Who Is Elizabeth Smart?
Elizabeth Smart spent 9 months in captivity after being kidnapped from her domestic at age 14 in 2002. She has considering the fact that gone directly to become an finished activist and writer.
Who Is Elizabeth Smart?
Born in Utah in 1987, Elizabeth Smart changed into abducted from her home at age 14 in June 2002. Held captive by way of a fanatic named Brian David Mitchell and his spouse, Wanda Barzee, Smart became time and again raped, drugged and forced to undergo religious rituals, until incomes her freedom in March 2003. She has because grow to be a mentioned activist and writer, launching the Elizabeth Smart Foundation in 2011 and authoring My Story in 2013.
Early Life
Elizabeth Ann Smart became born right into a devout Mormon circle of relatives on November 3, 1987, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The 2nd of six kids of a a success real property developer and a homemaker, Smart was referred to as a type, clever, shy and obedient baby. Her finest passion become the harp, which she began gambling at the age of 5 and practiced for hours each day.
By the time she reached middle college, Smart become sought out to perform as a harpist at neighborhood weddings and funerals, and she often participated in the annual fall live performance at the Capitol rotunda in Salt Lake City. Smart became also a professional equestrienne and distance runner who turned into schooling to compete in cross-country racing while she reached high college. She attended Bryant Intermediate School, wherein she changed into called an shrewd and diligent student.
Elizabeth Smart: Questions Answered
In a dialogue guided by using Dr. Drew Pinsky, Elizabeth Smart answers questions from viewers, revealing new details about her 9 months in captivity and her recovery. Watch the unique event 'Elizabeth Smart: Questions Answered' on November 20 at 10pm on A&E.
(Photo: Courtesy A&E)
Abduction
On June four, 2002, Smart and her family attended an give up-of-year awards rite at her school, in which the 14-year-vintage won numerous awards for lecturers and bodily health. Early the subsequent morning, about an hour after midnight, Smart became awoke inside the bedroom she shared along with her younger sister Mary Katherine through the sound of footsteps and the feeling of cold metallic in opposition to her cheek. A man whispered, "I actually have a knife in your neck. Don't make a valid. Get off the bed and include me, or I will kill you and your circle of relatives." The kidnapper, a person by using the call of Brian David Mitchell, led Smart out of the residence and marched her for hours through the wooded area to a camp wherein his wife, Wanda Barzee, changed into waiting.
Mitchell believe he become a prophet named Immanuel, and after appearing a weird marriage ceremony—he became additionally a polygamist—he declared Smart to be his wife and raped her. "I attempted to fight him off me," she later testified. "A 14-year-old female against a grown guy doesn't even out a lot."
Mitchell and Barzee held Smart captive for the next 9 months as they moved among California and Utah. Mitchell raped Smart daily—from time to time more than one times in line with day—and regularly stored her tethered to a tree. He compelled her to consume considerable portions of alcohol and drugs and frequently did not feed her for days, bringing his captive to the edge of hunger. All the at the same time as, Mitchell attempted to indoctrinate Smart in his bizarre religious ideals and persuade her that he changed into a prophet.
Discovery and Rescue
The night time of Smart's kidnapping, her younger sister Mary Katherine had pretended to be asleep in the other bed while silently trying to take a look at her sister's kidnapper inside the darkish. "I stayed in mattress," she recalled. "I became scared. I couldn't do whatever. I become simply bowled over, petrified. I failed to realize what to do, knowing a person had come into my bed room and brought my sister."
After several months, it unexpectedly occurred to Mary Katherine that the kidnapper resembled a man who had as soon as labored on their domestic as a handyman—someone who referred to as himself Immanuel. Police observed that Immanuel changed into a person named Brian David Mitchell, and in February 2003, the famous crime detective show America's Most Wanted aired his picture in an episode.
On March 12, 2003, a passerby recognized Mitchell on foot with Smart, who became veiled and wearing a wig and shades. Authorities arrested Mitchell and his spouse and returned Smart to her circle of relatives that nighttime.
The prosecution towards Brian David Mitchell stretched on for years, complicated with the aid of questions about his mental health to face trial. Finally, on December 10, 2010, more than 8 years after the abduction, a jury in a federal courtroom in Salt Lake City discovered Mitchell guilty of kidnapping and transporting a baby throughout state traces for sexual functions. He was sentenced to existence in jail, and Brazee turned into sentenced to 15 years at the back of bars for her element in the crimes.
