Elizabeth Smart’s case was a pivotal one in the United States.
It was the night of June 5, 2002, the Smart family had just had dinner and were preparing to go to sleep at their home in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Edward Smart, the father of the children, verified that the doors were closed and his children were in bed, even though he did not activate the house alarm, as he never imagined what was going to happen.
Around 2 in the morning, Elizabeth intelligent A 14-year-old girl slept in the same room with her 9-year-old sister. She woke up feeling a pressure in her throat: he had a knife around his neck which was held by a man dressed completely in black.
The man asked Elizabeth to get out of bed while Mary Katherine was shocked with horror. she was the only eyewitness to her sister’s kidnapping.
Elizabeth Ann Smart was born on November 3, 1987, the second of six children.
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Shortly after what happened, the alert went off and the news began to circulate on radio and television. The family offered a $ 250,000 reward. and the police $ 10,000 more. A legion of volunteers of 700 plus 25 police officers and the FBI conducted the search.
The clues that have arrived have been many. They had one call per minute, nothing concrete. In the midst of anguish and madness, Edward Smart had to be hospitalized due to the stress he was experiencing.
The disappearance of the young woman became known nationally and internationally. Images of the girl circulated everywhere. It was learned that her kidnappers had taken her to various places, including meetings and parties.
Mary Katherine was the key
On October 12, 2002, four months after the kidnapping, Mary Katherine began to remember what had happened that night.
The Smart family offered a $ 250,000 reward as a reward for Elizabeth.
Suddenly, the little girl was able to recognize the face of her sister’s kidnapper that this subject was the same one who had repaired the roof months earlier. They immediately went to the police where the youngest Smart made an identikit of the kidnapper.
Because the case was well known and generated a huge media sensation, the images were featured on all American TV shows. Edward Smart’s children clearly identified him by name and surname: Brian David Mitchell.
Brian David Mitchell, arrested and convicted.
the TV show America’s Most Wanted it had an audience of over ten million viewers and two episodes about Elizabeth had been aired. Awareness raising had been crucial.
The culprit had to be found. Now the authorities had the upper hand: the whole country knew his face and his name.
This story has no single defendant. Wanda Barzeewife of Brian David Mitchell, he was complicit in torturing Elizabeth during the nine months that the kidnapping lasted.
The young woman told her story in books and documentaries.
During his captivity, Mitchell abused the young woman on a daily basis, according to him for “God’s revelation”. He even performed a Mormon ceremony where he married Elizabeth.
The ordeal ended in March 2003, the young woman was seen with her kidnappers just 30 kilometers from her home. Police rushed and found Mitchell with his wife and Smart in a car. After identifying Elizabeth, she arrested her kidnappers on charges of: assault, kidnapping and sexual harassment.
The face of the kidnapper, in an image from 2005.
nine months of torture
“I remember they forced me to drink alcohol. Once they made me drink so much that I threw up, lost consciousness and left me tied to a tree all night. The feeling it radiated was dark, evil, “the young woman recounted some time later.
Wanda Barzee testified against her husband. She said he expressed a desire to kidnap young women and told how he prepared the place to receive Elizabeth that day.
Wanda Barzee was Brian David Mitchell’s accomplice in kidnapping and torturing the young woman.
Brian David Mitchell (now 68) was found guilty in all respects and in May 2011 sentenced to two life sentences.
Wanda who, at the time of her sentence, had already spent seven years in prison. In 2018 he was paroled at the age of 72. To access this benefit, he had to meet two requirements: to register as a sex offender and to enroll in a mental illness treatment program.
The story of Elizabeth Smart, the kidnapping that shocked the United States.
When Wanda was released, Elizabeth, who was already 30, told an American media outlet: “I sincerely believe she is a threat. This is a woman who had six children, yet she conspired to kidnap a 14-year-old girl and not only sat next to her while she was being raped, but she also encouraged her husband to continue raping me. “
Elizabeth Smart, a testimony of life
On March 8, 2006, Elizabeth spoke to the United States Congress in support of a sexual predator law and the implementation of the AMBER Alert. This is a protocol that is implemented today when there is a missing child.
In 2011 he created a foundation that bears his name to combat sexual violence. In the same year, Elizabeth was awarded the Diane von Furstenberg Prize.
Elizabeth Smart has presented books, lectured and produced documentaries that tell her story.
The ABC News network announced that he would be working as a commentator on topics that had to do with the disappearance of people.
In 2013 he wrote My Story, published by St. Martin’s Press.
Elizabeth Smart’s story inspired a documentary.
In 2016, he worked for the true-crime show Crime Watch Daily. And in 2017, on the 15th anniversary of her kidnapping, I am Elizabeth Smart was released, a film she narrated and produced.
In 2018 he wrote a book called There’s Hope: Healing, Moving Forward, and Never Give Up.
Today Elizabeth continues to lecture at various universities across the United States telling her story from start to finish. The woman has become a standard bearer in the fight against the disappearance of people and sexual violence in North America.
Thomas Fernandez Cruzado
Source: Clarin