Elizabeth Smart Reuninted with Her Mother**picture***

THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE ^ | March 13, 2003 | Elizabeth Neff

[Kentucky]

Police found Elizabeth Smart alive and in the company of a transient panhandler Wednesday, some nine months after she disappeared from her Salt Lake City home. Sandy police located Elizabeth in the suburb with Brian David Mitchell, who had worked odd jobs for the Smarts for five hours in November 2001 and was wanted for questioning. Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse said investigators are convinced Elizabeth was kidnapped, and released the name of Wanda Eileen Barzee as a second suspect in the crime.

[Iwo Jima]

Would you let a man who looks like this "Emmanuel" come into your house or near your children? Do you need any other information to know that he is a weirdo who could easily do your children harm?

[MayflowerMadam]

Huh?? Are you okay?

[Illbay]

Well, you were right about the gun. There was no gun.

There was a knife.

And the screen was cut from OUTSIDE, and that's how the creep got in.

And the Smarts had nothing to do with it, beyond being victims of a heinous crime.

[Jimmyclyde]

Is this indeed the assertion? Is it now bad mother-hood to hire handymen, plumbers, electricians, landscapers....?

This guy was no handyman.

He was a bum. He was begging on the street when the Mom picked him up and brought him back to the house.

And yes, it was a very poor choice on the mothers part.

[Xenalyte]

Been a little while since I dipped my toe into the DU cesspool - feeling better now, and thanks for asking! (I did have to lie down with a cold washcloth on my head for a bit.)

[Utah Girl]

Elizabeth Smart snuggles with her brother William beside her sister, Mary Katherine, at their home in Federal Heights - nine months after she was abducted.

[Grig]

I heard the couple are ONLY being charged with kidnapping charges, not sexual assault, and they likely took her as a 'replacement daughter' for the one who left them at the same age. Can anyone confirm? The look in her eyes in those pictures is not the look I would expect from a raped, abused captive. It is so good to see her happy and well.

[utahagen]

At least some of the pre-kidnapping photos were within weeks of the kidnapping. Plus, as I write before, she was five foot, six inches and just 100 pounds when she was kidnapped. That is thin, believe me, and indicates the (appropriate) weight gain associated with the onset of puberty had not yet happened.

[Iwo Jima]

The police say that the screen was cut from the inside, and I believe that.

I agree that the Smarts had nothing to do with "it," it being an abduction. I have never thought that the Smart family had any guilty responsibilty for Elizabeth's disappearance. I do think that they were part of a family situation involving teenagers which many very nice families including my own have experienced. No "blame," just one of those things that got way out hand when (I believe) Elizabeth took it upon herself to take a hike.

[Saundra Duffy]

I just read that Elizabeth Smart's mother talked to this homeless creep, gave him $5, and invited him INTO THEIR HOME TO DO REPAIRS!!!!!!!!!! For God's sake, don't these people have any brains?!! They should be warning people NOT TO HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH HOMELESS BUMS MUCH LESS INVITE THEM INTO YOUR HOME TO BE AROUND YOUR INNOCENT CHILDREN!!!!!!!!!

[Mamzelle]

Actually, few of the guys I've hired for subcontracting are scrubbed and clean-shaven. Not to mention, their pants have a habit of being too big, particularly from behind.

[stlnative]

Personally... I don't care what you think, Please save your posts for other people who might actually care what you think, do not direct them to me.

All I am doing is reporting what I hear from off the TV. What I post does not mean I suspect anything other than Liz was kidnapped from her home and was held against her will all these months. I am happy that she is home with her family who no doubt love her and the picture showing her face and the holding of her mother's hand shows she is happy to also be home.

[SevenDaysInMay]

She was stolen as a breeder and hidden through a "religion" protected by Political Correctness.

Our society must recover from PC paralysis. Compare this act with the Koran, Hadith, and Sharia.

The homelss street preacher/mullah must hang and his conspirator cult should either hang or spend their lives locked away with their new Big House polygamous husbands.

We must leave this stolen, raped child alone.

Won't happen. Oprah, don't you dare, girl.

[marktuoni]

Mothers by definition have a responsibility first and foremost to their children!

Bringing these people into your home shows incredibly poor judgement.

If she was indeed ignorant of the evil that lives on the streets, then Mrs. Smart and her daughter should be pitied for this. If she was aware of the danger (as I think she should have been) then only Elizabeth deservesthe pity and her mother contempt.

[Utah Girl]

Tom Smart, Deseret News

Lois and Ed Smart wrap their arms around Elizabeth, who is back home with her family nine months after she was abducted from her Federal Heights bedroom. She was found Wednesday in Sandy.

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Tom Smart, Deseret News

Elizabeth gets a hug from her grandfather, Charles Smart, as family members welcome her home.

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Keith Johnson, Deseret News

Rudy and Nancy Montoya of West Jordan are all smiles Wednesday. They called 911 just before 1 p.m. after seeing "Emmanuel" and two women walking along a street in Sandy.

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Keith Johnson, Deseret News

Alvin and Anita Dickerson of Sandy are one of two couples who called 911 Wednesday afternoon after they saw the man known as "Emmanuel," who was sought by investigators and had been featured on "America's Most Wanted."

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Laura Seitz, Deseret News

Tom Smart, Elizabeth's uncle and a Deseret News photographer, hugs his daughter Sierra at the Federal Heights Ward during his family's emotionally charged Wednesday.

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Keith Johnson, Deseret News

Sandy City Police Sgt. Victor Quezada and officer Karen Smith, the first two officers to respond to the call about the suspicious people on State Street, stand with officer W.B. O'Neal at a press conference.

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[stlnative]

Thanks for the picture...! Prayers will continue to be said for this beautiful young lady and her family.

[Utah Girl]

Thank you for the reports from the press conference. They are very much appreciated.

[AppyPappy]

His cult?? As best anyone can tell, it was just him unless you include Bo Gritz.

[Iwo Jima]

the couple are ONLY being charged with kidnapping charges, not sexual assault.

That, plus Ed Smart's comments that Elizabeth has been brainwashed, sounds to me like Elizabeth is refusing to confirm any allegation against "Emmanuel" and that fishface named Wanda. That is consistent with what I said earlier about wondering what if anything they would/could be charged with.

I am becoming more and more convinced that Elizabeth walked out the door and then hooked up with this pair, maybe by chance, maybe by plan. If that is the case, are they guilty of kidnapping? Or are they home free? Is harboring a runaway a crime?

How will the prosecution prove anything in this case without Elizabeth's testimony? Certainly no one could convict a man on anything that Mary Katherine might testify to at this point.

[Mamzelle]

What's the deal with this guy's (Ed Smart) political announcement and attack on the pol having to do with Amber Alert? Sounds like he needs somebody to blame. The Amber Alert is a good idea, it's hard to imagine a pol against it, but would it have helped Elizabeth? Ed Smart needs to look a little closer to home. I didn't know that Mom Smart was so carelessly naive...