A Salt Lake City, Utah girl kidnapped in the middle of the night on 5 June, 2002 by someone who entered through her bedroom window. At the time of the kidnapping, she was 14. The prime suspect in the case, Richard Albert Ricci (a handyman), died on 30 August, 2002 of a hemorrhage while in jail for a parole violation. Then, on 12 March, 2003, a tipster called police in a suburb of Utah, responding to a police sketch of Elizabeth's kidnapper. A vehicle was pulled over, and Brian "Emmanuel" David Mitchell was arrested. Elizabeth, now 15, was reunited with her family. This is interesting, considering the fact that police discounted Elizabeth's sister, Mary Katherine's recollection of the kidnapper's face. As early as 24 December, 2002, the Smart family believed Mitchell was the kidnapper, not Ricci, as the police believed.
Mitchell was a homeless man, whom Elizabeth's father Ed Smart had hired once to do some roofing work on the Smart's home. At one point, Ed Smart offered a $10,000 reward for anyone who could provide information clearing the police's suspect, Ricci, of the crime. The led to some people accusing him of trying to run the investigation as if he were a detective, although it appears that he was, in the end, correct.
Sources: ABC News, FBI, crime.about.com