SALT LAKE CITY, June 11 (UPI) -- Investigators were getting closer to finding a suspect in the apparent kidnapping of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart, and it may be someone who has already been questioned in the case, the Salt Lake City police chief said Tuesday.
Chief Rick Dinse told a news conference that while no suspect had been identified the odds were that Elizabeth's abductor was someone who was either close to the Smart family or familiar with their upscale Federal Heights neighborhood.
"We believe we have an understanding of this suspect and, it is very possible we have already interviewed, or will very soon interview (him)," Dinse said as he updated the investigation that had previously been characterized by police as frustrating and showing little progress.
"I think it is someone who had access to that neighborhood, who had access to the residence. That doesn't mean inside (the family); that could mean someone on the outside, but it is somebody who has spent some time in and around that neighborhood," Dinse said, looking straight into the television cameras.
The characteristics of the likely suspect were developed with the assistance of FBI behavior experts, often called "profilers" by the media.
The chief, however, refused to speculate on whether an arrest was imminent or if Elizabeth might be returned safely to her anguished parents.
"The further away we get from the day of the event, the more concerned we get about her safety," Dinse conceded. "I know the family is extremely hopeful and they talk about miracles. I think we can join them in that thought -- we hope for a miracle."
Police for the past seven days have been looking for a white male who, according to Elizabeth's 9-year-old sister, broke into the girls' bedroom and hustled Elizabeth off into the night at gunpoint. There has been no trace of either suspect or victim since the kidnapping despite a nationwide alert and continuing searches of the area by hundreds of police personnel and volunteers.
Dinse said Elizabeth had no history of being a runaway and there was nothing to indicate that her sister, Mary Catherine, was making up any part of the story. In fact, he added, the little girl had recently provided some new information about the suspect, which he refused to share with the media.
"Her story was consistent and we did learn some interesting things about the suspect we didn't know before," he said, adding, however, that there was no current plan to develop a composite sketch from Mary Catherine's description.
He also declined to comment on what physical evidence detectives found during a subsequent visit investigators made to the $1 million Smart home Monday night. Salt Lake City media reported that the searchers brought in a black light, which would indicate that the chemical Luminol was being used to look for unseen blood spots.
The Smart family continued to be cooperative with police and, Dinse said, investigators were satisfied that Elizabeth's father, Edward, had been "forthcoming" during a polygraph examination on Sunday. The FBI was still reviewing the results of the test.
(Reported by Hil Anderson in Los Angeles)
