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Elizabeth Smart: Pics Of The Kidnapping Survivor & Activist

By:
August 20, 2016 9:59AM EDT

Elizabeth Smart is an activist who made headlines when she was kidnapped at 14 years old and held captive for nine months before being found alive. See her pics here.

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Elizabeth Smart

Elizabeth Smart
AP

Elizabeth Smart was just 14 years old when she was kidnapped from her Salt Lake City home by a former street preacher, Brian David Mitchell, in 2002. She was held captive by the kidnapper, along with his wife Wanda Barzee, for nine months. Elizabeth said that Brian treated her like a sex object and “animal” and was forced to drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes. Justice came for the talented musician when she was spotted on the road and police rescued her in Sandy, Utah in 2003. She was safely returned to her family.

Elizabeth is much more than her kidnapping story. The survivor went on to become an esteemed activist for child safety, and regularly speaks at events and advocates for change in national legislation. She helped promote The National AMBER Alert and The Adam Walsh Child Protection & Safety Act, and even founded the Elizabeth Smart Foundation. Elizabeth is an author as well, as she recounted her horrific ordeal in “The New York Times” best-selling memoir, ‘My Story.’ Elizabeth united fellow abduction survivors in the April 2019 Lifetime documentary, ‘Smart Justice: The Jayme Closs Case.’ She also has a music degree from Brigham Young University. 

Elizabeth is now married to Matthew Gilmour and they welcomed their third child in Nov. 2018. 

November 30, 2020, 3:56PM
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Elizabeth Smart walking

Elizabeth Smart walking
AP

In this Sept. 13, 2018, file photo, Elizabeth Smart arrives for a news conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. The kidnapping and rape survivor says she was sexually assaulted on an airplane in 2017.

November 30, 2020, 3:56PM
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Elizabeth Smart at a panel

Elizabeth Smart at a panel
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

Elizabeth Smart attends the ‘I am Elizabeth Smart’ panel during the A&E portion of the 2017 Summer TCA’s at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Friday, July 28, 2017, in Beverly Hills, CA. She talked about her kidnapping experience.

November 30, 2020, 3:56PM
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Elizabeth Smart talking outside a courthouse

Elizabeth Smart talking outside a courthouse
AP

Elizabeth Smart talks to the media in front of the Frank E. Moss Federal Courthouse, Wednesday, May 25, 2011, in Salt Lake City. Smart’s kidnapper, Brian David Mitchell, was sentenced to life in prison.

November 30, 2020, 3:56PM
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Elizabeth Smart talks to the media

Elizabeth Smart talks to the media
AP

Elizabeth Smart addresses the media outside federal court following a guilty verdict in the Brian David Mitchell trial Friday, Dec. 10 2010 in Salt Lake City. Mitchell was found guilty for the June 5 2002 kidnapping of Smart. 

November 30, 2020, 3:56PM