Nicely done.

I think we need a few more stories like this.

The media went crazy earlier this a.m. thinking that M. bin Laden had been captured. And Elvis Costello just hosted Letterman - closed the show with "Peace, Love and Understanding"...

Amen, in that totally non-religious-yet-miracle-affirming way.

You realize the feeling of the cummunity when your CEO announces that everyone is welcome to watch the news in the board room.

I think I will be happier if I don't ever learn the details and I can just be glad she is back with her family.

If anything, the amazing thing that this event brings out is the best that is in all of us, and a strong sense of what is truly important in life.

And the Bush administration breathes a collective sigh of relief for they will have more than twenty-four hours of media coverage not dedicated to them.

Last night I crept into my kids' rooms while they were asleep and hugged them and cried so hard because I'm so happy they are safe. Then I checked to make sure all the doors were locked and the alarm was set. I can't even imagine the agony the Smarts have been through. Miracle. Thanks for noticing.

I was amazed she was finally found. This gives a tiny little teeny weeny glimmer of hope that fate isn't as messed up as it would like us to believe.

Well said.

That they found her brings back my *hope*. I will be hopeful for other things now (at least for a few more days).

I was making more a statement about the media and their sick fascination with the seedy details of her abduction although I do enjoy bashing the president from time to time.

That's some Mormon God you've got there dooce.

paul, what she said was that her husband works at her mother's house. your extrapolating.

I'm very happy they found her. Sadly though, this is something that will effect the rest of her life as well as her family's. At this point we can only hope that he abducted her to have a "friend" and not anything worse.

In a time in which there only seems to be shitty news, this was a ray of warmth. Here's to hoping all stories with a potentially disasterous ending turn out well.

One wonders what important work Elizabeth has ahead in this life...surely the angels have been encircling her and family throughout.

Miracles do happen.
My skepticism is drinking a margarita on a beach somewhere.

I'm glad she's back, but it still seems like there's something else going on here. I read that no criminal charges have been laid on anyone and that at one point a while ago she was with her supposed abductor and she was wearing a disguise and they were questioned by a police officer. Why didn't she speak up?

that's the kind of news the world needed...or at least the US. I didn't think they'd find her, either, or that they'd find her dead. It really is an amazing story, and your link in all of it is amazing, too.

Here in Massachusettes we have a teenage girl that was abducted from her summer job at the beach.
(Molly Bish) Finding Elizabeth is such a miracle. It gives familys with missing children hope, and it confirms for the rest of us that hope is alive!

The site looks great Heather, and as usual your sentiments are spot-on. It's nice to hear good news for a change.

Taken at face value, a wonderful story. But there is definitely something else going on. Enter the tabloid bottomsuckers. They're gonna have a field day with this one.

Halleluiah indeed. Good news is welcome these days. You know, it's completely possible she was so intimidated she didn't feel she could speak up to that cop... and that she could have gotten a bit resigned to her situation after months...especially since she's a child accustomed to not challenging adults... On the other hand, it will be interesting to find out what truly happened. I doubt there is any question she was taken unwillingly... whether she stayed unwillingly may be a bit foggier. Reminds me of the Patty Hearst story. Are y'all to young to have heard about that?

I was moved to tears with her return. I watched 48 hours with tears glistening the entire time. What an amazing story.
I also feel there is more to the story. As to people wondering why she couldn't just leave they said there were 2 people with her at ALL times. Also its possible they threatened to harm her family if she tried to leave.

I'm not saying anything about her "acting like an adult" by trying to escape. I'm more open to the idea that she was an unhappy teenager who decided to run away. No, I don't know all the facts. Yes, if she was kidnapped, it's an amazing story that she's back with her family. But opinions are opinions, from what I've heard.

Furthermore, if this sort of thinking is passing judgement on anyone it's the father. I don't trust what I've heard him say, nor the way he looked at his press conference. If anything, this sort of "theory" gives her credit for taking some initiative.

I don't think anyone has the right to say "if... then why didn't she?" Until you have been what she has been through and walked through her shoes. (not that you have been Dooce, that was very eloquent-this is directed more towards a few signers) Let's lay the blame where it should be. Nine months is a long time and 14 year old's are very impressionable.

I also figured she was certainly dead. Very happy occurrence that she's alive and back with her family.

I think a lot of people are feeling like there are still many questions left unanswered. Which is no big surprise, since it's still in the early stages.

What I like most about this story, though, is how she was found. Just regular people doing the right thing.

I wish we were all as familiar with the names and faces of all the children that get kindapped as we were with Elizabeth. Heartening to know that it's the community that helped bring about a "happy ending." I hope that I'll be as watchful and caring about the community around me in the future. Unfortunately, too much crap goes on around us that we're all aware of, yet too often do nothing about.

I too was shocked when I heard the news bulletin...I told my fiance, "You're never in a million years going to believe this." Thank God that she is home and safe.

"It's just so fucking wonderful."

Damn right about that.

