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CNN Live At Daybreak

Utah Police Confident They'll Catch Kidnapper of 14-Year-Old Girl

Aired June 12, 2002 - 06:35   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Utah police say they are confident they will catch the kidnapper of a 14-year-old girl. Elizabeth Smart has been missing now for one week.

CNN national correspondent, Frank Buckley, has details on the search for the teenager.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Elizabeth Smart's parents pleaded for their 14-year-old daughter's safe return.

ED SMART, MISSING GIRL'S FATHER: Please release Elizabeth.

LOIS SMART, MISSING GIRL'S MOTHER: Elizabeth, we love you. Our hearts are close together. I am wearing the special necklace you gave me on my birthday. I love you. I think of you every minute, and I know we're close. You are going to come home, Elizabeth.

BUCKLEY: As the Smarts were reaching out to their daughter, investigators were recanvassing their neighborhood. Detectives and FBI agents now narrowing their search for Elizabeth and the man who abducted her to the streets around the Smart's million dollar home.

DAN ROBERTS, FBI AGENT: Well, clearly, we are looking for somebody that was comfortable up in that area, at least somebody that feels like they know their way around that area or had been in that area before for some reason.

BUCKLEY: And while investigators don't yet have a name, they do believe that -- based on evidence from the crime scene, analysis from FBI profilers and interviews with Elizabeth's nine-year-old sister who witnessed the abduction -- that they know just what kind of man they are looking for. In fact, they may have already encountered him.

CHIEF RICK DINSE, SALT LAKE CITY POLICE: We believe we have an understanding of this suspect, and it is very possible that we have already interviewed him, or very soon will be interviewing him.

BUCKLEY: Police Chief Rick Dinse says there was a very strong probability that Elizabeth's abductor is a sexual predator. Detectives have not ruled out anyone, including family members, but they stress that the family has been extremely cooperative, providing hair and blood samples to compare to potential evidence. Ed Smart, Elizabeth's father, taking a polygraph exam to satisfy investigators.

The abduction of Elizabeth has struck a chord in this community, some 8,000 people volunteering in the search. Police say their efforts have allowed them to focus on the investigation. The chief confident enough to tell the suspect he will be caught.

DINSE: And my caution to this suspect, if he is listening, is we are going to get you.

BUCKLEY (on camera): Police investigators have their work cut out for them. To date, they have developed some 6,000 leads in this investigation. Of those, 600 are considered worthy of follow up. So far, they have only gone through half of those.

Frank Buckley, CNN, Salt Lake City.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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