EXCLUSIVE: Kidnap Survivor Elizabeth Smart Fears Fresh Terror is Just Around Corner Decades After She Was Snatched From Bedroom as a Teen
Elizabeth Smart is shaken as her kidnapper Wanda Barzee is jailed again for parole violations, reigniting old fears.
May 22 2025, Published 4:45 p.m. ET
Kidnap survivor Elizabeth Smart has been shaken by a fresh wave of fear over a new potential threat.
Years after her nightmare, Smart is now forced to relive the terror as her twisted kidnapper, who abducted her from her bedroom as a young teen, is being locked up again for a sex-offender parole breach, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Wanda Barzee, 79, allegedly violated parole by visiting banned parks, claiming she was 'commanded by the Lord' to do it.
Wanda Barzee, 79, is accused of breaking the rules by visiting two Salt Lake City parks, off-limits to her as a registered sex offender.
But Barzee insisted she had been "commanded to do so by the Lord," according to court documents.
That’s the same wild excuse the former inmate used back in 2002 when she helped her sex-criminal husband, Brian David Mitchell – a self-styled prophet – kidnap 14-year-old Smart from her parents' Salt Lake City home.
Smart's Horrific Abuse
Smart was kidnapped from her bedroom as a young teen and held in captivity for nine months.
During her harrowing nine-month captivity, Mitchell subjected the teen to relentless sexual abuse and cruelly bound her with steel cables every night.
At times, the abuse happened as many as four times a day.
Following a nationwide manhunt and a feature on America’s Most Wanted, Smart was rescued in March 2003 when Sandy, Utah, residents spotted Mitchell on the street.
The depraved 71-year-old predator was convicted and is now serving a life sentence.
In an exclusive jailhouse tell-all in 2017, Barzee explained the motive behind the abduction.
She blathered: "For behold, Elizabeth Smart, David and I ... are the Pioneers whereby celestial marriage has been restored to the earth in the establishment of the celestial kings of God.
"I was commanded to obey the law of the celestial kingdom or be destroyed!"
When the utterly unhinged Barzee finished her 15-year prison term, Smart, now 37, warned she should be locked up in a mental health facility, not set free to roam.
From Kidnapper to Free Woman
Barzee was released from prison in 2018, while her husband is serving a life sentence.
Even though Smart vehemently condemned Barzee as a menace to society and blamed her just as much as her husband, the mentally unstable woman was freed in 2018.
And while she's registered as a sex offender, she now lives in an apartment near an elementary school.
A terrified Smart said in a statement: "Every possible caution and protection should be taken when it comes to protecting our children.
"Whether a person is deemed a current threat or if they have a history of child abuse, neglect, sexual violence, etc., prudent measures should be taken, including housing them as far away as possible from schools, families and community centers."
Still, Barzee was released after her most recent arrest pending a decision by prosecutors.
Her attorney, Skye Lazaro, said: "She's probably experiencing another mental health episode, or her mental health has deteriorated again."
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Moving On From Her Past
Following her own harrowing ordeal, Smart has spent years championing the cause of kidnapping survivors and offering them support.
Since her rescue in 2003, Smart has devoted her life to helping other kidnapping survivors overcome their traumas.
She even launched a self-defense class for girls and women so that they have the tools to escape similar dangerous situations.
Smart married Scottish-born Matthew Gilmer in 2012 after meeting during their Mormon Church missions in France. The couple shares three children together.
