 Elizabeth
Smart, the Utah teen-ager missing for over nine months, has been found
alive.
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- Police say the 15-year-old was discovered today during
a traffic stop in suburban Salt Lake City, within 15 miles of her home.
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- "Miracles do exist," said the girl's uncle,
Tom Smart.
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- The daughter of Edward and Lois Smart vanished from her
Salt Lake City home early on June 5 of last year, sparking nationwide publicity.
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- Police combed through thousands of leads, and focused
their probe on handymen who had done odd jobs for the Smart family.
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- One of the men, Richard Albert Ricci, died August 30
from complications from a brain hemorrhage.
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- Another, Brian David Mitchell, known also as "Emmanuel,"
had worked for the Smarts in November 2001.
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- According to Sandy police spokeswoman Michelle Burnette,
Smart was found with Mitchell.
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- "Two separate women called in and said they thought
they had spotted 'Emmanuel,'" she told the Associated Press.
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- Brian David Mitchell (photo courtesy Salt Lake Tribune)
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- Elizabeth's parents had announced a new reward last month
for information about the handyman.
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- They also said Elizabeth's younger sister Mary Katharine
had commented to them that Emmanuel resembled the man who kidnapped Elizabeth
from their room at gunpoint.
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- Just today, Tom Smart became openly critical of police
in the search for Elizabeth, telling the Salt Lake Tribune that authorities
seemed more interested in Ricci's possible involvement.
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- "They should have caught this guy by now,"
he said. But "the police are too vested in [their top suspect Richard]
Ricci. ... It's a way to cover your ass."
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- Salt Lake City detectives are taking over the investigation
from Sandy police, and Elizabeth is reportedly at the police station in
Salt Lake City. Mitchell is still in the custody of Sandy police.
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- <http://www.cpinews.net/archives/2003-q1/smart.kidnapping.found>CPI
News says the Sandy police report indicates officers received a call around
1 p.m. local time from two witnesses who reported seeing a man sought for
questioning in connection witht he Smart disappearance.
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- When they responded to the area, they located a male
and two females by the side of the road. During questioning, they learned
the identity of Elizabeth Smart.
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