Woman who was kidnapped at 14 returns to place she was held captive and explains why she couldn't 'just run home'

Elizabeth Smart has returned to the exact place she was kidnapped in a haunting hike.

A new Netflix documentary has reinvigorated interest in a horrific crime that saw then 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart kidnapped from her home.

The documentary Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart shed light on her disappearance from her home in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the middle of the night on June 5 2002.

Smart, now 38, was taken when an intruder came into her bedroom with a knife. Her younger sister Mary Katherine was the only person to see the incident happen and was threatened into silence.

Her kidnapper Brian David Mitchell then took her to a remote mountain camp and held her there for 9 months with his wife Wanda Barzee.

Mitchell would eventually be sentenced to life in prison while Barzee was sentenced to 15 years.

Following on from the documentary, Smart has released her own video on her YouTube channel where she takes a hike to the location where she was held for so many months.

Smart was held for 9 months and abused by her captors in that time (Netflix)

Within the video, she reflected on both surviving and healing from the experience.

While being held captive, Mitchell, who practiced an odd religion and believed he was told to act by God, took Smart and Barzee into the city, forcing them to wear white headdresses that covered their faces entirely.

Some people questioned why Smart didn’t attempt to run or scream out while in these more populated public places.

In the documentary, she did say: “The thought of crying out did cross my mind, but I was 14. I had been extremely abused for months.

“I didn’t feel safe crying out and that lifeline disappeared.”

In her newly released video, she added that where she was held was only around three miles away from her home.

In regard to why she didn’t she flee to her house when she was being kidnapped, she said: “It would be just so hard to retrace that.

“I don't know if I actually could retrace it, just because it was at that night. There was so much adrenaline and fear.

“I didn't know where we were going. It was all just a guess. I think even he was guessing that night.”

When she got to the actual kidnap site, she recognized some of the surrounding trees and geography of the area.

She also identified the site of one of the dugouts Mitchell built to keep her concealed from police - spotting a scrap of back tarp amid autumn leaves.

Smart said: “This is where the dugout was. I saw some black tarp right there. It was logs, black tarp, and then dirt was thrown on top of it. He had a whole plan of digging this area out and eventually staying here year round.

“Thank goodness that didn't happen. I would have died.”

She noted that she was held between two trees and didn’t have access to the dugout, where her captors kept bolt cutters, shovels and anything that would have been useful for her escape.