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CNN Live Today
Salt Lake City Police Dispute 'Tribune' Report
Aired June 13, 2002 - 10:21 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Beginning with Salt Lake City, where police there are discounting a report that the kidnapping of 14-year- old Elizabeth Smart could have been an inside job. The "Salt Lake City Tribune" is reporting that a member of the girl's extended family may have staged the abduction.
Our James Hattori is in Salt Lake City with the latest on the investigation -- James, good morning.
JAMES HATTORI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn. You know, police aren't so much discounting as saying that this is not the -- the theory they are focussing on. I think anybody who has listened to the police over the course of this past week knows that they haven't ruled out anything, and of course, we know that, for example, the father, Ed Smart, has undergone a polygraph test.
The police say they don't rule out the possibility of other family members taking a polygraph test. They say that the person who did the kidnapping had to have had access to the home, had to have known -- had some knowledge of the neighborhood. That, obviously, could include family members. But at this point, the police are not saying that that is their primary focus.
Now, of course, there is another bit of news to report, and that is the person of interest that they are looking to question is identified as 26-year-old Bret Michael Edmunds. He is described as a transient in the area. He was last seen in the area of the kidnapping, that's the Federal Heights neighborhood where the Smart house is located, by a milkman. And the milkman, earlier today, told CNN a little bit about what he saw and what was suspicious about Mr. Edmunds.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLIE MILLER, MILKMAN: For me, it's -- if someone is following me, I get suspicious, and it's just information that I would take in case something does happen, and I've had people that have actually followed me and have actually done that, so I didn't -- so I took this information, and then the following Thursday, when I was going by, and then I read the story about the little girls -- since there is a description of the gentlemen, it actually fit the description of the man that I saw, so I passed it on to the authorities.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HATTORI: Mr. Edmunds does have a criminal background. He is wanted for fraud, as well as assaulting a police officer. He led a police officer on a high speed chase just last month. That started out in West Valley, a city south of Salt Lake City, and ended up in the neighborhood very close to where the kidnapping occurred.
He is not considered a suspect. They want to question him because they believe he was in the area. He doesn't exactly fit the physical description of the kidnapper that the police have released thus far.
Nonetheless, people police do want to talk to him in hopes of shedding some light on this investigation -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And James, what about the report -- we had heard that the abductor got into this house -- the Smart house through a screen, cutting a hole in the screen, but now reports -- that that screen was actually cut from the inside, and it doesn't look like that's how the person got inside the house.
HATTORI: Well, police have never really clarified that, and obviously, they are keeping a lot of this information close to the vest because they have to prosecute somebody, should they arrest somebody. But the indications are that the father, Ed Smart, has said that this window is of a size and a location -- and we don't know exactly where it is located -- but a size and location that it really doesn't make a lot of sense that someone could have come in through that way.
So that's one of the problems and questions that investigators are grappling with. Was this, in fact, the entry point. Maybe it wasn't. And if so, was there somebody else inside, or was it an inside job. These are things they are still trying to sort sought. A lot of pieces in the puzzle that they are still trying to put together -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And so much has been made of the huge volunteer effort that came out trying to look for 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart, but as some questions start to come up about who might be involved, is that volunteer effort dwindling some in Utah?
HATTORI: Well, the volunteer effort has dropped off some, if that's what I think you are asking. They are also looking, of course, doing background checks on a lot of the volunteers because in cases like this, police know that sometimes the kidnapper or suspect tends to want to stay involved, and they have an idea that he is still in the area, and maybe he's among the crowd here. In fact, investigators have asked for videotapes from local television stations to review people in the area who might have been watching, or even perhaps even taking part.
As the police chief said the other day, there's a good chance that the investigators may even have questioned the suspect at some point. But as of this moment, they don't know who that suspect is, they have a better idea of what his mind set might have been, what he might be involved in, but at this moment, they don't have a suspect or a name -- Daryn.
KAGAN: James Hattori in Salt Lake City. James, thank you so much.
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