Elizabeth Smart May Have Been Photographed WithStreet Preacher At Party in September

http://kutv.com/specialsection/local_story_071193346.html ^ | 03/13/03 | Sonserae

[sonserae]

Elizabeth Smart may have been photographed at a party with transient street preacher Brian David Mitchell in Salt Lake City last September.

A photo taken at the party by Dan Gorder and e-mailed to 2News shows Mitchell with two women wearing veils. One of the females may be Elizabeth.

The photos were snapped three months after Smart was abducted from her home in June. She has been the focus of a massive search since that time.

Smart was found with Mitchell Wednesday in Sandy. Police started looking for Mitchell after Elizabeth's sister said he might be the man who took the girl from her bedroom last June.

Mitchell worked at the Smart's home briefly before Elizabeth's abduction.

Smart may have been traveling with Mitchell and his wife. There are reports that she spent time in the mountains above Salt Lake City and traveled as far as San Diego and Florida during the past nine months.

Police and family members believe that Mitchell abducted Elizabeth and held her against her will. They said Elizabeth did not have the opportunity to escape.

Smart family members said someone was always with Elizabeth and she didn't have a chance to get away or communicate with her family.

It is unclear if Elizabeth was abused or threatened. Some speculate that she may have been the victim of some type of brainwashing.

It is unclear how long Elizabeth was in the Salt Lake area after she disappeared from her home.

The party where the photos were taken was on 10th East and 2nd South in Salt Lake City. Mitchell and the women just walked into the party, according to Gorder.

"I just started snapping photos of them, they looked a little weird," Gorder said. " The women didn't say a word, the man talked about Jesus and stuff like that. He really didn't make a lot of sense."

The women never really looked around at people very much. "It seemed like they were sort of obedient to him."

Gorder said that the man believed to be Mitchell was drinking at the party.

[cinFLA]

Does a POW act like he is 4 because he doesn't escape?

POW's are kept in cages; not allowed to be out in public.

[AppyPappy]

Sometimes they worked in the fields.

[Palladin]

From an article in today's SL TRIB:

Thompson said his mother for years carried around dolls, pretending they were alive. He said she had also been forcibly removed from a local hospital -- as recently as last year -- "for touching other people's kids."

After "America's Most Wanted" aired a segment about Mitchell as a possible suspect in Elizabeth's disappearance, Thompson contacted police and helped look for his stepfather.

"We just knew it was him," he told The Times. "I've never liked the guy and felt he's always had something to do with this. I'm having a hard time breathing right now."

Long before, Mitchell had lost touch with his Mormon faith. LDS Church records indicate that he and Wanda were excommunicated, said spokesman Michael Otterson.

C. Samuel West, a self-described medical researcher in Orem, allowed the couple to live with him on and off for several months in the late 1990s. During their stay, West says he tried to convince them to return to the LDS Church.

"When I started talking to him about the church, he took off," West said Wednesday.

But some months later Mitchell and his wife returned. This time he was wearing his robes and telling tales of a hand-made cart he pulled across the Golden Gate Bridge. The two called themselves "David" [pronouncing it "Daw-veed"] and "Eliza [pronounced "Ell-is-a"].

West dubbed Mitchell and his wife "my little Israelites," and marveled as they meticulously built a covered wagon on the back porch.

"He felt he was playing the role of Jesus," West said. Mitchell told him that "giving anything to him was like giving it to Jesus."

After several months the Wests could no longer afford to support the Mitchells, and the couple went on their way. That left Mitchell without work, so he turned to panhandling and handyman services.

In August 2001, a kind homemaker employed him for a day -- Elizabeth's mother, Lois Smart.

[plain talk]

Dittos. This is even worse than the FReeper 'experts' we suffered through in the recent shuttle disaster. It's amazing to me that people can develop such strong conclusions based on such little information. Folks - I think we need a tad more information here before analyzing this to any extent.

[xzins]

I just heard that he had mentioned acquiring an additional wife. I does make you wonder how deeply imbedded the polygamy thing is in the counter-culture in Utah.

