Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: Netflix, True crime, Utah, Film and TV, US News, Crime
Ellie Kemp
Topics: Netflix, True crime, Utah, Film and TV, US News, Crime
Warning: This article contains discussion of sexual assault which some readers may find distressing.
A woman at the center of one of the US’ most high-profile missing persons cases has shared harrowing details of the night she was abducted.
Elizabeth Smart was just 14 years old when she was snatched from her bedroom in Salt Lake City, Utah, by Brian David Mitchell.
She was held captive and abused for nine months by Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee.
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Nearly 25 years on, Smart is speaking out about her horrific ordeal in a new Netflix documentary releasing this January.
In her own words, the now 38-year-old recalls what happened that doomed night and how it has impacted her life decades on.
The documentary includes interviews with investigators and Smart's family - including her younger sister Mary Katherine, who witnessed the abduction, her father Ed and uncles Tom and Dave - as well as archive footage and never-before-seen material.
On making the doc, Smart told Tudum she hopes it brings 'comfort that there are happy endings'.
She continued: "There will be victims and survivors who watch this, and I hope they realize they’re not alone, and that they don’t have to be ashamed of what happened to them.
"And I hope that people who watch this can gain compassion and understanding for other families who are going through this."
The night of June 5, 2002, had been an ordinary one for the eighth grader, who was exhausted after a full day of end-of-year school activities and preparing for her graduation the following morning.
Just before midnight, Smart fell asleep in the bed she shared with her younger sister, Mary Katherine, after reading her book, Ella Enchanted.
But she awoke to a bearded man - fake preacher Mitchell - holding a knife to her neck.
He threatened to kill her if she screamed.
Asking if he planned to rape and kill her, Mitchell chillingly responded: "Not yet."
He abducted her from her home and led her into the mountains.
At a remote encampment, she met Barzee, who washed Smart's feet and tried to take off her pyjamas, swapping them for a loose-fitting robe.
"She said, ‘If I can’t change it, [Mitchell] is going to come in here and rip the clothes off,’" Smart told People.
Shortly after, Mitchell raped Smart for the first time. She would go on to be raped up to four times a day, leaving her bleeding and ashamed.
Mitchell repeatedly raped and threatened Smart over several months, warning that he would kill her if she resisted or screamed.
He regularly humiliated her, encouraged by Barzee, while Smart acted submissive to survive and while desperately looking for escape.
The teen also began her period while in captivity and worried she would end up pregnant.
"When he took me to the spring where we’d collect water, he would hold the cable and basically walk me like a dog," Smart recalled. "I was forced to drink beer after beer until I finally threw up, and he had just left me there face down in my own vomit."
On March 12, 2003, a bystander recognized her from America’s Most Wanted and alerted police.
A police officer confirmed her identity, ending her captivity and reuniting her with her family.
Mitchell and Barzee were charged with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault, and aggravated burglary. In 2011, Mitchell was sentenced to life in prison while Barzee was sentenced to 15 years. However, she was released in 2018.
Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart premieres on Netflix on January 21.
If you've been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Or you can chat online via online.rainn.org.