Personal Life
Remarkably, Smart controlled to go back to a fantastically everyday existence shortly after rejoining her family. Only weeks after her return, she hiked with her own family to the camp wherein Mitchell had taken her 9 months before. "I felt tremendous. I felt effective," she stated of the experience.
"I do not think it is worth spending time in the past," she introduced. "It's no longer something I think about. If I experience like I need to [retell my story to someone], I will. But I do not have to. I don't speak approximately it plenty, I genuinely do not care to."
Smart quickly lower back to the lecture room and resumed her favorite sports. After graduating from excessive faculty in 2006, she enrolled at Brigham Young University to study tune overall performance. Additionally, she became an activist on behalf of kidnapping survivors and infant sufferers of violence and sexual abuse, recounting her inspirational story in interviews with Katie Couric and Oprah Winfrey, and eventually becoming a mentioned public speaker. Smart additionally helped to creator america Department of Justice's 2008 manual for kidnapping survivors, You Are Not Alone: The Journey From Abduction to Empowerment.
In 2009, Smart moved to Paris for her Mormon missionary experience, a length interrupted by means of a return to the U.S. To testify against Mitchell. It changed into in Paris that she met fellow missionary Matthew Gilmour, a local of Scotland. The two married in Hawaii in Feburary 2012, and went directly to have youngsters together.
Foundation, Book and TV Projects
Smart in 2011 launched the Elizabeth Smart Foundation, which pursuits to empower kids and offer sources and trauma help for victims and households. That year, she additionally become named a special correspondent for ABC News to record on lacking men and women and child abduction instances.
In October 2013, Smart released a memoir entitled My Story, highlighting the horrific ordeals that she encountered at the same time as she changed into abducted. Although the story delves into the inhumane remedy that she received from her captors, Smart wrote the e book as a form of closure. "I need people to realize that I'm satisfied in my lifestyles proper now," she said to the Associated Press.
In 2017, A&E and Lifetime announced a move-community occasion to commemorate the fifteenth anniversary of Smart's abduction. A&E's two-component Elizabeth Smart: Autobiography, set to air on November 12 and thirteen, promised to expose formerly untold information about the bad experience and its aftermath. A dramatized model of the tale will observe on November 18 with the Lifetime movie I Am Elizabeth Smart, starring Alana Boden as the young sufferer and Skeet Ulrich as Brian David Mitchell.
Who Is Elizabeth Smart?
Born in Utah in 1987, Elizabeth Smart changed into abducted from her home at age 14 in June 2002. Held captive by way of a fanatic named Brian David Mitchell and his spouse, Wanda Barzee, Smart became time and again raped, drugged and forced to undergo religious rituals, until incomes her freedom in March 2003. She has because grow to be a mentioned activist and writer, launching the Elizabeth Smart Foundation in 2011 and authoring My Story in 2013.
Early Life
Elizabeth Ann Smart became born right into a devout Mormon circle of relatives on November 3, 1987, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The 2nd of six kids of a a success real property developer and a homemaker, Smart was referred to as a type, clever, shy and obedient baby. Her finest passion become the harp, which she began gambling at the age of 5 and practiced for hours each day.
By the time she reached middle college, Smart become sought out to perform as a harpist at neighborhood weddings and funerals, and she often participated in the annual fall live performance at the Capitol rotunda in Salt Lake City. Smart became also a professional equestrienne and distance runner who turned into schooling to compete in cross-country racing while she reached high college. She attended Bryant Intermediate School, wherein she changed into called an shrewd and diligent student.
Elizabeth Smart: Questions Answered
In a dialogue guided by using Dr. Drew Pinsky, Elizabeth Smart answers questions from viewers, revealing new details about her 9 months in captivity and her recovery. Watch the unique event 'Elizabeth Smart: Questions Answered' on November 20 at 10pm on A&E.
(Photo: Courtesy A&E)
Abduction
On June four, 2002, Smart and her family attended an give up-of-year awards rite at her school, in which the 14-year-vintage won numerous awards for lecturers and bodily health. Early the subsequent morning, about an hour after midnight, Smart became awoke inside the bedroom she shared along with her younger sister Mary Katherine through the sound of footsteps and the feeling of cold metallic in opposition to her cheek. A man whispered, "I actually have a knife in your neck. Don't make a valid. Get off the bed and include me, or I will kill you and your circle of relatives." The kidnapper, a person by using the call of Brian David Mitchell, led Smart out of the residence and marched her for hours through the wooded area to a camp wherein his wife, Wanda Barzee, changed into waiting.
