Now, I haven’t exactly been following the story the whole way through, just catching snippets of it here and there. But what is suggested in this thread does cause a lot of troubling thoughts. But no, the brainwashing idea doesn’t seem so far off.
My question about it all is, if the abductor had done some work in the Smart household, would the sister not have recognized him? I admit that I might be missing something here, but along with the 2 hour delay, isn’t that just a little fishy?
While I’m not sure about all the other issues raised in this thread, I will say, in the sister’s defense, that it might be tough to recognize this guy, given how he’s changed his appearance. Shoot, the various pictures of him that have been shown don’t even look like they’re all pictures of the same person!
Ms Smart didn’t seem too keen on the idea of going back to her family at first, but relented when she realized the futility of her facade.
Also, if brainwashed, it sure didn’t take them very long. Within days she was, if not hampering, showing little interest in rescue.
Her dad may just be under a lot of strain, but he really seem’s off to me. All this “amber alert” advocate stuff.
Peace,
mangeorge
The uncle, Tom Smart, works for the Deseret News. I understand he’s the one taking the pictures.
Speculate all you want. The other shoe dropping is going to sound an awful lot like a book deal.
If the family has any media savvy, they’ll milk this for millions.
He only worked at their house for one day, for 5 hours if I recall. He was picked up off the street by their mother and hired to help with some of the construction type work they were doing. Remodeling or somesuch.
Under those circumstances I find it odd that the younger sister remembered or was able to recognize the guy at all. Quel strange.
Early Out and XJETGIRLX, thanks for the clarifications and added thoughts. Like I said, I hadn’t really followed the story very closely.
I did just come across an article that I feel adds another bizarre element to the story.
To me, this suggestes that there may have been someone else who assisted with the abduction. There are some mysterious fingerprints which have not yet been identified.
I can’t wait to see where this all leads.
I don’t think it’s too hard to imagine that she was just too scared to try to escape. It’s also possible she was drugged. Not every child is the fight back against your captor type, if she was told she would be shot if she tried to run away, or that maybe somone else would hurt her family if she escaped, etc. She has said that she had 2 people with her at all times, if she was told often enough bad things would happen if she tried to escape, or maybe in the beginning she did try and was caught and beaten, there are a lot of possibilites. She was gone a long, long time, I think after a while your mind tries to cope with a situation in strange ways.
As far as the parents, I am sure they were thoroughly investigated in the beginning. Her type of abduction is very, very rare, and it is much more likely that a family member did something to her, so I’m not surprised if the parents acted defensive.
I agree that this is a bizarre case, but I don’t think it’s as weird if you think about she is a young girl who probably was not very street-smart. Adults would know to try to escape, but if they were psychologically messing with her, I’m sure after a while she didn’t know which way was up anymore.
I wonder how long it will take before the Mormons come out with a statement denouncing Mitchell for taking 2 wives.
As to Elizabeth’s apparent nonresistance I’d go along with an initial “not thinking straight” followed by a “brainwashing”. She may not have been mentally prepared to deal with this kind of situation – if “Emmanuel” and accomplice(s) were to impress upon her early on and convincingly that any resistance would be futile AND have consequences on the family, she may have folded easily. And under that kind of stress would not be surprised if her mind threw on some sort of “defence mechanism” of living this as an 'adventure" .
An alternate scenario would have him, AFTER his stint working at the Smarts’, re-contacting her w/o her parents’ knowledge, and “working on her mind” , cult-style, so that when he finally did came and took her away she would view it as something not only not to be resisted, but to be actively participated in. End result the same. We’ll have to wait to see how he did it.
And hey, each person and family affects stress their own way. I’d rather not expect that people under stress always fall apart visibly. The “she’s just fine” declarations were premature, but they are and should be ecstatic she is alive and apparently physically healthy: though definitely everything ican NOT be “just fine and well”. She will never be the same person, and the family still has to learn fully how much and how badly this has affected her.
One thing, if, as someone posted above, she is predisposed to “perform for an audience” on cue, that may hint at how she goes so fast from acquiescing to “Emmanuel’s” charade to Happy Family Photo-Ops. THAT may be something her healing process needs to deal with seriously.
I think this little girl has had a long time that she believed her survival depended on pretending to be someone she isn’t. Now she is pretending to be the Elizabeth Smart that was taken. It is how she knows how to survive. She can not possibly be that girl anymore and eventualy something will have to give. I feel so badly for her and her family. Whatever else has happened she is likely to be deeply psycologicaly damaged, and I think they all have a long hard road ahead and the likelyhood of a happy ending isn’t very good.
—There are some mysterious fingerprints which have not yet been identified.—
Well, for all we know they could have been from workmen that originally built the house, or even just handled materials used to build the house. Sometimes random fingerprints just turn up in odd places if everything hasn’t been scrubbed down. Or they could be from one of the other homeless people the Smart’s contracted out for work who have nothing to do with the disappearance.
But she’s not a “little girl,” she’s 15! Girls of 15 run away; get married; get pregnant; take jobs; rebel. If she were five, okay, but she’s damn near an adult!
Maybe it’s my good-fer-nothin anti-Mormon attitude showing through, but her parents really creep me out. I think she was kidnapped, but Ialso think that, by the end, she was truly brainwashed. I saw Patty Hearst on Larry King, and it was really interesting to see her take on the whole thing. She said the Smart’s should get an attorney and that Elizabeth should keep any info about sexual abuse to herself.
I forgot to ention a clip I saw of her father talking about how, as soon as she got home, he had her play something on the harp. Not creepy at all, right? But he made it sound like she didn’t want to, and then struggled through a few pieces, and when I pictured the scene it just made me wince.
I have two grown daughters, one 20 yr old, two teenage, and one 10 yr old granddaughters. Elizabeth Smart is not a “little girl”. She’s a 15 yr old young woman, a teenager. My 10 yr old granddaughter is barely a little girl, and would correct you immediately if you called her that. 
We’ll probably learn that she’s got a lot more going for her than we give her credit for. Most teenagers do.
Feeling that something seems odd about this whole thing in no way reflects negatively on Elizabeth’s character. It’s her dad I wonder about, and that’s just a gut feeling. I’ve been wrong before. Once.
And she did say “ran away”, didn’t she?
I’ll save my opinions of Emmanuel for a thread about him. And Mrs Emmanuel.
Let’s not forget her.
Seems to me she simply went from one set of religious freaks to the next…and back.
An Arky, comparing Elizabeth’s Mormon parents to a man who calls himself Emmanuel and thinks he is God, and held a 15 year old girl captive for 9 months is just…wrong. Mormons are hardly “religious freaks.”
What I find weird is the father…apparently, he doesn’t mind hiring help who are:
-homeless
-have extensive criminal records
-have stolen things from the house!
Maybe Mr. Smart is a nice guy…but would you allow someone inside your home, without doing some kind of background checks? The man who died in jail (Ricci) had an extensive criminal record-I might hire such a guy, but only to do something outside my house, and only under MY supervision.
You don’t go hiring people who might be dangerous to you or your family!
Velma, I don’t think they’re religious freaks because they are Mormon, just because they seem, well, freaky…