June 7, 2002 – The mere report of a man acting suspiciously was enough for authorities seeking missing 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart to block off a heavily wooded canyon and search through the night.

About 1,200 volunteers on Thursday searched for the girl taken at gunpoint in her pajamas from her Federal Heights home.

One of those volunteers, identified only as Chad, reported seeing a man acting suspiciously at the top of Emigration Canyon about 7 p.m. Thursday, setting off the search.

The volunteer told a Salt Lake television station that he saw a man wearing a white hat and white shirt, which fit the description of the kidnapper's clothing.

He said it appeared the man might be trying to wipe out footprints. He said he followed the man, lost sight of him and then heard gunshots. He didn't see the man again.

Another volunteer told KSL TV's Jill Atwood that he also saw a man fitting the description of the suspect. He tried to keep an eye on him, but lost him in the dark.

Salt Lake County sheriff's officers arrived within 20 minutes and closed off the canyon, said city police spokesman Fred Louis. A helicopter with infrared equipment and about 20 deputies were searching through the night, he said.

"We're dedicated to following up on any information, any lead," he said.

He said the site was six to eight miles south of the area where the girl disappeared.

Earlier police had said that despite more than 1,000 tips, with calls arriving at police headquarters about one per minute, they were no closer to finding the girl.

"None of the information we have gotten has turned up anything significant. Nothing earthshaking," said Police Capt. Scott Atkinson told an afternoon news conference. "We're pretty much where we were yesterday. The further we go into this, the more concerned we become. Leads dry up, those kinds of things."

The 1,200 volunteers were divided into groups of 10 to 20. They fanned out through the streets and into the steep foothills around the city in response to a desperate plea from the girl's father.

Searchers knocked on doors and asked if anyone had seen anything suspicious. Others hiked through a city cemetery above the town and combed the juniper and holly bushes in a park.

The reward was initially $10,000, but donations from the community boosted the fund to $250,000.

"The entire community is looking to help in any way people can. This community is hurting in very significant ways," said Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson Thursday night when announcing a candlelight vigil for Sunday.

Pictures of the missing girl were posted throughout the city and on the Internet and people started wearing light-blue ribbons _ Elizabeth's favorite color _ and hanging them from trees and car antennas.

Police said that on Wednesday between 1 and 2 a.m., an intruder forced open a window at Elizabeth's home and went into the bedroom where the teen-ager and her 9-year-old sister slept. The rest of the family was also asleep. Police said the gunman warned the younger girl her sister would be harmed if she told anyone.

Because of the gunman's threat, the younger girl waited several hours before alerting her parents.

"We're taking the information she gave us on face value. We talked with her a couple of times and that story seems to be consistent," Atkinson said. "We're going with the information that she gave us."

The kidnapper carried a small black gun and was described as 5-foot-8, white, with dark hair, and dressed in a tan denim-type jacket and white baseball cap. Elizabeth was wearing red satin pajamas, and the man let her take a pair of shoes, police said.

The man did not call Elizabeth by name and he did not appear to know his way around the house, the sister told police. No neighbors reported anything suspicious.

The girl's father, Edward Smart, said Thursday that the home was equipped with a security system but it was not turned on. He said he had locked all the doors that night.

Smart, a real estate and mortgage broker, and his wife, Lois, have lived in their seven-bedroom house since 1996. The couple have four boys and two girls.

The family's house is on the market for $1.19 million, and police were looking into whether a potential buyer toured the home and later returned.

Officers also searched the family's computer to see if Elizabeth had had contact with any strangers online, though her father said she did not use the Internet.

Elizabeth was described by friends and family as a sweet and shy teen-ager, an accomplished harp player and a good athlete.

She was to have graduated from middle school on Friday.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)