Elizabeth Smart Talks New Netflix Doc That Details Her Abduction — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00It was [music] the kidnapping case that
2. 0:02rocked the nation. In the early hours of
3. 0:04June 5th, 2002, [music]
4. 0:0614-year-old Elizabeth Smart was abducted
5. 0:09from her bedroom at night [music] point
6. 0:11in Salt Lake City, Utah. An exhausted
7. 0:14nationwide hunt immediately launched,
8. 0:16but months went by [music] with few
9. 0:18leads panning out and hope dimming. And
10. 0:20then, after headlines began to dwindle,
11. 0:22[music] 9 months later, came the news
12. 0:25few expected to hear. We have found
13. 0:28Elizabeth Smart. Now, in a new Netflix
14. 0:31documentary, Elizabeth Smart shares her
15. 0:34story in her own words, recounting that
16. 0:37fateful night, her abduction, and abuse
17. 0:39by Brian David Mitchell and his wife,
18. 0:42Wanda Barzee. And I specifically
19. 0:44remember him saying, "The whole of Salt
20. 0:46Lake is looking for you, but they will
21. 0:49never find you because I have you." The
22. 0:52documentary also featuring interviews
23. 0:55with Smart's family, including her
24. 0:57sister, Mary Katherine, who was [music]
25. 0:59in the room when Elizabeth was
26. 1:00kidnapped. After my sister was
27. 1:02kidnapped, [music] I was very frightened
28. 1:05to go to sleep. Now, more than 20 years
29. 1:08later, Elizabeth has made a life for
30. 1:10herself not defined by what happened to
31. 1:13her. [music] Smart married her husband,
32. 1:15Matthew Gilmore, in 2012. The pair has
33. 1:18three children. Being a mom and having
34. 1:20children of my own was something that I
35. 1:23dreamed about as a little girl. She
36. 1:25founded the Elizabeth Smart Foundation,
37. 1:27advocating [music] for other victims,
38. 1:29and has continued to share her story
39. 1:31through speeches, movies, and she's also
40. 1:34written multiple books. [music] Her
41. 1:36inspiring message through it all, one of
42. 1:38hope, telling today [music] in 2013. I
43. 1:42want other survivors out there to know
44. 1:44that they're not alone, that they can be
45. 1:46happy, that they can come back and have
46. 1:48a wonderful life.
47. 1:51Amen to that. Elizabeth, good morning to
48. 1:52you.
49. 1:53I told you I thought this documentary
50. 1:55was very well done. You know, the
51. 1:56story's been told before, but this time
52. 1:59it shifts the focus just a bit. We hear
53. 2:01from your family, and we realize that
54. 2:03it's thanks to their persistence that
55. 2:05there was a break in this case. Talk
56. 2:06about why it was important for you to
57. 2:09share your story in this way. I mean, I
58. 2:11do think having my family involved,
59. 2:14having the law enforcement, local media
60. 2:16involved, I think it gives a really
61. 2:18complete picture of of both sides, and I
62. 2:22guess
63. 2:23since since the trial, since I had to
64. 2:26testify and really talk about what
65. 2:28happened, cuz prior to that I didn't.
66. 2:30Um, I felt like I needed to have a
67. 2:31purpose to sharing my story, and I
68. 2:34remember how alone I felt when I first
69. 2:36came home, cuz nobody talked about
70. 2:37kidnapping or abuse or rape. And so,
71. 2:40since the trial, I've just felt like
72. 2:42that's something that I need to talk
73. 2:43about so other victims don't feel alone,
74. 2:46either. I mean, you really you've
75. 2:48devoted, in a sense, you've devoted your
76. 2:50life to this now.
77. 2:52And this is a, you know, a the terrible,
78. 2:54terrible, unthinkable chapter in your
79. 2:56life.
80. 2:57But, you have a new life. You have three
81. 3:00children now, you're a mom. How How do
82. 3:03you talk to them about that part of your
83. 3:07life, or or do you? I mean, one of the
84. 3:09best pieces of of advice I think I was
85. 3:11ever given as far as parenting goes was
86. 3:14when your
87. 3:15kids start asking questions, that's the
88. 3:17right time to start talking about it.
89. 3:19And honestly, that started way before I
90. 3:21was prepared, way before I ever thought
91. 3:23it would come up. But, I think my oldest
92. 3:26was like 3 years old when she started
93. 3:28asking me questions, like where was I
94. 3:30going, what was I doing, why was I doing
95. 3:32it. And um, that was shocking. I was not
96. 3:35ready. Honestly, I'm not sure if I'm
97. 3:37still ready, but I would say that opened
98. 3:40the door to start having those
99. 3:41conversations, and then just as they've
100. 3:43grown, I've been able to let that
101. 3:45conversation grow, as well. Well,
102. 3:46speaking of children, watching this
103. 3:48documentary, I felt such empathy for
104. 3:51your little sister, because she was in
105. 3:52the room at the time, and then, you
106. 3:53know, you watch how, you know, police
107. 3:55officers and everybody, you know,
108. 3:56they're trying to get information out of
109. 3:58her, but ultimately, it was her voice
110. 4:01that helped to find you. How do you wrap
111. 4:03your mind around that, and what does her
112. 4:04voice mean to you today in your
113. 4:06relationship? I mean, she's my hero. She
114. 4:09She saved me. Had she not remembered who
115. 4:12who had kidnapped me, who's to say that
116. 4:15I would be here today?
117. 4:17I mean, you know, the police all had
118. 4:18their suspects, and my captor, I don't
119. 4:20even think was on their radar at all.
120. 4:21So,
121. 4:22she she is my hero.
122. 4:25You've inspired so many people over the
123. 4:27years. You know, you'd be hard-pressed
124. 4:29to find anyone not familiar with your
125. 4:31story.
126. 4:32And when when people come up to you, and
127. 4:34they're like, "Elizabeth Smart!"
128. 4:36What How do you How do you deal with
129. 4:38that? What are those those interactions
130. 4:40like? Um, I mean, initially, it was so
131. 4:42shocking because that was not me. Like,
132. 4:46I was happy to blend in. I wasn't
133. 4:48anybody. And so, that was very
134. 4:51overwhelming when I first got home, and
135. 4:54then I would also say it was
136. 4:56surprising just like how long and how
137. 4:59many people still remembered my story.
138. 5:03And now, it's been, you know, 20-plus
139. 5:05years, and so, it's not uncommon to have
140. 5:09people come up and approach me, but I
141. 5:11guess even sitting here 20-plus years
142. 5:13later is surprising. Just I would never
143. 5:16have imagined this for my life. I never
144. 5:18would have thought that my life would go
145. 5:20in this direction. Well, we used the
146. 5:22word hope at the beginning of this
147. 5:23piece, and I'm sitting here, and I'm
148. 5:24thinking, this is it personified. Is
149. 5:26there somebody at home right now who may
150. 5:28feel alone, and they can see that
151. 5:30there's a light there at the end of the
152. 5:31tunnel. So happy you're here. Thank you.
153. 5:33Thank you. Thanks for being that light
154. 5:35for more than 20 years now.
155. 5:36And you can watch Kidnapped: Elizabeth
156. 5:38Smart streaming now on Netflix. Hey,
157. 5:40thanks for watching, and don't forget
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