SALT LAKE CITY – Burglary charges are likely to be filed Thursday against Richard Albert Ricci, Assistant Salt Lake County District Attorney Kent Morgan said Monday.
Ricci, who has been named as a potential suspect but not charged in the Elizabeth Smart abduction, worked for several months as a handyman at the Smart home last year.
The burglary and theft charges may involve items taken from the Smart home.
Ricci denies any involvement with the girl's kidnapping.
Ricci's attorney, David K. Smith, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
At a news briefing Monday, Ed Smart, Elizabeth's father, acknowledged "some things were missing" from his home. He wouldn't say when he reported them missing, and equivocated when asked if they disappeared during a burglary.
Ricci is being held at Utah State Prison for parole violations. One of the violations listed on his warrant was burglary.
Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse has said Ricci tops the list of potential suspects in the 14-year-old girl's disappearance.
"I know (the police) are still focusing on him," Ed Smart said.
Elizabeth Smart on June was taken from her bedroom in the middle of the night by a man with a gun. The sole witness to the abduction, 9-year-old Mary Katherine Smart, said the soft-spoken man had a medium build, dark hair on the backs of his hands and wore a golf hat.
Ricci's neighbors and relatives have testified before a federal grand jury as part of the investigation.
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