Elizabeth Smart is Engaged! Former Kidnap Victim Plans to Wed this Summer

Elizabeth Smart is engaged. The 24-year-old, who was thrust into the public eye at age of 14 when she was kidnapped at knife point by Brian David Mitchell, announced today that she plans to get married this Summer.

Chris Thomas, from the PR firm Intrepid Group, did not name Smart’s fiance or explain how they met. Thomas said that the two were engaged last weekend and they plan to have a Summer wedding.

Thomas said:

“She has planned to be very public, in her child advocacy work but she wants to keep the details of her personal life private. (Elizabeth) is very happy and excited for this next chapter in her life.”

MSNBC reports that there are currently wedding registries online at Williams-Sonoma and Pottery Barn for an April 7th for Elizabeth Smart and Matthew Gilmour in Utah.

Elizabeth’s father, Ed Smart, said:

“(Elizabeth’s mother Lois and I are “very happy for Elizabeth. She feels that he’s the one so we are very happy for her. He seems like a fine young man.”

The Desert News reports that Smart was kidnapped in 2002 when she was just 14. She was held for nine months by Mitchell and his wife Wanda Barzee. Smart’s testimony in 2010 helped convict Mitchell of kidnapping and rape. Mitchell is currently serving a life sentence. Barzee received a 15-year sentence for her role in Elizabeth Smart’s kidnapping.

Since her escape, Smart has worked as a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in France and has formed the Elizabeth Smart Foundation to advocate on the behalf of children.

Smart writes on her foundation’s home page:

“Too many families experience the nightmare of having a child go missing. I know what it is like to be that child. I know what it is like to think that one false move may lead to not only your own death but the death of family members as well… Every child in the world deserves to have a life without abuse in any form.”

Elizabeth Smart has been through unimaginable pain and torture. It’s great to see that she has found someone to marry.