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CNN Saturday Morning News

Richard Ricci Dies in Hospital

Aired August 31, 2002 - 07:03   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to begin in Utah, where a strange turn of events may make it difficult for police to ever locate 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart. She disappeared from her home nearly three months ago, and now the man at the center of the investigation has died.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Life support was withdrawn at 7:16 p.m., and death came quickly.

CALLAWAY (voice-over): And as Richard Ricci died, so too may have the best chance of getting answers in Elizabeth Smart's disappearance. The former handyman for the Smart family has been at the center of the investigation. Police put him at the top of their list of possible suspects and said this week Ricci's sudden illness complicated their work.

CHIEF RICK DINSE, SALT LAKE CITY POLICE: We don't have anything to compel him to talk to us. He's an individual that during our investigation, generally speaking, he never volunteered a lot of information.

CALLAWAY: But Ricci never regained consciousness before dying late Friday night, three days after collapsing in his prison cell. He underwent emergency surgery for a brain hemorrhage, and the hospital read a statement from his wife.

UNIDENTIFIED HOSPITAL SPOKESPERSON: "As you know, today has been a long and difficult day, although I know that Richard would not have wanted to be kept alive by artificial means."

CALLAWAY: For the Smart family, Ricci's death means another blow in their search for their daughter. Elizabeth's father was stunned when he met reporters after Ricci collapsed.

ED SMART, ELIZABETH'S FATHER: This is the most bizarre thing that I could have ever imagined.

CALLAWAY: Elizabeth Smart was taken from her bedroom in the middle of the night June 5. Ricci was never charged in the Smart disappearance but was charged with burglarizing the family's home, nearly a year to the day before Elizabeth vanished. He was accused of taking jewelry and other items from the house and breaking into other homes in the neighborhood.

Police impounded his Jeep and seized a hat and clothing from a relatives house.

All along, Ricci denied any connection with the Smart case. Her father said he was a likable person but had told too many lies to be believed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is certainly a person that we were deeply interested in spending more time with. If we can't do that, we'll have to pursue the other avenues that are available to us.

CALLAWAY: Investigators now must go forward without a key figure in a case already with too few leads.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

And no reaction yet to Ricci's death from the Smart family.

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