Girl Found After 18 YearsAs Jaycee Lee Dugard is found after 18 years, here are other 'captives who came back from the dead' The miracle return of Jaycee Lee Dugard is not the first time a child has reappeared long after they were abducted. Despite the fact almost everyone concerned, even their closest family members, finally accept that a child has died, a rare few are rediscovered years later. Up to 24 years after they were first reported missing, these high-profile disappearances returned to society.
ELIZABETH SMART was found by police in Utah in 2003 a few miles away from the Salt Lake City home from which she had been kidnapped nine months earlier. In June 2002, Elizabeth, then 14, was abducted at knifepoint from her bedroom by a man prosecutors claimed was Brian Mitchell, a drifter and self-styled 'polygamist prophet' who had done oddjobs at her parents' home.
They said Mitchell had forced the girl to live as his wife during her time in captivity. He and his wife, Wanda Barzee, are still in custody but have never been tried because they were ruled mentally incompetent. 'Statistically, everyone said she was dead,' said Elizabeth's father, Ed. 'The not knowing was so horrible.' Elizabeth is now a 21-year-old university student studying music.
