Your analysis isn't credible. I think it's closer to the truth to say that what Elizabeth Smart experienced was something like what Patti Hearst experienced; a desire to stay alive by playing along and assuming your assigned role, only to discover that the role has taken over the real you.

"We are what we pretend to be," Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. wrote. "So we must be very careful what we pretend to be."

R, point well taken and probably closer to the truth, but the key to the Vonnegut quote is that we BECOME what we pretend to be. It's a process.

I totally agree with you Rebecca. I was thinking that exact same thing while watching the news this morning. Good for you for writing the truth even if some people don't want to hear it.

Becky when I found out about elizabeth I didn't understand why she never let herself be found. Thanks to you now I know.

Criticism taken... it's not a very credible analysis--I just have a lot of questions. Most of the people I've spoken to have the same suspicions. Megan and Jenny, it's good to know that you don't think I'm completely off base.

Rebecca, I don't think you're totally off base. It's very complicated, and reality is probably a combination of psychological states.

This just goes to prove how little people understand about how the brain works, especially under duress - especially a teenager's brain under duress. I can't believe I'm actually seeing people question the authenticity of this event. Good grief.

I think you're totally off-base from the moment you say: "However, I do not believe Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped at all." What do you think she did -- called the homeless guy on the phone and said "Come get me; my devout and affluent Mormon family is asleep"?

Maybe it was a psychological defense mechanism but I suspect that the girl enjoyed herself.

Has a statement been issued regarding the captors? I am curious to hear what they'll say.

See this page for more support to my theory.

Rebecca, I have to agree with Eric when he says it's a combination of psychological states.

I am sure she was not on a joy ride. You should not underestimate the weight of religious fervor in this situation.

the homeless guy called himself "emmanuel", he obviously had some kind of prophet complex. A devout teenager, in a scary, potentially life-threatening situation would find it much more comfortable to believe that this abductor was an emmisary from God than to believe that she was in the hands of a dangerous criminal.

And how far a step from the belief in his God-ordained status to the full commitment to assist him? Assisting her abductor would be assisting God!

I have no trouble whatsoever believing that Elizabeth was psychologically manipulated.

Did she have fun during her 8 months away? I'm sure she did! Teenagers will have fun in the most horrific circumstances.

But I do believe she was manipulated.

You don't know what you are talking about. A girl is taken out of her bedroom in the middle of the night at knife point. A man threatens to kill her and her family. She walk four miles in the middle of the night in pajamas with a knife at her back. He takes her to a hole in the ground where he and another woman sexually assault her. He keeps her in the hole tied with a rope around her leg for months. This is a girl who may have started to think about her first date a few years hence. You don't think that was a reference changing event? How did you put it? "...she partied with the couple!"

After you get out of the hole, having been forced to do things you never dreamed of...you are numb...you are lost...you have no sense of reality. You are sullied, lost....the people that feed you...you remember them...the same ones who made you live in a hole for months...say let's go, we're going to walk around town, wear this veil, by the way...I won't mention the knife again because I don't have to.

A few months later, a policeman starts to penetrate your altered reality with probing questions....at first you give the party line...then you see there may be some hope...you say

`I know who you think I am. You guys think I'm that Elizabeth Smart girl who ran away.'

Rebecca, I think your case is very possible and I've been questioning the whole thing myself. I don't understand how Elizabeth could have been psychologically wounded so quickly in her captivity.. I believe the incident with the search in which she heard her uncle calling her name was just 'right after' the 'kidnapping.' (If my facts are wrong, please inform me) If that's the case, how could she have NOT done anything... And for her sister to not say anything to their parents until two freaking hours later? Gimme a break! Was her sister also 'brain washed' into waiting two full hours? There are a lot of things about this case that just plain don't make sense...

Also, she was so plump when she returned... they must've fed her well and she must've have a hearty time, or else who the hell can eat that much when they are NOT happy or under distress...????

I'm not saying she could not have been kidnapped, but I say it's could very well be a possibility. Heck, being the cynical person that I am, I could even consider that the whole kidnapping was set up...

btw, is there any news or any talk of a psychologically analysis of Elizabeth Smart? I'd really love to see the report...

