Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

With Smart Gone Two Weeks, Strain on Family Showing More

Aired June 18, 2002 - 06:09   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: Police in Salt Lake City are still looking for a transient they believe may have information about Elizabeth Smart's disappearance.

With the girl gone nearly two weeks now, CNN's Michael Okwu reports the strain on her family is showing even more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On day 12, Father's Day, Ed Smart said he had a vision his daughter, Elizabeth, was about to join him during his morning prayers. Day 13, pained and still clinging to hope, he told journalists he had left the garage door open on the afternoon before she was abducted. It was unclear whether police thought this might have enabled her abductor to enter the house.

CAPT. SCOTT ATKINSON, SALT LAKE CITY POLICE: I am sorry. I can't talk about that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it just water coming through here?

OKWU: Some 400 to 500 volunteers continued their search for Elizabeth. One-third of the state has already been scoured.

ATKINSON: We are a lot further than we were day one. I think we are in the process of getting to the leads and eliminating those leads.

OKWU: But eliminating leads has not led investigators any closer to identifying who kidnapped Elizabeth. After several false sightings, Bret Michael Edmunds is still on the loose, police insisting the drifter, who may have been near the Smart home 48 hours before the abduction, is still not a suspect.

ED SMART, FATHER: Yesterday was a very difficult day for us, and we still feel very strongly Elizabeth is out there. Elizabeth, we love you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: That report from CNN's Michael Okwu in Salt Lake City.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.