Smart family isnt right

[Gail T AGAIN]

Originally posted by JasonLyons
to many odd things, to many unanswerd questions, and the father seems to be putting on an act... I really hope I am worng

I haven't thought of it this way but now that I have read your post my mind is starting to think even more.

 

[CRB#33]

Jason. I really believe that you are wrong.

This little girl was held in a tee pee in the woods listening to people call her name for two months.

The family of this lunatic claims he abused children, in fact two of his stepdaughters say they were sexually abused by him.

Two months in a tee pee, with no way to get away, with a man who has been called a pedophile. Those two months changed this child in a way none of us can understand, and hope never have to. This is the time where he created her dependence on him in a way we'll never comprehend.

The police witnessed her reunion with the father who RELENTLESSLY searched for her, when they stopped. There is no doubt in the authorities minds it was a geniuine renunion.

If you watch the TV for just an hour on this subject, you can't come to any other conclusion except that this lunatic "prophet"needed a new little girl when his other ran away.

Just because he acts a little fruity in front of a camera doesn't mean anything. People of all types are not who they really are when a camera is put before them.

 

[bumcat]

Since Elizabeth has been found the father has been on TV pointing fingers at police officers for focusing on Richard Ricci and a republican that had something to do with the ambert alert. The republican was on tv yesterday stating the facts were not correct.
JMO - If you're going to start pointing fingers the very day your daughter is back you should start with yourself.
I do believe their religion played a big part in helping a panhandler but I can't help but believe they were looking to save a buck when they could have afforded to hire decent contractors.
I can understand helping others in the name of religion but you have to also use the common sense that God gave you.
How many of you would bring a total stranger in your house and trust them with your kids? That's insane!!
It's wonderful that Elizabeth is back but this child is scarred for life because of a decision that her parents made. She will never be the same. I do hope and pray they get her the help she needs.
I do not believe the parents were involved in anyway with the kidnapping I just think they used really bad judgment and that is putting it mildly.

 

[CRB#33]

Since Elizabeth has been found the father has been on TV pointing fingers at police officers for focusing on Richard Ricci and a republican that had something to do with the ambert alert. The republican was on tv yesterday stating the facts were not correct.

I know he was doing this last week before they found her, but I've seen nothing but joy and thanks to people in the very few times that he has been on TV in the last 24 hours.

Can you tell me where and when these kinds of things were televised?

Not all homeless people are lunatics and a loving family is trying to help.

People as rich as they are are usually criticisized for NOT helping people.

Homeless people are criticized for NOT getting a job.

Both things happened here.

It just went terribly wrong.

And then it went right. Thank God.

 

[minniepumpernickel]

I'm worried that all of the media coverage now, will have a negative effect on Elizabeth. I just hope that the family can recover from this with some amount of privacy. I hope that the father realizes that public statements may not help his daughter now.

I think that the family may have made bad choices but in no way does this mean that Elizabeth is any less of a victim. Such a sad story, but atleast she is home now!

 

[snoopy]

I don't judge Mr. Smart for the way he appears in the media. How can we walk a mile in his shoes, how would any of us react after 9 long months of not knowing where our child is?

I sure don't judge Elizabeth or her sister, they are mere children. I abhor the thought of what that monster might have done to Elizabeth, and the trauma and guilt he caused her sister.

But I do judge, to some extent, why Mr. Smart allowed these drifters in and out of his house, around his children. Religion aside, I don't think its responsible parenting.

In any case, I am so happy that this family is reunited. To hear the news the other day that she was found alive was such a wonderful and hopeful message, especially with all that is going on in the world right now. It made me believe in miracles again.

