On June 5, 2002, 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart was abducted from her bedroom in Utah by Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee, and spent the following nine months in captivity.
What happened to her became one of the most intense and widely covered missing-person cases in American history, as her family and the authorities did everything they could to find her.
More than twenty years later, the case remains shocking and the impact just as huge, but the one-off feature also shines a light on Elizabeth’s path to healing and unwillingness to be defined by what happened to her.
What happened to Elizabeth Smart?
At the age of 14, Elizabeth was kidnapped at knifepoint and taken from her bedroom in Salt Lake City, Utah, while her younger sister Mary Katherine looked on in shock.
She was captured by Brian David Mitchell, who claimed to be a religious prophet named Immanuel.
Mitchell and his wife Wanda Barzee then held Elizabeth captive for the next nine months, where she was tied to a tree and repeatedly sexually assaulted.
Elizabeth’s family members were initially investigated after her disappearance, but nothing suspicious arose. However, it was her sister Mary Katherine who had a sudden jolt in her memory that proved crucial in locating Elizabeth.
A few months prior to the kidnapping, Elizabeth and her mother Lois, had come across Mitchell looking for work in downtown Salt Lake City. Lois offered him money to do some work on the roof of the family home.
Calling himself "Immanuel," he accepted the job. After Elizabeth was taken and the search for her hadn't turned up many successful leads, Mary Katherine suddenly made the link between Immanuel and the voice of the person who took her sister.
This memory was the reason Elizabeth was then found, and Mitchell and Barzee were arrested.
Where is Elizabeth Smart now?
Now aged 38, Elizabeth Smart married a Scottish man named Matthew Gilmour in 2012. The pair met on a mission trip to Paris and have three children together.
Elizabeth and her family still live in Utah and have no plans to leave. Her experience unsurprisingly defines the way she brings her children up. In conversation with Netflix Tudum, she says, "My experience makes me a lot more conscious and aware of what my kids are doing, who they’re interacting with."
"Making sure that they understand that their safety is a priority to me," she adds, explaining, "It’s why we don’t do sleepovers. I am very intentional and cautious about where they go and who they interact with."
"It’s led to a lot of safety conversations, and using the correct body part names, and not associating guilt or shame with being able to say ‘penis’ [as easily as they say] ‘elbow’."
She hasn't yet told her children exactly what happened to her. "My children don’t know details, but they all know that I was kidnapped. They all know that I was held captive. They all know that I was hurt," she explains.
Elizabeth is also committed to supporting other survivors and to "try to change the conversation around sexual violence," providing space for victims to understand they aren't alone.
The Elizabeth Smart Foundation also has a support fund for victims, as well as providing education programmes using a trauma-informed approach help survivors heal.
Elizabeth has published three books, and her recent memoir, Detours, looks at how she came through trauma to live a normal life.
She isn't concerned about her story being brought up and poured over repeatedly, as long as awareness is raised and her story is told as it really happened.
When she saw the final version of the documentary, she said, "When I saw the final cut, I was like, ‘Thank you.’ [The filmmakers] made me proud. They did justice to my story."
Where are Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee now?
Brian David Mitchell remains in prison, while Wanda Barzee was released in 2018. In 2010, Mitchell was found guilty of kidnapping and taking a minor across state lines with intent to engage in sexual activity. He was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Barzee pled guilty in 2009, and was given a 15-year prison sentence. She was released in 2018. She was arrested once again in 2025, after allegedly violating the terms of her status as a sex offender.
However, she has not been sent back to prison and remains free. According to NBC7 San Diego, when Barzee was found first found guilty, she said wanted to issue Elizabeth an apology.
She's reported to have said, "I'm humbled as I realise how much Elizabeth Smart has been victimized and the role that I played in it."
"I am so sorry, Elizabeth, for all the pain and suffering I have caused you and your family. It is my hope that you will be able to find it in your heart to forgive me."
Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart is currently streaming on Netflix.
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