[Hildy]

I just can't believe you could go to that place based on the evidence. Nobody ever, ever came out and said that Elizabeth was troubled. No friends ever came forward, no family ever came forward. She has never been portrayed as anything but an angelic child. It's an illogical leap for you to make.

[Hildy]

Irene, you said it. I'm dumbfounded by the remarks about the family made on this board.

[Tamzee]

It's utter nonsense to expect a 14 year old to take total control of her situation when she was being controlled by two adults. She had no money, transportation, or way of knowing which adults around her might help her. She would have been terrified they could kill her anytime they wanted, in SURVIVAL mode and probably scared to death to do anything but follow orders. These were the monsters we all warn our children about and they HAD HER TOTALLY IN THEIR CONTROL.

Anyone who speculates that her captivity was her own fault is an idiot.

[Tamzee]

I believe I am qualified

Actually, each word you utter reveals you to be incredibly uneducated in the subjects of child abduction and sexual exploitation. You are embarassing yourself greatly... and too arrogant to know it.

Go learn a thing or two - www.missingkids.org

[Rad_J]

George W. Bush is such an idiot. The US has been killing innocent Iraqi children for 12 years. No wonder the whole world hates Americans. I am embarrassed by the US flag!

Oh wait, wrong thread. This is the blame the Smarts croud, not the blame America croud. That's funny. How did I ever get them confused?

[soccermom]

Amen! It is a sad commentary on our country that so many need to conjure up vile speculation. Does anyone honestly think a girl like that would willingly go with a freak? He was at the house all of FIVE HOURS -- and in that time these vile rumor mongers conclude that she fell for the guy? And it isn't enough that they have to smear Elizabeth. They have to malign the father to ascribe a motive --- not to mention maligning the little sister.

[Hildy]

You said it perfectly.

[LaraCroft]

May I suggest a hobby for Mr.Mojo that doesn't include harrasment of people? I must say I'm honored that you would go to the trouble to look up my name and email me to a thread I haven't even been to, especially when I hadn't asked, but I am really too busy.


When you start a ping list, I'll not join that, and in the mean, take up letter writing to the troops, please.

[tracer]

Rock on..... 8~)

[Grig]

"I just heard that he had mentioned acquiring an additional wife"

To date the only reports I've seen claim that based it on unnamed sources. Given the media's love of linking Mormons with polygamy cults at the drop of a hat, I'll take those reports with a truckload of salt.

[xzins]

Nonetheless I heard it.

The most interesting thing to me is her comment to the police, "Oh...you think I'm that Eliz. Smart girl who RAN AWAY!" I've heard that quote a couple of times now from the officer who found her. I just heard it about half an hour ago, on more time, on the Michael Savage show. I heard the tape replay.

Why would Smart, HERSELF, think she was A RUNAWAY? The media ALWAYS played it as an abduction in the middle of the night. If this street prophet had no access to a TV, then Smart never saw the TV explanation that she had been abducted.

Since they were wearing "burkas" Mitchell could have been Islamic. Renegade Mormons are not the only ones who teach polygamy.

[Grig]

"The most interesting thing to me is her comment to the police, "Oh...you think I'm that Eliz. Smart girl who RAN AWAY!" I've heard that quote a couple of times now from the officer who found her."

She was kept up in the mountains the first few months and was not aware of any of the media hoopla over the case. I think it's very likely that she was TOLD by her captors that everyone things she ran away to make it easier to convince her that the search for her was abandoned. With that kind of time and the right manipulation, you could abduct a girl and get her to think she ran away too.

I find it interesting that SHE brought up the name. I wonder if it was a deliberate attempt to signal the police without tipping off her 'minders'. She only denied being Elizabeth then when they were around.

The jerk is an ex-Mormon however, he was excommunicated a long time ago.

[xzins]

The burkas say "islam" to me. Maybe this particular prophet concocted a new brew that combined the two.

I listened to that police officer replay, and those officers were clearly disturbed that Eliz. Smart kept denying her identity. THEN...she said the "run away" thing. On top of denial after denial.

That makes it an open case to me.

I'm thinking that there are some issues here that need putting to rest. If they aren't, then Mr. Ed Smart shouldn't be surprised to find that little girl gone again real soon.