Then, let's take this from another angle. The mystery of the 911 call. It was first reported that Ed made the call at about 2 a.m., LE later changing the time to 4:01 a.m. -- that Mary Katherine had lain in her bed for about 2 hours before waking her parents at 3:58 a.m.
Could it be possible that LE thought Elizabeth was a runaway, that being the reason for the sloppy investigation?
The Smart family immediately took to t.v. Did Ed & his brothers trip up LE by calling the disappearance a kidnapping - that they felt their plea needed to sound dramatic? I mean, LOL, you don't get up before scores of reporters, nationwide cameras & say, "Hey, my daughter ran away - we want her back."
Was Dinse going to stand up & call them delusional, say they are liars? 'nite
This is what a lot of us, myself included, have leaned towards. Not a sloppy investigation at all -- a very tight-lipped downgrade from kidnapping to runaway.