Elizabeth Smart Recounts Her 'Heartbreak' Over Virginia Giuffre’s Death by Suicide (Exclusive)

Like so many others, Elizabeth Smart was deeply shaken when she learned that Virginia Giuffre had died by suicide in April.

Opening up to PEOPLE in a recent interview, Smart, 38, says she felt “absolute heartbreak. I mean, we failed her. Really, we did. And I know everybody says life isn't fair. But for her, it really was not fair.” 

After saying she was trafficked as a teenager to powerful men by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein and his partner, Ghislaine Maxwell, Giuffre went on to become one of their most outspoken — and formidable — accusers.

Tragically, on April 25, 2025, Giuffre, 41, died by suicide at her home in Australia, shocking millions around the world, including Smart.

Smart was also sexually abused by adults when she was a teenager. Kidnapped at 14 from her Salt Lake City, Utah, home by Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee, Smart was subjected to daily rapes and other abuse throughout her nine-month ordeal. In March 2003, she was found by authorities while walking the streets of Utah with Mitchell and Barzee and reunited with her family.

Considering the trauma both women endured as young teens, Smart, now an activist and mother of three, says she wishes “people could recognize the toll that sexual violence can have. I wish her death … would be a wake‑up call to leaders, to communities, just to everyone, to recognize how serious sexual violence, abuse … everything that's been involved in the Epstein case.”

Smart is speaking out ahead of the publication of her latest book, Detours: Hope & Growth After Life's Hardest Turns, debuting in December.

Already the author of two books, including the bestselling memoir, My Story, Smart says she wrote this book to help readers cope with the many twists and turns life can take.

“You can plan your life as much as you want,” she says. “I plan out my life all the time, and it never goes to plan."

“There is a process to getting back on track or altering your life,” she adds. “I think it's okay to be sad. It's okay to grieve the path that you thought you were on and maybe the life you'd imagined for yourself. And … it’s okay to ask for help.”

"I mean, ultimately, I want it to bring them (the readers) hope," she said. "Tragedy befalls everyone, and I just want them to know that they're not alone and that there is a way forward."

She praised Giuffre’s push forward throughout her life.

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Thanks in part to Giuffre’s speaking out, Epstein, already a convicted sex offender, was facing trial for federal sex trafficking when he died in jail in 2019.

Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking in 2022 and is serving a 20-year prison sentence. More recently, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, was stripped of his royal titles in October amid allegations that he sexually assaulted Giuffre when she was a teen.

Giuffre's explosive memoir, Nobody's Girl, which debuted in October, shined a light on what Epstein and Maxwell allegedly forced her to do for years.

Earlier this week, Congress passed a bill demanding the release of files related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.

Andrew has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

In 2022, he reached an out-of-court settlement with Giuffre, which included a statement in which he expressed regret for his association with Epstein, but contained no admission of liability or apology.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.