Police want to quiz man in teen's abduction

Bret Michael Edmunds

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (CNN) -- Police in Salt Lake City released the name of a man Wednesday wanted for questioning in the abduction of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart.

The man was identified as Bret Michael Edmunds, 26. Edmunds is a transient and faces outstanding criminal warrants charging him with fraud and assaulting a police officer.

For that reason, said police spokesman Fred Louis, "we do consider him dangerous." Police said Edmunds is not considered a suspect.

Police said Edmunds was spotted in Smart's neighborhood sometime a day before the kidnapping, driving a green car. A milk man, Charlie Miller, gave police a partial license plate number.

"He just seemed to drive the neighborhood real slow ... as though he was looking for something," Miller said. "This is somebody that just didn't fit for the neighborhood for that time of day."

WANTED FOR QUESTIONING Bret Michael Edmunds, White male, aged 26 235 lbs, brown eyes Believed driving Green, 1997 Saturn, Utah tag 266XJH Considered "dangerous" by police Elizabeth Smart tip line 800 932-0190 or 801 799-3000 CNN NewsPass VIDEO Investigators in Utah say they have developed a working profile of a suspect in the abduction of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart. CNN's Frank Buckley reports. (June 12) Play video CNN's Frank Buckley says police are refocusing the search for Elizabeth Smart to the area surrounding her home. (June 11) Play video   EXTRA INFORMATION • Gallery: The search for Elizabeth Smart  • Web site for Elizabeth Smart

Police describe Elizabeth's abductor as a 5-foot-8 white man, who was wearing a white jacket and white baseball cap and armed with a black handgun. Edmunds is white, 6 feet 2 and weighs 235 pounds, according to police.

Louis identified Edmunds' car as a 1997 Saturn with a Utah license plate of 266XJH. He said Edmunds apparently lives in the car and does not have a job.

Authorities have said Elizabeth was kidnapped at gunpoint from her bedroom about 1 a.m. June 5, while her parents slept. Police received a phone call at 4:01 a.m. that she had been taken.

Her uncle, Tom Smart, said the family has been ripped apart and is praying for a miracle. He also said the family has thought about the kidnapper.

"I believe that this person is not a bad person at all," said Tom Smart. "Our family has felt strongly for a while -- and there's been some comfort here for awhile -- that this is just somebody who actually likes Elizabeth."

Earlier Wednesday, Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse expressed confidence that authorities will track down Smart's abductor no matter how long it takes.

"I can't set a time limit on this," Dinse said on CNN's "American Morning." "It may be soon. It might be later. It may be for quite a while."

Dinse reiterated an assertion he made Tuesday that police may have talked to the suspect.

"We believe we have enough information about the suspect, the characteristics of the suspect based on the crime scene, based on all of the investigative leads we've [had] up till now -- including a behavioral science picture of him," he said.

"We have narrowed our focus in order to meet those things that we believe will bring us to him."

Elizabeth Smart

Police are zeroing in on the girl's upscale Federal Heights neighborhood, which Dinse said he believes the abductor has "had access to" for some time.

Investigators have spoken with contractors and real estate agents in the area. The Smarts' seven-bedroom, six-bathroom house is for sale for more than $1 million.

"We've looked at it [the neighborhood] originally and quickly in order to try to see if we could locate Elizabeth in a fast manner," Dinse said.

"After looking at everything and all of the leads that we have brought or have had, we think that this is the right way to go about trying to locate this person and bring Elizabeth back."

He said police have had more than 6,000 leads in the case and have identified 600 that are worthy of following up. He said police have talked to 300 people "and probably more than that" to date.

"There is a good chance in all of the people that we've talked to that we have, in fact, talked to the suspect," Dinse said. "Now we're going to focus in and go back to some of those people and, of course, continue investigating and interviewing new people."

Authorities began renewing their efforts Tuesday in the neighborhood after interviewing the missing girl's 9-year-old sister, Mary Catherine, for a third time.

The sister had previously said she witnessed the abduction and that she didn't tell her parents for at least two hours because the man had threatened to kill her.

Milkman Charlie Miller gave police a partial license plate number that helped identify Edmunds.

"We did learn some things about the suspect we didn't know before," Dinse said of the latest interview Monday night with the sister.

The new investigative focus also followed a search Tuesday of the sprawling 6,600-square-foot house by investigators.

The chief said Wednesday he would not discuss what may have been recovered.

Dinse also said the police have located a possible point of entry by the abductor but would not say what it is.

Elizabeth is 5 feet 6 inches and weighs 100 pounds. She has blue eyes and blond hair.