Episode Summary
Elizabeth Smart was abducted at knifepoint in the middle of the night from her bedroom in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2002. She was 14 years old. For more than 9 months, she was held captive by a predator – one who kept her hidden in plain sight.
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For our friends in the Deaf and Signing community, you can view an ASL version of this episode HERE.
Episode Info
To learn more about the programs and services Elizabeth mentioned please visit the Elizabeth Smart Foundation.
Kidnapped flyers of Elizabeth Smart
Tom Smart’s book: In Plain Sight
Richard Ricci
The sketch of “Emmanuel”
Elizabeth Smart’s book, My Story
Elizabeth’s father, Ed Smart
Wanda Barzee and Brian David Mitchell in 2003
Elizabeth at age 14, her mother Lois, and her sister Mary Katherine
Brian David Mitchell
Brian David Mitchell
Elizabeth Smart and captor Brian David Mitchell (far right) at a party where she wore a veil to conceal her identity
The Elizabeth Smart Foundation
Episode Source Material
- A&E: Elizabeth Smart: Autobiography (2017)
- My Story, by Elizabeth Smart (2013)
- In Plain Sight: The Startling Truth Behind the Elizabeth Smart Investigation, by Tom Smart and Lee Benson (2006)
- The Kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart
- The Sydney Morning Herald: To Hell and Back
- E Online: To Hell and Back: The Impossible Resilience of Elizabeth Smart
- Desert News: Elizabeth Smart saga timeline
- CNN.com: Elizabeth Smart’s story: Nine months of what ifs and near misses
- Deseret News: Elizabeth Smart describes rapes, sex abuse, imprisonment, threats
- CNN.com: Reporter: Elizabeth spoke in verse when found
- Christian Science Monitor: Elizabeth Smart kidnapper convicted, jury rejects insanity defense
- Salt Lake City Weekly: The Smart Files
- Prison Legal News: Utah DOC Settles Wrongful-Death Suit Involving Exonerated Suspect For $150,000
- The New York Times: END OF AN ABDUCTION: ORDEAL; In Plain Sight, a Kidnapped Girl Behind a Veil
- ABC News: Elizabeth Smart Tells Court Kidnapper Tried to Snatch Her Cousin Too
- New York Post (Associated Press): FBI agent recalls talks with suspect in Smart case
- WECT: Elizabeth Smart’s safe return: Fingerprints