Posted on 07/16/2002 2:10:50 PM PDT by Palladin
Edited on 07/16/2002 4:40:41 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Police still seeking van seen in Nebraska
Officers there have made no connection to the Smart case
By Derek Jensen
Deseret News staff writer
Police were still looking Tuesday for a van spotted Thursday at a Lincoln, Neb., gas station with a girl inside matching Elizabeth Smart's description.
No additional sightings of the van have been reported since it was spotted last week, Lincoln Police Sgt. Larry Barksdale said Tuesday morning.
The 14-year-old blond teen has been missing almost six weeks since she was taken by gunpoint from her bedroom early June 5.
"We haven't made a connection with Elizabeth Smart at all," Barksdale said Tuesday morning. "This was a check-welfare call for us. We get a dozen of those a week or more. I think it's got enhanced to connect it to Elizabeth Smart."
As the Deseret News reported Saturday, a convenience store clerk, her manager and a customer inside the Texaco Food Mart in Lincoln spotted a 12- to 14-year-old girl with blond hair. Three men, who appeared to be in their 20s, were in the van with her.
Cashier Andrea Kolarik told the Deseret News Friday the girl was crying and looked "scared and exhausted."
Lincoln police responded to the incident as a check-welfare call and have faxed their case file to Salt Lake police, Barksdale said. The van appears to have been spotted in Colorado before it was in Lincoln, but police say they have no information the vehicle was ever in Utah, Barksdale said.
The vehicle is described as light blue and gray Chevy Astro van with Pennsylvania license plate ECJ1368. Police have learned the identity of the van's registered owner in Pennsylvania but still aren't sure if that person was one of the three men seen driving the van, Barksdale said.
Meanwhile, police in Utah continue to scrutinize former Smart handyman Richard Ricci, interviewing his associates and trying to determine where the 48-year-old's Jeep Cherokee was between May 30 and June 8 and why it logged 500 to 1,000 extra miles during that time.
"We're making a lot of progress on that," FBI special agent Kevin Eaton said, declining to elaborate or say if the Jeep left Utah during that time. "I'd just say we're getting more information on where the Jeep was."
Ricci remains at the Utah State Prison and was charged last week with stealing items from the Smart residence and burglarizing another home in the Federal Heights area.
I saw the aunt telling the family of the beautiful little girl who was abducted today to contact Them for any kind of help??
Description Hiking Trappers Loop
Start Date 7/16/2002 9:00:00 AM
End Date Meet At 900 S Main Kaysville
Search Duration 5(Hours)
North Boundary none
South Boundary none
East Boundary none
West Boundary none
Volunteers? Y
"Requirements we will be searching both sides of trappers loop on foot, and knocking doors in the area. There is steep terrain and road side walking. If you would like more info. please call, also for other meeting destinations. 546-6246 or 510-1649. Come help search for Elizabeth let's bring her home! The feeling of volunteering is like nothing I have ever felt, As you search you gain a great love for this little girl and want nothing more than to find her."
Give it a rest, Bella! IF it wasn't dark, and IF he wasn't wearing a mask and IF she got a good look at the perp, we would have a sketch.
There's too many IF's..Granted it was dark, but, she did see hair on his hands, and was able to tell what he was wearing, even the type of HAT. Plus, they refused a sketch artist, but said the authorities had a good sketch artist...well, where's the sketch? Did she, or didn't she? Where's the results?
If Elizabeth had resisted in the same way little Samantha did, she would probably be alive today.
I feel they were genuine w/ their condolences, but, how can they help when they haven't found their own, and both abductions were different w/ the exception of a missing child.
While I do understand that mistakes can be made, especially in early reporting, this statement is very clear and emphatic. Unfortunately, it's statements like this that cause questions to linger regarding the lack of a sketch/description of the alleged abductor.
No one's taking "cheap shots" at the Smart family as you and your friends think..Perhaps if you and the community, church, and whatever else is available there, would ASK the same questions and put pressure on this case which has been been extremely unusual from day one, that we are instead of going through the dramatics, there would be answers..I don't care who's involved, Joe Schmo, Santa Claus, aliens, family, neighbor, and whoever else, ASK the questions! The longer this continues, the longer everyone suffers.
I've noticed the police don't seem very involved at all at this point and haven't been for a while. Still think they are watching and waiting for someone to show his hand. And I'll bet it's someone not now on the published suspect list.
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