Elizabeth Smart's Dad: Abduction Changes Kids

Jan. 13, 2007 — -- The rescue of Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby, two abducted Missouri boys found Friday, hit close to home for Edward Smart -- the father of Elizabeth Smart, a Utah girl kidnapped in 2002 and found alive nine months later.

The boys' experiences with their abductor likely will have changed them from the children their parents once knew, he said Saturday on "Good Morning America Weekend Edition."

"They've gone through an ordeal that, you know, to us is the worst nightmare that we could expect," Smart said. "And reconnecting and trying to overcome the issues that come because of that experience is, you know, something that just takes time and love and really re-establishing those relationships."

While Hornbeck and Ownby are home again, the families may have hard work ahead.

"To have closure on it, to be getting your life back, is something that's just wonderful," he said. "For the family, though … I had one psychiatrist say, you know, 'It's kind of like giving birth again.' You're trying to reconnect together and establish trust."

Hornbeck's parents said they didn't want to pry the details of his experience right now, and Smart believes that's the right thing to do.

"I think for the family, they've just got to give their kid some space -- and I'm really happy to hear that that's what they're doing," he said.

Smart is campaigning for legislation that will make it easier for authorities to catch kidnappers.

"With the Adam Walsh bill that just passed this past summer, it's going to help move it forward in the greatest way," Smart said, referring to the bill that institutes a national database of convicted child molesters, forcing states to share information.

"Right now, we're just hoping that the Senate and the House will quickly move to appropriate funds to make that bill actually work," Smart said.

Smart said that the rescue of the Missouri boys shows that when the public is engaged in a search, miracles can happen.

"There are other children out there, I believe, in the same situation, and it really just happens because people care and people keep looking," he said.