Kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart

Elizabeth Ann Smart (born November 3, 1987) was abducted from her Salt Lake City, Utah bedroom on June 5, 2002 at the age of 14. She was found alive nine months later on March 12, 2003 in Sandy, Utah, about 18 miles from her home, in the company of Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Ileen Barzee, who were indicted for her kidnapping but ruled unfit to stand trial. Her abduction and recovery were widely reported in North American media and internationally and were the subject of a made-for-TV movie and a published book.

Abduction

Ed and Lois Smart, with their six children, resided in the upper middle class neighborhood of Federal Heights in Salt Lake City, Utah. On the evening of June 4, 2002, the family attended a ceremony at Elizabeth's school, where she received many awards. Returning home, the family had evening prayers together and kissed each other good night. As the family got ready for bed, Ed made sure the doors were all locked, but he didn’t turn on the alarm. "If the children got up and moved (in the night), it would set the alarm off. And so we just, we’re not going to bother with it," Lois later explained.

In the early hours of the morning, someone broke into the home and came to the bedroom that Elizabeth shared with her 9-year-old sister, Mary Katherine. While Mary Katherine pretended to be asleep, she watched the abduction, and later gave these hints as to what happened:

• A white man about the height of her brother Charles (5 ft 8 in) about 30 or 40 years old, wearing light-colored clothes and a golf hat. (He was actually wearing black, did not have a golf hat and was 49.)
• He had dark hair, and also dark hair on his arms and on the back of his hands.
• The man threatened Elizabeth with a gun. (It was actually a knife, but Mary Katherine thought it was a gun.)
• When Elizabeth said "ouch" after stubbing her toe on a chair, the man said something that sounded like: "You better be quiet, and I won’t hurt you."
• She heard Elizabeth ask "Why are you doing this?" and though the answer was not clear, Mary Katherine thought the answer might have been "for ransom."
• The abductor was soft-spoken — even polite, calm, and nicely dressed.
• Although the stranger spoke to Elizabeth quietly, Mary Katherine thought the kidnapper's voice seemed somehow familiar, but she couldn’t pinpoint where or when she had heard it.
• She never got a good look at his face. This fact was kept a secret by the police during the investigation.

By listening to the creaking floor as Elizabeth and the kidnapper walked, Mary Katherine thought she could tell where the kidnapper and Elizabeth were, so when it seemed safe she hopped out of bed to tell her parents, but froze in terror when she nearly ran into the abductor and Elizabeth as they seemed to be looking into her brothers' bedroom. Fearful that she had been spotted by the abductor, she crept back into her bed. "I thought, you know, be quiet, because if he hears you, he might take you too, and you're the only person who has seen this," Mary Katherine said in a later interview. "I was, like, shaking." She hid for an undetermined amount of time. Investigators later concluded that she may have been hiding over two hours before she felt safe enough to come out.

Just before 4 a.m., Mary Katherine came to her parents' bedroom and woke them up. She told them Elizabeth was gone, but her parents thought she was having a bad dream. Ed went from room to room, and didn’t find her. Mary Katherine told him, "You’re not going to find her. A man took her. A man took her with a gun." Still, the parents found this hard to believe until Lois spotted a screen window downstairs that had been cut with a knife. They immediately began contacting authorities, neighbors, family, and friends. The neighborhood was searched thoroughly and many of the neighbors were immediately there to help. Although this caused some problems with crime scene contamination, it was not considered a major cause for problems in the investigation. One of their neighbors who came to help was Jake Garn, a retired United States senator.

That morning, Ed went on television and asked the kidnapper to return his daughter. A massive search for Elizabeth began.

Search and investigation

A massive community search effort, organized by the Laura Recovery Center, looked for Elizabeth in the days immediately following her abduction. Up to 2,000 volunteers a day were dispatched to the area surrounding her home trying to find any trace of the missing girl. Word spread quickly as an impromptu coalition of websites facilitated the distribution of information about Elizabeth Smart with pre-formatted flyers that could be downloaded for printing or immediately circulated online by email or Internet fax. Volunteers combed the hills near her family's home and extended the search using search dogs and aircraft. After many days of intensive searching, the community-led search was closed by the local volunteers and efforts were directed to other means of finding Elizabeth.

