How sister of girl who was kidnapped at age 14 figured out who took her while reading Guinness World Record book
The kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart was bizarrely cracked wide open by a Guinness World Records compendium.
In the summer of 2002, 14-year-old Smart was held at knifepoint in the middle of the night by Brian David Mitchell, who is now serving a life sentence behind bars.
He'd previously gained employment at the family home and was not on anybody's radar when it came to possible criminal leads.
That's where the teenager's younger sister, Mary Katherine Smart, came into the equation.
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Aged nine at the time of the kidnapping, she was the only person to witness what happened in Salt Lake City that evening, but the horror of the experience effectively clouded her judgement for the next four months.
Speaking to broadcaster Diane Sawyer when her sister had been safely returned, Mary Katherine recalled being woken up in their shared bedroom as a man was silently tapping on Elizabeth's shoulder.
He then forced her to get up out of bed and put some footwear on. The terrified youngster decided not to call for their parents out of fear that he'd come for her, too.
"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. I was, like, shaking," she said.
Mary Katherine proceeded to lie in bed for the next two hours, having only heard the perpetrator's voice and not seen his face.
Per the 2006 book In Plain Sight: The Startling Truth Behind the Elizabeth Smart Investigation, local police chief Rick Dinse shared during a news conference at the time: "We may learn more from [Mary Katherine] as time goes on because of the ability to remember and recall a traumatic situation, particularly with a child of her age."
Lo and behold, his prophecy materialised in October 2002.
It's revealed in new Netflix documentary Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart that while Mary was leafing through the doorstop-sized 2001 edition of the Guinness World Records, a photo of a muscular woman sent her synapses sizzling.
She immediately told her father Ed Smart that she knew who took her sister: Emmanuel, whose real name was Brian David Mitchell and had been helped by the family a year earlier.
Even though his time under their roof was fleeting, Mary remembered his voice and paired it with her sister's abductor.
During an interview on Today, Elizabeth, who is now married with three children, would later state: "Had she not remembered who had kidnapped me, who's to say that I would be here today? The police all had their suspects, and my captor I don't even think was on their radar at all. So she is my hero."
The survivor also addressed whether she's spoken to her kids Chloe, Olivia, and James about the ordeal.
"One of the best pieces of advice I was given as far as parenting goes: When your kids start asking questions, that's the right time to start talking about it," she noted. "And honestly, that started way before I was prepared, way before I ever thought it would come up.
"I think my oldest was, like 3 years old when she started asking me questions, like where was I going, what was I doing, why was I doing it. And that was shocking. I was not ready.
"Honestly I'm not sure if I'm still ready. But I would say that opened the door to start having those conversations, and then just as they have grown, I've been able to let that conversation grow as well."
Dan Seddon