Oh yeah. I'm not saying that all cases should get this kind of attention. I just question why some do and most do not.

dola -

But it is an amazing story. Finally some GOOD news to hear about.

It is interesting that a large number of the cases like this that get national attention are wealthy white children.

I think it has much more to do with being wealthy than white. Wealth simply gives you more resources and it makes the story more compelling. If it was a wealthy black child, I have the feeling it would also get a large amount of coverage. It's a different situation, but the short disappearance of Bill Cosby's kid, before they found him dead, got a lot of news play when it happened. The fact of the matter is that if a wealthy child is kidnapped, statistics are going to dictate that he or she will be white.

It is sort of the O.J. situation...wealth just gives you more privileges.

I take it you're not familiar with the Stockholm Syndrome? It's a rather common occurance in cases where a person or people are held against their will for long periods of time - a sympathy for the captors can develop. I don't have my old Psych textbooks in front of me and I don't recall the details of why this occurs exactly, but it has happened quite often in hostage/abductee situations.

Of course we have no idea yet what Elizabeth Smart's experience was during her abduction, so it's certainly possible that she didn't escape simply because of fear.

As far as the publicity angle, I don't think anyone here isn't very happy to hear that she's been found and returned to her family. I can understand though why people are questioning the level of attention that was paid to her disappearence relative to other similar cases that happen all too often. Certainly with her recovery, this is a big story, but why was her case so publicized after she was abducted? I think that is a fair question to ask...

I have a 6 week old daughter. I'm as happy as anyone but the family that Elizabeth Smart is back. But I keep wondering that if my daughter went missing if the media would be paying as much attention as they did to Elizabeth Smart before and after the recovery.

According to MSNBC she was forced to marry the guy. Something about polygamy or something. (As reported to me by a friend who was watching tv).

Edit: This might have been speculation by people on tv, my friend wasn't really paying attention to the tv and I can't find any links.

I remember something about her family belonging to some sketchy offshoot of the Mormons, where they sometimes kidnapped cousins and married them or something. It was back when she was taken though, so I don't remember the details.

That doesn't mean you should care less about some poor kid that was abducted and sexually abused for months. Don't let your bitterness make you care less about some innocent kid. I agree that it's not fair the way the media picks their own darling to cover while ignoring other missing kids that deserve public support but I think almost any missing kid at least gets local media coverage. No one likes to see that kind of thing.

I don't care less. Just trying to make sure I care about every missing kid...

Good for her. Wish her the best.

Elizabeth Smart Engaged : People.com