Many missing children are never rescued. Many end up dead.
Elizabeth Smart is one of the lucky ones.
Nine months after being kidnapped at knifepoint, Elizabeth Smart
was rescued and returned home last Wednesday.
Her captors, Brian David Mitchell, 49, and wife Wanda Barzee,
57, were arrested in Salt Lake City, Utah, after a local couple
recognized the fugitives and phoned local authorities.
In the stillness of night on June 5, prosecutors say Mitchell
cut through the screen on Elizabeth’s bedroom window and abducted
her at knifepoint from her Salt Lake City home.
Mitchell then took Smart to a campsite in Dry Creek Canyon, four
miles from the Smart residence. There, assisted by his wife,
Mitchell allegedly sexually assaulted Smart.
Prosecutors also say Mitchell and Barzee held Smart captive in
the hills two miles from her home for two months, sometimes binding
her feet with cables. Elizabeth was so close that she could hear
the search teams calling for her, but she could not respond.
The trio was spotted many times since the abduction but were
never recognized. They were caught on video at a homeless shelter’s
Christmas dinner and in a local park.
Whenever the three were seen in public, Smart and Barzee wore
veils covering their faces, and Mitchell claimed that Smart was his
daughter.
In October, Mitchell befriended a health food store owner, who
housed Mitchell, Barzee and Smart for a week in his apartment,
located one block from the Salt Lake City Police Department.
Last winter Mitchell, Barzee and Smart headed to San Diego,
Calif., where they became a familiar public sight.
Mitchell was even arrested twice during the nine-month period he
was holding Smart captive. Authorities say he shoplifted and broke
into a San Diego area church.
Seven months before the abduction Lois Smart, Elizabeth’s
mother, gave Mitchell $5 and told him if he wanted more he could do
some work for her husband. The next day Mitchell did yard work and
helped Mr. Smart repair the roof at the Smart’s million-dollar
home.
“When I was up there on the roof with him, he was so
soft-spoken, so quiet. I would never have guessed that such an
animal would exist behind a person that looked so reasonable,” Ed
Smart, Elizabeth’s father, said Thursday.
Mitchell, a religious fanatic, was excommunicated from the
Mormon Church for his beliefs. He is a self-proclaimed prophet and
often goes by the alias “Immanuel.” He wrote his own book, “The
Book of Immanuel David Isaiah,” in which he refers to himself as
God and calls polygamy a lost blessing.
It is theorized that Mitchell, a polygamist, kidnapped
14-year-old Elizabeth with intent to make her one of his many
wives.
Wanda Barzee left behind six children when she escaped a violent
marriage several years ago to become Mitchell’s third wife.
Barzee carries dolls with her that she believes to be her
children. It is possible she considered Smart to be her
daughter.
After police followed 16,000 leads from the public, a break in
the case came last October when Elizabeth’s sister, Mary Katherine
Smart, realized the abductor resembled the one-time handyman,
Mitchell. However, it was not until February that police released
sketches of Mitchell.
Mitchell and Barzee are being held on $10 million bail. They
face charges of aggravated kidnapping, sexual assault and burglary.
If convicted they could be sentenced to life in prison.
Right now the family says they are focusing on Elizabeth and
what is best for her. They do not want her to suffer anymore.
“I have not tried to force things out of her, to question her to
pieces,” Elizabeth’s father said. The problem of missing children
is not limited to Elizabeth Smart and Utah. This is a national
dilemma.
According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited
Children:
*Every 40 seconds another child is reported missing.
* One in every 42 children will become abducted, missing, lost
or will have run away.
*Over 2,000 children are reported missing each day
* Over 725,000 reported missing children every year.
* The rate of missing children has increased 444 percent since
1982.
*Most abducted children are recovered or killed in the first 3.2
hours.
According to the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, “There
are seven children in Mississippi who are missing or are believed
to have been abducted by strangers.”
Thirty-eight states, including Mississippi, have implemented the
Amber Alert programs to aid in the rescue of missing and abducted
children.
According to the Mississippi Department of Public Safety Website
at www.dps.state.ms.us, other research has found that females
account for 76 percent of abduction murder victims with 24 percent
males.
The Amber Alert program is named after 9-year-old Amber Hagerman
who, in 1996, was abducted and murdered in Arlington, Texas.
To date the Amber Alert program is credited with saving 47
children since 1996.
If you have information about a missing or abducted child
contact your local police department immediately. For more
information regarding missing children visit
“http://www.FBI.gov” target=”_new”>www.FBI.gov or contact MSDPS
Director of Public Affairs at (601) 987-1385.