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CNN Live At Daybreak
Missing Utah Teen Found in Salt Lake City Suburb
Aired March 13, 2003 - 06:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED SMART, ELIZABETH'S FATHER: They took me to this room, and when they opened the door and she was there, I just -- I couldn't believe it. I just couldn't believe it. And she was just sitting there on the sofa, and I just went up and grabbed her and just was so happy. I mean, I just have prayed and prayed and prayed that we would find her, and it's truly an answer to prayer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Of course, that's Elizabeth Smart's dad describing his emotional reunion with his teenaged daughter. This morning, she's waking up with her family for the first time in nine months.
We want to take you through how this case went down. Police found Elizabeth Smart yesterday in Sandy, Utah, which is a suburb of Salt Lake City. She was abducted at gunpoint from the bedroom of her Salt Lake City home on June 5. Her 9-year-old sister was the only witness.
A break in the case came last October, when Elizabeth's sister recalled that the abductor appeared to resemble a drifter called Emmanuel. He was later identified as Brian David Mitchell. Mitchell worked on the Smart family home for about five hours back in November of 2001, and then the family never saw him again.
Suspects Wanda Eileen Barzee and Brian David Mitchell are now in police custody. Police believe they're man and wife; not sure though.
Of course, there are still so many unanswered questions about this Smart case, and I don't mean to bring you down, but many are wondering if Elizabeth could have escaped her captors.
We take you live to the Utah capital and our Rusty Dornin.
Rusty, a lot of people are wondering this, because this drifter allegedly took Elizabeth Smart to a couple of states. They even went to a party in Salt Lake City. And also they were in a public park, and somebody actually took videotape of them.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they haven't confirmed that it actually is videotape of them, Carol, but the fact is that police do say that they believe she was abducted and that she was frightened and that she was afraid to escape. As the story begins to come out, definitely those questions are going to need to be answered: Was she fearful? Was she brainwashed eventually? That's another question that will have to be answered.
But the thing is now she is asleep in her own bed, which apparently was something she really wanted to do.
We're here at the prayer meeting house, where the Smarts come every Sunday. And you can see here the blue balloons behind me. Now, they're all over this community, because blue was Elizabeth Smart's favorite color. So the blue ribbons and the blue balloons are here to welcome her home.
Now, as you said, the suspect -- her little sister had said, she said, "Dad, I think it's him," talking about Brian David Mitchell last October. But it wasn't until February 3 that the family had a press conference, released this sketch, and Mitchell's relatives actually were able to circulate pictures of him.
It was those pictures that had been so widely circulated over the last month that alerted two different couples in Sandy, Utah yesterday. They saw three very strangely dressed people walking down the street, and they recognized one of them as this Brian David Mitchell.
Now, both couples called police within a minute of one another. Rudy and Nancy Montoya were the first.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY MONTOYA, EYEWITNESS: We spotted Emmanuel first. That's what clued us in. We thought the guy looked like Emmanuel.
QUESTION: Describe him. What was he -- was he bearded?
R. MONTOYA: He looked like this picture with the beard. It was kind of scruffy, black and white.
QUESTION: What type of car were they in?
R. MONTOYA: They were walking.
NANCY MONTOYA, EYEWITNESS: They were walking.
QUESTION: You were in your car.
R. MONTOYA: We were in our car.
QUESTION: What did you feel when you saw Elizabeth Smart?
R. MONTOYA: We didn't -- we, neither one of us recognized that as being Elizabeth Smart. We mainly noticed that it was Emmanuel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Now, she was taken immediately to Salt Lake City police headquarters for questioning, and then she was taken to the hospital where they did check her out and made sure she was healthy and everything. The police then took her to her home in a police van. They very carefully guarded her as she went into her house from reporters, and even well-wishers, of course, that crowded the area.
