While the shadow of Elizabeth Smart’s nine-month nightmare once captivated the nation, the woman who emerged from the darkness has spent two decades ensuring no other child has to walk that path alone. The recent Netflix documentary Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart showed what happened in the past, but this also raises a question: where is she now? This is the story of a survival that transformed into a powerful crusade for justice and healing.

Elizabeth Smart turned her trauma into a blueprint for global advocacy and personal restoration.

Since Elizabeth Smart’s rescue, Smart has meticulously crafted a life defined by family and fierce protection of others. She found love with Matthew Gilmour during a mission in France, and today they share a home with their three children. This personal joy serves as the foundation for her professional mission to empower those who feel voiceless.

Her professional life is dedicated to the Elizabeth Smart Foundation, established in 2011, which recently integrated with the Malouf Foundation to broaden its reach. Through this platform, she champions several initiatives, including Smart Defense, a self-defense curriculum that focuses on both physical protection and the psychological strength needed to set boundaries.

In addition to her advocacy work, Elizabeth Smart is a celebrated author who has penned multiple bestsellers to inspire others. Her literary contributions include the 2013 memoir My Story, followed by Where There’s Hope and her more recent 2023 release, Detours, which explores resilience after life-changing setbacks. She treats her story not as a burden to be hidden, but as a tool for global good!

‘Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart’ Documentary on Netflix: Story Behind the Notorious Crime Against the Utah Victim

Elizabeth Smart’s resilience stands in stark contrast to the legal outcomes of the two people who stole her childhood by abducting her, as illustrated in Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart.

Brian David Mitchell remains behind bars in a high-security Indiana prison, serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Elizabeth Smart maintains that his permanent incarceration is necessary, as he continues to represent a severe danger to the community. For her, knowing he will never walk free provides a measure of permanent safety, as shown in Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart.

His accomplice and former wife, Wanda Barzee, has had a more volatile path since her surprise early release from prison in 2018. Despite being under strict federal supervision, she was arrested as recently as May 2025 for violating the terms of her parole by visiting prohibited public parks in Salt Lake City.

Though Barzee was released shortly after her latest arrest, she remains under heavy monitoring by the Salt Lake City Police and the sex offender registry. Elizabeth, meanwhile, remains steadfast in her mission, stating in a recent 2026 documentary that she refuses to let these individuals dictate her future or her happiness.

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