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American Morning
Elizabeth Smart is Home
Aired March 13, 2003 - 07:04 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: Turning back now to the Elizabeth Smart story, there are so many questions still to be answered about Elizabeth Smart's disappearance and eventual discovery.
Let's go live now to Salt Lake City, where Rusty Dornin is on the ground. She has the very latest on the case.
Good morning -- Rusty.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Paula.
I think there are so many questions, too, about the suspect, Brian David Mitchell, and why police weren't able to zero in on him sooner.
What we do know, he went by the name "Emmanuel." He was hired by Lois Smart to do some work on the house. He spent about five hours working on the roof.
Now, it wasn't until October that Elizabeth Smart's little sister, Mary Katherine, went to her father and said, "Dad, I think I know who did it." And she said, "Emmanuel." But it took from October to February. They talked to police, they talked to them about Emmanuel, but they had no further descriptions, and they were not able to identify him. And police had a very difficult time putting an I.D. on this man.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF RICK DINSE, SALT LAKE CITY POLICE: We didnt have a real clear understanding of who he was for a while, his real name. All we had was "Emmanuel" and a description, and we did release. We had several descriptions. We had some drawings that were not compatible. They were different looking drawings.
So, we didn't want to put out drawings that looked differently when we're looking for somebody. That could have an impact on it. But we knew we were looking for him, and we did put it out as soon as we had a good drawing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Apparently, it was right -- February 3, the family did have a press conference that the police apparently did not attend, and they did have some kind of sketch. From that, Mitchell's -- the suspect's relatives, both his stepson and his sister, called up to identify him, put out a sketch and also put out a picture. And it that picture that was so widely circulated over the last month that caused two different couples to spot him on the streets of Sandy, Utah, and result in this very happy ending -- Paula.
ZAHN: A columnist writes in one of the local newspapers this morning had it not been for the Smarts' efforts in publicizing the acknowledgement that they believed this guy might have been involved in their daughter's disappearance this case never would have been broken. Is that fair?
DORNIN: I think the police believe that it's not fair, that they were trying to search for this man, Emmanuel, but they didn't have enough information to identify him. And as I said, it was only after the release of this sketch that his sister was able to call up and say, "I know who that is; that is my brother." And that's how they -- but as you said, it was Ed Smart's continuous just non-stop, relentlessly pursuing this investigation and not letting it go that I think we have this happy ending.
ZAHN: I also wanted to share with our audience something that Lori Gailer (ph) had to say, who happens to be the stepdaughter of Brian David Mitchell. Here is what she had to say about the man who was once in her life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know what it's like to be there. I'm sorry for what you went through in the past eight months. At least it was only eight months. At least you're back home with your family, and you can be OK now.
He never molested me, but I think he was in fear. He couldn't see four of his other children, and I knew he ran from that situation. But the way he touched me sometimes, the way he came in and kissed me and caressed me, certain things like that that have happened. I don't know. It's just weird.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: Rusty, what else are investigators saying about Brian David Mitchell?
DORNIN: Well, you know, Paula, it is interesting too, because the stepdaughter that we just heard from also just said there are so many questions about whether Elizabeth Smart -- was she able to escape at some point after she went on all of these cross-country trips and was camping and that sort of thing? Police believe still she was abducted and wasn't able to escape.
The stepdaughter is claiming that she believes that her stepfather could have drugged her, brainwashed her; that he was capable of doing something like that. So, there are still a lot of questions obviously to be answered in that, and why she wasn't able to get away this past nine months.
ZAHN: Rusty Dornin, thanks for the update.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired March 13, 2003 - 07:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Turning back now to the Elizabeth Smart story, there are so many questions still to be answered about Elizabeth Smart's disappearance and eventual discovery.
Let's go live now to Salt Lake City, where Rusty Dornin is on the ground. She has the very latest on the case.
Good morning -- Rusty.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Paula.
I think there are so many questions, too, about the suspect, Brian David Mitchell, and why police weren't able to zero in on him sooner.
What we do know, he went by the name "Emmanuel." He was hired by Lois Smart to do some work on the house. He spent about five hours working on the roof.
Now, it wasn't until October that Elizabeth Smart's little sister, Mary Katherine, went to her father and said, "Dad, I think I know who did it." And she said, "Emmanuel." But it took from October to February. They talked to police, they talked to them about Emmanuel, but they had no further descriptions, and they were not able to identify him. And police had a very difficult time putting an I.D. on this man.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF RICK DINSE, SALT LAKE CITY POLICE: We didnt have a real clear understanding of who he was for a while, his real name. All we had was "Emmanuel" and a description, and we did release. We had several descriptions. We had some drawings that were not compatible. They were different looking drawings.
So, we didn't want to put out drawings that looked differently when we're looking for somebody. That could have an impact on it. But we knew we were looking for him, and we did put it out as soon as we had a good drawing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Apparently, it was right -- February 3, the family did have a press conference that the police apparently did not attend, and they did have some kind of sketch. From that, Mitchell's -- the suspect's relatives, both his stepson and his sister, called up to identify him, put out a sketch and also put out a picture. And it that picture that was so widely circulated over the last month that caused two different couples to spot him on the streets of Sandy, Utah, and result in this very happy ending -- Paula.
ZAHN: A columnist writes in one of the local newspapers this morning had it not been for the Smarts' efforts in publicizing the acknowledgement that they believed this guy might have been involved in their daughter's disappearance this case never would have been broken. Is that fair?
DORNIN: I think the police believe that it's not fair, that they were trying to search for this man, Emmanuel, but they didn't have enough information to identify him. And as I said, it was only after the release of this sketch that his sister was able to call up and say, "I know who that is; that is my brother." And that's how they -- but as you said, it was Ed Smart's continuous just non-stop, relentlessly pursuing this investigation and not letting it go that I think we have this happy ending.
ZAHN: I also wanted to share with our audience something that Lori Gailer (ph) had to say, who happens to be the stepdaughter of Brian David Mitchell. Here is what she had to say about the man who was once in her life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know what it's like to be there. I'm sorry for what you went through in the past eight months. At least it was only eight months. At least you're back home with your family, and you can be OK now.
He never molested me, but I think he was in fear. He couldn't see four of his other children, and I knew he ran from that situation. But the way he touched me sometimes, the way he came in and kissed me and caressed me, certain things like that that have happened. I don't know. It's just weird.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: Rusty, what else are investigators saying about Brian David Mitchell?
DORNIN: Well, you know, Paula, it is interesting too, because the stepdaughter that we just heard from also just said there are so many questions about whether Elizabeth Smart -- was she able to escape at some point after she went on all of these cross-country trips and was camping and that sort of thing? Police believe still she was abducted and wasn't able to escape.
The stepdaughter is claiming that she believes that her stepfather could have drugged her, brainwashed her; that he was capable of doing something like that. So, there are still a lot of questions obviously to be answered in that, and why she wasn't able to get away this past nine months.
ZAHN: Rusty Dornin, thanks for the update.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
