SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (Isabelle Zehnder reporting) -- It is heartwarming to share the news that Elizabeth Smart, who was kidnapped at the age of 14 and found alive nine months later, is getting married. She’s 24.
While Intrepid Communications’ Chris Thomas confirmed Elizabeth became engaged last weekend and plans to marry in the summer, he declined to offer any information about how she and her fiancé met or details about her wedding plans.
According to Thomas, that’s how Elizabeth wants it.
But it’s a tough thing to do in Utah – keeping something private. The Salt Lake Tribune already learned the name of the groom and the month they’ll marry – in part from Elizabeth’s Facebook page and from her registries at Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma (my personal favorites – good choice, Elizabeth.)
In a note on an LA Times article the author wrote, “If you want privacy, don’t register at Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma under your real names. Or else the Salt Lake Tribune will write about it, with a story that starts ‘Break out the Martinelli’s’.” Elizabeth is LDS.
And they did!
The article begins with, "Break out the Martinelli's" and flaunts a photo of the young couple from Facebook. They also revealed the name of the groom and the date they’ll marry, information they say they found on the wedding registries. Out of respect for Elizabeth this writer will skip the details.
We’ve read about her horrifying experience with the self-proclaimed prophet, Brian David Mitchell, who abducted Elizabeth from her bed while her younger sister watched, and the horrific things he did to her for those nine months.
Thanks to Elizabeth’s strength and determination Mitchell and his wife are off the streets - Mitchell is serving a life sentence in prison and his wife, Wanda Barzee, is serving time in a Texas prison for her role in the crime.
It takes a strong young woman to be able to face her abductor and abuser head on like she did, having to relive those horrifying months. The world thanks her.
Now it’s time to celebrate with her, and the nation will. The LA Times wrote that when Elizabeth gets married “she’ll have a nation wishing her happily ever after.” They’re right.
Congratulations, Elizabeth! Thank you, Ed Smart, for all the work you did to save your daughter and for all the work you’ve done for other missing children.
Elizabeth is walking in her father’s footsteps and has said she’ll devote much of her life to advocating for victims of crime. Our nation needs someone like her.
She is the founder of the Elizabeth Smart Foundation that is aimed at protecting children from abuse. One main focus is on prevention, education, and promoting radKIDS.
An ABC News network spokeswoman said that in July, Elizabeth signed on as a "contributor" to ABC News to help viewers "better understand missing persons stories from the perspective of someone who really knows what the family experiences when a loved one goes missing."
According to ABC's website, Elizabeth said Friday that she's excited about her engagement. "We are looking forward to a bright future together," she told ABC.
Ed Smart said his future son-in-law is a "fine young man" and said he's pleased for his daughter and hopes she'll have a happy life.
Thomas said Elizabeth's life is on an upswing. "This is an exciting next chapter of her life," he said of her engagement. "It's a banner year for her in many ways."
Elizabeth has, over the past months, worked on several projects such as writing a letter to President Barack Obama imploring him to appropriate more resources into investigating sexual abuse crimes against children, that are rampant in this country.
She asked Obama for more funding to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force which investigates sexual exploitation of children online. Her Nov. 9 letter also asked Obama to declare a "national emergency" and allot resources for a "massive search and rescue operation" to help children trapped in abusive situations.
Much time is spent online comlaining about the abuse and abductions of children - Elizabeth is actively doing something about it. Perhaps it's time to stop complaining and start becoming active by supporting people like Elizabeth and their efforts to protect against the abuse in the first place.
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