 

[Minnie824]

One thing that I found strange was when Ed Smart (her father) spoke to the media shortly after Elizabeth was found and kept going on and on about getting the Amber Alert bill passed. Don't get me wrong, I think thats a great cause, and especially for him to help with it. But, if my daughter had been gone for 9 months and they just found her alive, I don't think I'd be as concerned to sit and keep talking about getting a bill passed.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

Originally posted by bumcat
Since Elizabeth has been found the father has been on TV pointing fingers at police officers for focusing on Richard Ricci and a republican that had something to do with the ambert alert. The republican was on tv yesterday stating the facts were not correct.
JMO - If you're going to start pointing fingers the very day your daughter is back you should start with yourself.
I do believe their religion played a big part in helping a panhandler but I can't help but believe they were looking to save a buck when they could have afforded to hire decent contractors.
I can understand helping others in the name of religion but you have to also use the common sense that God gave you.
How many of you would bring a total stranger in your house and trust them with your kids? That's insane!!
It's wonderful that Elizabeth is back but this child is scarred for life because of a decision that her parents made. She will never be the same. I do hope and pray they get her the help she needs.
I do not believe the parents were involved in anyway with the kidnapping I just think they used really bad judgment and that is putting it mildly.

Well said!

CRB#33, I don't think I've seen the father on TV in the last two days when he HASN'T ranted about the Amber Alert bill.

 

[twinmomplus2]

I wish everyone would reserve judgement, God forbid it was a child of yours. That being said. It would be my style to rant, and scream and curl up into a ball if my child had been missing. However, these are deeply religous people.....And the style of coping would be in the hands of god as they see it. That is why they seem somewhat detatched,They have said from day one that they trusted in god. As for hiring drifters to work on the family home... That is a bible prophecy Give a man a fish, he eats for a day, Teach a man to fish he eats for a lifetime. Anyone ever heard this one. Do I agree with stangers coming in to do work if I do not know them? no I do not, But apparently this was some sort of a misson for the Smarts. Did anyone see A Cry In the dark? How that woman was villified in Australia, It took 8 years to vindicate her, And again her strong religous faith had influenced her responses and her emotions and she was eatan alive for it. No one can judge all families are different, and all syles of coping vary. The child is alive that in itself is beyond me, that is what people should be saying and nothing more.

 

[Mamu]

It's so sad we have a mistrust for so many people.

There are so many distrubed people out there that we find it hard to look at a family and see nothing but compassion for others. So much that they put their childrens lives in danger.

I for one think this sick person had some kind of infatuation with this girl and the family. I think in his sick mind he felt a need to possess her as his own. So he could try to surround himself with her goodness. We don't know what goes on in a sick persons mind. I sure he looked at her as maybe his "Mary".

This family has suffered terribly, always remember the press thrives on stories like this. You will have every analyst telling you what they think. None of them were there. How do they know.

 

[browneyes]

I won't be surprised when she runs away within the next couple of weeks. I don't know about her family, I haven't watched tv to see how they're reacting. But from the pic of her I've seen with her brother and sister, to me it looks like she's thinking about it. I read that drudge report and he said the same thing I thought when I saw her first picture released-another Patty Hearst.

I hope they get her some good psychological help soon. Her and her whole family needs it.

 

[Serena]

Shannon, I disagree about that picture. I think she looks like she's safe and home. Like everything is going to be alright now.
I saw her grandparents this morning on GMA and I really liked them. I think she'll be okay.

 

[CRB#33]

One thing that I found strange was when Ed Smart (her father) spoke to the media shortly after Elizabeth was found and kept going on and on about getting the Amber Alert bill passed. Don't get me wrong, I think thats a great cause, and especially for him to help with it. But, if my daughter had been gone for 9 months and they just found her alive, I don't think I'd be as concerned to sit and keep talking about getting a bill passed.

Maybe it's his way of helping other children as quickly as possible. Using the influence he has now to help others in the future. This influence will surely fade since his child is safe. The media will only want to focus on tragedies in the future.

CRB#33, I don't think I've seen the father on TV in the last two days when he HASN'T ranted about the Amber Alert bill

Yes, you're right. Let me clarify, I was talking about the attacks he made on the police in the last 24 hours.