Mitchell believe he become a prophet named Immanuel, and after appearing a weird marriage ceremony—he became additionally a polygamist—he declared Smart to be his wife and raped her. "I attempted to fight him off me," she later testified. "A 14-year-old female against a grown guy doesn't even out a lot."
Mitchell and Barzee held Smart captive for the next 9 months as they moved among California and Utah. Mitchell raped Smart daily—from time to time more than one times in line with day—and regularly stored her tethered to a tree. He compelled her to consume considerable portions of alcohol and drugs and frequently did not feed her for days, bringing his captive to the edge of hunger. All the at the same time as, Mitchell attempted to indoctrinate Smart in his bizarre religious ideals and persuade her that he changed into a prophet.
Discovery and Rescue
The night time of Smart's kidnapping, her younger sister Mary Katherine had pretended to be asleep in the other bed while silently trying to take a look at her sister's kidnapper inside the darkish. "I stayed in mattress," she recalled. "I became scared. I couldn't do whatever. I become simply bowled over, petrified. I failed to realize what to do, knowing a person had come into my bed room and brought my sister."
After several months, it unexpectedly occurred to Mary Katherine that the kidnapper resembled a man who had as soon as labored on their domestic as a handyman—someone who referred to as himself Immanuel. Police observed that Immanuel changed into a person named Brian David Mitchell, and in February 2003, the famous crime detective show America's Most Wanted aired his picture in an episode.
On March 12, 2003, a passerby recognized Mitchell on foot with Smart, who became veiled and wearing a wig and shades. Authorities arrested Mitchell and his spouse and returned Smart to her circle of relatives that nighttime.
The prosecution towards Brian David Mitchell stretched on for years, complicated with the aid of questions about his mental health to face trial. Finally, on December 10, 2010, more than 8 years after the abduction, a jury in a federal courtroom in Salt Lake City discovered Mitchell guilty of kidnapping and transporting a baby throughout state traces for sexual functions. He was sentenced to existence in jail, and Brazee turned into sentenced to 15 years at the back of bars for her element in the crimes.
Personal Life
Remarkably, Smart controlled to go back to a fantastically everyday existence shortly after rejoining her family. Only weeks after her return, she hiked with her own family to the camp wherein Mitchell had taken her 9 months before. "I felt tremendous. I felt effective," she stated of the experience.
"I do not think it is worth spending time in the past," she introduced. "It's no longer something I think about. If I experience like I need to [retell my story to someone], I will. But I do not have to. I don't speak approximately it plenty, I genuinely do not care to."
Smart quickly lower back to the lecture room and resumed her favorite sports. After graduating from excessive faculty in 2006, she enrolled at Brigham Young University to study tune overall performance. Additionally, she became an activist on behalf of kidnapping survivors and infant sufferers of violence and sexual abuse, recounting her inspirational story in interviews with Katie Couric and Oprah Winfrey, and eventually becoming a mentioned public speaker. Smart additionally helped to creator america Department of Justice's 2008 manual for kidnapping survivors, You Are Not Alone: The Journey From Abduction to Empowerment.
In 2009, Smart moved to Paris for her Mormon missionary experience, a length interrupted by means of a return to the U.S. To testify against Mitchell. It changed into in Paris that she met fellow missionary Matthew Gilmour, a local of Scotland. The two married in Hawaii in Feburary 2012, and went directly to have youngsters together.
Foundation, Book and TV Projects
Smart in 2011 launched the Elizabeth Smart Foundation, which pursuits to empower kids and offer sources and trauma help for victims and households. That year, she additionally become named a special correspondent for ABC News to record on lacking men and women and child abduction instances.
In October 2013, Smart released a memoir entitled My Story, highlighting the horrific ordeals that she encountered at the same time as she changed into abducted. Although the story delves into the inhumane remedy that she received from her captors, Smart wrote the e book as a form of closure. "I need people to realize that I'm satisfied in my lifestyles proper now," she said to the Associated Press.
In 2017, A&E and Lifetime announced a move-community occasion to commemorate the fifteenth anniversary of Smart's abduction. A&E's two-component Elizabeth Smart: Autobiography, set to air on November 12 and thirteen, promised to expose formerly untold information about the bad experience and its aftermath. A dramatized model of the tale will observe on November 18 with the Lifetime movie I Am Elizabeth Smart, starring Alana Boden as the young sufferer and Skeet Ulrich as Brian David Mitchell.
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