Elizabeth Smart Is Now a Competitive Bodybuilder — 24 Years After Being Kidnapped and Held Captive for 9 Months

Elizabeth Smart was just 14 years old when she was kidnapped from her Utah home in 2002. After nine months in captivity, she was spotted on a street with her kidnappers, Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee.

In the years since, Smart has become an advocate for survivors of abduction and sexual violence while building a family and pursuing new passions.

RadarOnline.com can reveal everything to know about Smart's life years after the kidnapping.

The kidnapping survivor was born on November 3, 1987, to parents Ed and Lois Smart. The second-oldest of six children gained national attention after she was kidnapped more than 20 years ago.

On June 5, 2002, Elizabeth was abducted in the middle of the night from the bedroom she shared with her younger sister, Mary Katherine, in their Salt Lake City, Utah, home. Before the kidnapping, Mitchell had worked about five hours repairing the roof of the Smart family's house in the Federal Heights neighborhood and used the name "Emmanuel" as an alias.

The kidnapper took Elizabeth to a campsite in the mountains near her home, where Barzee was waiting. The couple held the teen captive for nine months, during which Elizabeth was repeatedly sexually assaulted by Mitchell.

Mary Katherine, the only witness to the crime, identified Mitchell as a possible suspect after a book caused her to remember the name "Emmanuel." Authorities released a sketch of Mitchell, and photographs of the kidnapper were subsequently featured on America's Most Wanted.

According to Elizabeth, her abductor also planned to kidnap her cousin Jessica Wright to make her "his next wife" but was unsuccessful.

"I remember he said to me, 'She's supposed to be the next wife,'" she told Fox News Digital in January. "He had a whole plan to kidnap seven young girls, and we would all be his wives. I just happened to be the first girl he kidnapped."

Elizabeth recalled, "When he said that, my stomach dropped. It felt like I had directed him to her. He had a whole plan for how he was going to kidnap her – on July 24, a state holiday in Utah. He thought it would be a great day because everyone would be busy with fireworks and barbecues. I felt terrible because I didn’t want anyone else to go through what I was going through."

On March 12, 2003, nine months and seven days after the kidnapping, Elizabeth was found walking with Mitchell and Barzee in Sandy, Utah, after witnesses recognized her and contacted police.

Elizabeth, then 15, was ultimately saved by authorities and reunited with her family, while her abductors were arrested.

Legal proceedings against Mitchell and Barzee were delayed for years over concerns about their competency to stand trial.

Barzee pleaded guilty to kidnapping and unlawfully transporting a minor in November 2009 and was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison in May 2010. She was released on September 19, 2018, after receiving credit for time served.

Meanwhile, Mitchell was found guilty of kidnapping and transporting a minor across state lines for illegal sexual activity in December 2010. He was sentenced to life in prison in May 2011.

After helping develop a Department of Justice publication for kidnapping survivors in 2008, Elizabeth established the Elizabeth Smart Foundation in 2011 to "bring hope, empowerment, and change in the fight against sexual violence" and help promote the "Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force" organized for law enforcement agencies.

In July 2011, she joined ABC News as a contributor covering missing-person cases.

Elizabeth has since published three books: her memoir, My Story, in October 2013; Where There's Hope: Healing, Moving Forward, and Never Giving Up in March 2018; and Detours: Hope & Growth After Life's Hardest Turns in December 2025.

"I would say life is beautiful for Elizabeth Smart. My life's not perfect... I mean, my life's a hot mess a lot of the time. You know, my family's not perfect, but I am happy. Because, even beyond all of our imperfections, all of our 'hot messes,' I am surrounded by people who I love more than anything in the world, and who I know love me," she told CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King years after the kidnapping.

In addition to her writing and advocacy work, Elizabeth has pursued competitive bodybuilding.

In April, she revealed she had begun competing in several competitions, including the Wasatch Warrior bodybuilding and fitness competition in Salt Lake City. She also joined the National Physique Committee's North American Championships in September and competed in two divisions: Masters 35+ and Open Class D.

She said she "placed at the bottom of both classes."

"I brought a better physique and stage presence than at my previous shows, and I'm so proud of myself for the hard work, discipline, and bravery it takes me to compete. So, here's to pursuing goals and not giving up!" she shared in the social media post.

The child safety advocate is now married with three young children.

She married her husband, Matthew Gilmour, in Hawaii in February 2012. They welcomed their first child, Chloe, in 2015, followed by son James in 2017 and daughter Olivia in 2018.

Elizabeth said being a mother was "the best thing ever," adding, "I'm happy. I'm really happy."

"It's probably made me like the most paranoid, overprotective, annoying parent ever," she said of the 2002 kidnapping during an appearance at the Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club in 2015. "I'm definitely given a whole new depth of feeling about everything."