Despite a lot of hype and anticipation Sunday that a big break was near in the Lori Hacking investigation, both police and family members remained tight-lipped about any new information.
As of late Sunday, no arrests had been made in the case, the Salt Lake woman remained missing and her husband, Mark Hacking, remained the "primary person of interest" to police investigating her disappearance.
The Hacking family released a statement late Saturday that apparently even caught police off guard. "The families understand that Mark Hacking has provided information that makes it unnecessary for individuals or groups to continue the volunteer search," according to the statement.
Sunday, Salt Lake City police responded with their own prepared statement that did not answer questions about whether the Hackings now know where Lori might be or if Mark might be responsible for her disappearance or offered any type of confession.
Salt Lake City police detective Dwayne Baird, who did not take questions from the media, said, "A member of the Hacking family came in and provided additional substantive information. This information along with other leads will continue to be followed up by investigators."
Police seemed to be caught off guard when the family statement was released Saturday, but that may not be the case. Chris Smart, an uncle of kidnap victim Elizabeth Smart who helped organize and train volunteers to search for Lori, said he spoke to the Hacking family on Saturday and understood that the family had communicated with police prior to making their decision.
Both families crafted the statement together and asked police for input before it was distributed, Smart said.
Smart said someone from the Hacking family called him late Saturday to inform him of their decision. He then called off a search of Emigration Canyon that had begun about 2:30 p.m. by a mounted patrol unit with dogs.
Making the decision to end or scale back a public search effort isn't easy, Smart said. And when police initially discouraged the Hacking and Soares families from continuing the search, he said he counseled them to follow through.
"When I had spoken with the Hackings, I said, 'I understand (what police are advising), but unless they can give you something concrete, I would encourage you to continue unless you have something more firm,' " Smart said.
Had that information — whatever it is — not come, Smart believes both families would have continued search efforts.
"I think the Hackings and Soareses have both been very committed to finding Lori. I don't believe (the decision) has anything to do with not wanting to find (her)," he said. "They don't feel, however, that a search at this point in other locations is needed and they had to make this decision."
Meanwhile police, who had suspended a four-night search of a west Salt Lake landfill, said they would resume those efforts Friday, when the four cadaver dogs that have been in use would again be available.
Mark Hacking remained Sunday at "a local medical facility" and has not been taken into police custody, Baird said during a prepared statement read at the news conference.
Afterward, Baird said police would not be answering any additional questions about the Hacking case for the rest of Sunday. The Hacking family has also said it would not be making any more comments until they had something of significance to say.
Lori Hacking, 27, was reported missing July 19. She reportedly went jogging in Memory Grove and City Creek Canyon but never showed up for work. Her car was found parked in front of the gates of the park.
But investigators said there is no evidence to suggest she was ever at the park that day. Her husband, 28-year-old Mark Hacking, has been a "person of interest" almost from day one in the investigation because of numerous lies he told family and friends and because of his behavior.
He did not graduate from the University of Utah as he claimed and did not apply to medical school in North Carolina, even though that's where he and Lori were scheduled to move.
Mark Hacking went to two stores to buy a new mattress about the same time he reported his wife missing. He was checked into the University of Utah psychiatric ward after creating a disturbance while naked in front of a Salt Lake City hotel early July 20.
Mass volunteer search efforts were organized almost immediately after Lori was reported missing. The searches continued for a week until the family called for the searches to enter a "new phase" on July 27. That's when specialized groups were asked to look for Lori in areas that might pose a risk to members of the general public.
During Mark's stay in the hospital, his father said he looked him directly in the eye and asked if he had anything to do with Lori's disappearance. He replied, "No."
Investigators with cadaver dogs have searched a one- to two-acre and 15-foot-deep area at the Salt Lake Valley Waste Management Facility, 6030 W. California Ave. (1400 South), four times during the past two weeks, including three consecutive nights last week.
So far police have said they have found "nothing of consequence." When asked whether they were looking for Lori's body, police only replied that the goal of their investigation was to find Lori, wherever she may be.
E-mail: preavy@desnews.com; jdobner@desnews.com