Elizabeth Smart has made TV history by bringing six survivors of America’s most famous abduction cases together to discuss their experiences and the aftermath for a Lifetime special.
Smart, who was kidnapped and held captive for nine months aged just 14, was inspired to bring the women together after 13-year-old Jayme Closs escaped from her abductor in January after 88 days in captivity.
WATCH the trailer here:
Jayme made headlines across the US when her parents were found murdered at their Wisconsin home last October and she seemingly disappeared.
Ms Smart said she hoped the programme – titled Smart Justice: The Jayme Closs Case – would help the young girl to “move forward” after her traumatic ordeal, Daily Mail reports.
The featured survivors comprised women who had mostly been taken in their teens, but some as young as 10.
Gina DeJesus, snatched aged 14, was a prisoner of Ariel Castro for a staggering nine years alongside fellow victims Michelle Knight and Amanda Berry, who heroically escaped in 2013 and alerted authorities.
Katie Beers was horrifyingly kidnapped by a family friend who she trusted. She was forced into a terrifying underground coffin-shaped bunker for 17 days when she was just 10-years-old.
Another survivor, Sarah Maynard, endured a similar scenario to Jayme.
She was forced to watch her mother and brother’s murders before she was kidnapped herself.
When asked if they had forgiven their captors, the women offered different answers.
Ms DeJesus said while she used to “hate” her kidnapper, she came to realise it was a “waste of energy” and feels nothing towards him anymore.
Smart herself admitted she can never forgive her torturers, Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee for the rape she was subjected to, but said she “doesn’t have room” to stay angry at them.
Smart praised young Jayme Closs for having the courage to escape.
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