After a summer of terrible kidnapping stories, one finally has a happier resolution: Elizabeth Smart was found 9 months after being kidnapped. The now 15 year old Salt Lake City girl was found just 13 miles outside of Salt Lake City in Sandy, Utah. Abducted from her bedroom in the middle of the night last July by a homeless man, Brian Mitchell aka "Emmanuel," who had done handy work around her house, Elizabeth was found wearing a wig and possibly a veil. She had been traveling around with Mitchell and a woman who has been described as his wife. Mitchell had been known in downtown Salt Lake and is described as being a preacher/religious fanatic.
The Smart family maintained had released new information about "Emmanuel" in February, after revisiting what Elizabeth's 9 year-old sister, Mary Katharine, who was in the room when Elizabeth was kidnapped, had seen. The photographs of "Emmanuel"-Brian Mitchell show him in a variety of forms, sketch, bearded, beardless. According to an AP story, Mitchell was "frequently seen wearing white pants, a robe-like tunic and a brimless white hat that resembles a puffy turban or baker's toque," and the photograph below makes him looks strangely John Walker Lindh like.
I'm riveted and thrilled, mainly because it's so shocking that one of these stories is revolved with someone alive. The Smart family has been using the word "miracle" a lot - "Do miracles still exist? The answer is yes. Words cannot express how grateful we are for the prayers around the world. We have Elizabeth back," said her uncle, Dave Smart. I agree it is a miracle, but I'm interested to see how faith and religion will play into her recovery, as Salt Lake City is a religious city and the Smarts are a prominent Mormon family. Not that it shouldn't, but especially since we're all so cynical these days, concerned with other things, something like this can really turn around people's ideas about faith.
Coverage from The Salt Lake Tribrune
The Salt Lake Tribune also has great photos of the Smart family and Salt Lake City residents.
Lou Dobbs interviews a CNN correspodent about Elizabeth Smart's appearance.
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they found her walking around with this guy in a public place in broad daylight wearing a wig and a veil and various other elements of disguise. you're telling me this went on for nine months against her will? without a single opportunity for her to yell "Help me! I'm elizabeth smart!" or duck out of a bathroom window? or a 911 call? over nine months? the girl wasn't four, she was 15! Even when the police confronted them and began questioning them, she lied about her identity- they determined on their own that it was her. And how about the father's comments- he says he spoke to her and she's stable and healthy and all that, but he claims "we haven't asked her what happened yet"- give me a fucking break! you expect us to believe that they havent asked yet? The only justification for a response like that is if you're planning on burying as much as possible of what actually happened.. My take is he's some david koresh type who managed to persuade a naive girl into leaving her family and following him... he's obviously still some type of demented pedophile, but in light of recent developments, a nine-month kidnapping does not appear to be what happened. Besides- hiring charismatic homeless people off the street to do odd jobs inside your family's home? Didn't I see something about that in an ad for Bad Idea Jeans?
And also- I'll tell you who I really feel sorry for- Richard Ricci, the handyman who died of a brain hemmorage in prison after being accused of the kidnapping and likely murder of elizabeth smart. I'd have to imagine a nationwide accusation like that would is just the kind of thing that would inflict a brain hemmorage. I guess it's darkly ironic that the only person who wound up dead in this whole fiasco was the guy everyone thought was a child killer.
See that's the thing, there are many weird parts:
- She's 14/15 - why didn't she try for help? She says that there were 2 people watching her all the time. And she probably led a very sheltered life, just guessing at what being one of 6 Mormon kids, playing the harp and all, must be like. Of course, there could have been been some crazy psychological shit pulled on her, but it is odd she was just 13 miles away and walking around sort of freely with her kidnapper
- Her father thinks she seems stable and healthy - but that might be the Mormon kicking in, denial and not wanting to let others know how fucked up she really is. Makes you wonder how stable her family really is - like that girl who disappeared last week, she's 14 or 15, and ran away with this gross 56 year old ex-con rapist. What is going on in their minds, and how are these sick fucks able to twist their minds?
- The flipside of being charitable Mormons, as in hiring charismatic homeless people, is that you've got to deal with the consequences. And the Smarts had other kids.
The Richard Ricci factor is pretty sad; I immediately wondered if his family would be suing the police in a civil trial, though he was in jail for a legitimate parole violation.
this whole elizabeth smart thing is totally insane. first off, it's amazing that she's actually alive. i think the vegas odds on that were like 99 to 1. then there is all the weirdness that josh pointed out- why are kidnappers always "charismatic loners"? then there are all the class issues- would this story have lasted five minutes if instead of looking like barbie this girl was an overweight member of some less favored ethnic group? There is so much to say about it.