Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Mother of former suspect overjoyed

Her son was named as the top suspect in the abduction of Elizabeth Smart, but Kathryn Ricci of Mesquite never gave up hope that the girl would be found and that her son, Richard, would be vindicated.

Reached at her home Wednesday, a few hours after Elizabeth was found in Sandy, Utah, in the company of a transient panhandler, Kathryn Ricci expressed joy that the 15-year-old girl was found alive.

"I had always hoped they would find her," Kathryn Ricci said. "I am so happy for the Smarts. I knew my son didn't do it. He didn't."

Richard Ricci, a handyman who once worked for the Smarts, died last August in jail, where he was being held on a parole violation. After his death many believed that the Smarts would never find out what happened to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth's homecoming has brought hope to the parents of children who are still missing and to the authorities who continue to search for them.

When Tina Logan heard that Elizabeth Smart had been found, her heart filled with something she hasn't felt often over the past 11 years -- renewed faith.

"I just can't imagine how happy her parents must be," Logan said. "It gives me hope that my little boy is out there somewhere and that I'll find him."

Tina Logan is the stepmother of Randi Evers, who disappeared at age 3 from a Las Vegas apartment in 1992. Logan and Mike Evers told police that Randi vanished after Mike Evers' birthday party.

Mike had gone to sleep in a back bedroom and Tina Logan, who has since divorced Mike Evers and now lives in California, had left the apartment with friends to continue the party at a casino. Randi was on the living-room floor when Tina left, but when she returned early the next morning Randi was gone.

"We went through several grand jury proceedings because the police thought we were suspects," Logan said. "We went through all that and they never charged us with anything, and my son is still missing."

Salt Lake City police never charged Richard Ricci with a crime in connection with Elizabeth Smart's disappearance, but he was charged with theft after police found $3,500 worth of jewelry and other items belonging to the Smarts during a search of his home.

Additionally, he was accused of an earlier nighttime burglary of another home in the area.

Police alleged Richard Ricci also withheld information about his whereabouts and the location of his vehicle at the time of Elizabeth's disappearance.

She was snatched from her bedroom by an armed intruder June 5, 2002. Her 9-year-old sister, who feigned sleep, gave police a partial description, but had not pointed to Ricci.

Kathryn Ricci, 76, said seeing her son being associated with such a crime was unbearable.

"It was awful," she said. "We weren't able to call him. He was in a holding room for quite a while."

She said she misses her son and wished he were alive to see Wednesday's developments.

"I am sad that my son is gone, but I am happy for (the Smarts)," she said.

As Logan watched news reports about Smart on Wednesday, she said she wondered what it felt like for the girl's family.

"Those parents have to be wondering what happened to her," Logan said. "Was she abused? Where was she? What happened to her? Those are the questions I always ask myself about Randi."

Sgt. Tom Wagner of Metro's missing persons unit said most children who are abducted are killed within two hours. He said it was a miracle that Elizabeth was found alive after being missing for nine months.

"This is the first time in my 15 years as a police officer that I've heard of this happening," he said.

Metro's missing persons unit gets about 110 reports of missing or runaway juveniles per month, and the cases are divided among five detectives. Only a small percentage of missing children end up victims of foul play, Wagner said.

One case that remains unsolved is that of Karla Rodriguez, who has been missing since Oct. 20, 1999. The 7-year-old was last seen playing with friends that evening near Sixth Street and St. Louis Avenue.

She disappeared just blocks from her house, sparking a massive door-to-door manhunt and national media attention.

Leads have just about dried up, Wagner said. But the Elizabeth Smart case shows that it doesn't mean the Karla Rodriguez case is hopeless.

"Whenever anything good happens in another community, it gives us a glimmer of hope that things we are dealing with will have a positive outcome," Wagner said.

Nevada Child Seekers is a nonprofit organization based in Henderson that helps police and parents locate missing, abducted and runaway children.

Director Jill LeMasurier said she was shocked when she heard Elizabeth had been located.

"I've had calls from people all over the country who now feel that there is hope in these cases," LeMasurier said. "It's unbelievable that she was found so long after she went missing."

"We keep cases open until a body is found or a child is returned," she said. "There is always hope."

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