On the night of June 5, 2002, a knife-wielding figure entered 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart‘s bedroom and abducted her from her Salt Lake City home.
For nine gut-wrenching months, the terrified teen endured unimaginable horrors as she was chained, repeatedly violated, and brainwashed by her captors, self-proclaimed prophet Brian David Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee.
The nightmarish experience that nearly destroyed Elizabeth and her family and puzzled investigators for months is examined in Netflix’s new documentary Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart.
The harrowing true story is narrated with never-before-heard confessions from Smart herself, her family, key eyewitnesses, and the cops who solved the case, unleashing bombshells that have left viewers stunned.
How Elizabeth Smart’s kidnapping rocked her family
Image credits: Netflix
After Elizabeth’s abduction from her home, her family, including parents Ed and Lois Smart and uncle Tom Smart, became the initial suspects.
“They looked like a happy, normal family, but statistically, more often than not, the perpetrator of this type of crime is a parent or a family member,” said Cory Lyman, a lead investigator on the case.
Image credits: Netflix
The police interviewed the family and suspected Ed of lying, which shocked and “overwhelmed” the father.
“I couldn’t stop shaking. I had absolutely nothing to do with this,” he said in the documentary.
Ed ended up spending a night in the psychiatric ward, where he admitted to crying the whole night.
Tom, Ed’s brother, also drew suspicion after he allegedly sympathized with the kidnapper by calling the case “a wonderful story in a lot of ways, because it’s about, foremost, a beautiful little angelic girl.”
Image credits: Netflix
Elizabeth’s younger sister, Mary Katherine, was the only witness to the crime, having pretended to be asleep during the kidnapping. However, she failed to recognize the perpetrator initially.
“It was a lot for a 9-year-old,” she recalled.
The incident deeply impacted Elizabeth’s mother, who refused to participate in the documentary.
“My mom, she played a huge part in helping me process what happened, but now she’s ready to leave it in the past,” Elizabeth said, addressing her mother’s absence.
Elizabeth Smart revealed the most excruciating details about her experience in captivity
Image credits: Netflix
Elizabeth revealed that Mitchell, the kidnapper, led her through the backyard to a trail, eventually reaching a camp in the woods. Outside the tent, she was greeted by his partner, Barzee, who washed her feet and gave her a full-length tunic to wear.
Elizabeth shared that Mitchell used religion as an excuse to justify his actions before proceeding to a**ault her. She recalled his “exact words”:
“I hereby seal you to me as my wife before God and his angels as my witnesses.”
Image credits: Getty/Pool
“It didn’t matter what I did. Ultimately, he r*ped me, and I remember being in a lot of pain. I remember begging him to stop.”
The then-14-year-old was a**aulted multiple times a day, starved, and put on a leash for disobedience. Her captor also forced her to drink beer until she vomited.
“He left me face down in my own vomit.”
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In September 2002, Mitchell and Barzee relocated to San Diego County with Elizabeth, but she convinced them to return to Utah in the name of God.
“I just remember sitting there listening, thinking if we go to any other big city, I don’t think I’ll ever be found.”
Why did it take months to rescue Elizabeth and identify her kidnapper?
On June 14, 2002, the police found Lois’ jewelry in the possession of Richard Ricci, a contractor who worked at the Smart home, after he was arrested for an unrelated parole violation. Although he denied any knowledge of the kidnapping, Ricci became the prime suspect.
Image credits: Netflix
He later passed away from a brain aneurysm in jail and died on August 27, 2002, leaving the investigation “at a de*d end.”
A major breakthrough came when four months after her sister’s disappearance, Mary Katherine finally remembered the perpetrator’s voice while flipping through the Guinness World Records book.
“For some random reason, in that moment, the name popped into my head,” she said.
Image credits: Getty/Lois Smart
She recognized the man as Emmanuel, a false identity Mitchell used when he previously did repair work at the family’s house. Since he wasn’t on the list of suspects, the police were skeptical of pursuing the angle.
Image credits: Getty/George Frey
“Our perception was (that) if we went public with it, we could scare the perpetrator away,” lead investigator Lyman said, explaining why law enforcement advised the Smarts against circulating a sketch of the new suspect.
Image credits: Netflix
The disturbing ordeal reached its conclusion on March 12, 2003, when a witness helped the authorities find Elizabeth and arrest her captors after the three arrived in Sandy, Utah.
Mitchell was given two life terms in federal prison, while Barzee received a 15-year sentence.
Image credits: Netflix
Shortly after her rescue, Elizabeth returned to school and eventually earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Brigham Young University.
She went on to marry Matthew Gilmour in 2012, and the couple has three children. The now-38-year-old continues to reside in Utah.
“I’m stronger than I thought I was,” she said of the ordeal she suffered as a child.
“Just terrifying”: Netizens react to Netflix’s Elizabeth Smart documentary
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