Even though Elizabeth is home, family members and police officials pled with the community Thursday to come forward with any clues or tips they may have regarding Elizabeth or her abductors.

"This is still an on-going investigation," said Chief Rick Dinse of the Salt Lake City Police Department. "The law enforcement community as a whole is following up on a large number of leads but we will continue to urge members of the community to call with any information regarding this case."

Dinse did conclude that Elizabeth was taken from her home at knife point, taken to the hills behind her home and was there for approximately two months, traveled to San Diego by bus and had been there until recently.

Hundreds of the volunteers who searched the mountains behind the Smart's home in the first days after the abduction were within yards of Elizabeth and Mitchell, said Chris Smart, Elizabeth's uncle.

"She said she heard her uncle David's voice calling her," Chris Smart said.

Elizabeth's aunt, Ingrid Smart, said Elizabeth told them she couldn't speak.

"She didn't say anything further and we didn't ask her," Ingrid Smart said.

Dinse said Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Ilene Barzee are being held for aggravated kidnapping charges but no official charges have been filed yet. He said those actions will be in the near future.

Chip Burrus, special agent of FBI said, "U.S. Attorney, Paul Warner, is taking a very strong aggressive stand in that manner and we intend to fully provide him with a case that will hopefully allow him to move forward with the prosecution."

Ed Smart, Elizabeth's father, declined to answer questions about whether Elizabeth ever tried to escape or let anyone around her know she had been kidnapped.

However, Ed Smart and officials said they have no doubt that she was under some kind of brainwashing.

"There is clearly a psychological impact that occurred during this abduction at some point," Dinse said.

"We aren't going to go into that, but there's no question that she was psychologically affected by the connections in this group."

According to Dinse, Emmanuel had familiarized himself with the Smart's home other than the time when he worked on it.

"We got the pieces of the puzzle now," Burrus said. "We know what it looks like, we're putting them together slowly but surely."

Ed Smart spoke strongly at the conference of the power of prayer. He testified several times to the crowd of his faith in God.

"The prayers of the world brought Elizabeth home," Ed Smart said. "God is real and he answers prayers. We've been grateful for the prayers of people from all denominations."

Reporters questioned Ed Smart about the role his faith has played in the whole ordeal and how he feels toward Mitchell.

"On the roof with Mitchell I never could have guessed, he was so soft spoken," he said. "I never would have known that such an animal was inside there."

Angela Smart, Elizabeth's aunt, said she felt compassion for Mitchell and Wanda Barzee, saying they were very misguided.

Angela Smart said she believes she encountered Mitchell on her way to pick up search posters from Kinko's on June 6, 2002.

At the time, she was unaware of Mitchell as a suspect and didn't make the connection until months later when Ed Smart came forward with information about Emmanuel.

"He was wearing white muslin clothes," Angela Smart said. "He said he preached the word of Christ and he had these big beautiful eyes."

She said the man was with a woman who she knows was not Elizabeth.

"He asked me for money," she said. "I tried to talk to him, I stepped right in front of him and asked him why he wanted the money, and he turned away from me."

Angela Smart said when she got home, she told her family what a weird encounter she had had and that it really had bothered her.

"I didn't know if it was because of guilt for not giving him something, but I had horrible feelings," she said.

Ed Smart said Elizabeth was unaware of the large number of people looking for her. She had seen a few posters and had heard about a harp concert in her honor.

"We showed her the volumes of email that had been sent about her and she was surprised and overwhelmed," Ed Smart said.

The Smart family invites everyone to come celebrate Elizabeth's return at Liberty Park in Salt Lake today at 6 p.m.

Copyright Brigham Young University 14 Mar 2003