Elizabeth Smart Investigation Turns to Extended Family
ANNOUNCER: If you have a tip in the case of missing 14-year old Elizabeth Smart, you can call authorities at area code 801-799-3000 or call toll-free 800-932-0190.</s>LIN: Salt Lake City police say they are getting inundated with tips about Bret Michael Edmunds. But so far no sign of Edmunds or 14- year-old Elizabeth Smart. Authorities are also focusing in now on family, friends and the little girl's neighbors. Frank Buckley, live in Salt Lake City. Frank, I feel a cloud of suspicion coming on here.</s>FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Carol, today a great deal of focus on the family. And that's because the front page of the local newspaper, the "Salt Lake Tribune" suggested that police were looking hard at the theory, the possible theory, that a family member or an extended family member of Elizabeth Smart may have been involved in the abduction. They specifically cited in this article crime scene evidence and specifically a window screen that appears to have been cut that may be the point of origin or the point of access into the home. The article suggests that a law enforcement source tells the newspaper that someone may have cut this window screen from the inside. Tonight a law enforcement source involved in the investigation tells me that whoever is saying this is simply stating an opinion and that there is no forensic evidence to back that up. However, this law enforcement source does say that one member of the extended family who has taken a polygraph has results that are inconclusive, and they will want to take a closer look at this person.</s>CAPT. SCOTT ATKINSON, SALT LAKE CITY POLICE: I don't think that we're putting any more weight on this particular theory than we have any others.</s>BUCKLEY: But it was front-page news in the "Salt Lake Tribune" and one of Elizabeth's uncles said it was understandable the family would be scrutinized.</s>DAVE SMART, ELIZABETH'S UNCLE: As you know in investigations, there are many boxes that need to be checked, and we feel that the family box is one of those boxes, and if the police did not do their job, if they did not investigate us, they would not be doing there job. They'd be negligent.</s>BUCKLEY: On Thursday, Elizabeth's nine-year old sister, Mary Katherine (ph), was again interviewed by investigators. She was sleeping in the room with Elizabeth and is the only known witness to the abduction. If it was in fact a family member, an extended family member, wouldn't she recognize that person, and if so, why wouldn't you be able to quickly make an arrest?</s>ATKINSON: That's correct. If she had recognized the person and been able to give us a name or recognizes as being a family member, we believe that she probably would have told us that.</s>BUCKLEY: Still, police refused to rule out any possible family involvement, but they have virtually ruled out this man. Bret Edmunds, a transient whom police say they are seeking only for questioning. Police say they want to talk to Edmunds because he was seen in the Smart neighborhood a night or two before the abduction and may have noticed something. He is not, they say, a suspect.</s>ATKINSON: We do not believe that Mr. Edmunds was involved.</s>BUCKLEY: Tonight police dogs were back at the Smart family home. Police only saying that that was done as a precaution to go back over some ground that they've already checked out and they had no further explanation for that - Carol.</s>LIN: Frank, are the police now going to polygraph the entire Smart family? And if so, how many people are we talking about?</s>BUCKLEY: Well, there is a very large family, both within the family and an extended family. It isn't clear just how many people will be polygraph. Police have said that they will use that tool again. They say it's just one of their investigative tools, but it isn't clear just how many members of the family will be polygraph. We can say, however, that this tool has been used throughout the investigation, not just on family members and extended family members, but other people who investigators have been talking to.</s>LIN: And the family member whose polygraph was inconclusive, was that Elizabeth Smart's father?</s>BUCKLEY: Well we're not -- the person has not been identified to us, except to say that it was an extended family member, and the results were, as you say inconclusive, and that's sort of in the middle. You can either be deceptive or not deceptive or inconclusive. In the case of deceptive or inconclusive, in the absence of some sort of a confession, what investigators use that for is another tool to say this is someone that we need to take a look at. We need to see about this person's alibi and give this person a little more scrutiny.</s>LIN: All right, thank you very much. Frank Buckley, live in Salt Lake City with that. We are back in a moment.</s>ANNOUNCER: Next, our cameras take you to the edge of an inferno.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pretty much pointed up in the hills, you know, that's where we need to be.</s>ANNOUNCER: We'll go live to the scene of a massive wildfire when we come back.