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Renowned forensic investigator on the trail of missing girlSALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Police need four things to crack a case, said forensic investigator Henry Lee as he arrived here on Tuesday to help find Elizabeth Smart, the 14-year-old girl who was abducted in June.
One of those things is luck, and Salt Lake City detectives haven't had much of that. "There's been a lot of twists and turns, but we just haven't had that piece of luck," said police Sgt. Fred Louis.
More than four months after Smart was taken from her bedroom at gunpoint, her 9-year-old sister the only witness, police have yet to make an arrest, or even name a suspect.
Their top "potential suspect," an ex-convict handyman who once worked in the Smart home, died from a brain hemorrhage in August without revealing any secrets.
Police also need good crime scene evidence, said Lee, who has worked on high-profile cases such as the O.J. Simpson trial, the Chandra Levy disappearance, and the murder prosecution of Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel.
In this case, the Smart's neighbors and church bishop came to the home -- before police arrived -- on the night of the June 5 abduction.
Lee, who has investigated 6,000 cases in a 45-year law enforcement career, said he doesn't know how much harm was done by all that traffic at the crime scene.
"Any time the scene has contamination, you're going to have some difficulties," Lee said.
But Lee said he does know that investigators here have done an excellent job collecting evidence and following up thousands of leads.
Physical evidence is another one of Lee's four necessities. He said he hasn't yet seen that evidence firsthand, but he plans to go through all of it with detectives on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Police have been tightlipped with the media about just what clues they've collected. "There's definitely a lot of information there," Louis said.
Lee also said he plans to conduct a crime-scene reconstruction at the Smart's upscale home in the Federal Heights neighborhood.
Lee says public support is another thing law enforcement needs to solve cases. There's been no shortage of support in the effort to find Smart.
Thousands of people turned up in the days and weeks after the kidnapping to comb the foothills of Salt Lake City. Thousands more have called in with tips and potential clues. Missing posters still plaster train stops and telephone poles around town.
Lee said he agreed to take a look at the case at the request of Ed Smart, Elizabeth's father, and is working "pro-bono." Salt Lake Police agreed to meet with him and share their evidence, Louis said.
"Sometimes you need another pair of eyes to look at it," Lee said.
But the former Connecticut public safety director isn't expecting to solve the case alone.
"Solving cases, as I always say, is teamwork. Nobody can solve the case by him- or herself. It's not a television show," he said.
"Solving cases is not like the public perceives" where the case-cracking clue always comes in before the third commercial break, Lee said.