Now, her family still has a tough time believing she's actually home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID SMART, ELIZABETH'S UNCLE: An incredible miracle that has been brought to our family. Words cannot express how grateful we are for the prayers around the world. Do miracles still exist? And the answer is, yes. And we have Elizabeth back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Now, it really is a miracle to a lot of folks here. We heard a lot of people driving around just honking their horns last night in pure, absolute joy. So this is a community that has long awaited this news -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Rusty Dornin live from Salt Lake City, Utah this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired March 13, 2003 - 06:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED SMART, ELIZABETH'S FATHER: They took me to this room, and when they opened the door and she was there, I just -- I couldn't believe it. I just couldn't believe it. And she was just sitting there on the sofa, and I just went up and grabbed her and just was so happy. I mean, I just have prayed and prayed and prayed that we would find her, and it's truly an answer to prayer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Of course, that's Elizabeth Smart's dad describing his emotional reunion with his teenaged daughter. This morning, she's waking up with her family for the first time in nine months.
We want to take you through how this case went down. Police found Elizabeth Smart yesterday in Sandy, Utah, which is a suburb of Salt Lake City. She was abducted at gunpoint from the bedroom of her Salt Lake City home on June 5. Her 9-year-old sister was the only witness.
A break in the case came last October, when Elizabeth's sister recalled that the abductor appeared to resemble a drifter called Emmanuel. He was later identified as Brian David Mitchell. Mitchell worked on the Smart family home for about five hours back in November of 2001, and then the family never saw him again.
Suspects Wanda Eileen Barzee and Brian David Mitchell are now in police custody. Police believe they're man and wife; not sure though.
Of course, there are still so many unanswered questions about this Smart case, and I don't mean to bring you down, but many are wondering if Elizabeth could have escaped her captors.
We take you live to the Utah capital and our Rusty Dornin.
Rusty, a lot of people are wondering this, because this drifter allegedly took Elizabeth Smart to a couple of states. They even went to a party in Salt Lake City. And also they were in a public park, and somebody actually took videotape of them.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they haven't confirmed that it actually is videotape of them, Carol, but the fact is that police do say that they believe she was abducted and that she was frightened and that she was afraid to escape. As the story begins to come out, definitely those questions are going to need to be answered: Was she fearful? Was she brainwashed eventually? That's another question that will have to be answered.
But the thing is now she is asleep in her own bed, which apparently was something she really wanted to do.
We're here at the prayer meeting house, where the Smarts come every Sunday. And you can see here the blue balloons behind me. Now, they're all over this community, because blue was Elizabeth Smart's favorite color. So the blue ribbons and the blue balloons are here to welcome her home.
Now, as you said, the suspect -- her little sister had said, she said, "Dad, I think it's him," talking about Brian David Mitchell last October. But it wasn't until February 3 that the family had a press conference, released this sketch, and Mitchell's relatives actually were able to circulate pictures of him.
It was those pictures that had been so widely circulated over the last month that alerted two different couples in Sandy, Utah yesterday. They saw three very strangely dressed people walking down the street, and they recognized one of them as this Brian David Mitchell.
Now, both couples called police within a minute of one another. Rudy and Nancy Montoya were the first.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY MONTOYA, EYEWITNESS: We spotted Emmanuel first. That's what clued us in. We thought the guy looked like Emmanuel.
QUESTION: Describe him. What was he -- was he bearded?
R. MONTOYA: He looked like this picture with the beard. It was kind of scruffy, black and white.
QUESTION: What type of car were they in?
R. MONTOYA: They were walking.
NANCY MONTOYA, EYEWITNESS: They were walking.
QUESTION: You were in your car.
R. MONTOYA: We were in our car.
QUESTION: What did you feel when you saw Elizabeth Smart?
R. MONTOYA: We didn't -- we, neither one of us recognized that as being Elizabeth Smart. We mainly noticed that it was Emmanuel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Now, she was taken immediately to Salt Lake City police headquarters for questioning, and then she was taken to the hospital where they did check her out and made sure she was healthy and everything. The police then took her to her home in a police van. They very carefully guarded her as she went into her house from reporters, and even well-wishers, of course, that crowded the area.
Now, her family still has a tough time believing she's actually home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID SMART, ELIZABETH'S UNCLE: An incredible miracle that has been brought to our family. Words cannot express how grateful we are for the prayers around the world. Do miracles still exist? And the answer is, yes. And we have Elizabeth back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Now, it really is a miracle to a lot of folks here. We heard a lot of people driving around just honking their horns last night in pure, absolute joy. So this is a community that has long awaited this news -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Rusty Dornin live from Salt Lake City, Utah this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
