Elizabeth Smart Found!!!
 

I just turned on the news to learn that Elizabeth Smart has been found. Apparently, she was found during a traffic stop.

I am so happy for this family. I even choked up...and I don't even know these people!

It's so nice to hear such good news.:)

That is GREAT news!!!!!:D

found in a suburb of Salt lake city, no less!!

Wow I am so happy for her and her family. The local news report said that it is reported that she was raped and molested almost daily. I hope it is a false report but it is probably true. What else would a kidnapper do.

This is truly a miracle. I don't care why she wasn't spotted or why she couldn't figure out a way to escape or anything...she is alive and now she can go be with her family and TRY to resume a normal life. I hope that nothing really nasty was done to her. I can hope for that because, well, we didn't think she would be ALIVE either, so who knows what actually went on...I really hope that she is as okay as she can be...

I really hope that's not true. So sad. Poor girl is not only kidnapped but sexual abused everyday. A really normal girl only 9 months ago will now have to endure years of therapy from this. Why are there so many sick people out there?

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.


AP Photo


AP Photo
Slideshow: Elizabeth Smart Found Alive





Latest news:
· Bush Claims Progress on U.N. Resolution
AP - 2 minutes ago
· Iraq Shows Drone Powell Called Dangerous
AP - 45 minutes ago
· Britain Draws Up Conditions for Iraq
AP - 2 hours, 24 minutes ago
Special Coverage





"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.


___


On the Net:

http://www.elizabethsmart.com

The BBC America believes they are going to announce at the news conference at 7:00 that she is pregnant with his baby. It is confirmed that that guy was a pedophile.

omg if that is true i can't even begin to imagine what that family is going through. That is just about the only situation i would ever condone an abortion for.

Where did you get that information? Is it tv or radio? Is there an internet link?

I wouldn't be surprised if he violated her. That's what happens to a lot of children who are kidnapped. I am so happy that she is alive. I hope that the kidnapper fries.

It is a digital tv channel I get. I don't know if they have a website. They said they believe if from information they are getting but can't confirm it. I hope it is untrue. But it is confirmed he is a pedophile so I wouldn't be suprized.

I thought they couldn't release information like that since she is a minor? am I wrong?

yeah State street in Sandy where they found her is like an 8 mile strip of clubs, bars, tattoo parlors, and used car lots.....oh and a couple of McDonalds - its pretty seedy

I just looked over www.bbcamerica.com and there is nothing there on Elizabeth Smart at all.
Ditto the BBC news site news.bbc.co.uk - not even in the Americas section.

Let's hope this is an urban legend getting loose.

(Sorry I haven't been around, folks--lots of family stuff at home going on. I'm still poking my nose in from time to time.)

Adrienne (PNAM-2003)

I just turned on the tv and missed the BBC World News which airs on the PBS station on channel 13 in NYC. I'll watch the National News.

This is fantastic news!!!! Between Iraq, empending war, the economy, terrorism etc...; we ALL need some happy news these days.