I'm not saying it must be true but I did see that the cover of this week's National Enquirer reads: "Elizabeth Smart Ran Away."

I am fairly sure we won't hear anything more from her family or psychologists.

One of the conspiracy theories I heard was that her dad set up the kidnapping (of nine months) because Elizabeth was pregnant. That's why she was constantly dressed in robes and that's why she seemed so well-fed when she returned. Hmm.

That's funny, who's child could it have been then? And it wasn't like the abductors just turned the child in, it was members of the public that reported them. So the duration of the kidnapping doesn't seem 'planned'... Anyways, I'm amazed at the lack of emotion the Smarts (publicly) show toward the perpetrators (which is one of the reasons I feel like the family set it up). Anyone else?

I heard that all of the footage of Elizabeth was from when she was 11 or 12. They never showed any recent pictures of her because she had nose rings and lots of piercings. If they did show a recent picture of her then the piercing were airbrushed out before being revealed to the public. Can anyone confirm this/

I looked around the web but couldn't find any information about nose piercings or otherwise.

Where did you hear about it?

This is what I think happened. Brian Mitchell got the girl to go with him but once she was alone with him in his wife things got out of hand. The parents were so strict with Elizabeth and kept her looking like a little girl for so long may be she just jumped at a chance to get out.

I think its funny how she was gone for 9 months and then returns having had gained weight and looking like a teenager who just went through the stress and trama of giving birth. And her father didn't seem like a man who just was reunited with his "lost" baby girl. Hmm, who could be the father of this missing child? Mormans are twisted, and they hide a lot from the public. Don't be surprised when the truth comes out........

"Mormans are twisted, and they hide a lot from the public."

It's Mormons--M-O-R-M-O-N-S. Like your kind of people, except with the second M. You're too stupid to make an effective bigot. If you want to know what smells bad, look in the mirror.

General note: anti-Mormon bigotry is still bigotry.

Yeah... I mean who wouldn't want to be tied up to a tree and raped? Sounds like she had a blast.

I hadn't realized that she was tied to a tree and raped. I haven't heard that at all. Wow, if she was, am I sorry. That makes me sick.

Where is this information revealed?

I'm just wondering something else. It took the sister a couple of hours to tell the parents she'd witnessed Elizabeth being kidnapped and then it took her a few months to come up with it being Emmanuel. Why so long? What triggered that? I read something that said that he'd only worked for them one time, for about 5 hours. How much exposure could the little girl had to him if she didn't recognize him when he entered the room? I find it odd they way the media continues to say he was a person that worked for the family as if he were around alot. Has anyone heard about this? Also I'm curious too if anyone's seen any statements released by the "kidnappers"?

I'm just wondering something else. It took the sister a couple of hours to tell the parents she'd witnessed Elizabeth being kidnapped and then it took her 4 months to come up with it being Emmanuel. Why so long? What triggered that? I read something that said that he'd only worked for them one time, for about 5 hours. How much exposure could the little girl had to him if she didn't recognize him when he entered the room? I find it odd they way the media continues to say he was a person that worked for the family as if he were around alot. Has anyone heard about this? Also I'm curious too if anyone's seen any statements released by the "kidnappers"?

I cant belive you people you think that she was pregnant or ran away. that is crazy. isnt it bad enough what the girl went through and now you guys are trying to make it seem like it was her fault. that is just inhumane! I, miself am a teenager and i know sometimes i want to get away from my parents but never for 9 months and i would never go with such people as Mitchell and Barzee. Its crazy to say that she would go wiht them. There is no way she had nose peircings like you said. Someone that knew her would have said something when they showed the pictures on the news if that were the case. This poor girl was tortured and you say that she is faking it. She was in deed raped by the kidnappers, just to let you know. And, what you said about her being fatter when she came home, when you dont eat your muscle turns into fat and you do gain weight. If any of you had common sence you would know that. Just please leave her alone!

