Finding Elizabeth In June 2002, teenager Elizabeth Smart disappeared from her parents' Salt Lake City home. The incident was part of a frightening string of child abductions that summer. Hers is a story with a rare happy ending.

June 4, 2002 The Smart family attends an end-of-the-year function at Bryant Intermediate School, where Elizabeth is supposed to perform her harp, but does not because she arrives late. She receives awards for academics and physical fitness that evening.

June 5 Between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m., police say, a soft-spoken gunman wearing a Scottish-style golf hat enters the bedroom shared by 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart and her sister Mary Katherine, 9. The man reportedly abducts Elizabeth at gunpoint. The parents say Mary Katherine informs them of what happened two hours later.

June 6 Salt Lake Police announce an increase in the reward for Elizabeth's safe return from $10,000 to $250,000 as a result of donations from the community.

June 7 Edward Smart, Elizabeth's father, is released from a hospital in good condition after collapsing from exhaustion.

June 8 Police question and release a man who had contact with Elizabeth at a social function the family attended.

June 9 A lie detector test is given to Edward Smart, while a candlelight vigil is held in Salt Lake City's Liberty Park that night.

June 11 The investigation shifts focus as police report they are concentrating on those who had access to the neighborhood or house, although not necessarily a Smart family member.

June 12 A manhunt for 26-year-old drifter Bret Michael Edmunds is announced by police, who say Edmunds might have information about the teen's disappearance but stress that he is not a suspect.

June 13 Police say Edmunds may have been spotted at the candlelight vigil For Elizabeth.

June 17 The Deseret News reports Ed Smart says he left a garage door open for at least two hours on the night before Elizabeth's disappearance. The Salt Lake City Tribune had earlier reported that detectives have been unable to explain how the abductor could have entered through a small kitchen window that appeared to be the entry point.

June 18 Investigators backtrack on what they believe happened, now saying the abductor did not know Elizabeth's sister was watching. Earlier reports said the intruder told Mary Katherine to keep quiet.

June 21 Edmunds is caught at a hospital in Martinsburg, W.Va., where he is being treated for a drug overdose. He was captured after he gave inconsistent information to hospital staff.

June 24 Police say they are looking very closely at 48-year-old Richard Albert Ricci, a handyman who spent a lot of time working in the Smart home last year. He was taken into custody on an unrelated parole violation June 14.

June 26 A federal grand jury begins questioning people who may have knowledge of Elizabeth's disappearance.

June 27 Ricci's father-in-law, Dave Morse Sr., says a knife and Scottish-style golf cap were taken from his home by the FBI. Police have said Mary Katherine told them the abductor wore the same type of hat. Morse said the hat had never been loaned to Ricci.

July 3 Salt Lake City mayor Rocky Anderson announces a second reward in the case. The $25,000 offered for information leading to Elizabeth's location or the arrest of her abductor takes into account the fact she might be dead. The family is also offering a $250,000 reward for her safe return.

July 10 Ed Smart says the family received an unsigned letter that may have been sent by someone who knows the abductor. The letter indicates a willingness to negotiate, but contained no contact information and the girl's father could not say whether it was credible.

July 11 Theft and burglary charges are brought against Ricci for allegedly stealing $3,500 worth of jewelry and other items from the Smart home in June of 2001. The former family handyman does not face charges related to the kidnapping, but remains the top suspect in the case.

Aug. 27 Ricci collapses in his jail cell after telling guards he's having trouble breathing. He is put on life support after surgery to relieve pressure on his brain.

Aug. 30 Investigators lose their best lead when Ricci dies after being taken off life support by his wife. Doctors say the brain hemorrhage he suffered in jail had caused irreversible brain damage. Angela Ricci claims the stress of being wrongly linked to Smart's abduction contributed to her husband's death.

Feb. 4, 2003 The family says Mary Katharine recently told her parents that "Emanuel," a man who did some work at their home in November 2001, bears some resemblance to the man who took Elizabeth from their room at gunpoint. Photos of the man, whose real name is Brian David Mitchell, are later released on television program "America's Most Wanted."

March 12, 2003 Elizabeth is found alive in the company of Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee, walking on a suburban street just 15 miles from her parents' home. Police were tipped off by phone calls from two couples who said they'd spotted a suspicious looking trio. "Miracles do exist," Elizabeth's uncle Tom Smart said when he heard the news.

March 18, 2003 Brian Mitchell and Wanda Barzee are charged with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault and aggravated burglary. It is reported that the Smart family has called on prosecutors to make sure they do not traumatize Elizabeth during questioning about the nine months she spent with her captors.

April 30, 2003 Elizabeth makes her first public appearance since being found. The occasion is the signing ceremony legislation that includes the national "Amber Alert," to aid the rapid spread of information about abducted children over radio, TV and electronic highway signs. Elizabeth attended the ceremony with her parents, Ed and Lois.

July 26, 2005 Accused kidnapper Brian David Mitchell is declared mentally incompetent to stand trial. During hearings, Mitchell repeatedly shouted Biblical admonitions and sang hymns, prompting him to be removed from court several times. Prosecutors express optimism that Mitchell will eventually be found competent to stand trial; Elizabeth's father, Ed Smart, expresses surprise at the ruling but says he hopes one day Mitchell will be civilly committed.