'Miracles do exist': Elizabeth Smart found alive
Investigators said the bearded drifter, identified as Brian David Mitchell, told them he was acting on orders from God and wanted the girl to become his second wife. "It was a religious thing," a police source told The Seattle Times.
Mitchell, 49, a self-described prophet to the homeless, and a companion identified as Wanda Barzee were taken into custody by police in the Salt Lake suburb of Sandy while 15-year-old Elizabeth was reunited with her parents and her five siblings.
They were held on suspicion of aggravated kidnapping. No criminal charges had been filed late last night.
"Miracles do exist," said Tom Smart, the girl's uncle.
"All of the children out there deserve to come back to their parents the way Elizabeth has come back to us," her father, Ed Smart, said as he broke into sobs. "It is nothing but a miracle. I just held her, held her the whole way home."
He added: "I don't know what she's gone through, and I'm sure she's been through hell. I just know that she's a part of our family, she's loved and we love her so much."
Police said Elizabeth looked much the same as she did last summer.
"She looked healthy," Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse said. "She's a smart, alert lady."
A celebration ensued in front of the Smarts' home in affluent Federal Heights, with neighbors and members of the family's Mormon congregation holding blue and yellow balloons.
"How can I even talk? This is such a miracle," said Lynne Godfrey, 57, a neighbor. "I had given up hope — I mean, where would she have been? Who would have taken care of her for a year?"
"A lot of people in Salt Lake City had thought she was gone for good," said Jason Olsen, a spokesman for the school Elizabeth attended. "This is a big relief."
The startling conclusion to a crime that had captivated the country because of its chilling circumstances came about 15 miles from where Elizabeth had disappeared.
Many details of the break in the case were still vague last night, but police said they believe that the teenager had been held the entire time against her will.
A Smart family spokesman, Chris Thomas, said Elizabeth apparently had no chance to escape.
"She said there was no way, she had two people with her at all times," he said.
Police said they stopped the drifter, who had been wanted for questioning in the case, shortly after two couples reported spotting him near a fast-food restaurant. Elizabeth was found with him, unharmed and wearing a dark wig. Police said Elizabeth identified herself to officers after they approached Mitchell and Barzee.
Police also said they are investigating whether the girl had spent part of the past nine months living on the road with her alleged kidnappers and traveling as far as San Diego and south Florida. The group was stopped by authorities in Utah and Nevada and the girl gave officers a false name, a source told The Seattle Times.
The San Diego County Sheriff's Department said Mitchell had been seen near San Diego within the past few weeks. Police there said three employees of a market in nearby Lakeside, Calif., were shown a photograph of Mitchell yesterday afternoon and recognized him.
The trio returned to Salt Lake by bus in the past week, law-enforcement sources told the Times. They had been living in the mountains, a police source said, because "Old Testament prophets lived in the mountains, and that's where he thought he should live."
In November, the Kirkland Police Department and the King County Sheriff's Office began investigating a letter found at a Kirkland convenience store indicating Smart was alive and in this area.
Sheriff's Sgt. Kevin Fagerstrom said the note appeared to have been written by a girl living in the Firloch neighborhood in the Kingsgate area. The note, Fagerstrom said, indicated Smart was staying with this girl and was "safe and well and did not wish to be reunited with her family, but wanted her parents to know that she was safe."
"There was just enough of a hint of sincerity and a hint of maturity that we felt it couldn't be ignored," Fagerstrom said.
Authorities contacted Salt Lake City police and, after surveillance turned up nothing, they posted and distributed more than 1,000 fliers in the area in January. That didn't result in any credible leads, either, Fagerstrom said.
"Our feeling was that if there was any possibility that Elizabeth was in that neighborhood, someone would have seen her," Fagerstrom said. "Whether she was ever there or not, I guess we'll find out from Elizabeth."
Mitchell had emerged as a possible suspect in recent weeks, and sketches of him had been released around the Salt Lake City area, but police said that they did not know his whereabouts and that there also was some confusion about his name. He also has been identified as Emmanuel Mitchell.
Elizabeth's mother, Lois Smart, has said she met Mitchell in downtown Salt Lake City in November 2001 when he asked for money. She gave him $5 and hired him to help her husband work on the roof. He worked for about five hours, and family members say they didn't see him again.
Elizabeth disappeared June 5 after an armed man cut a screen on the back of the Smarts' home. Her 9-year-old sister, Mary Katherine, who shared a room with her, told investigators that Elizabeth was abducted from her bed about 1 a.m. by a soft-spoken man who threatened the two girls with a gun.
The Smart family had been asleep at the time. Mary Katherine was awake but was so afraid that the intruder was still in the house that she stayed in bed for hours before telling her parents.
The younger girl provided police with a rough description of the kidnapper, but the widespread search for him quickly went cold.
Ed Smart, a real-estate broker, also began a desperate national campaign to find his daughter. Hundreds of volunteers spent weeks combing Salt Lake City and its surrounding foothills. Photos of Elizabeth blanketed the region. A task force of local and federal agents sorted through more than 16,000 leads.
A $45,000 reward was offered for information about the kidnapping, along with a $250,000 reward for Elizabeth's safe return.
For months, the top potential suspect was Richard Ricci, a handyman and convicted felon who had once worked in the Smart household. He insisted he had nothing to do with the kidnapping. Ricci died Aug. 30 after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage while in prison on a parole violation.
The Smarts last month announced a reward of $10,000 for anyone with information that exonerated Ricci.
Ricci's widow, Angela, called yesterday's discovery a "joyous day for us and the Smarts."
Information from Times reporter Michael Ko, The Washington Post, The Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times is included in this report.