{"id":1307,"date":"2026-06-06T05:33:37","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T05:33:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1307"},"modified":"2026-06-06T05:33:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T05:33:37","slug":"father-of-elizabeth-smart-opens-up-about-family-nightmare-on-anniversary-of-kidnapping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1307","title":{"rendered":"Father of Elizabeth Smart opens up about family nightmare on anniversary of kidnapping"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Twenty-four years ago, on June 5, 2002, the nightmare began.<\/p>

It was on that day that Elizabeth Smart – then just 14 years old – was kidnapped from her Salt Lake City home, in the middle of the night, with a knife held to her throat.<\/p>

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Nine grueling months later, Elizabeth would be found, after enduring sexual, emotional, and mental abuse at the hands of her kidnapper, Brian David Mitchell, who is currently serving a life sentence after being convicted of the kidnapping.<\/p>

Since her return on March 12, 2003, little by little, Elizabeth has fought to regain control of her life and advocate for other survivors. <\/p>

ABC15 sat down with her father, Ed Smart, to learn more about what their experience was like. He told a story about a father’s love, a family’s fight for justice, and a young woman on a quest to gain her power back.<\/p>

“There was part of me that wished I just had an answer,” explains Ed Smart, discussing the grueling nine months it took for his daughter to be found safely. “It was just so painful.”<\/p>

For those nine months, the entire Smart family had to live through the false leads, the conspiracy theories, and at times, tremendous guilt.<\/p>

“I felt, as a father, what could I have done?” questions Smart. “I should have made a trip around the house or checked that window because it was open.”<\/p>

Investigators believe Mitchell was able to cut a hole through the screen of that open window, gaining access to the Smart’s family home, before making his way to Elizabeth’s bedroom, which she shared with her younger sister, Mary Katherine, who was actually in bed with Elizabeth that night.<\/p>

Mary Katherine started to remember key details that would eventually blow the case wide open. <\/p>

“She remembered the voice,” says Smart. “She just said it sounded familiar to her.” <\/p>

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It was familiar for a reason: about eight months earlier, Mitchell had come to their home on one occasion to help with some roof repair work. The day before, Lois Smart and the children had encountered Mitchell on the streets of downtown Salt Lake City, seemingly down on his luck and needing a hand up.<\/p>

Smart says early on, Mary Katherine identified Mitchell as the assailant, but wasn’t taken seriously by investigators. Despite police pushing back, Smart and the rest of the family moved forward, pursuing Mitchell as a lead. After a sketch of Mitchell aired on America’s Most Wanted, two separate sightings were reported in the town of Sandy, about half an hour south of Salt Lake City. Within 24 hours, Elizabeth would be reunited with her family.<\/p>

“Her face was very sunburned, and her hair was pulled back,” describes Smart, relaying details about the first time he had seen his daughter. “My heart was just going nuts! I ran over there and grabbed her… and I held her, but when she didn’t really respond to me, I said, ‘Elizabeth, is that really you?’ And then she said, ‘Yes, Dad.’ And so that moment was just like, Thank you, God!”<\/p>

Eventually, after a long questioning from police, something Ed Smart has come out publicly and criticized, Elizabeth was able to go home and says that the first night, she took a bubble bath and the family encouraged her to play the harp, an instrument she grew up with. Although it didn’t sound quite like it did before, for Smart, he knew it was a sign that his daughter was already on the road to recovery – not that it would always be easy – but that there was still hope.<\/p>

“You need to help her feel like she is regaining control over her life and that it is not being controlled by someone else. For the next few weeks, we just did whatever she wanted…For me, it was important for her to start moving forward in a way that made her feel good and that made her feel that we did not hold her responsible.”<\/p>

That journey towards healing is a lifelong one, but Smart says seeing his daughter’s strength throughout the past 24 years has been nothing short of amazing.<\/p>

“Elizabeth commented that in coming back and doing the things she wanted to do, she wanted the respect of people. And I admire that. I think she has tried incredibly hard, and she has touched a number of lives and helped become a model, saying you can be what you want to be. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t.”<\/p>

To see an extended version of our interview with Ed Smart, watch in the video player below:<\/b><\/p>

Read more Littleton Elementary District students participate in first gifted summer camp<\/a><\/p>\n

Ed Smart sits with ABC15’s Nick Ciletti to speak on daughter’s kidnapping<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/span>\n\n
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Since her return in 2003, nine months after being kidnapped, Elizabeth Smart has fought to regain control of her life and advocate for others. 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