Kidnapping survivor and activist Elizabeth Smart enjoyed some fun in the sun on a family trip this week in Palm Springs, California.
Smart, 36, shared snippets of the getaway on social media, showing her poolside and sporting an array of swimsuits in between dips with her kids, board game sessions and family dinners.
The married mom of three last month celebrated the 21st anniversary of her rescue after being kidnapped at knifepoint at 14 years old from her Salt Lake City home in 2002.
She spent a grueling nine months at the hands of religious fanatic Brian David Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee, who drugged, starved and raped her.
“Pool time equals best time,” she wrote in one post to her Instagram Story with her goggle-glad daughters on her lap.
In other photos, Smart posed at a Mexican restaurant with her crew, smiled next to a completed “Star Wars” puzzle and snuggled up to her husband, musician Matthew Gilmour, the Daily Mail reported.
She posed in beachwear including a fashionable black cover-up, oversized sunglasses and a sexy black bikini and linked the spring break necessities for her 245,000 followers.
In another, she threw her head back and floated in a turquoise suit that matched the serene water.
The trip, which her father and his husband also took part in, was a well-deserved break for the activist, film producer, author and television commentator.
Smart has become an outspoken advocate for kidnapped children and sexual assault victims and founded the Elizabeth Smart Foundation in 2011. She also launched Smart Defense, a program for teaching women the skills to defend themselves.
Last month, she celebrated the passage of a bill on child sexual abuse prevention in Utah that she helped advocate for.
Smart is now producing a Lifetime film on Tanya Kach, who was kidnapped in 1995 and held captive for a decade by her middle school security guard, People Magazine reported.
“My life is far from perfect but I’m so happy and grateful for the life I have today,” Smart wrote in a Facebook post on the anniversary of her rescue.
“When I was kidnapped, I thought I’d never finish school, go to college, fall in love, get married, or have a family,” Smart continued. “I thought every dream I had for myself was stolen. For me, today is a celebration of all the happy moments of my life, and a reminder to never give up.”
Smart was found about 14 miles from her home on March 12, 2003.
Mitchell was sentenced in 2011 and is serving two life terms. Barzee was released from prison in 2018 despite pleas to keep her locked up.
