The Strange Abduction of Elizabeth Smart
How many handymen had the Smart family anyway ?
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
CAST
Bret Michael Edmunds Drifter often seen near Smart hours, questioned by the FBI
Dan Roberts FBI Special Agent
Elizabeth Smart Kidnapped girl
Mary Katherine Smart Little sister of Elizabeth Smart
Richard Ricci First Handyman suspect, died last September
NEWS
STAGE 1 - ELIZABETH SMART KIDNAPPED
ABCNews - Neighbours offer $250.000 for return of kidnapped girl (6-Jun-2002)
BBC - Elizabeth kidnap baffles Utah (7-Jun-2002)
ABCNews - Police downplay possible subject sighting (7-Jun-2002)
STAGE 2 - SUSPECT BRET MICHAEL EDMUNDS COMES INTO THE PICTURE
ABCNews - Cops name man wanted for questioning - Bret Michael Edmunds (12-Jun-2002)
ABCNews - Smart family part of the investigation (13-Jun-2002)
ABCNews - False hope, suspect isn't man sought in Smart case (14-Jun-2002)
247News - Smart kidnapping was 'Satanic Sacrifice' (16-Jun-2002)
ABCNews - Dad downplays open door, kidnapped girl's dad left garage open (17-Jun-2002)
STAGE 3 - SUSPECT RICHARD RICCI COMES INTO THE PICTURE
ABCNews - Police revise Utah kidnapper description (18-Jun-2002)
ABCNews - Police says sister is key in Smart case (19-Jun-2002)
ABCNews - Police say no clues found on Smart families' computer (20-Jun-2002)
ABCNews - FBI: Bret Michael Edmunds found, wanted for questioning (21-Jun-2002)
ABCNews - Ex-Con Ricci 'on top of the list' (24-Jun-2002)
ABC7 - Father of missing Utah girl didn't know of Ricci's past (25-Jun-2002)
ABCNews - Focusing on Vehicles - Police trying to verify a 'suspect' alibi (25-Jun-2002)
ABCNews - Ex-Con Ricci in Smart case lost child too (26-Jun-2002)
ABC7 - Case against Richard Ricci getting stronger (28-Jun-2002)
ABCNews - Smart visitors asked for fingerprints (02-Jul-2002)
ABC7 - Father of Elizabeth Smart makes an emotional plea (12-Jul-2002)
STAGE 4 - THE FIRST HANDYMAN DIES, PROPHET HANDYMAN INSERTED
ABC7 - Potential suspect Richard Ricci in Elizabeth Smart case on Life Support (28-Aug-02)
STAGE 5 - ELIZABETH SMART FOUND WELL AND ALIVE
ABCNews - 'Miracles do Exist' - Elizabeth Smart found alive (12-Mar-2003)
ABCNews - Angry dad pleads for national amber alert (13-Mar-2003)
ABCNews - Dad says she was brainwashed (13-Mar-2003)
BBC - Girl's rescue hailed as 'miracle' (13-Mar-2003)
BBC - Police defend missing girl inquiry (15-Mar-2003)
ABCNews - Smarts seek privacy for Elizabeth (17-Mar-2003)
A couple of days ago, I noted some peculiarities about the Elizabeth Smart case. Okay, this has been a strange case from the start, with a 9-year-old's eyewitness testimony changing repeatedly (and the police insisting that it hadn't), and non-suspects being trailed across the country, and Ed Smart's odd attitude toward prime non-suspect Richard Ricci.
We can, of course, give everybody the benefit of the doubt by assuming the police have simply been with-holding certain pieces of information -- or even disseminating misinformation -- as part of their investigation. But then there was Tuesday's announcement about the digger:
A few days after Elizabeth's disarance, two hikers spotted a man digging a rectangular hole in a nearby canyon. They considered his explanation (he was digging a pit to roast a pig) suspicious, but moved on. When they returned, he was gone. Police later searched the area and found no trace of a body (several dozen volunteers searched this past Saturday as well).
Tuesday, the Smarts released a sketch of the man, drawn by one of the hikers, which adds two more questions to an already strange case: Why wait close to three months to release the sketch to the public, and why were the Smarts the ones releasing it?
http://lawenforcement.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa090502a.htm
Opinions :
Counterpunch - Elizabeth Smart: The Face of War ? (15-Mar-2003)