Utah father of Elizabeth Smart recounts story of his own daughter’s long abduction, reunion

Latest abduction invokes saga of Elizabeth Smart

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah father of Elizabeth Smart says he’s horrified by the parallels between the latest abduction story to grip the nation and his own daughter’s long journey with an alleged kidnapper.

Snatched at knifepoint from her Salt Lake City bedroom, then 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart was kept for nine months in 2002 and 2003 as her alleged abductor drifted around from Salt Lake City to San Diego.

Ed Smart tells AP Radio he was startled to hear that religious extremism also reportedly played a part in the abduction of Jaycee Lee Dugard.

Now 29, Dugard reunited with her family this week after an abduction in California lasting 18 years. She was taken off a street in South Lake Tahoe, Nev. at age 11.

Ed Smart says it took time, but his daughter readjusted.