Elizabeth Smart

I wouldn't say he was following it per se.

But sometimes when he'd go down into Salt Lake, he'd bring newspaper articles back about the search.

Or he'd talk about how every...

tree in Salt Lake had like a light blue ribbon tied around it and how every window in Salt Lake had a picture of my face in it.

It's one thing to say that, but to see it or I guess experience it.

I mean, I only experienced after I got home and in like the days and weeks after I got home, the post office couldn't put mail in our mailbox.

They brought it up to the house by the box full.

And I remember at one point there were so many flowers in our house that even the countertops in the bathrooms had vases of flowers on them.

I...

Could never imagine.

I mean, even now, we all know like the number, oh, there's 7 billion people in the world or however many.

I mean, it's one thing to say that number, but then to actually even begin to realize just how many people that actually is, to put faces, to put bodies to that number is overwhelming.

And I didn't have 7 billion people sending me stuff, but however many people it was.

Yeah, was overwhelming.

Yeah, it was comforting to think that there were people looking for me because who was I?

Why would people look for me outside of my family?

My vision of it would be my parents calling the police, my family and the police looking for me.

Maybe one news story and that's it.

In my mind's eye, it was like my mom driving her car through neighborhoods looking for me.

I thought I was ruined.