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WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush telephoned Elizabeth Smart's father on Thursday to express the nation's joy over her return home after being abducted nine months ago.
"He said millions of Americans were praying for the Smart family," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. In the brief telephone conversation with Ed Smart, the president said he and his wife, Laura, were heartened by the news that Elizabeth had been found and returned home.
Bush met Ed Smart last fall during a White House conference on child exploitation.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)