Elizabeth Smart
This blog post is a hard one on some people, before you keep reading, I want to share some resources on anyone who are SA survivors, for Canada and US.
US:
National Sexual Assault Hotline:
1-800 656-4673
For US and Canada: Call 911 if you are or know somebody who has SA.
I was watching a Timeline video of 2002 and one of the events that sparked me to write this was the Kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart. One of the things that strikes me to write this was how much media attention and the matter of the 'Me-Too' movement came to be.
 |
| Elizabeth Smart |
But I think its important to highlight stories like this and talk openly regarding SA.
Elizabeth was born in Salt Lake City, to Mormon parents and has four brothers and one sister.
From the New Yorker, Margaret Talbot did in 2013 titled 'Gone Girl', she explains her backstory about her life before the kidnapping and her childhood. According to the article, she studies in
Bryant Middle School and East High School. She then later enrolled into a music program, 'Bachelor of Music' in Harp performance.
From the 'Gone Girl', it explains her story of how the perpetrators came to kidnap Elizabeth and she talks about how her experiences are, in her own words.
She did this in Washington Hilton Hotel in front of high schoolers and talked about her survival story.
If you want to learn more directly from her, check out this link:
Then 14 year-old Smart was abducted by knifepoint from her bedroom by Brian Mitchell. She was held captive in the outskirts of the City for nine months.
While she was abducted, she was also sleeping with her then nine year-old sister, Mary Katherine. The story came to be later on when she described what happened during the ordeal.
She was found nine months later in 2004.
The entire public was anxious about her disappearance, and both of which were her parents. Her parents, Ed Smart and Lois Smart were worried about her, that they were forced into the public eye, pleading for their daughter's rescue.
They pleaded to many news organizations and according to Fox News written in 2023, he recalls what happened during the incident. He said that it was 'overwhelming' and 'surreal experience'. In his own words, he said, “So many people helped to change our lives. And it’s because of their caring and their help that Elizabeth was found. And she’s doing so well now,”
 |
| Ed Smart |
The reason why he came out now, according to the Salt Lake Tribune was the fact that he did ;not want to regret his situation down the line' and he feels 'comfortable' doing so.
In turn, the LDS (Church where he goes to) accepted him, choosing the right on who to marry and have children.
At the end of Elizabeth Smart kidnapping case, from the timeline on Biography website, on June 2005, the judge found Mitchell 'incompetent' to stand for trial which in 2010, both Marshall and Barzee were charged with federal charges stemming from this case.
In May 2010, Barzee recieved 30 years in federal prison with Mitchell receiving life in prison over the charges.
As for Elizabeth Smart, she went on to become an advocate for missing persons and even spoke out a few times on the media, and in the White House. She started her own foundation dedicated to those who experienced her situation.
Here is the link for it. https://www.elizabethsmartfoundation.org/
Elizabeth Smart case is just one story out of the countless kidnappings and SA stories around the world. If you need resources, I urge you to go to the website, call 911, or to talk to someone.
References:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ed-smart-father-of-kidnapping-survivor-elizabeth-smart-coming-out-gay/
https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/it-seemed-so-surreal-elizabeth-smarts-father-recalls-kidnapping-23-years-later
https://www.sltrib.com/news/2019/08/17/ed-smart-talks-about-his/
https://www.biography.com/crime/elizabeth-smart-timeline-story
Comments
Post a Comment