Although police had an eye-witness, Mary Katherine's report was not very helpful to investigators. Furthermore, there was almost no significant forensic evidence such as clear fingerprints or DNA samples to help identify the abductor, so the investigation was difficult. For reasons unclear, a search using bloodhound dogs was unsuccessful in following Mitchell and Elizabeth's path on foot. Police questioned and interviewed hundreds of potential suspects including one individual, Bret Michael Edmunds, a 26-year-old drifter who was pursued across the country but ultimately was cleared of suspicion in the case after being located in a West Virginia hospital suffering from a drug overdose. One by one, the leads that were pursued often put at-large criminals back in prison, but they did not produce the desired result of finding Elizabeth. Ultimately, the Salt Lake City police signaled that their prime person of interest was Richard Ricci, being held in custody for unrelated reasons. Ricci, a handyman hired by the Smarts, was on parole for a 1983 attempted murder of police officer Mike Hill. He was charged with felony burglaries of homes in the area and similar in circumstances to the break-in at the Smarts. Ricci later died in jail from a brain hemorrhage a few weeks after he refused to provide a confession to Utah corrections officers. With his death, it seemed that all leads were exhausted.

Nevertheless, Ed and Lois Smart and their extended family persistently maintained a presence in the local and national media, fighting hard to keep Elizabeth's name in the press. They provided the media with home videos of her as both a teenager and as a child, and uploaded over twenty photos on a website which served as a resource center.

After many months of no positive news and a growing sense of inevitable disappointment, a breakthrough came in October 2002, when Mary Katherine suddenly had a flash of insight. Cleaning her room, she came across a copy of a Guinness Book of World Records and saw a picture of a very muscular woman that somehow triggered her memory of the abduction. Suddenly, she remembered where she had heard that voice before. Getting up, she went to her parents' room and said, "Dad, I think I know who it might be."

The Smarts sought to help unemployed people in the community by paying them for odd jobs or handy work around the property. Mary Katherine now identified a man who had worked in the home for one day in November 2001 — "Emmanuel." Lois and some of the children had met him downtown as he was asking for spare change. He was clean, soft-spoken, well-groomed, Caucasian, 5’8" tall, had dark hair, and was "about 45 years old". He called himself "Emmanuel," but it seemed clear that this was not his real name, but had something to do with his self-proclaimed calling as a minister to the homeless. He took a bus to a stop close to their home and then walked to the house. He worked for five hours, helping on the roof and raking leaves. While they worked together on Ed's roof, he told Ed that he was traveling to different cities preaching to the homeless.

When this insight was reported to the police, they had doubts as to its reliability. Mary Katherine had barely heard the suspect's voice, for only a few minutes, in a whisper, several months previously, and after coming out of a sleep. Suddenly, she remembered it was the voice of a man she had met for a few moments a year earlier. To the police, this was not the most trustworthy lead.

Tensions developed as the parents accused the police of not thoroughly following up on this lead. The family used the services of a sketch artist to draw "Emmanuel"'s face from memory. In February, this drawing was released to the media, with the assistance of John Walsh, who revealed it in an appearance on Larry King Live and on his own series, America's Most Wanted. The drawing was recognized by Emmanuel's family and they reported his actual name, Brian David Mitchell, to the police along with contemporary photographs.

On March 12, 2003, just over nine months after the abduction, Mitchell, who was now wanted by police for questioning, was spotted in the street (by an elderly couple, who had heard of the kidnapping on America's Most Wanted the night before, and alerted police) with two companions in Sandy, Utah. The companions were Elizabeth Smart — disguised in a gray wig, sunglasses, and veil — and Wanda Ileen Barzee. Smart was finally recognized by the officers during questioning, and was promptly reunited with her parents, little sister, and four brothers. Mitchell and Barzee were taken into custody as suspected kidnappers.

Mitchell was a polygamist who believed it was his religious right to have more than one wife even by force.

Legal proceedings

Brian David Mitchell (born October 18, 1953) and his wife, Wanda Ileen Barzee, were indicted by a Utah grand jury. His trial on these charges has been postponed indefinitely, following a court ruling that he is not mentally competent to stand trial.

