Elizabeth Smart has been found!!

I just heard that she was found alive near Salt Lake City. That's absolutely great - I'd expected her to be dead after this length of time.

She was found alive? Really? Where did you hear did? Can you post a link?

CNN just reported that 14-year old, Elizabeth Smart, of Salt Lake City, Utah, has been found alive.
This is the child who was abducted from her bedroom last June in front of her sister. She's a beautiful blonde child.
Not too many details yet....only that she was found during a traffic stop in the car of a drifter who had done handywork for the Smart family.
Wow, it's not often these stories end this way. I just wonder what the poor girl's been through.

That's great news!

About Damn Time! But she sure defied odds. Now if they could find Lacey Peterson...and murder that a-hole she was married to.

Holy **** I just saw that... im still stunned... guess that shows you Anything is Possible

It's on my TV right now...I haven't found any links. Try the other 2 topics on this subject. :lol:

Thats great news..i'm kind of surprised.

I'm shocked. I didn't think she could still be alive. That's great news! :)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=514&ncid=514&e=1&u=/ap/20030312/ap_on_re_us/elizabeth_smart

SALT LAKE CITY - Elizabeth Smart, the 15-year-old girl who vanished from her bedroom nearly eight months ago, was found alive Wednesday during a traffic stop in suburban Salt Lake City, police said.



"Miracles do exist," said the girl's uncle, Tom Smart.


The girl was found in the car of a drifter who was pulled over in a traffic stop Wednesday afternoon, Sandy police spokeswoman Michelle Burnette said.


"Two separate women called in and said they thought they had spotted 'Emmanuel,'" she said. Emmanuel, whose real name is Brian David Mitchell, once did work on the Smart's home.


Sandy police pulled over Mitchell, another woman and a girl who looked like Elizabeth. They later confirmed her identity, police said.


Salt Lake City police detectives arrived to take over the investigation. Smart was transferred to the Salt Lake city police station. Mitchell was in custody at the Sandy police station.


Last month, Elizabeth's parents announced a new reward for information and asked for help in their search for the handyman known only as "Emanuel." They released a sketch of the man.


At the time, they said Elizabeth's sister, Mary Katharine, had come to them recently to say "Emanuel" bore some resemblance to the man who took Elizabeth from their room at gunpoint.


Elizabeth's kidnapping was part of a frightening string of child abductions that included the slayings of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam of San Diego and 5-year-old Samantha Runnion of Orange County, Calif.


Elizabeth was 14 when she was seized early on the morning of June 5 in front of her 9-year-old sister by a gunman who may have gotten into the house by cutting a window screen near the back door. As the younger sister pretended to be asleep, the gunman threatened to hurt Elizabeth if she didn't keep quiet.


The top potential suspect in the kidnapping, Richard Albert Ricci, a handyman who once worked in the Smart household, died Aug. 30 after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage while in prison on a parole violation. He said he had nothing to do with the kidnapping.


Investigators have said they believe he was involved but may not have acted alone.


Over the summer, the Smarts held twice-daily news briefings and helped coordinate huge volunteer searches. Ed Smart, a real estate broker, vowed to keep the case in the spotlight.


The family often got calls from the police, but it was never the information they wanted to hear. Often, police were calling to alert them to grisly discoveries that might be linked to their missing daughter; they wanted the Smarts to know before the story hit the news.


Sometimes, the news beat the police. Hands and feet had been found in a canyon, or bones had been discovered in the desert, according to the news. The Smarts would call police to ask if it was Elizabeth. Every time, the answer was no.


Police said they followed up more than 16,000 leads from the public in addition to those they have come up with themselves.


___

Wow, this is great news! To be honest, I really thought that she was dead.

That's really good news. I honestly can't imagine what she had been through.

I thought there was no way she could be found alive,after all this time.I sure hope she isn't in too bad of a condition.

That's great news--- im glad she's safe :-D.. but did anybody do anything to hurt her?

Originally posted by vintagetvgirl
I thought there was no way she could be found alive,after all this time.I sure hope she isn't in too bad of a condition.

I was thinking that too. I doubt she is the same person her parents remember from 8 months ago. :(

Elisabeth Smart is alive and well!!

Sorry before i posted I didnt see Janices post

I am so lost....who is Elizabeth Smart and what happened to her?

I just saw it on the news and I can't believe it!! That is great news. :)

thats great. im glad they found her alive. and hope shes not hurt pyshically or mentally

Originally posted by Belladonna
I am so lost....who is Elizabeth Smart and what happened to her? She is a 15yr old girl who was abducted in utah 9 months ago

Its great to hear good news for a change. With all the going to war talk. IM happy for her and her parents.

Wow. That's great news! :)

Any word on her condition and if she was being held against her will or not?

Now, if only they could find Osama...

Originally posted by bandito
She is a 15yr old girl who was abducted in utah 9 months ago

oh...I've heard about her

Originally posted by AAOT
Holy **** I just saw that... im still stunned... guess that shows you Anything is Possible
My thoughts exactly! I thought for sure she was dead. They need to hang the people that took her.

