In Plain Sight: The Startling Truth Behind the Elizabeth Smart Investigation

I sat up till past 2 a.m. to finish reading this riveting book, "In Plain Sight" by Tom Smart and Lee Benson. I have been obsessed by Elizabeth’s abduction story after a friend encouraged me to read, “My Story” by Elizabeth Smart (2013). I saved the BEST for Last - ( "In Plain Sight,") after reading all the other accounts of this abduction. I have done little else besides dig and read about this story for over a week now. (I missed it in the news back in 2002-3) I was on the edge of my seat and have shed many tears while reading these accounts.Toward the end of the book when the Salt Lake City Police Department thwarted the search of “Emmanuel”, the real kidnapper, I was so frustrated, I had to put the book down and take a walk before I could finish. The SLCPD belongs in a criminal category for the obstruction of justice, not following up on relative's calls identifying Mitchell…. Tom Smart's story shows "me" how IF "America's Most Wanted" hadn't done their story and put out the photos of Mitchell, (That's how the 2 couples who recognized Mitchell were able to call the police and identify his whereabouts to end this ordeal!) Elizabeth's story would have probably had a sad end; like so many other abducted children - never returning home. This book gives step-by-step details of "the miracle" of her rescue.Elizabeth and her kidnappers return to Utah from Lakeside, CA, in March 2003 just as the photos of Brian David Mitchell, the kidnapper, were released on TV. No other book spells it out so well with photos and the details of what went on behind the scenes in the nine-month search for Elizabeth Smart. All the books were very well written. I was afraid I couldn't handle the details of her rapes, but there weren't any. ( None of the books written on this case go into those gory details....) This book is the culmination of all the books with a total concentration on the rescue efforts. So much would have been missing without this book, "In Plain Sight"! Thank YOU Tom/Lee!THANK YOU Tom and Lee for all the work you put into sharing your family's grueling journey in the rescue of the abducted Elizabeth Smart. The tentacles that grip and intertwine "so many" over the loss of "one person" was again staggering as I read this story. The “Smart” family, and all branches, brings us inspiration. This book is full of nuggets to help in other such cases. I can't say enough good about this book!

This book fills in the information about the investigation into Elizabeth Smart's kidnapping that her book, <I>My Story,</I> doesn't describe. Tom Smart, Elizabeth's uncle, tells the story well from his first-person point of view. The only flaw in the book is Smart's tendency to go on too long, especially in the first third of the book, about his own experiences. He's trying to justify acting a little crazy (due to sleep deprivation, the desire to find out what happened to Elizabeth, and the whipsawing the family took from the media and the police), but he could have told in a few paragraphs what he spent two or three chapters telling. Smart does a good job of refraining from telling the details of Elizabeth's story--he leaves that to her--while keeping the reader updated on her whereabouts and the broad outlines if her experience. He also helps the reader feel the frustration and tragedy of the several near-misses that, had they been successful, would have rescued Elizabeth sooner, as well as the machinations of some of the media and the incompetence of some members of the Salt Lake City police department. How heartbreaking that she suffered even a minute longer due to the failures of the police department--of course, hindsight is 20/20, but it does seem that the investigation was botched, in many ways. This book was well done, but it was sad because of the tragic situation involved.

I started by reading My Story by Elizabeth Smart. That got me interested in reading other books about her ordeal. I thought that In Plain Sight was riveting, for about the last half. I really thought the ending was great. I would recommend to read My Story first, so readers get the whole story.

Having just read My Story by Elizabeth, there are a few minor discrepancies. Here it is said that she went by the name Augustine while in her book Elizabeth says she was called Jearshabub. As I said, minor but odd.I'm not sure why the family wouldn't have wanted this published, if that's true. If this has happened to me I'd want people to know that there major screwups. Elizabeth is lucky and blessed to have been found but it was because of her family.It's a good read, hard to put down. If you're like me and you enjoy the crime shows, you'll enjoy the book.

I remember the exact day Elizabeth went missing and I remember breaking the news to my mom the day she was found. Being only 6 months older than Elizabeth and living a mere 35 miles away her story really hit close to home and I’m amazed it’s taken me this long to read about it. After reading her book titled My Story by Elizabeth Smart I wanted to know every detail of the case. This led me to this book which was incredible with detail. It absolutely is a must read!

Even though I knew the outcome, Tom was able to step by step take me along with the Smart family with every emotion possible. Such an unbelievable story of survival. I remember hearing the announcement on the TV that Elizabeth had been found - and I just screamed! The entire country celebrated!

This is an amazing story. It is written very well and tells a true story that is so crazy, nobody could have made this up.

An interesting insider view of what happened during the search for Elizabeth Smart. I enjoyed reading what happened with the media and news reporting agencies. At the time, the stories coming across the evening news were very disturbing as clues unfolded. Now I understand some of the politics and challenges the family, police, and news people were faced with and why we saw what we did on TV news reports. Though this story has given me many doubts about the way investigations of this nature are handled by local police and 'willing' families who are just trying to find their loved one!

Im glad for this family that their faith was strong. Toms telling of this story is powerful and he doesnt try to escape any consequences that were caused by his behaviour. I wonder if he regained his faith.

Well written

Haven't finished it yet but interesting read so far.