Elizabeth Smart Gets Back to 'Normal' Life

S A L T   L A K E   C I T Y, Utah, Oct. 24, 2003 -- Elizabeth Smart, now a 15-year-old high school sophomore, has reclaimed her life in the months since she was discovered with her alleged kidnappers on the street.

Elizabeth's life is completely different than it was just one year ago when she roamed the mountains and the streets of Utah, eating one meal a day.

These days Elizabeth, like the rest of her teenage friends, has been going to movies, parties and attending high school this fall.

Talk show host Oprah Winfrey said Elizabeth seemed content during her exclusive tour of the Smart family's Salt Lake City home.

"I was very pleased to see that she's very, quote, normal — very at home, very at ease with herself, very at ease with her brother and sister — joking back and forth with them," Oprah said after her interview with Elizabeth's family.

Ed and Lois Smart have spoken to Oprah Winfrey about their daughter's kidnapping and their revealing new book, which chronicles Elizabeth's ordeal.

ABCNEWS' Good Morning America got an exclusive first look at Winfrey's conversation with the Smarts.

As the Smarts walked Winfrey through their home, they took her through exactly what happened the night Elizabeth was kidnapped from her bedroom on June 5, 2002.

In the early-morning hours, Brian David Mitchell — who had been hired as a handyman by the Smarts at one time — allegedly cut through the kitchen window screen of the Smart family's million-dollar home.

Mary Katherine, Elizabeth's 9-year-old sister, watched as Elizabeth was taken from their room at knifepoint.

When she felt safe, Mary Katherine ran into her parents' room with a chilling cry, according to a passage from the Smart family's book.

"She's gone. Elizabeth is gone," the girl said, according to the book Bringing Elizabeth Home: A Journey of Faith and Hope. "You won't find her. A man came and took her."

The Smarts began their heartbreaking nine-month search for Elizabeth that night. The nation was shocked and relieved when the girl was finally found on March 12, 2003, in Sandy, a suburb about 15 miles south of Salt Lake City.

Mitchell, 50, and his wife Wanda Barzee, 57, are charged with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault and aggravated burglary in Elizabeth's abduction.

As Elizabeth has tried to move on with her life over the last seven months, her alleged kidnappers remain locked in jail, both on $10 million bonds.

However, the criminal case has been stalled for months, while court-appointed experts examine the defendants' sanity.

Salt Lake County District Attorney David Yocom says he assumed the case would have advanced further by now.

"We don't understand why it's taking so long," Yocom said. "We've certainly done everything we can."

In Elizabeth's chapter of the family's new book, which is scheduled to hit book stores next week, she says she feels blessed to be back with her family and friends.

She also thanks everyone for their prayers: "If you were standing in front of me now," she wrote, "I'd shake your hand and tell you how much your good thoughts and prayers meant to my family and me."

The full interview will air on Oprah Winfrey's syndicated show on Monday, Oct. 27. Check your local listings for times.