Originally posted by Snoopy
Any word on her condition and if she was being held against her will or not?



Well its been reported she was found wearing a wig so that may give us the answer...

Amazing that she was found alive after almost 9 months. I am surprised and very pleased that she has been found. What a relief for her family. :wave:

OMG! Thats so awesome! Im so glad they found her alive:D

I'm so happy for her and her parents. Thank you Jesus! :clap:

Press conference on now, every station.

Thats great news, and I am so happy that her family has been reunited !:)

That is awesome!! I am still so thrilled that they found her. I think people who do this to young girls or children period are awful people. Ugh, its horrible..

I just read that when I signed on AOL.... I can't believe it!! And she was unharmed! I'm so happy for her and her family and friends

A recent photo was just released of what she looked like, (That was taken recently anyway sometime today I guess) Showed it on local news, Guess we gotta wait till its put on the net somewhere to post here...

Awesome news! Sadly it's not too often these situations end like this. I'm really happy for her and her family.

I could have sworn she was dead, she was gone for so long! The kidnappers must have kept an extremly good watch on her for her have not to ran away or called the police. Thank god she was found, that is the greatest news! :) :) :) :) :D

I'm sooo glad she was found alive
everytime I Hear about a little girl that age being kidnapped My heart just jumps My NIECE is that age :( if anything ever happened to her I dont know what id do

I wonder what they did to her over the 9 months.
There is no telling what she has been through.
Her life might never be the same. She probably
will not be able to sleep at night. And I know she will
probably need counseling. Thank God that she is still
alive. I really felt bad for her little sister. I know her
little heart was broken. But somethimes miracles happen.

i heard about this at the hospital from one of the patients. i couldn't believe it. i seriously did not think they would find her. i thought if they did find her, she'd be dead. i remember i was in salt lake city over the summer and i saw all these pictures of her everywhere. i'm so glad they found her alive. it seriously is a miracle.

i was watching an interview they did with her father and he said that the guy who kidnapped her did a brain washing job on her. But i saw her and she was smiling so i know she will be ok...
She is a very lucky girl...

Im glad that Elizabeth, got found and she look's pretty good....and now that she can finally be with her family and be happy! I hope everything goes good with her and her family

I'm sorry, I'm not buying this story. There's more going on here than meets the eye.
In other words...
I don't think she was kidnapped. I think she ran away.

I was so glad to hear that Elizabeth was found alive.

Originally posted by TJL
I'm sorry, I'm not buying this story. There's more going on here than meets the eye.
In other words...
I don't think she was kidnapped. I think she ran away.
Do you think her abduction at knifepoint in her bedroom was staged? Her sister witnessed it.

Originally posted by Janice

Do you think her abduction at knifepoint in her bedroom was staged? Her sister witnessed it.

Staged? I don't know. It is possible that htis guy, who worked at the house before had previous contact with her; who knows? Maybe she met with her some time before her abduction.
What I'm also wondering about is how her abductor, who was a suspect in the case and later released is seen wandering around with a new girl was never brought in again or why Police never approached them as to learn the identity of his new robe clad companion. It amazes me that this nutcase was allowed in and out of homes and could wander freely in town just blocks from where Elizabeth was taken and he Police and the FBI never realized she was standing right in front of them.
It's a possibility she was brainwashed, and was too afrid to run away from her captor, but something is amiss here.
Until her family comes forth with more details about her ordeal, I still think there's something else going on here...

Please bear in mind I am in no way shape or form trying to make fun of this whole thing. I just think someone is not telling the whole truth...

Her parents seem like decent people, but one thing troubles me. The kidnapper was a panhandler who the mother met downtown seven months before Elizabeth was taken.
Apparently she gave him five dollars and asked him if he wanted to do work on their roof. He worked there only one day for five hours.
The Smarts are affluent people. Their home is worth 1.6 million. I don't understand why they would hire a bum off the street. It could be that they are just trusting and helpful people, but with six kids at home....how about calling a reputable roofing company.
The story behind the murders chronicled in the book, In Cold Blood, began with a drifter doing work on the victims' homes. He ended up in prison and told a fellow inmate about the rich family with money in a home safe. That inmate got out, hooked up with a friend and slaughtered the family of four....for 37 bucks.
It's pretty much accepted that a handyman murdered Sam Shepard's pregnant wife. Sam, a doctor, was convicted but was retried and set free by a young F. Lee Bailey. This put Bailey on the map as a top criminal defense attorney and the TV series, The Fugitive, was based on this case.
The moral of this long-winded post--don't hire losers, bums, panhandlers and drifters to do work on your home.

I WILL WORK FOR FOOD! :crazy: :crazy: :wave:

I will work for chocolate! Seriously. (Well, half-seriously.)

I was surprised to hear that, too. I would not hire some panhandler off the street to work at my house. You don't know what kind of person he is.

theres a special on NBC right now.

Originally posted by Kitt
I WILL WORK FOR FOOD! :crazy: :crazy: :wave: :rotflmao:

i wonder why she hired him, its definatly silly to hire someone off the street.. plus scary! Good lesson to learn here, and with a good ending for once!