Police have issued a statewide alert to find a Salt Lake City girl who was abducted at gunpoint from her bedroom Wednesday, June 5, morning.

Salt Lake City police are still searching for 14 year-old Elizabeth Smart.

Police are now offering $10,000 reward for any information.

Detective Dwayne Baird of the Salt Lake City Police Department said there are no leads on a suspect.

"We'll take all leads right now and sort out all of the information as it becomes available," Baird said.

As of press time Wednesday night, police were on four-wheelers, bicycles and feet searching for a thin, male suspect about 5 feet 8 inches tall, Baird said.

"It's just important that we find her and that hopefully she's OK, and as soon as possible no matter what it takes," said Sissy Galbraith, 17, a friend and neighbor of Smart.

Baird said the kidnapper forced his way into the house through a kitchen window and fumbled around the house until he found Elizabeth and her 9-year-old sister in their bedroom. He then kidnapped Elizabeth using a gun, Baird said.

"He's very soft-spoken. He wasn't rough with the girl at all," Baird said.

The police do not currently know the motive of the kidnapping, Baird said.

"The family can't think of any reason why this would've happened to their daughter. There is no indication that anybody at school or anyone she associates with would do this," he said.

Police do not want the public to go out and search for Elizabeth. Federal Heights, where the Smart home is located, is a heavily-wooded area and difficult to search, Baird said.

"Because the individual has been seen with a gun, we don't want the public up here to be in any danger of being assaulted or accosted with that weapon," he said.

The neighborhood is in shock, Baird said.

"She's a beautiful girl," Galbraith said. "Everyone loves her. She's got a lot of friends and she's an awesome basketball player."

Smart's kidnapping is the first kidnapping in Salt Lake City in years, Baird said.

"It's a little scary," Galbraith said. "It makes you not feel so safe where you're supposed to."

Police alerted the public with a new warning system called Rachael Alert.

Under the program, when a kidnapping occurs, all Utah police departments are given the details of the crime. Television programs air the child's picture with updates along the bottom of the television screen. Radio stations also broadcast important information.

Police officials say they hope the Rachael Alert will inform more people of the kidnapping and help authorities search for the child by keeping their eyes open.

"Instead of having 400 police officers, we have 20,000 citizens who will help find her," said Ric Cantrell, community action director for the Attorney General's Office.

Victim Description

14 yrs. old

blonde hair

red pajamas

5' 6"

105 lbs.

Suspect Description

white man

5' 8"

dark hair

light jacket

light baseball hat

KBYU reporter, Jami Palmer, contributed to this story.



Copyright Brigham Young University 5 Jun 2002