Police thought they would never find Elizabeth Smart after suspect died in custody

Richard Ricia contractor who had worked on the Smart house, was arrested for an unrelated probation violation on June 14, 2002.

After the police found some of Lois’ jewelry in Ricci’s possession, he was charged with robbery and became the prime suspect in Elizabeth’s kidnapping.

As seen in the police interview footage, Ricci denied knowing anything about the kidnapping. However, she also refused to explain how she had driven several hundred miles in her Jeep a day after she was taken.

Meanwhile, after seeing it on the news, Mary Katherine maintained that the man who had been in her bedroom that night was No Ricci.

Then, on July 24, 2002, an attempted break-in was reported at Elizabeth’s aunt and uncle’s home. Police found a hole in the window screen and two chairs outside his 18-year-old daughter’s room.

Still, police thought they were close to solving the case. “Desperate” for answers, Lyman recalled in the document, they offered Ricci immunity if he could help find Elizabeth, on the condition that he not be guilty of kidnapping or murder. But Ricci suffered a brain aneurysm in prison and died on August 27, 2002.

“I felt sick to my stomach,” Lyman said. “Our most likely suspect died. Everything he knew went with him. And it left us in a dead end that was very difficult. As a police officer, you put up an emotional wall, and that wall started to erode for me.”