Elizabeth Smart facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Elizabeth Smart
|
|
|---|---|
_(3x4a)_(cropped).jpg)
Smart in 2023
|
|
| Born |
Elizabeth Ann Smart
November 3, 1987 Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
|
| Education | Brigham Young University (BM) |
| Occupation |
|
| Known for | Abduction survivor |
| Spouse(s) |
Matthew Gilmour
(m. 2012) |
| Children | 3 |
Elizabeth Ann Gilmour (born Smart on November 3, 1987) is an American activist for child safety and a news commentator for ABC News. She became known across the country when she was 14 years old. She was taken from her home in Salt Lake City in an event known as the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart.
The people who took her, Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee, held her for nine months. She was rescued by police officers on a street in Sandy, Utah. Since then, Elizabeth has become an activist. An activist is someone who works hard to bring about political or social change. She helps find missing people and speaks about important issues. Her life story has been told in many books and movies.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Elizabeth Ann Smart was born on November 3, 1987, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Her parents are Edward "Ed" and Lois Smart. Her family is part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She is the second of six children, with four brothers and one sister.
Elizabeth went to Bryant Middle School and East High School in Salt Lake City. After high school, she went to Brigham Young University. She studied music and earned a degree in harp performance.
Kidnapping and Rescue
On June 5, 2002, when she was 14, Elizabeth was taken from her bedroom at knifepoint. For the next nine months, she was held captive and mistreated. Her captors threatened her and told her not to try to escape.
On March 12, 2003, police officers found her on a street in Sandy, Utah, about 18 miles (29 km) from her home. Two people had seen her kidnappers, Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Ileen Barzee, on the TV show America's Most Wanted and called the police.
The kidnappers were arrested. In 2009, Barzee admitted she was guilty of helping with the kidnapping. She was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison. In 2011, a court found Mitchell guilty of kidnapping and other charges. He was sentenced to two life terms in federal prison.
Activism and Career
After she was rescued, Elizabeth Smart began working to help others. She has shared her story to bring awareness to child safety.
Working for Change
In 2006, Elizabeth spoke to the United States Congress. She supported new laws to protect children and improve the AMBER Alert system. She also supported the Adam Walsh Act, another law to protect children.
In 2011, she started the Elizabeth Smart Foundation. The foundation's goal is to prevent crimes against children and help survivors heal. For her work, she has received many awards, including the Diane von Furstenberg Award in 2011 and the Siena Medal in 2012.
In a speech at Johns Hopkins University in 2013, she talked about the importance of self-worth. She said it is important to teach children that they have value no matter what happens to them. She wanted to help people understand that survivors should not be seen as "damaged."
Books and Media Appearances
Several books have been written about Elizabeth's story. Her uncle, Tom Smart, co-wrote a book about the search for her. Her father also wrote a book called Bringing Elizabeth Home. In 2003, a TV movie called The Elizabeth Smart Story was made based on her father's book.
In 2013, Elizabeth published her own book, My Story, which she wrote with Chris Stewart. The book tells the story of her kidnapping and the creation of her foundation. In 2018, she published another book called Where There's Hope: Healing, Moving Forward, and Never Giving Up.
Elizabeth has also worked in television. In 2011, ABC News hired her as a commentator, where she often reports on cases of missing persons. She has also been a correspondent for the show Crime Watch Daily.
She has produced and narrated movies for the Lifetime TV network. In 2017, she produced I Am Elizabeth Smart, which tells her story from her own point of view. She has also produced other movies based on true stories of survival. In 2021, she appeared on the TV show The Masked Dancer as the character "Moth."
Personal Life
In 2009, Elizabeth Smart went to Paris to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While there, she met Matthew Gilmour from Scotland. They got engaged in January 2012 and were married a month later in a private ceremony at the Laie Hawaii Temple.
Elizabeth and Matthew have three children: a daughter born in 2015, a son born in 2017, and another daughter born in 2018. The family lives in Utah.
In 2019, Elizabeth's father, Ed, announced that he was gay and that he and her mother would be getting a divorce. Elizabeth said that she would support both of her parents during this time.
That same year, Elizabeth reported an upsetting incident on a flight. She said it inspired her to start a self-defense program for women and girls called Smart Defense.
See also
In Spanish: Elizabeth Smart (activista) para niños
- Alicia Kozakiewicz
