Saturday, January 21, 2012

Former kidnap victim Elizabeth Smart engaged to marry (Reuters)

SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) ? Elizabeth Smart, who was kidnapped at age 14 from her Salt Lake City home and held for what she described as "nine months of hell," is engaged to be married and anticipates a wedding in early summer, a family spokesman said on Friday.

Smart, now a 24-year-old advocate for missing children and occasional TV news commentator, has not publicly identified her fiance, spokesman Chris Thomas said.

"Elizabeth got engaged this past weekend," Thomas said in a written statement. "A date for the wedding has not been set but the couple anticipates early summer."

"While she plans to be very publicly involved with her child advocacy work, she has decided she wants to keep the details of her personal life private," Thomas added.

Smart was abducted at knifepoint from her bedroom in June 2002 by a homeless street preacher, Brian David Mitchell, and was repeatedly raped and forced to wander with her captor from town to town for nine months.

She was freed after being spotted by passers-by in a Salt Lake City suburb in 2003.

Mitchell was convicted in 2010 of kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor across state lines to engage in sexual activity. He was sentenced in May to life in prison.

Smart testified during Mitchell's trial, describing her time as his captive as "nine months of hell."

Mitchell's wife, Wanda Barzee, was sentenced to a 15-year prison term in 2010 after pleading guilty to conspiracy and cooperating with prosecutors in the case against Mitchell.

ABC News announced in July it had hired Smart as a contributor on stories about missing persons.

(Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120121/us_nm/us_usa_smart

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