A scheduled hourlong meeting between Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson and FBI representatives to determine who will receive part of the reward money offered in the Elizabeth Smart case ended Thursday afternoon with no resolution and no firm date set for a second meeting.
Besides not reaching a conclusion, Anderson, FBI personnel including special-agent-in-charge Chip Burris, assistant city attorney Steven Allred and Police Chief Rick Dinse discovered that they can't dole out $45,000 of the reward money until after there is a conviction in the Smart kidnapping case.
That $45,000 is partly city funds and partly FBI money to be awarded for information leading to the successful prosecution of those responsible for Elizabeth Smart's abduction.
In addition to a conviction, Salt Lake representatives and the FBI will need to agree on who receives the reward. That agreement could not be reached during the Thursday meeting, said Anderson's spokesman Josh Ewing.
The larger, privately funded $250,000 reward for Elizabeth's safe return was mentioned during the Thursday meeting but not discussed at length, Ewing said. The recipent(s) of that reward will be decided without FBI assistance by Anderson and Dinse. That reward was for Elizabeth's safe return.
Ewing said once the city and FBI determine the reward recipients the city will release their names, only if the recipients allow their name to be publicized.
In a letter denying a Government Records Access Management Act request for the names of those who were being considered for reward money, Allred explained the city's position on releasing the names.
"The claims and nominations are, obviously, an integral part of the effective operation of the reward system which is, itself, an integral part of investigative techniques," he wrote. "If people believe their identity will be disclosed, many people may be reluctant to provide the very type of information that led to the safe recovery of Ms. Smart."
It was revealed earlier that Nancy and Rudy Montoya and Anita and Alvin Dickerson, the two couples who called police within a minute of each other after spotting Brian David Mitchell and two others on State Street in Sandy on March 12, had been nominated for the reward.
Also, Mary Katherine Smart, Elizabeth's sister, was nominated for the reward. The Smart family said Mary Katherine was nominated by an outside party and not a family member.
Because of how the rewards were drawn up, the Salt Lake District Attorney's Office will be consulted on the $250,000 reward.
Contributing: Pat Reavy.
E-mail: bsnyder@desnews.com