The problem I have is the way Elizabeth's parents (mainly her father) seem to be pimping her off like some rescued pinup girl.
What kind of parent agrees to that many (or any, for that matter)interviews and special reports being foisted on a kid just back from Creepyland?
Just another episode of parental over-protection gone wild.

I actually met David. He asked me for a ride from Vermont to Texas. We spent 3 days in the car together. Although he went on about Jesus a bit much I found him to be a really cool guy, he is sort of like a California spiritual hippy. He made jewellry and tried to sell it. He made really good advocado and cream cheese sandwiches. He never raised his voice and talked a lot about his wife Wanda. He was totally trustworthy and I don't think he would have meant this girl one bit of harm. I feel really bad about what happened and this is the only public forum I have mentioned this meeting.

i saw the oprah interview, and liz's family struck me as being odd and really stiff and kind of fakey. that's no reason to doubt their story, but all the inconsistencies mentioned above are.

i think maybe she was abucted by some mormon relative or something. Ed Smart and her abductor look related.

You dont konw what happened to e smart. Look up ritual abuse and cults. Classic case Masons and Mormons Sexual Abuse LOOK OUT

#26, elizabeth was not raped by her ubductors. I have seen no information mentioning this, in fact the issue was obviously looked into when she was found and the conculusion was that there was no sexual abuse. please provide information, links if don't agree.

one more thing: mormons is not spelled with an A and they are not cultists. they are American's practicing free religion. if you don't like that then move to another country. America was created solely for freedom of religion. so please, think twice before you verbally assault these people's God given freedom

i have never heard this kind of complete crazy talk! how can you ever think that Elzabeth wanted to be kidnapped! I am mormon! I know what its like to have mormon parents and truthfully we are not as crazy as a lot of people think. the truth is, a lot o f what the oublic thinks about mormons is untrue. its kind of an inside joke for some mormons about the crazy questions that we're asked. we actually talk and laugh about all of those a lot. people thinking that we dont drink soda or cant drive cars. its al people just spreading rumors and others believing them! WE actually share a lot of beliefs with catholics and some other religions. we are not a clut we are a religiona and if i did not want to be mormon i dont have to. i am proud of being mormon. i love it! i believe that it is the true church and im sorry if you cant handle that. i have cousins in utah that know elizabeth, she has never had piercings or anything like that. she is a really good person and people should be able to trust that without spreading nasty rumors like this. pleas just try to understand where she is coming from.

"i saw the oprah interview, and liz's family struck me as being odd and really stiff and kind of fakey"
wouldn't it be a little bit odd for you were sharing some of your most horrible experience with millions and millions of people? i thought so. dont you think that it would be a little weird to be on tv in front of millions of people, period? of course they are also going to be a bit stiff after everything that they've went through, they're probably very protective over all of their kids now. you wouldn't know until you've had the exact same thing happen to you. and one more thing, i saw that oprah video too and sure they wer a little stiff but i am 100% sure that you were probably one of the maybe 100 out of the millions of people that watch taht show that thought that. some of those people would have been the ones who thought at that time that they wre faking it. but dont you think that faking is a little extreme? is there any point at all?

you have some nerve to say that she ran away. you must be mental yourself. she is taken out of her home at knife point during the wee hours of the night and held captive for 9 months not to mention being raped and sexually abused during this whole period. its women like you who condone this. imagine if it was your daughter and someone kidnapped her in the middle of the nite and held captive for 9 months and some idiot like you posted on the internet what you posted about her you would be outraged. You have the right to speak out but until you have been in Elizabeth's Smart shoes shut up!!!!!!!!!!!

I have to say that it is most gratifying to see a theory espoused that I have long held.

Here is my take.

To ask the question, "Why someone would ever want to be kidnapped?" is presumptive at best. It assumes that she WAS kidnapped, and I don't believe she was kidnapped for one minute. She is lying.

She was a 15-year-old girl, with piercings mind you, who was in a sexually repressive home. She was rebellious and waking to her sexuality. She is enamored of the hippy guy, and I believe she knew him "well", and she found him charming. Both he and his wife were her one way ticket out of the house and into a life of sexual freedom and experimentation. She never planned to return home.

