# Elizabeth Smart found alive!!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elizabeth-smart-found-alive/160952>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [March 12, 2003, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elizabeth-smart-found-alive/160952 "2003-03-12T22:17:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elizabeth-smart-found-alive/160952/41 "2003-03-13T00:06:32Z")

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on abc they stated that she was held out of state and the return to utah was recent.

i can only think of 2 others that returned alive after this long.

i am so glad for her family.

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**Author:** ![Greywolf73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d9b06d/32.png) [@Greywolf73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greywolf73)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elizabeth-smart-found-alive/160952/42 "2003-03-13T00:07:07Z")

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Wow! Wow! Wow!  
This is wonderful news. 🙂

I’m SO GLAD to hear some good news for a change.

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**Author:** ![Ashkicker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@Ashkicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashkicker)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elizabeth-smart-found-alive/160952/43 "2003-03-13T00:08:04Z")

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Whooo-Hooo she is alive. Thank you God!!! Miracles do happen.

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**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elizabeth-smart-found-alive/160952/44 "2003-03-13T00:13:16Z")

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There’s a press conference on right now.

I think “over the moon” would be understating the feelings of the cops and investigators.

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**Author:** ![monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monster)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elizabeth-smart-found-alive/160952/45 "2003-03-13T00:14:41Z")

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I’m stunned. How great to hear such FABULOUS news! I bet her parents are just crazy with happiness! Makes me want to cry with joy.

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**Author:** ![Heloise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e36b37/32.png) [@Heloise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heloise)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elizabeth-smart-found-alive/160952/46 "2003-03-13T00:15:17Z")

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I just watched the press conference on CNN. It was great, everyone was overjoyed. You don’t see that on the news much, so it was just a nice thing to see.

Of course, if I were a street preacher, I would probably lay low for a little while.

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**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elizabeth-smart-found-alive/160952/47 "2003-03-13T00:17:02Z")

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HOT DAMN!!!

Great news, for once!

Tripler  
And I second **Beadalin**.

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**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elizabeth-smart-found-alive/160952/48 "2003-03-13T00:21:14Z")

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Hooray! It’s nice to hear some good news for a change. It warms my cynical heart. It really does.

The world sucks a little bit less now. 🙂

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**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elizabeth-smart-found-alive/160952/49 "2003-03-13T00:23:50Z")

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Oh, and I third **Bedalin’s** “go walk off a pier motion.”

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**Author:** ![Tinkertoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elizabeth-smart-found-alive/160952/50 "2003-03-13T00:25:13Z")

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The same night she disappeared another 14 year old girl from Pocatello, Idaho (200 miles away) also disappeared. She was held in chains by a man who is suspected of killing at least two other girls. She managed to break her chains, by beating on them with a fire extinguisher, and escape.

Now Elizabeth has also been found alive.

I’m crying tears of joy.

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**Author:** ![ladybug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@ladybug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladybug)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elizabeth-smart-found-alive/160952/51 "2003-03-13T00:35:56Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Tinkertoy \*  
> \*\*I’m crying tears of joy. \*\*

I’m right there with you, **Tinkertoy**. This is such incredible news. It’s great to hear something happy on TV for a change.

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**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elizabeth-smart-found-alive/160952/52 "2003-03-13T00:47:27Z")

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I’m so happy for all involved and at the same time so sad for Richard Ricci who had to die knowing that everyone thought he was guilty. 🙂☹

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**Author:** ![Super\_Gnat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Super\_Gnat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Super_Gnat)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elizabeth-smart-found-alive/160952/53 "2003-03-13T00:48:34Z")

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Praise the Lord!

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**Author:** ![Winston\_Bongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@Winston\_Bongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Bongo)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elizabeth-smart-found-alive/160952/54 "2003-03-13T00:52:00Z")

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😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃

It’s about time! Meaning: time they found her, and time we all got some good news for a change. It’s amazing how many people seem to have been really affected by this whole case. I find it incredibly depressing whenever I hear about a child abduction; now I’m (along with everyone else at my office) breathing a sigh of relief from this great news. I can’t even imagine how relieved her parents are!

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**Author:** ![BrentLumkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@BrentLumkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrentLumkin)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elizabeth-smart-found-alive/160952/55 "2003-03-13T01:01:40Z")

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I don’t care why, or how, but thank God this has happened. I’m always highly concerned about stuff like this, and it made my (day doesn’t even sum it up) when I went to Yahoo and saw this. Isn’t it rare as hell for a missing teen or someone to be found after NINE months? That’s quite a long time, and it proves there there is always a chance for hope, when it seems that all hope is lost.

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**Author:** ![japatlgt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df705f/32.png) [@japatlgt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/japatlgt)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elizabeth-smart-found-alive/160952/56 "2003-03-13T01:11:13Z")

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My thoughts and feelings as well. When I saw the headline on the web I was stunned and euphoric. Great, great news!!

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**Author:** ![tsarina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@tsarina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tsarina)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elizabeth-smart-found-alive/160952/57 "2003-03-13T01:13:40Z")

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This is such wonderful news! Thank goodness for the sharp eyes on the person who identified her & her abductor.

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**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elizabeth-smart-found-alive/160952/58 "2003-03-13T01:14:30Z")

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Whew… it has been a while since something ended up well, hasn’t it?  
Yes, by this length of time the usual presumption is that the young person either is deliberately evading being found or has met a bad end.  
Will be interesting to find out what went on. Returning to the SLC area woudl tend to indicate, though, that “Emmanuel” was not too highly on guard. Who knows, maybe the girl was smart enough to lull him into carelesness.

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**Author:** ![JavaMaven1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cab0a1/32.png) [@JavaMaven1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JavaMaven1)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elizabeth-smart-found-alive/160952/59 "2003-03-13T01:16:41Z")

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I’ve been media-free all day, and this is the first time I’ve heard the news. This is really exciting. I can’t imagine the flood of emotional relief that her family is feeling right now.

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**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\
**Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elizabeth-smart-found-alive/160952/60 "2003-03-13T01:34:57Z")

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Elizabeth Smart is found alive, but [Richard Ricci is still dead.](http://kutv.com/related/local_story_1271386998_html). Doesn’t seem quite fair, to harass an innocent man until he has a brain hemorrage and dies in prison. I hope the police and prosecutors, and anyone else who was so quick to condemn him as the killer, will rot in hell. It seems we never learned anything from the Richard Jewell/Olympic Bomber case, and it remains job one of the police to dispose of high profile cases as quickly as possible, no matter how many lives they ruin in the process. There is no justice in this world.

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