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CNN Live Today
Family Handyman Focus of Smart Search
Aired June 26, 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: An update on the Elizabeth Smart case, the 14-year-old girl who apparently was snatched from the bedroom of her Salt Lake City home. Police there say that they have uncovered some items of interest, as they are putting it. And they found these in the trailer park neighborhood of former family handyman Richard Albert Ricci.
Now, he is not being called a suspect in the case for now, but he is the subject of an investigation right now.
And let's get the details on that. Our Ed Lavandera joins us now. He has got a live update coming from Salt Lake City.
Good morning -- Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Leon.
Well, we continue here. The investigation here in Salt Lake City continues as they try piece together exactly what Richard Ricci was doing in the week time period that surrounded June 5. Elizabeth Smart was abducted from her home in the early morning hours of June 5.
Now, what FBI agents and police are doing today, we understand, is combing through the trailer park community where Ricci lives. His in-laws live nearby in that same community as well. They are continuing to do their work there. They are talking to a lot of people who live in that neighborhood. They are canvassing the area, looking for any kind of information that might help them in this investigation.
As you have heard police mention, Ricci is at the top of the list of the possibilities they are looking at in this case as to who might have abducted Elizabeth Smart. But having said that, they still don't call him a suspect at this point. They were turned on to him after they had found out that Ricci had done some work in the Smart's home last year. And then they checked up on his criminal background, and it showed up a long list of a 30-year history of criminal activity here in the state of Utah, including aggravated assault and burglary and attempted murder of a police officer here in Salt Lake City. So all of that continues.
Now, police, how they are specifically trying to get people to help them out is they are showing pictures to people of the three cars that Ricci might have had access to. And what they want people to do is to look at those pictures, if they any have information as to where those cars might have been between May 31 and June 8 of this year. They are hoping that people will remember that and help them out as they try to piece together a time line that shows where Ricci was.
And they are trying to put together their own time line, because they have questions of what Ricci is telling them, and about his alibi, although his family says that Ricci was at home sleeping in the early morning hours when Elizabeth Smart was abducted. They stand by that story. They say that Ricci is a good person, despite his criminal background, that he has tried to hold down a steady job and move forward in life.
But Ed Smart says -- Elizabeth's father -- says that when he hired him to do the work, he had no idea about his criminal background.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED SMART: I just -- if it was Richard, I would just hope and pray that he would -- I have no idea why would he take her. And I would just pray and ask him to please let her go or -- I just -- I would say please let her go. I don't know why -- I mean I can't conceive of any reason why he would have any feeling about me that, you know, would cause this to happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: Now, the search for Elizabeth Smart continues throughout Utah. There have been search groups that have continued to work throughout this state, as the family continues to focus its efforts on that part of the investigation. They say that this is the one area where they feel they can make the deepest impact and have the most effect.
From speaking with family members here over the last couple of weeks, they also say it is their best way of keeping their peace of mind as the investigation takes off. And there is a lot of information that the police can't share with them and a lot of work that they just have to leave up to the police, that the search for Elizabeth is really the best place where they can make their efforts felt -- so they will continue to do that as well.
But here in Salt Lake City, the investigation continues into Richard Ricci, as people, investigators, here continue asking questions of the people who live near and around Richard Ricci, as they try to piece together this time line of where he was around the date that Elizabeth Smart was abducted, on June 5 -- Leon.
HARRIS: All right. Thanks, Ed -- Ed Lavandera on the story for us in Salt Lake City.
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