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American Morning

Salt Lake Police Look for Transient for Questioning

Aired June 13, 2002 - 08:02   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: "Up Front" this morning, the search for missing 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart continues. Police, though, say they may have a new lead. They have released a photo of a man they want to talk to, a stranger spotted in the neighborhood just days before the apparent abduction.

James Hattori standing by in Salt Lake City with the very latest on that -- good morning, James.

JAMES HATTORI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula. You know, investigators seem to be pursuing a wide-ranging search for a suspect and motive, even as they continue to look for a man, a suspicious transient, who was seen in the neighborhood where Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped, shortly before her disappearance. That man is identified as 26-year-old Bret Michael Edmunds. He is 6-foot-2 tall, 235 pounds. He was seen by a milkman in the early morning hours in the neighborhood just a couple of blocks away from where Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped two days before her disappearance.

(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 have had people that have actually followed me and have actually done that, and 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 girl's sister's description of the gentleman, it actually fit the description of the man that I saw, and so I passed it on to the authorities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HATTORI: Comments made earlier on AMERICAN MORNING. Now, police say they don't want to -- they want to question him, they don't consider him a suspect. He does not fit the physical description of the kidnapper provided by the police earlier. He does have criminal warrants for fraud and assaulting a police officer. Last month, he used pepper spray on an officer during a late-night traffic stop, a high-speed chase ensued, and it ended up in the very same neighborhood where Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped, or very close to it.

Paula, we should stress that nothing about Mr. Edmunds is connected to the kidnapping per se. They stress that he is wanted for questioning, not a suspect. A lot of unanswered questions about who this man is, and what his possible -- what information he might possibly have to shed some light on this case -- Paula.

ZAHN: James, love for you to comment on the story that is in the "Salt Lake Tribune" this morning, where it suggests that investigators are theorizing that girl may have been abducted by a member of the extended family, and then whoever was responsible for that staged it to look like an outsider had done that. How much weight are police giving this potential theory?

HATTORI: Well, police are disputing that report, first of all. Nonetheless, there are some pretty outstanding questions about how this crime happened, and they're obviously struggling to try and put the pieces together. One of the real questions is, how did somebody gain access? It's unclear if they -- if it was an inside job, how they -- how someone could have gained access if they weren't a family member.

Police do say that they are not ruling out anybody. They don't rule out any scenario, but they do dispute this report.

ZAHN: It's also interesting that police won't tell you exactly where this window is, that this abductor allegedly entered from. We were originally told -- to believe it was the little girl's bedroom. I guess they are now saying that's not the case, but they're not telling us how this person entered the house. Any new information on that?

HATTORI: You know, early on, the father said -- Ed Smart said the window was really almost too small for someone to enter. And as you say, the police have not been very forthcoming to us about where it is located or how big it is. So, there are some real questions about how someone could have gained entry. It does appear, according to reports, that the screen was ripped open from the outside, indicating an intruder did come in. But, you know, not having seen it firsthand, it's hard to make any assessment.

ZAHN: All right, James Hattori, thanks so much for that update.

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