Smarts' neighborhood whom Ed Smart would not reveal. That person faxed a copy of the letter, which was addressed to "Elizabeth's parents," to police and then delivered the original to Ed Smart on Tuesday.
During the family's daily news conference, Ed Smart said his goal in revealing the letter to the media was to let the abductor know he had received it, and if the letter was legitimate, he wanted the sender to contact him again.
"If there is anything I can do to help you release her, I want to do that," Ed Smart said.
The note did not come with any ransom demands. Smart would not say Wednesday from where it was postmarked.
Meanwhile, enhanced nighttime surveillance tape from the Shriners Hospital parking lot was returned to the FBI in Salt Lake City on Tuesday.
The tape was sent to FBI headquarters in Quantico, Va., more than a week ago so images of two vehicles captured the morning of the kidnapping could be enhanced. After looking at the returned tape, Salt Lake Police Capt. Scott Atkinson said Wednesday they were still fuzzy but investigators might be able to get the model of at least one of the cars.
Overall, however, Atkinson said the tape probably won't develop any significant leads.
Richard Ricci remains the focal point of the investigation. But detectives are looking at a lot of people and a lot of different avenues, Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse told the Deseret News.
"We're not putting all our eggs in one basket," Dinse said. "We want to go where the investigation is taking us. That's not to say we're not looking at other areas."
Ricci issued a statement two weeks ago declaring his innocence.
Wednesday marked five weeks since Elizabeth Smart was taken at gunpoint from her room at the family's Federal Heights house.
Honestly, from what I hear from the local people in SLC, the news coverage of this story has been dwindling...might be wanting to keep the interest w/ this latest letter..If this were indeed something of interest, the authorities wouldn't want this exposed so they can nab their ass. However, whatever chances of working something out w/ the perp, if it was real, is blown now due to the father contradicting himself--he wanted Lizzie back, then he said he'd like justice done..think the perp is going to miss this?--no.