Pageant News Bureau - Elizabeth Harris

Putting her body
on the line

Elizabeth Harris, Mrs. New Jersey America, has experienced the kind of dramatic events that most women only watch on television. And we're not talking about winning a pageant.

Mrs. Harris was stalked, terrorized by an anonymous sender of obscene messages. But rather than live in fear, she helped police identify and catch the man in a risky sting operation. To make her neighborhood safer, she let herself be used as "bait."

The Harris family -- husband, wife and children -- moved to the New Jersey community of Howell Township in 1996 to get away from the stresses of life in greater New York City. One of the problems they were trying to avoid was crime, but they found that crime is not confined to urban areas. It can haunt even the most tranquil-looking streets.

Within a few months of their arrival, Mrs. Harris began finding sexually suggestive notes, addressed to her, on the windshield of her car. The messages came at random, under cover of darkness, frustrating her attempts to be on the lookout for the harasser. The whole family was rattled. "I was afraid to be home alone," Mrs. Harris says. "I was afraid to answer the door."

As it turned out, other women were experiencing the same nightmare. But Mrs. Harris was the one who finally guessed who her tormenter might be. It happened when a neighbor, a man she did not know, showed up at her home unexpectedly. He seemed surprised that Mrs. Harris' husband answered the door. The man hastily informed them of a routine community meeting before leaving. It seemed odd, and Mrs. Harris soon learned from neighbors that the man had visited no one else.

Her tip helped crack the case, but the scary ride wasn't over. Police, looking for conclusive evidence, persuaded Mrs. Harris to arrange a rendezvous with the man and to "wear a wire." They would overhear if he confessed to being the stalker.

Mrs. Harris' meeting with the man in a parked car gave police all the evidence they needed. He admitted to what he had done. But then, she recalls, things took an unexpected and frightening turn. "He started trying to attack me right there in the car. He was actually starting to fondle my body." Police closed in quickly to make an arrest, but Mrs. Harris says the moments when she was trying to keep him at bay "felt like a very long time."

Elizabeth Harris and an unidentified friend

Elizabeth Harris receiving the medal of honor and valor from the state of New Jersey

The man pleaded guilty to stalking Mrs. Harris and another woman. But his relatively short stay in jail troubled Mrs. Harris and turned her into a full-fledged anti-crime activist. She developed an interest in law enforcement and became a 911 telecommunicator.

The fight against stalking also became her cause in the pageant world. It helped lead her to victory in the Mrs. New Jersey America Pageant and gave her a shot at the Mrs. America title. Perhaps it's a proof that good things can come from even the most trying experience, if a woman has courage and the will to fight back.

Putting her bodyon the line

Photos courtesy of Elizabeth Harris

Putting her body
on the line