Like everyone else in the nation, Ed Smart said he was shocked to hear the story of Jaycee Lee Dugard, discovered Wednesday in California 18 years after being kidnapped, spending much of that time hidden in a backyard shed and being sexually abused.
"To hear the story is just horrific," Smart said. "It's just a complete nightmare. I just can't imagine 18 years in that backyard, and two children."
Phillip Craig Garrido, already convicted of rape in 1971, was arrested along with his wife, Nancy Garrido, in connection with Dugard's kidnapping.
Garrido is accused of impregnating Dugard twice. She now has two daughters, ages 15 and 11.
California officials said the young girls had never been to school and have never seen a doctor.
Despite the unimaginable nightmare, Smart also called Dugard's recovery a miracle.
"It brings a lot of hope to a lot of parents with missing children," he said.
Garrido had a business called God's Desire, and according to television station KCRA in California, neighbors said "he became increasingly fanatic about his religious beliefs in recent years, sometimes breaking out into song and claiming that God spoke to him through a box."
Smart, whose daughter Elizabeth made international headlines after she was kidnapped from her bedroom in 2002 and found alive nine months later, said the situation sounded all too familiar.
"I'm sitting here thinking to myself, 'It sounds like a repeat of what we've had,' " he said.
Smart hopes California's case, however, doesn't become bogged down in odd courtroom appearances dominated by the defendant interrupting the proceedings with yelling and the singing of hymns, as has become the case with Brian David Mitchell, Elizabeth Smart's accused kidnapper.
"This guy should never be let out again," Ed Smart said.
As for Dugard, the most important thing for her and her family right now is privacy, he said.
"I think right now they just need time to themselves. More important than anything, they need time to be together and enjoy some happiness," Smart said. "She needs to know she's loved and that this is not her fault. And the kids need to know that, too. They have the support of everyone across the nation."
Smart hopes outside observers won't be judgmental of Dugard or her daughters.
Last year, Elizabeth Smart participated in the preparation of a pamphlet released by the U.S. Justice Department titled, "You Are Not Alone, The Journey From Abduction to Empowerment."
The 63-page book tells of several kidnapping cases, including Smart's, as told by her and the other survivors in their own words.
The pamphlet has been called a survivor's guide for kidnap victims.
The Smarts hope it will help others realize they don't have to be victims forever.
"(Dugard's) journey back to life is one that only she will find her way, with love and support from everyone," Ed Smart said.
e-mail: preavy@desnews.com