SALT LAKE CITY — It was on the morning of June 5, 2002, that police and eventually the media began to gather on Kristianna Circle in Salt Lake City after reports surfaced that teenager Elizabeth Smart had been kidnapped from her family home.
Twenty-three years later, we sat with Elizabeth's dad, Ed Smart, as he shared his recollections of that fateful day and time.
“It seemed so surreal, I mean, how could this happen to us? Why? And, how do we move forward?“ Smart shared this week.
Even after more than two decades, Ed says it’s a time that will remain with him forever.
“It was just totally overwhelming!," he remembered. "I will never forget Lois‘s scream, ‘Call the police!' And that started the nine months' worth.”
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Nine months of agony, uncertainty, and fear that Elizabeth would never be found. She was eventually located, and her kidnappers were arrested and prosecuted. Elizabeth is now married, a mother of three and spends a lot of her time advocating for child victims everywhere.
“So many people helped to change our lives. And it’s because of their caring and their help that Elizabeth was found. And she’s doing so well now,” shared Ed.
With no playbook or manual about how to deal with the media, Smart and his now ex-wife, Lois, were out front as much as possible, trying to keep their daughter's story alive.
“Trying to get the public to know who Elizabeth was. I mean, there is still hardly a day when somebody won’t come up to me and say, ‘Oh, Ed, I remember where I was the day Elizabeth was found.”
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For years, Ed did appearances and advocated for missing and exploited children around the country. He now devotes his spare time to working with a group based in Ogden called Youth Futures Utah, a shelter for vulnerable and homeless youth.
He shared how another aspect of that time, 23 years ago, especially during that long, hot summer, is how people from all walks of life came together with a singular purpose: to find Elizabeth.
“The humanity of caring so much about this child, it was overwhelming," Smart said. "It was the good part of this nightmare to think that so many people cared.”
