Episode Details
Back to Episodes
She Was Taken From Her Own Bedroom.. 280 Days Without ELIZABETH SMART
Description
In June 2002, 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart was abducted at knifepoint from her Salt Lake City bedroom while her nine-year-old sister, Mary Katherine, witnessed the kidnapping. For approximately 280 days, Elizabeth was held captive by religious extremist Brian David Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee, while investigators pursued false leads and missed crucial opportunities to find her. Mary Katherine's eventual recognition of Mitchell's voice became the breakthrough that helped bring Elizabeth home.
This episode revisits the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping, including Richard Ricci's wrongful suspicion, the disturbing library encounter where a detective unknowingly found Elizabeth, the delayed Emmanuel sketch, Mitchell and Barzee's convictions, and revelations from Netflix's 2026 documentary Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart, which allows Elizabeth to reclaim one of America's most infamous kidnapping stories in her own words.