For several months, Mitchell and Barzee were held on $10 million bond awaiting the outcome of mental competency tests. Prosecutors said that Mitchell and Barzee kidnapped Elizabeth to be Mitchell's "second wife", held her against her will in the foothills near Federal Heights until October 8, and then took her to California, where they stayed until March 5.

In January 2004, Barzee was found incompetent to stand trial on charges including kidnapping, sexual assault, and burglary. On July 26, 2005, Mitchell was also found incompetent to stand trial, facing the same charges. A district judge has ordered him held until he is deemed fit for trial. Barzee's condition has not improved since she was found incompetent to stand trial. Barzee has also refused "to take medication that might restore her mental competence."

In February 2006, a bill went before the Utah legislature to allow prosecutors to apply for forcible medication of defendants to restore their competence to face trial. Permission to forcibly medicate Wanda Barzee was also sought, relying upon the U.S. Supreme Court's 2003 Sell decision, which permits compulsory medication when the state can demonstrate a compelling interest is served by restoring a person's competence and that medication would not harm the individual or prevent them from defending themselves. In June 2006, a Utah judge approved the forcible medication of Barzee so that she could stand trial.

On Monday, December 18, 2006, Mitchell was again declared unfit to stand trial after screaming at a judge, during a hearing, to "forsake those robes and kneel in the dust." Doctors have been trying to treat Mitchell without drugs, but prosecutor Kent Morgan said after Monday's scene in court that a request likely will be made for permission to forcibly administer drugs.

Recovery

Elizabeth was kept close to her family after her rescue, in order to protect her from face-to-face media exposure. Her father stated that she was not being "questioned to death" at home about her activities with vagrants. Elizabeth took her parents to the location where she was chained by her kidnappers and announced this as her personal victory over that event. Later that year, and subsequently, her family has said that they receive counseling as needed, but that their lives are back on a more normal track.

Smart has moved on, graduating from East High School (Salt Lake City, Utah) in 2006, becoming a music student at Brigham Young University. At a reception for the passage of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, she stated, however, that "life will never be the same."

Media

Television interviews

In October 2003, Elizabeth Smart and her parents were interviewed for a special segment of Dateline NBC. The interview, conducted by the Today show's Katie Couric, featured Elizabeth's first interview with any media outlet. Couric questioned Elizabeth's parents about their experiences while Elizabeth was missing, including the Smarts' personal opinions concerning Elizabeth's captors. Couric then interviewed Elizabeth about school and her life following her kidnapping.

Shortly after the Dateline interview, Elizabeth Smart and her family were featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, where Winfrey questioned the Smarts about the kidnapping. One detail she disclosed is that Mitchell forced her to keep a diary and to write in it daily. She knew he would read the entries she made, so she wrote such things as: "I like it here. They are nice to me." But below the entries in English, she wrote in French things such as: "I hate it here. I hate them. I want to be back with my family."

She also revealed that after her experience, she has more compassion for the homeless. Asked if she felt sorry for her captors, she stated that she was not referring to them and that they were homeless by choice and she had no compassion for their condition or what they did to her. But she went on to say, "It's hard to be cold. It's hard to not have enough to eat."

Book and film

The Smart family published a book, Bringing Elizabeth Home, which was used as the basis of the television movie The Elizabeth Smart Story that aired November 9, 2003 on CBS. The Smarts claimed they wanted to avoid subjecting their daughter to the limelight, but that after realizing it was inevitable, they decided it would be preferable to allow a film authorized by them to be created, rather than allowing an unauthorized version to surface.

A lawyer for Mitchell said the national broadcast of the television film would further delay justice and considered filing a motion. The piece characterizes Mitchell and Barzee as deranged religious zealots, and provides no background on either of them. A small but detailed section of the book Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer describes Mitchell and his kidnapping of Smart in the larger context of Mormon fundamentalism. Elizabeth's uncle, Tom Smart, wrote a book called In Plain Sight: The Startling Truth Behind the Elizabeth Smart Investigation criticizing the investigation process by the Salt Lake City Police Department, as well as the media influences that led to her recovery.

