Hosted by famed abduction survivor turned advocate Elizabeth Smart, The Survivor Files is a true crime podcast featuring firsthand accounts from ordinary people who were thrust into impossible circumstances. Targeted by serial killers, held-hostage, stalked, attacked, and controlled – their stories reveal what survival really looks like. Guided by Elizabeth’s uniquely personal perspective, each conversation explores the choices, instincts, and strength that helped survivors make it out alive and rebuild their lives.

Listen here or on the iHeartRadio. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Laura gets a call from a relative who provides insight into Sarah's past. Sarah has her day in court. Her victims have the chance to say their piece, but still struggle to make sense of what happened to them. The judge issues a surprising sentence.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Across the country, people who have known Sarah see the Dr. Phil show and learn the scope of her lies. Victims call police, who say they cannot prosecute Sarah because “it’s not a crime to fake cancer.” Soon, federal prosecutors learn of crimes they can prosecute Sarah for. But should her mental state be considered in the search for justice?

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Liz, Brian and Bethany confront Sarah on national television. Dr. Phil arranges psychiatric care for Sarah, after she leaves the set. Meanwhile, Andrea Smith, a stay-at-home mom in South Carolina, has been tracking Sarah across the internet for 20 years, warning non-profits not to allow her into their communities. Andrea even went to the police when Sarah was in college. Sarah’s past is about to catch up with her.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Liz Hickox works in financial services and volunteers for a breast cancer charity. At a bike ride for young survivors, she meets Sarah, who says she has stage 4 metastatic disease. Liz and her husband Brian welcome Sarah into their winter home in Florida and help her train for a triathlon– her single goal before she dies. After they discover the truth, they find other victims of Sarah’s scams and together vow to get her help, turning to an unlikely person: Dr. Phil.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This time, at a summer camp in California, Sarah Delashmit is a counselor. She becomes fast friends with Erin Johnson, a 23-year-old woman who was born with cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. Over the next decade, Erin supports Sarah, from afar, through setback after setback: a brain tumor, an Ebola infection, and multiple children born prematurely and dying. Erin mourns Sarah’s losses as if they were her own, and ultimately faces an even greater devastation.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sarah shows up at a Texas camp for people with disabilities in the fall of 2015 in a power wheelchair, seemingly unable to move her body. During the week of camp, counselor Bethany Turner takes care of Sarah’s every need, bathing her, and even changing her menstrual pads. After camp is over, they speak almost daily. Then one day, Bethany gets a shocking call from the camp.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.