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CNN Live At Daybreak

Ed Smart Talks About Anonymous Letter Received

Aired July 11, 2002 - 09:23   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Got some new information out of Salt Lake City for you this morning. Police looking for Elizabeth Smart doubt that a letter sent to her father offering to negotiate for the missing 14-year-old girl's release is real. And in fact, the language was not quite so specific about negotiation. Elizabeth disappeared from her Salt Lake City home on the night of June 5.

And her father, Ed Smart, spoke with us a little bit earlier this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED SMART, MISSING GIRL'S FATHER: It was the first anonymous letter where we've had anyone trying to contact us to let us know that Elizabeth is there and that they want to release Elizabeth, which is what I'm praying and I'm hoping they're going to do. And I am most anxious to negotiate or do whatever I need to do to get her back. I just want this to be over with.

ZAHN: I know you implied yesterday that it's your belief this letter might have been written by a female. What makes you think that?

SMART: Exactly. Well the letter implied that a person had anonymous phone line and this person was a woman and that this call was made in on this anonymous phone line. And she received it and she said you know you won't be able to contact me and I can't give you any more information, but this is what happened. And so, you know had it not been for the information regarding Elizabeth specifically, you know, I would have felt very strongly that it was, you know, somebody trying to contact us.

ZAHN: Was there anything in the letter that would suggest to you how the person who wrote this letter communicated with the kidnapper?

SMART: That it was by phone.

ZAHN: That just that alone?

SMART: That the kidnapper called her.

ZAHN: Just that alone?

SMART: Right. Right. ZAHN: So what in -- what are investigators telling you now they're going to do with this communication?

SMART: You know, I believe that they don't feel that it's credible. And so I don't know that they're going to do anything with it. But to me it was the first even potential communication that we had had from anyone that was trying to say that they wanted to release Elizabeth. I still don't know why they took Elizabeth. I don't know why, and I -- you know it's driving me crazy. I just -- I want to hear from whoever it is out there to know why or what they want.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: And while police say they are looking into the letter received by Ed Smart, they do have some doubts about the validity of the letter and they are not considering this a major break in the case.

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