SALT LAKE CITY -- The Elizabeth Smart case is apparently going before a grand jury.

ELIZABETH SMART Slideshow: More Images Of Elizabeth

A neighbor of Richard Ricci said he's been called to testify before a federal grand jury in the investigation into the Salt Lake City teen's apparent abduction.

Police said Ricci tops their list of potential suspects in the case, but have stopped short of actually naming him as a suspect.

Ricci's neighbor Andy Thurber told The Associated Press he spoke to Ricci on the morning of the disappearance -- and that Ricci appeared to know more than he should have.

Thurber said Ricci "appeared to implicate himself that morning." Thurber adds that Ricci "said he would get questioned."

Thurber didn't know if other people were called to testify.

Edmunds, Ricci Don't Know Each Other

Two men who've been the recent focus in the Elizabeth Smart investigation don't know each other, the Salt Lake City police chief said Wednesday.

Chief Rick Dinse has said little about evidence taken from cars owned by ex-Smart family handyman Richard Ricci and a man now hospitalized in West Virginia, Bret Edmunds. Neither is considered a suspect in the abduction of the 14-year-old from her affluent Salt Lake City home June 5, police say.

On NBC's "Today" show, Dinse wouldn't say whether Ricci is any closer to being called a suspect.

Investigators still haven't verified Ricci's whereabouts on the day the girl was reportedly taken from her bedroom at gunpoint, Dinse said, adding that, "Things about him are questionable."

Ricci, a convict, worked as a handyman in the Smart family's home last year and was arrested on an unrelated parole violation June 14. Police say they aren't satisfied with Ricci's alibi about his whereabouts on the morning the 14-year-old girl was taken.

Ricci's 29-year criminal record begins with a burglary conviction in 1973, and he's been in and out of prison since then for aggravated robbery, attempted homicide of a police officer and a prison escape. He was most recently freed on parole in 2000.

Elizabeth's father said he never would have hired Ricci if he had known of his criminal background. Ed Smart said he would never have exposed his family to someone like that.

Police are still awaiting the results of forensic tests on Edmunds' car, which was found outside the West Virginia hospital where he showed up last week, suffering from drug-related liver damage.