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CNN Live Today

Police Receive Ransom E-Mail in Smart Kidnapping Case

Aired June 20, 2002 - 14:37   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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: New information today in the disappearance of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart, including word of a ransom note. CNN's Ed Lavandera is following the story from Salt Lake City.

Hi, Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. That was just one of the tidbits that came out of this morning's press briefing with FBI agents in Salt Lake City. That e-mail was apparently a ransom note.

Police here aren't putting a lot of stock into that information. They say that by the time they got the e-mail, the ransom date for that collection of money had already passed by. So it doesn't sound like that is something they're paying a whole of attention to.

Another couple of things they're looking at is, a lot of possible theories as to what might have happened. That includes, of course, perhaps a sexual predator was after Elizabeth Smart.

Police also saying that they have taken forensic evidence from the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) but they're not exactly saying what type of evidence that is, but that it is being analyzed at this point.

We've also talked a lot about these computers -- 12 computers in all, that have been taken into custody by the FBI and the police. That is also being analyzed. This is standard procedure.

They're trying to look into whether Elizabeth Smart had any kind of contact, e-mail contact, with anybody out there. And that's one of the things that they're looking into at this point.

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CHIEF RICK DINSE, SALT LAKE CITY POLICE: We have found nothing on the computers that creates a nexus to this crime. We're not focusing on any member of the family at this point, but we haven't excluded any member of the family, either.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: Police say they're looking into members of the church, neighborhood residents, and also members of the school where Elizabeth Smart attended. All the different possibilities that exist out there.

They have said that they believe this is perhaps someone who perpetrated this crime, is a trusted member of the community. And they've also pointed out that they are confident and happy with the alibis that all of Elizabeth Smart's family members have given, up until this point.

Meanwhile, the family out again today, holding up a portrait of Elizabeth Smart and her 9-year-old sister, Mary Catherine -- a portrait that they cherish very deeply. That portrait also appeared in a full-page ad in the "Salt Lake City Tribune" this morning, in ad that thanked residents here and community members for all of their efforts.

And they continue to urge community members to continue the search. They say they've had about 70 percent of Utah covered. And they're urging people to take different routes to school, different routes to work, perhaps different jogging routes, in hopes that any kind of evidence might be found along the way. Back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right, thank you very much, Ed Lavandera, from Salt Lake City.

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