Elizabeth Smart

Elizabeth Smart, one of the most renowned child abduction victims in the country, was the key note speaker at the League City Women’s Conference. Elizabeth was abducted at the tender age of 14, just before celebrating her middle school graduation.

The abduction of Elizabeth Smart was one of the most followed child abduction cases of our time.  She started the speech by telling us about the afternoon of June 5th, her mom had been at the hospital visiting her father (Elizabeth’s grandfather) who was very ill. Even though her mom was worried and upset about her dad, she stated cooking dinner.  Her mom is an excellent cook, but that day she burned her first meal. Her dad opened a kitchen window to let in some fresh air in. Elizabeth went to sleep in her room that she shared with her younger sister.  Awakened hours later to a knife held roughly against her throat, her abductor  threaten to kill her sister if she made a sound. As he is leading her out a back door she figure it would make a sound because it had a alarm strip on it.

Despite her kidnappers’ abuse, Smart said she never gave up hope. After all, she said, hope was the only thing that could bring her a semblance of sanity and comfort.

What kept her going, she said, “was realizing that despite everything that happened to me — the people trying to steal my life, my identity and my family away from me — that they couldn’t steal my parents’ love for me.

“No matter what they did to me or wherever they took me, my parents would still love me. And even if no one else ever did, that was enough for me.”

Through this traumatic experience Elizabeth has become an advocate for change related to child abduction, recovery programs and National legislation.

Elizabeth triumphantly testified before her captor and the world about the very private nightmare she suffered during her abduction, which lead to conviction.

Elizabeth has chronicled her experiences in the New York Times best-selling book, “My Story.”

In the book she writes about being taken from her home in the middle of the night by religious fanatic, Brian David Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee. She was kept chained, dressed in disguise, repeatedly raped, and told she and her family would be killed if she tried to escape. After her rescue on March 12, 2003, she rejoined her family and worked to pick up the pieces of her life.  Elizabeth Smart reveals how she survived and the secret to forging a new life in the wake of a brutal crime. Click to purchase book thru Amazon.

Elizabeth’s abduction and recovery continues to motivate parents, law enforcement and leaders worldwide to focus on children’s safety. She emphasizes vigilance by “every day” people and the belief that hope always exist to find every missing child.

Elizabeth attended Brigham Young University, studying music as a harp performance major. She married her husband Matthew in 2012 and they have a daughter.