Home Kidnapping survivor Elizabeth Smart to speak at Bridgewater College
News

Kidnapping survivor Elizabeth Smart to speak at Bridgewater College

Contributors

elizabeth smartAbducted from her bedroom on June 5, 2002, at the age of 14, Utah resident Elizabeth Smart was imprisoned and sexually abused by her captors for nine months before being rescued by the police. She will tell her story on Monday, Feb. 25, at 7:30 p.m. in Cole Hall at Bridgewater College.

Smart’s captors exerted control over her by threatening to kill both her and her family if she tried to escape. An alert biker spotted Smart in the company of her kidnappers and notified authorities, who rescued her and reunited her with her family on March 12, 2003.

Smart’s courtroom testimony helped lead to the conviction of her abductors.

Because of her experience, Smart has become an advocate for legislative change related to child abduction and recovery programs, and speaks on behalf of kidnapping survivors and child victims of violence and sexual abuse.

Smart says that her kidnapping helped her understand the depth of her love for her family and friends, and that she learned to take joy in the gift of life.

“I only have one life, and I’m not going to miss out on it,” she said. “When I’m through, I want to be able to say, ‘Wow, I lived a great life.’”

Smart serves as president of the Elizabeth Smart Foundation, an organization that seeks to bring hope and stop victimization. She promotes the national AMBER Alert and the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act.

She has worked with other recovered young adults and the U.S. Department of Justice to create a survivors’ guide You’re Not Alone: The Journey From Abduction to Empowerment.

Smart has shared her story in interviews with Katie Couric and Oprah Winfrey, and is a contributor for ABC News on missing persons and child abduction cases.

In the spring of 2012, Smart earned a degree in music with an emphasis on harp performance from Brigham Young University.

The program at Bridgewater College is sponsored by the W. Harold Row Endowed Lecture Series and is free and open to the public.

Bridgewater College is a private, four-year liberal arts college located in the Central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Founded in 1880, it was the state’s first private, coeducational college. Today, Bridgewater College is home to approximately 1,750 undergraduate students.

Contributors

Contributors

Have a guest column, letter to the editor, story idea or a news tip? Email editor Chris Graham at [email protected]. Subscribe to AFP podcasts on Apple PodcastsSpotifyPandora and YouTube.

Latest News

traffic stop crash wreck sign
Virginia

One dead in early-morning crash on Interstate 495 in Fairfax County

ryan nicholas patton
Local, Politics

Staunton Police arrest, then quickly release, man who shouted death threats at protest

An Augusta County man who shouted death threats at people on their way to the April 19 anti-Ben Cline protest in Downtown Staunton was arrested on an unrelated charge and quickly released, according to Staunton Police.

woman arrest handcuffs
Local

Fredericksburg man arrested, charged with online solicitation of teen

A Fredericksburg man was arrested on three counts of online solicitation of a minor under 15 years of age in connection with an operation run by Albemarle County Police.

Norfolk Virginia
Virginia

Arrest made in shooting that injured two on the campus of Norfolk State University

job interview
Local

Waynesboro: Jobfest ’25 to connect job seekers with local employers

Education, Local

Staunton, Waynesboro High seniors to participate in Summer Workforce training

staunton-rolling-coal-incident-vehicle
Local, Politics

‘No complaints’: Armentrout Towing still on Virginia State Police rotation list