SALT LAKE CITY — More than two decades after her kidnapping captivated the nation's attention, Elizabeth Smart is joining FOX's "America's Most Wanted" as a contributor.
The popular TV show aided in Smart's eventual rescue and she explained it's almost surreal to be part of the program now with John Walsh.
"I mean like it’s almost too wild to believe how all the pieces fit together and ultimately here I am," Smart reflected. "I mean, I think most people probably did think I was dead, and I don’t blame people for thinking I was dead.”
Smart is married now and a mother to three children while also working as a tireless advocate for missing, exploited children.
She decided to work with AMW as she got to know John Walsh and his heartbreaking story of having his son kidnapped and murdered in 1981.
"Someone who has fought and worked in this space for so long, someone who I really admire, who went through the pain of losing a child, but then came back and fought for every other missing child in the world," Smart explained.
Now, Walsh turns his grief into helping other families find their missing children, which included Smart.
Over the years, as Smart recovered mentally and emotionally, she began attending events with her dad and Walsh.
“I was able to stand with him in the Rose Garden when the amber alert was signed into act, and the Adam Walsh, safety and protection act," she remembered. "I went to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children with him.”
Though Smart didn't know it at the time, those first trips were the beginning of her advocacy journey, eventually leading to her taking the witness stand, testifying in graphic detail what happened to her at the hands of Brian David Mitchell.
"As I got up onto the witness stand and talked about things that I never talked about with anybody before," she said. "I got done and I just felt like if I had to sit up there and share the worst moments of my life in detail, there better be a good reason, like I need to put a purpose behind all of this.”
As the years have gone by, Smart has grown in her advocacy by realizing her unique qualifications.
“Sure, I could say I wish it never happened to me but since it did, I can also say I’m grateful because it’s allowed me to do what I do today," she reflected. "So, going through what I have been through, I’m not scared to stay in this space, it’s not an easy space to be in, but I’m not scared! And I feel that what I’m doing serves a much bigger purpose than just myself and it makes a difference.”
As Smart takes another step in advocating by appearing on AMW, she hopes her influence will reach even more people and result in finding missing and exploited children.
