Man wanted for questioning in Utah abduction caught

SALT LAKE CITY -- The drifter wanted for questioning in the kidnapping of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart was caught Friday at a West Virginia hospital after checking himself in under a fake name with drug-related liver failure.

The capture of Bret Edmunds, 26, shed no immediate light on the June 5 abduction and police said again that he is not a suspect. But authorities said they hoped to talk with him and search his car.

"We are anxious to look at him in all aspects of this case to find out if he's a suspect," Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse said.

However, Edmunds was in serious condition in the intensive care unit at City Hospital in Martinsburg, W.Va., nearly 1,800 miles from Salt Lake City. Authorities said he has been in and out of consciousness.

"There is a possibility that he could be critical to the point where he might not survive," Dinse said.

Smart's relatives said they hoped Edmunds might provide a break in the case.

"You've heard the term 'emotional roller coaster,'" said the girl's uncle, Dave Smart. "We're not going to hang our hats on anything until we have Elizabeth in our hands."

The teen-ager was taken at gunpoint from her bedroom. Her 9-year-old sister, Mary Katherine Smart, was the sole witness to the abduction.

Authorities across the country had been looking for Edmunds because a Salt Lake City milkman recalled seeing a suspicious car near the Smarts' home two days before the kidnapping. The milkman recalled part of the license plate number and passed it along to police, who linked the information to Edmunds.

Those license plates, stolen from another car, were found last week along a road north of Salt Lake City.

Edmunds was being held on a federal warrant charging him with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution for violating probation in Utah on charges unrelated to the Smart case. He has been considered a fugitive since October.

In Martinsburg, hospital spokeswoman Teresa McCabe said Edmunds showed up at the emergency room about 5:15 a.m. Thursday.