There are many things people can expect from Elizabeth Smart’s new book “My Story”. Of course there will be details about the psychopath, Brian David Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee. According to AP, there will be plenty of accounts as to what happened during what she describes as her “9 months of hell”.

But, perhaps the most surprising, are the numerous near-rescues that were so close, and yet failed. They began just minutes after Smart,14 years old at the time, was taken from the bedroom of her Salt Lake City, Utah home.

As her captor hustled her down the street, a police cruiser passed slowly by. Smart said she was forced to the ground at knifepoint, and Mitchell whispered,”Move and I will kill you.”

Then there was the time a homicide detective questioned Brian David Mitchell at a downtown Salt Lake City library as the trio sat at a table. Under the table, Wanda Barzee clamped “iron” fingers into Smart’s thigh to keep her quiet.

Smart, disguised by her captors in a dirty robe and veiled face, remained silent as she remembered the couple’s repeated threats to kill her family if she ever tried to save herself.

Surprisingly, there were several of these near-rescues. Another happened only days into the kidnapping, when a search helicopter hovered over the makeshift camp high up in the mountains, and strangely just 5 miles from Smart’s home.

She was forced inside a tent as the wash of the helicopter’s rotors bent trees around them. After an eternal minute, she sadly watched the helicopter slowly glide away. In the camp, she was kept tethered to trees by steel cables.

Also, in the book, she tells how she was reportedly sexually assaulted time and time again by Brian David Mitchell, with full knowledge and assistance from his wife. They also witheld food and water for days at a time while she was in captivity.

Hopefully, this book can bring the lovely Elizabeth Smart some closure and provide hope for others who have been, or are in, this situation.

“I want people to know that I’m happy in my life right now. I also, even more so, want to reach out to people who might not be in a good situation. Maybe they’re in a situation that was similar to the one that I was in.”

Her book, “My Story” is set for release tomorrow.

Image via youtube