Police question convict in disappearance of Utah girl

Associated Press WriterSALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Police investigating the apparent kidnapping of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart said Monday they have not ruled out a handyman with a 29-year criminal record.

As a result of focusing the investigation on those who had access to the Smarts' home, they talked again to the man and are checking out his alibi, said Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse.

"At this point in time, he is not a charged suspect, but he is very interesting," he said.

Police have been questioning Richard Albert Ricci, a man who worked in the Smart home more than a year ago.

He was arrested on an unrelated parole violation June 14, police spokesman Fred Louis said. That was nine days after Elizabeth Smart was reportedly taken at gunpoint from her bedroom in an affluent Salt Lake City neighborhood.

Despite having had Ricci in custody for 11 days, police haven't been able to pin down the man's whereabouts on the morning of the abduction, Dinse said. Ricci has not been charged in the kidnapping.

"We have questions about his actions between May 31 and June 8," Dinse said.

"Mr. Ricci denies involvement," Dinse said.

Ricci, 48, had been living in the Salt Lake City suburb of Kearns. He has a long criminal history in Utah, beginning with a burglary conviction in 1973. He was been in and out of prison for the past three decades, and was most recently freed on parole in 2000.

Ricci's convictions also include aggravated robbery, attempted homicide and a prison escape.

Chris Thomas, who has been acting as a spokesman for the girl's family, said Ricci last worked in the Smart's Federal Heights home more than a year ago, painting and doing handy work.

Dinse said he believed Ricci -- pronounced REES ee -- had contact with the Smart children while he was working on the house.

Monday, Elizabeth's parents made no mention of Ricci and instead urged for people nationwide to search for their daughter. His house and car have been searched. Ricci has voluntarily talked to police. Investigators have also spoken with Ricci's wife, Dinse said.

"This person who has abducted Elizabeth could be far away," said Ed Smart, Elizabeth's father.

"Mr. Ricci has risen to the top of our list to be looking at," Dinse said.

Police have not shown Ricci's photograph to the sole witness of the abduction, Elizabeth's 9-year-old sister. Mary Katherine Smart told police the man who took her sister was between 30 to 40 years old, nicely dressed and soft spoken.

In addition, Salt Lake City police and FBI agents have interviewed Bret Michael Edmunds, whom they had sought for two weeks for questioning in the abduction investigation.

He is at hospital in Martinsburg, W.Va., where Monday morning he was listed in serious but stable condition, said hospital spokeswoman Christy Polack. Edmunds checked himself into the hospital on Thursday for treatment of drug-related liver damage.

Authorities said Edmunds, 26, was cooperative with investigators and allowed a search of his vehicle.

"We are very confident that he has provided us with some good information," said FBI special agent Dan Roberts. Police will be following up on those potential leads. "He is just one of many people of interest to us in this case."

There was no known relationship between Ricci and Edmunds, authorities said.

A milkman helped police trace a car owned by Edmunds that was spotted in the family's neighborhood two mornings before her June 5 abduction.

The car was seen in a suburban Salt Lake subdivision in the days following the girl's disappearance, but search teams recovered nothing Saturday after dogs had picked up a possible scent in the same area one day earlier.

Berkeley County, W.Va., Magistrate Sandra Miller issued a warrant Monday morning charging Edmunds with being a fugitive from justice after federal authorities said they would ask a judge to withdraw a federal warrant for unlawful flight, Martinsburg Police Chief Ted Anderson said.

Edmunds will be arraigned on the state charge in Berkeley County Magistrate Court after he is released from the hospital, Anderson said. It is not known when that may be.

Melodie Rydalch, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney in Utah, said dropping the federal evading charge is standard procedure after the person has been located.

------On the Net:

Elizabeth's Web site: http://elizabethsmart.com