Elizabeth Smart has offered glimpses into her life more than two decades after her abduction and rescue.
Smart was abducted from her bedroom in 2002 by Brian David Mitchell when she was only 14 years old. With help from Mitchell’s wife, Wanda Barzee, Smart was held captive for nearly a year while experiencing physical, sexual and psychological abuse.
Smart was rescued in 2003, and Mitchell was eventually convicted of interstate kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor in 2011. He is currently serving a life sentence in federal prison. Barzee, meanwhile, received a 15-year sentence for her role in the kidnapping and prolonged abuse. She was released in 2018.
Over the years, Smart has written several memoirs and become a child safety activist to advocate for missing persons and sex abuse victims. She also collaborated with Netflix on the 2026 documentary Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart.
Keep scrolling to see inside of Elizabeth Smart’s life now:
Is Elizabeth Smart Married?
Smart married Matthew Gilmour in 2012 while on a mission trip to Paris. “Because he didn’t know anything [about] my past, he wasn’t afraid to tell me what he really thought,” Smart told Netflix’s “Skip Intro” podcast in January 2026. “I appreciate that I’m not my past [with him]. I am just who I am right now, right here in the moment.”
Does Elizabeth Smart Have Kids?
Smart and Gilmour share three kids.
“[My experience] makes me a lot more conscious and aware of what my kids are doing, who they’re interacting with — making sure that they understand that their safety is a priority to me,” Smart told Tudum in 2026 tells Tudum. “It’s why we don’t do sleepovers. I am very intentional and cautious about where they go and who they interact with. It’s led to a lot of safety conversations, and using the correct body part names, and not associating guilt or shame with being able to say ‘penis’ [as easily as they say] ‘elbow.’”
What Has Elizabeth Smart Shared About Her Life Since Being Rescued?
“I like being at home with my family. I like a good dinner and then [watching a] movie with my kids, traveling up to our cabin and going out boating and just enjoying being outside,” Smart shared on a Netflix podcast in January 2026 about remaining in Utah. “Right now, my kids are all on [a] ski team, and watching them out-ski me is pretty exciting. Just watching my kids be happy, seeing them succeed and find their passions and things that they like doing — I feel like those are pretty big wins.”
Several months later, Smart revealed her unexpected interest in bodybuilding.
“I understand the shock because had you asked me if I would ever compete in a bodybuilding show a couple of years ago I would have said, ‘Absolutely not! Never in 100 years!’” she wrote via Instagram in April 2026. “I think it’s easy to be labeled as one thing, and honestly, that’s not me nor do I think it’s any of us. We are more than just one topic, one idea, one label. I am interested in many things, and as I get older I realize more and more how important it is to make the most of today, we don’t know what tomorrow brings.”
What Does Elizabeth Smart Work On?
Smart has prioritized her advocacy in the years since her rescue.
“[My purpose is] to try to change the conversation around sexual violence, to help survivors understand that the only shame and guilt [belongs] with the perpetrator. To let other survivors know they’re not alone,” she told Tudum in 2026. “Stories are so powerful. It’s why I agreed to do this [film].”
She continued: “Documentaries are how we learn, and they hit me in the heart and stay with me so much longer than [statistics] do. I want to give survivors a place to share their stories as a community. We also have our survivor fund, to try to help pay for medical costs, first and last month’s rent, airplane tickets, or scholarships. Our fund isn’t huge, but we try and do as much as we can to help survivors fill in the gaps.”