When found, Smart blurted out, ""You guys think I'm that Elizabeth Smart girl who ran away." Those are the words of a 15 year-old mind accidentally revealing the truth. She was on the lam with her sugar daddy and sugar mama. She was well fed, and perfectly happy to be where she was.

As for her being pregnant, who knows? Seems plausible to me. Was her father the daddy? A creepy proposition, but it does happen. It would explain a lot. There is no way in hell if my brother was kidnapped, and I witnessed it, that I would wait two hours to tell anyone, and another 3-4 months to admit I knew who did it. I think the theory that dear old dad knocked up his baby girl and planned this whole scheme to help he family avoid shame. Smart disappears for a convenient 9 months, has the kid, and gets laid like Helena Bohnam Carter in "Fight Club" for her trouble.

More proof?

OK, when she was returned home, she was all smiles and "gee, let's have some fun. Presents? For me? Awe, you shouldn't have. But thanks, I really like this dress!" And the next thing you know she is waving and mugging for the cameras, hitting the talk show circuit while at the same time refusing to talk about the matter because she knew it would eventually lead to questions about inconsistencies in her story as well as her behavior.

Anyway, that's my two cents.

Just watch this interview of Smart and Nancy Grace. Pay attention to the archive news footage in the background. And watch Smarts behavior as she is being interviewed. This is a girl who knew exactly what she was doing.

Dumbass, anyone who looks at all the evidence sees she was abducted! Yea, she ran away

From the minute I saw this story I thought something was fishy. The more the story was talked about I figured the girl ran away. Then when she was found she tries to lie to the police about her identity, she shows concern for her "kidnappers" she goes walking around her neighborhood and she doesn't escape from 2 old people c'mon now people. This girl ran away! Why do you think she never talks about the case? Why do you think police and therapist say she may have been brainwashed? This girl has issues. Her family and the police know she ran away from home. If 5 year olds can break through ropes in the projects from drug addicts and run a few miles home, why can't a 14 year old scream for help when in public or at least run to her house being that she was basically right around the corner! Wake up people, she ran away with her friends!

The police found proof that Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped. They found the campsites in the hills behind her home, and at one of the sites, they found the wire cable that Mitchell had used to tie Elizabeth to a tree, the remains of her burned pajamas, several knives including the one Mitchell used to kidnap her, and a lot of other evidence. Besides, ever heard of Stockholm Syndrome? That's the "concern" you think she had, which is a symptom of Stockholm Syndrome. And that little girl who escaped from drug addicts(Erica Pratt, who was 7 not 5) was not repeatedly raped by her kidnappers( Do you know what the mental, emotional, and psychological scars of rape are?) Erica's kidnappers didn't watch her otherwise she would not have gotten away. Anyway, Mitchell told Elizabeth that he and Wanda had followers watching her family's every move and if she tried anything they would all be killed. She is not psychic, she had no idea that they were lying to her. What if they hadn't been lying and someone had been killed? Then what would you be saying? Those 2 "old people" were/are completely psychotic. Besides what middle-class teenage girl of any religion would run away in nothing but pajamas and shoes(no socks), not take personal effects like diaries(Elizabeth has one), clothes, cds, tapes, etc., and go 9 months without bathing or washing her hair? Anyone who knows teenage girls knows that they're about looks and would think 9 months without a shower is totally gross. Elizabeth has a diary, and if she'd been planning to run away, she would have written it down in the diary(I'm talking about HER diary, not the one Mitchell forced her to keep). Since obviously the cops read it looking for evidence they would have charged her as a runaway 3 years ago. As for her telling the cops"You think I'm that girl who ran away" did it ever occur to you that maybe Mitchell TOLD her to say that or something like it if she was ever recognized? He controlled her through fear and abuse. Look at the way he has been manipulating the court system at his competency hearings since he's been commited to the mental hospital. He's a master manipulater. He exerted total control over Elizabeth through terror, rape, coercion, death threats, and neglect and abuse(sexual, mental, emotional, psychological, physical, and spiritual). She was obviously too terrified of him to try anything. And the reasons she doesn't talk about it in public are 1) she and everyone else with close ties to the case has a gag order on them-they legally can't talk about it, 2) what happened to her is none of the public's business, and 3) if you'd been kidnapped, repeatedly raped, horribly abused and neglected and God knows what else by 2 psychopaths, would you want to talk about it publicly? She has enough problems stemming from her abduction without stupid people accusing her of running away, which is total bullcrap. Her sister witnessed the kidnapping, remember? And before you say something stupid, like Mary Katherine was in on it(also total crap), how many little kids would be able to keep a secret like that with the constant pressure Mary Katherine was under? I have 3 younger siblings and they are the biggest tattletales in the entire free world. That's what most younger siblings do:they tattle on the older siblings. Mary Katherine idolized Elizabeth. Do you really think she would have let her run away? And kids don't need help running away, Elizabeth would have unlocked the door or met Mitchell outside if she'd been planning to run away with him. He wouldn't have needed to break into the house. Contrary to what people are determined to believe, all teenagers do NOT have sex, do drugs, drink, party, run away from home, engage in stupid, risky behavior, or commit crimes. Believe it or not, there is such a thing as teenagers who are good kids who don't do things like that. Just because she didn't try to escape when in public does NOT mean she was enjoying herself, it means she was too scared to try anything that might get her or her family killed. Those 2 idiots are not her "friends". They are abusive kidnappers who should never have been allowed to come into existance. Google Elizabeth Smart and read about the case before posting something stupid again.