Timeline of events

• 4 June 2002 -- Smart Family arrives late at the Bryant Middle School awards function. Elizabeth receives awards in physical fitness and academics but does not play her harp as planned. Family returns home and retires to bed.
• 5 June 2002 -- Elizabeth is abducted from her bedroom in the early hours of the morning. Mary Katherine, her sister, is a witness to the crime. Elizabeth is taken to a secret camp in Emigration Canyon where she is held prisoner.
• 6 June 2002 -- Bounty for her return is at $250,000
• 7 June 2002 -- Milkman reports suspicious activities of Bret Michael Edmunds in neighborhood.
• 9 June 2002 -- Ed Smart questioned / polygraphed
• 12 June 2002 -- Manhunt for Bret Michael Edmunds
• 14 June 2002 -- Suspect Richard Ricci is arrested on unrelated charges
• 21 June 2002 -- Bret Michael Edmunds caught in West Virginia and questioned the next day.
• 24 June 2002 -- Richard Ricci arrest announced
• 11 July 2002 -- Richard Ricci charged with theft in the Smart home. Denies any involvement with Elizabeth's kidnapping.
• 24 July 2002 -- Attempted kidnapping at Elizabeth's cousin's house
• August 2002 -- Mitchel, Barzee and Elizabeth leave Emigration Canyon and go to Salt Lake City
• 27 August 2002 -- Richard Ricci collapses
• 30 August 2002 -- Richard Ricci dies of brain hemorrhage
• 17 September 2002 -- Police suspend regular briefings with the Smart family.
• 27 September 2002 -- Police arrest Mitchell for shoplifting and later release him.
• 8 October 2002 -- Mitchell, Barzee and Elizabeth leave Salt Lake City and head to San Diego.
• 12 October 2002 -- Mary Katherine remembers the voice of the kidnapper -- Emmanuel
• 3 February 2003 -- Smart family releases the sketch of the man known as Emmanuel
• 12 February 2003 -- Mitchell arrested in El Cajon for breaking into a church. Not recognized as the person wanted in Utah.
• 15 February 2003 -- America's Most Wanted features Emmanuel and requests responses.
• 16 February 2003 -- Family of Mitchell step forward and identify Emmanuel as Brian David Mitchell
• 17 February 2003 -- Newly released, more recent photographs of Mitchell made available
• 5 March 2003 -- Mitchell, Barzee and Elizabeth leave Lakeside, Calif.
• 12 March 2003 -- Elizabeth Smart found alive in Sandy, Utah
• 18 March 2003 -- Mitchell and Barzee charged with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault and aggravated burglary.
• 30 April 2003 -- Elizabeth makes her first public appearance after her return
• 27 October 2003 -- Dateline NBC Interview with Elizabeth
• 26 July 2005 -- Mitchell declared mentally incompetent to stand trial
• 9 March 2006 -- Elizabeth Smart goes to Congress to support Sexual Predator Legislation
• 26 July 2006 -- Spoke after the signing of the Adam Walsh Act
• 18 December 2006 -- Mitchell again declared unfit to stand trial

Political activism

On July 19, 2006, CNN's Nancy Grace interviewed Elizabeth Smart, who appeared on behalf of a bill requiring sex offenders to register with their state of residence. Despite Smart's objection, Grace asked Smart a long series of questions about her abduction, such as "Did you ever hear people calling out your name?" "Did your kidnappers threaten you?" and "How did you see out of that thing?" (referring to the burka Mitchell had forced her to wear) Grace relented only when Smart, clearly upset, said "I really—I really—to be frankly honest, I really don't appreciate you bringing all this up." Grace responded by saying "I'm sorry dear, I thought that you would speak out to other victims, but you know what? I completely understand. A lot of victims... don't want to talk about it, and don't feel like talking about it."

References

• Smart, Ed and Smart, Lois. Bringing Elizabeth Home: A Journey of Faith and Hope (2003). U.S.: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-51214-7 (U.S.).
• Haberman, Maggie and MacIntosh, Jeane. Held Captive: The Kidnapping and Rescue of Elizabeth Smart (2003). U.S.: Avon. ISBN 0-06-058020-8 (U.S.).
• Smart, Tom and Benson, Lee. In Plain Sight: The Startling Truth Behind the Elizabeth Smart Investigation (2005). U.S.: Chicago Review Press. ISBN 1-55652-579-6 (U.S.).