A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives.
On March 12, 2003, Elizabeth Smart, the 15-year-old girl who vanished from her bedroom nine months earlier, was found alive in a Salt Lake City suburb with two drifters, Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee.
The news was almost too good to believe.
But it was true, and Utahns as a whole were relieved at the outcome.
“She’s home,” read the big bold headline in the Deseret News. There were lots of hugs. A memorial sprang up along State Street in Sandy when young Elizabeth was found with her abductors.
Family, friends, an entire state and many, many more offered prayers of thanks for the outcome. Too often, abductions end much differently.
In the ensuing days and months, now years — stories detailing aspects of the saga have been shared.
Smart, now married and a mother of three, wrote a memoir and has been a tireless advocate for missing persons and victims of sexual assault.
Here are some stories from Deseret News archives related to the abduction and return, and how Utahns and the media reacted to the news:
“Elizabeth Smart — She’s home!”
“About Utah: Smart: Happy end to a sad saga”
“Smart story makes media history”
“Timeline: The Elizabeth Smart kidnapping 15 years later”
“Elizabeth Smart kidnapping timeline”
“Our Smart — tireless, dedicated”
“Elizabeth Smart details kidnapping in new memoir”
“Photos: Found! Elizabeth Smart”
“Elizabeth Smart wants more college students to get self-defense training”
For information, Mitchell is serving a life sentence for kidnapping Smart. Barzee was released from prison in September 2018.