I'm pretty sure her kidnappers weren't telling her "Yeah, your family is looking all over for you." No matter how much you love your family, being violently taken away from them and told (I assume) that they don't want you or something to that effect -- well, it's no wonder she never went for help. That and the fact she was never left alone. Poor kid. Let's all hope no one we love is ever put in that situation.

Not to be totally insensitive, BUT, dude, I laughed my ass off outloud when I read about putting deoderant on your dog's stinky feet and the personal whoppee cushion. That was awesome.

I sat down this morning after processing the news yesterday, and going through the same emotional roller coaster as everyone else, and made a list of everything I have to be thankful for. It helped, it really did. I have two small beautiful children, and can't even imagine, nor would I want to, what the Smart's have been going through.

i haven't been following the stary as much... being up here in canada. i caught snippets of it. enough to know that she is very lucky to be alive! more don't make it back home safe to their family...

heard that the guy involved is believed to be some sort of religious man? prophet of some sort? perhaps a cult-like figure?

i wonder what the motive was...

Brent (dos) - fuck yeah. I like what you had to say.

Where I live when a child is abducted and not retrieved within 48 hours, the police go on the assumption that the child is dead. I was in the US for a few weeks and heard a lot about this story and believed this girl would be dead as well. I am very pleased to see she's back home with mom and dad. I'm also glad Dooce is back with a website that's almost as beautiful as the woman who so lovingly maintains it :-).

Powder Fresh Lady Speed Stick? Give that hound a BATH, girl....

The kid did the right thing, she managed to stay alive.

Made me very happy when I heard about this.

p.s. Dooce I'm so glad you're back. This is one of the few blogs I always have to read. You crack me up.

By the way, that there would be trampolines in heaven is the best mormon joke ever.

my name is french for april

I've heard all the stories... about her being a runaway, about her being pregnant... all that. But you know what? There are always suspicious rumors like this when a case is this widespread. I think the only thing we can be sure of is that she was truly brainwashed. I mean, they are saying that people who saw them said she had plenty of time to escape, or at least cry for help. I mean, Emmanuel was in JAIL for six days. It's all very weird. Either they threatened to hurt her family if she escaped, or they truly truly messed with her head, IMO.

I would not have bet any money that she would be found alive. Truly amazing.

After watching all this on TV the last 2 days, I have one question: Is everyone in Utah this good looking?
The entire family appears to be one attractive, blonde-haired, blue-eyed clan. Even the kids and stepkid of the abductor are good-looking.

That same day, before I knew she had been found, I grounded my 11-yr old because he left one house to go to another and didn't tell me where he was, and was gone 2 hours. It's a sad commentary on, I really don't know what, but that I get panicky when don't know where my kid is even in a 'nice' neighborhood. He was just at Timmy's house.

For everyone who's skeptical about her not seeking out help or identifying herself, it's most likely a sign that you've never been in a situation where as a child you've been abused. To survive situations like that, people will begin to seek to please their abusers, to the point where you become thankful that they didn't hurt you, or kill you for another day. The amount of brain warping that happens in childhood and adolescent trauma is immense, not simply in terms of the psychological changes (what is "normal", or "happy", or what trust means) but also physiological changes to the brain re: constant exposure to stress hormones. It gets to the point where you believe, realistically or not, that this person holds your life in their hands every moment, and that your mission is to make sure that they don't find a reason to get angry with you, or find fault, to the point that your vigilance extends to the outside world (i.e., making certain that outside people/things don't disturb them), because it will quickly become your fault.

Sadly, all I could think of when I heard about her being found, after the initial euphoria and joy of knowing she was alive, was the amount of pain and trauma she will have to return to in order to heal herself, and how her family will handle the process.

Hello,
Not sure where this should be posted. It is a general comment, unrelated to the Smarts. Thought you might be insterested: I found this wonderful site through "askkjeeves.com" by asking Jeeves: "Why does shit smell?" . Your site was the fourth or fifth suggested link. Who knows what informs the Jeeves search engine, and what led it to dooce. My only two hypotheses: 1) you curse a lot, so the word "shit" may appear more on your website than any other, save 3 or 4, in the world. 2) dooce may be an alternate spelling for the word "dookie". Maybe that's what Jeeves was thinking. Anyway, I love the site, and I can't help but feel a sense of destiny in the way I found it.
Adam

OK this is sort of drifting off topic but no worse than the s*** guy directly above me.

How come people in Utah look so frigging wholesome? Is it the Mormon thing? Being in New York City I guess I'm used to much more disreputable looking characters. Like even the Smarts (God Bless 'Em and Elizabeth) I really mean that. It's just hard to imagine Mr. Smart in a dirty tee shirt watching Baywatch with a can of beer on his belly. That's the kind of people I'm used to.

No offense but you guys in Utah all look like Children of the Corn to me. Beautiful but from some alien planet.

I'll shut up now. No offense meant really. Just sort of musing on the great variety of the human rainbow or something.

If the kidnappers were uber-fundamentalists, then poor Elizabeth underwent "Mormon bootcamp," if you will! (And I hope you will!)