Posted on 06/23/2002 7:58:29 PM PDT by Semper911
Breaking on Fox: A construction worker is being held on unrelated charged in connection with the kidnapping case.
Utah Officials Mum on Search for Girl
Story Filed: Monday, June 24, 2002 2:33 AM EDT
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Detectives investigating the disappearance of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart have been questioning a convict who worked in the Smart home more than a year ago and say they haven't ruled him out as a suspect.
The man was arrested on an unrelated parole violation June 14, nine days after Elizabeth Smart was reportedly taken at gunpoint from her bedroom in an affluent Salt Lake City neighborhood.
Police Chief Rick Dinse told KSTU television on Sunday that investigators haven't been able to pin down the man's whereabouts on the morning of the abduction. Detectives have been questioning the man for more than a week; he has not been charged in the kidnapping.
``He is potentially a big piece of the puzzle,'' Dinse told KSTU. ``Just how big, we're not sure at this point.
``We haven't been able to satisfy ourselves that he was not involved.''
Chris Thomas, who has been acting as a spokesman for the girl's family, said the man last worked in the Smart's Federal Heights home more than a year ago, painting and doing handyman work.
Authorities scheduled a news conference for Monday in Salt Lake City about their interview of Bret Michael Edmunds, whom they had sought for two weeks for questioning in the abduction investigation.
Edmunds was interviewed at a West Virginia hospital by FBI agents and Salt Lake City police detectives.
``I can confirm they have spoken to him. I don't have any details about the context of questioning or the conversations,'' police spokesman Fred Louis said.
Investigators were analyzing the interviews and continued to follow leads in the case Sunday, but Louis said there were no developments.
``We're still going all day every day, seven days a week,'' he said.
FBI spokesman Kevin Eaton didn't return messages left by The Associated Press. He said Saturday that questioning Edmunds, 26, likely would not substantially change the Smart case because he was a possible witness and not a suspect.
A milkman helped police trace a car owned by Edmunds that was spotted in the family's neighborhood two mornings before her June 5 abduction.
The car was seen in a suburban Salt Lake subdivision in the days following the girl's disappearance, but search teams recovered nothing Saturday after dogs had picked up a possible scent in the same area one day earlier.
Edmunds checked himself into a hospital in Martinsburg, W.Va., on Thursday for treatment of drug-related liver damage. A nursing supervisor said he remained in serious condition Sunday in the critical care unit.
Authorities said Edmunds was cooperative with investigators and allowed a search of his vehicle.
The man was arrested on an unrelated parole violation June 14, nine days after Elizabeth Smart was reportedly taken at gunpoint from her bedroom in an affluent Salt Lake City neighborhood.
Police Chief Rick Dinse told KSTU television on Sunday that investigators haven't been able to pin down the man's whereabouts on the morning of the abduction. Detectives have been questioning the man for more than a week; he has not been charged in the kidnapping.
"He is potentially a big piece of the puzzle," Dinse told KSTU. "Just how big, we're not sure at this point.
"We haven't been able to satisfy ourselves that he was not involved."
Chris Thomas, who has been acting as a spokesman for the girl's family, said the man last worked in the Smart's Federal Heights home more than a year ago, painting and doing handyman work.
Authorities scheduled a news conference for Monday in Salt Lake City about their interview of Bret Michael Edmunds, whom they had sought for two weeks for questioning in the abduction investigation.
Edmunds was interviewed at a West Virginia hospital by FBI agents and Salt Lake City police detectives.
"I can confirm they have spoken to him. I don't have any details about the context of questioning or the conversations," police spokesman Fred Louis said.
Investigators were analyzing the interviews and continued to follow leads in the case Sunday, but Louis said there were no developments.
"We're still going all day every day, seven days a week," he said.
FBI spokesman Kevin Eaton didn't return messages left by The Associated Press. He said Saturday that questioning Edmunds, 26, likely would not substantially change the Smart case because he was a possible witness and not a suspect.
A milkman helped police trace a car owned by Edmunds that was spotted in the family's neighborhood two mornings before her June 5 abduction.
The car was seen in a suburban Salt Lake subdivision in the days following the girl's disappearance, but search teams recovered nothing Saturday after dogs had picked up a possible scent in the same area one day earlier.
Edmunds checked himself into a hospital in Martinsburg, W.Va., on Thursday for treatment of drug-related liver damage. A nursing supervisor said he remained in serious condition Sunday in the critical care unit.
Authorities said Edmunds was cooperative with investigators and allowed a search of his vehicle.
AP-ES-06-24-02 0229EDT
At the hem or the waist?
I find that lack of denial difficult to to understand, if there is no truth to the NE story. This does not seem the type situation where a refusal to confirm or deny is appropriate.
Don't forget that he also pulled the typical profiler's stunt of showing up at the candlelight vigil. He was drunk and evaded the police when they tried to approach him.
This is what bothers me the most -- why would she change her story? Did the part about waiting two hours before telling the parents come directly from her? If so - why would she make it up? Very, very strange.
They ought to be taken seriously.
The poor little thing must have been petrified!!! And now she'll have to carry this around for the rest of her life.
New spokesman??
You might want to check your "facts". The girls story has been consistent throughout. It is the reporting of the girls story that has changed. According to the chief, the initial story was broadcast within the first few chaotic hours so they could get out the Rachel(?) Alert - before the girl had been interviewed by the police.
That's a fun quote.
"Pro-life" as it is commonly used does not blindly imply "anti-death penalty." Cherry has confused the terms. "Pro-innocent Life" more accurately describes the "Pro-life" position.
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