 

[bumcat]

CRB - I bounce back and forth watching diff. news channels but I believe it was MSNBC. It was on wednesday night. To be honest I'm not sure which station but he has been on alot since she has been home. The republican was on the today show yesterday morning giving his side about the ambert alert after being criticize by Mr. Smart.
I do hope the media leaves them alone to heal but Mr Smart needs to stop talking to them now so they can return to a some what normal life if that's possible.
I have given money to panhandlers but never ever would I bring them to my house but I do understand them wanting to help, there just has to be a better way to help and not endanger your kids.

 

[Dodie]

Thanks for having the guts to post this opinion. The whole thing has been weird all along. I understand the desire to help the less fortunate, but repeatedly bringing "drifters" into your home and exposing them to your family seems to be asking for trouble.

As for the past nine months, how can a 15-year-old girl who appeared "in public" at parties and crowded places NOT figure out a way to slip somebody a note or whisper in someone's ear? Especially when she was so near to home, walking by billboards and signs asking for her return, etc. When confronted by the police on the street, why would she continue to deny her identity? Whatever they did to her, I will never understand that.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

What I want to know is, how they can say she was brainwashed? If she truly was she wouldn't be the happy, smiling girl they are showing in some of the pictures. I mean, could they deprogram her THAT fast. I don't buy it, I don't buy it at all. I think there is SO much more to the story and I believe poor Elizabeth wanted out of that house, and I really hate to think of the reasons why. The people that had her don't seem like they were that smart or capable. I bet she could have gotten away if she wanted to.

 

[bumcat]

He said the police should not have focused so much on Richard Ricci. He said they knew about Emmanuel back in Oct and didn't act fast enough. That part I'm confused about because the media kept saying Elizabeth's sister didn't remember it was Emmanuel until Feb?
Of course Mrs Smart probably is blaming herself, I know I would be. Maybe it's his way of protecting her.

 

[CRB#33]

It all goes back to those two months in the woods when she was first taken.

I'm sure he created an unbelievable dependence on him. Think about it....she heard her name being called for the first few days or however long it was and then it stopped. I'm sure this mad man used that to his complete advantage. His stepdaughters claim he sexually abused him and his ex called him a pedophile and she left him. She had to do all her bodily functions in front of him for two months. She was dependent on him for food, shelter clothing and all along he is probably telling her that her family has given up on her.

Of course none of this means that she ever stopped loving her family and that she wouldn't be overjoyed to see them again. It just means that as a 14 year old girl, she was totally controlled while she was in this mans presence and after day after day, night after night, she could never be sure what this man would do if she let out her identity.

It boils down to the absolute power he had over her in her presence.

It is a tribute to the love that is in that family that she was able to bounce back a bit when that family reappeared without the presence of the madman. Love does amazing things. It also does awful things when you are not in anyway surrounded by it anymore.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

<font color=navy>I know that this family is being criticized for bringing drifters in, but I think it's because they really wanted to make some difference.

I knew someone - not wealthy - who spent Christmas Eves with his family taking soup and blankets to the homeless in the parks - it was a tradition. He also brought homeless in his own home, gave them new clothes, had them bathe - when it was obvious they hadn't bathed in weeks - and tried to help them find jobs. That was just the way he and his family were.

There are people out there who have a generous heart. It humbles me, because I know I'd be too scared to let some unknown person in my house (though I remember when we had our house remodeled, and there were guys here at all times, doing construction, and I didn't know them from beans, and that seemed to be okay).

I also think he's probably passionate about passing the Amber Alert, and is using this time, while they're still in the public eye, to try and make a difference.

My best to their family. It's going to be a hard transition for them, especially when their actions are quickly judged. I'm reserving my own opinion until more information is shared.

 

[snoopy]

Hear hear, crb!!! I totally agree with ALL of your last post.