I don't know what to believe. I would like to believe she was telling the truth and not just wanting attention. I have many questions to this case, Why would she run away? but also Why wouldn't she get help. She could have screamed its not like she wasn't ever in public. Maybe she was abducted and had fun, maybe she ran away, maybe she was brainwashed. You will never know. So why make everything more complicated. It could have been a setup or real. My honest opinion I think at first she was possibly forced and then she started enjoying being free from her family. If I was her I wouldn't want to be away from my family for 9 months. There are no answers to this case.

If you read about the case you will see that she was tied to a tree and repeatedly raped and abused by her psychotic kidnappers.We already know what happened to her.It's all been public knowledge for 5 years.She did NOT have fun.The cops and the FBI found proof she was kidnapped and held against her will.Nobody would ever enjoy being free from her family for 9 months.There are plenty of answers.You just have to stop believing the idiot tabloids and internet trolls and look at the facts.

Its hard to know what to beleive. People say she should be more traumatised now of she was abducted but, she is just trying to move on. I feel for her greatly.

I just finished reading "Bringing Elizabeth Home", the book written by Ed and Lois Smart, along with the help of an editor.

I strongly recommend that ALL of you read that book. It makes you feel the immense pain and suffering Elizabeth's family went through while she was gone, but it gives you that gut feeling that something just wasn't quite right with the entire situation.

The Smarts repeatedly refer to their faith in an obssesive and somewhat creepy manner. Maybe if they prayed a little less and searched a little more, Elizabeth would have been found sooner.

I do not think she ran away, but I believe there is far more to the case than what is being released.

I can't wait to find out the whole story.

Regardless of any psycho-babble that fruitlessly tries to make sense of this,....the truth remains, and you're missing it.

You imply that she "wanted" this. And that blows my friggin' mind.

She was a FOURTEEN yr old LITTLE GIRL! And Mitchell was a grown man, for Christ's sake!....a grown man who cut through a screen and took a young girl by knifepoint from her home in the middle of the night.

Shame on you for passing such lewd judgement on this young girl! I only hope you or yours will never experience the same hell that will no doubt forever haunt Elizabeth Smart.

Because if so, I feel certain your tone would change quite drastically.


It's easy to pass judgement from afar. You've had the time and the sound of mind to make assessments and decisions. But in the heat of the moment, who knows what we'll do?

I sure as hell don't.

Hypothesize it all you want,.....but until you're faced with the same perilous situation, NEITHER DO YOU!