UNION, S.C. - A nationwide search for two tots whose mother says were snatched in a carjacking swings back to this small textile town today after five days of fruitless tips.
Thousands of reports - ranging from people who say they saw the missing car or recognized a drawing of the suspect to a hunter who says he heard a child in a forest crying for his mommy - are being analyzed by computer-carrying FBI agents.
Hundreds of searchers using dogs, riding horses and scanning dense forest with helicopter-mounted infrared radar have found no sign of Michael Smith, 3, and Alex, 14 months.
"We're back to ground zero," says a frustrated Howard Wells, sheriff of Union County. "I think there is a possibility they could be in Union."
And as the focus of the investigation returns to the boys' hometown, residents here in "the city of hospitality" are becoming hostile.
Reports that the mother, 23-year-old Susan Smith, had difficulty with a lie detector test anger those who know her.
"She was good to those young 'uns," says Don Davis, manager of the Winn-Dixie grocery where Smith once worked and where her estranged husband, David Smith, 24, is assistant manager.
"It's bad enough they're in this kind of shock, but then to have that kind of thing said, it's just awful," Davis says.
Wells refuses to comment on the lie detector results but says he talks to the parents daily to clear up conflicting details.
"Do not read into our contacts with her as laying blame," the sheriff says. "She's our only witness. And not only is she the victim in this case, but the public is trying to make her a suspect as well."
Kidnappings by strangers are rare - between 200 and 300 a year, according to Justice Department statistics. And when a child disappears, a relative is most often to blame.
Although the couple have appeared together to appeal for the safe return of their boys, the Smiths are separated and getting a divorce.
Family spokeswoman Margaret Gregory says the couple are "tight, trying to keep their spirits up and praying every moment."
Davis, who has been providing food for the family, says Susan Smith "is in shock and she's had to be sedated, she's so upset. They loved those kids so much. They're good, good people."
The boys appear to have helped keep the couple close.
David Smith still mowed the lawn at the home he once shared with his family. And they all celebrated Michael's third birthday at McDonald's just two weeks before the boys disappeared.
"They took good care of those children," says neighbor Sue Morris. "You could always tell they were happy. They're smart little fellers. Smart, intelligent children."
Like so many others in this small town, Morris' husband, Skillet, has taken to the back roads in his own car trying to find the burgundy Mazda Protege with South Carolina tag GBK 167.
"We're so shook up we can't even talk about it," says another neighbor, Earl Valentine, his voice cracking.
At the small brick house behind Valentine's, the Smith driveway is empty, save for the red wagon and the balls the boys loved to play with.
Throughout town there are yellow ribbons and signs expressing love, hope and prayers for the Smiths.
And there is fear.
After a candlelight vigil at the family's church, Pam Keisler, 37, says she no longer lets her daughter, Misty, 10, go outside by herself. "We don't let her play. It's terrible to not let a child play. It's not fair, but we're scared."
Federal agents say they can do little more to calm the fears here and across the nation.
"We're all terrified by it," says FBI supervisor Carol Allison. "We all go home and hold our children a little tighter. It breaks our hearts."
CHRONOLOGY OF S.C. BOYS' DISAPPEARANCE
-- Tuesday, Oct. 25: Susan Smith appears on a doorstep in Union County, S.C., screaming that her boys had been taken by a carjacker. A 9:15 p.m. 911 call launches a regional manhunt.
-- Wednesday: An air search is launched at daybreak and the FBI joins the hunt, which includes a national alert for the car and suspect. The family pleads for the boys' safe return. Tips begin to pour in from across the nation.
-- Thursday: The Uwharrie National Forest is searched for 14 hours after a nearby convenience store is robbed and a hunter reports hearing a child crying for his mommy in the woods.
-- Friday: A search is launched in Shut-in Mountain, Tenn., after a tipster reports seeing the car. Near the boys' hometown of Union, S.C., woods are searched after a girl sees a muddy man emerge.
-- Saturday: Police in a helicopter continue the search, but some wooded areas are avoided by ground searchers because of the danger posed by deer hunters. The FBI uses a new computer system to sort tips.
-- Sunday: Divers and searchers on horseback return to the area where Susan Smith says her car was stolen. Investigators start over "at ground zero."
