Case File: Elizabeth Smart

Born in 1987, Elizabeth Smart was the second of Ed and Lois Smart’s six children. Ed’s work as a successful real estate and mortgage broker allowed the family to live in an affluent community, seen as safe and secure before the events of June 2002 shattered that perception. The close-knit family were dedicated members of their local Latter-day Saints church. Elizabeth lived a somewhat sheltered life, more interested in playing the harp and excelling in school. 

Her upbringing stood in stark contrast to her future kidnappers. Brian David Mitchell was also raised in the LDS church, but had an unstable childhood, including his father exposing his children to sexually explicit material at young ages. Mitchell was arrested as a teen for exposing himself to a child. He married twice, but both ended in divorce amid accusations of abuse. Mitchell became increasingly consumed by religious delusions, eventually styling himself as a prophet named "Emmanuel" (sometimes spelled "Immanuel"), claiming his divine authority allowed him to take multiple wives. 

In the mid 1980s, Mitchell met and married Wanda Barzee. A fellow LDS member, she too had an erratic upbringing and struggled with mental health issues for much of her life. She was estranged from her husband when she met Mitchell. She quickly embraced his apocalyptic visions, and abandoned her six children after the couple married.

The pair lived an itinerant lifestyle, working odd jobs and moving from shelters to outdoor camps. In 2001, Mitchell worked briefly at the Smart home repairing the roof. During that time, he noticed Elizabeth and later came to believe she was “chosen” to become one of his wives, an obsession that led to the events of June 2002.

In the early hours of June 5, 2002, Mitchell cut through a window screen and entered the Smart home while the family was asleep. He entered the room Elizabeth shared with her younger sister, Mary Katherine. Elizabeth was awakened when Mitchell held a knife to her throat, threatening to kill Mary Katherine if Elizabeth resisted. Mary Katherine was awakened by the noise but pretended to be asleep until Mitchell and Elizabeth had left the bedroom, before rushing to her parents’ room to tell them what she had witnessed.

Mitchell forced Smart to walk to a concealed camp in the nearby mountains, where Barzee was waiting. To seal their “marriage,” Mitchell raped Smart on that first night, a pattern that would be regularly repeated over the following months. She was frequently restrained and kept under strict control, as Mitchell tried to indoctrinate her to his extreme belief system. 

To the outside world, she seemed to vanish without a trace. The Smart family immediately launched a massive public campaign to find their daughter. Posters, news coverage and nationwide alerts spread her image, and volunteers combed the mountainsides. The story dominated national headlines, with Elizabeth’s face becoming one of the most recognizable missing-child cases in U.S. history.

The investigation into Elizabeth Smart’s disappearance initially cast a wide net. Police questioned family members, neighbors and anyone who had access to the home. Early scrutiny fell on Elizabeth’s uncle, Tom Smart, though he was quickly cleared. 

At one point, authorities suspected a handyman, Richard Ricci, who had worked for the Smart family and had a criminal record. Ricci was arrested on unrelated charges and remained under suspicion until he died of a brain aneurysm in custody in August 2002. 

It was not until October when Mary Katherine recalled that the man she had seen in her sister’s room resembled “Emmanuel,” a man who had briefly worked at the Smart home. A composite sketch was released to the public in February 2003, and shortly after, several of Mitchell’s relatives contacted authorities to confirm that “Emmanuel” was indeed Mitchell.

In the months leading up to her recovery, Mitchell and Barzee moved Smart between makeshift camps in Utah and California, where Mitchell’s increasingly erratic behavior drew attention. By early 2003, they had returned to the Salt Lake City area, and Mitchell began allowing Smart to appear in public under heavy disguise, wearing veils or wigs to conceal her identity.

On March 12, the trio was spotted in Sandy, Utah, recognized by several people who had seen the reports identifying Mitchell. Officers approached the group and, after initial hesitation, Elizabeth identified herself. Nine months after her abduction, she was reunited with her family.

Mitchell and Barzee were charged with kidnapping and sexual assault-related crimes. Both defendants initially proved difficult to prosecute. Mitchell frequently disrupted court proceedings with religious proclamations and refused to cooperate with psychiatric evaluations, leading to years of competency hearings that delayed his trial.

In 2009, Barzee finally accepted a plea deal, admitting guilt to kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor across state lines. She was sentenced to 15 years in prison but credited with time served.

Mitchell was declared competent to stand trial in 2010. Smart testified in detail about her abduction and the nine months she spent in captivity. Mitchell was convicted of kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor across state lines. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Elizabeth went on to rebuild her life, graduating from college, marrying and becoming a mother. In response to critics who questioned why she did not escape sooner, Smart has explained that she was terrified by Mitchell’s repeated threats to kill her and her family if she resisted, a fear that left her feeling powerless to act until the day of her rescue. 

She became an advocate for survivors of abduction and sexual assault, founding the Elizabeth Smart Foundation to support victims and promote prevention. Her 2013 memoir, My Story, provided her firsthand account of survival and resilience, and she has since appeared in several documentaries. 

Barzee was released from prison in 2018 after serving her sentence, a decision that drew public outcry given her role in the crime. In May 2025, Barzee was arrested for violating the terms of her supervised release by going into Salt Lake City parks she was banned from as a registered sex offender, but was later released pending further legal proceedings. Mitchell remains incarcerated for life.

The case reshaped public awareness of child abduction in America, underscoring both the vulnerabilities children can face and the importance of persistence in investigations, even when leads seem to dry up. The Smarts’ media campaign demonstrated the power of widespread public involvement, leading to changes in how missing children cases are publicized. Elizabeth herself has used her platform to advocate for the AMBER Alert system, child safety laws and the importance of treating survivors with compassion.