Bringing Elizabeth Home (16 page)

Elizabeth and Wanda sat alone for those six days, unaware of Brian's whereabouts. Elizabeth was slowly weakening from malnutrition. In an unbelievable bit of irony, Brian David Mitchell was sitting in a jail cell when
America's Most Wanted
aired its second story on him, on February 15, 2003. The show said that Brian David Mitchell was someone the police were seeking to question in connection with Elizabeth's kidnapping. The story pointed out that he sometimes used the name “Immanuel” and that he was traveling with his wife, Wanda Barzee.

For Pete's sake! How much more information did they need? None of the police officers saw the episode of
America's Most Wanted
that night. Since there was no nationwide alert about Mitchell, the Lakeside police were unaware that he was a wanted man. Three days later, Mitchell went before a judge and confessed that he had used terrible judgment by getting drunk the night he broke into the church. He testified that he was a reformed man and wanted to carry out the message given to him by the Lord as to what to do with his life. He pleaded guilty to vandalism, and was given a $250 fine. The judge told Mitchell to go and do the Lord's work but to stop breaking into churches at night. Brian David Mitchell was released from custody.

In this and other instances, Brian David Mitchell had been dismissed as an annoying but harmless street person or as a religious zealot. But he was also a man who could hurt a child. He was a man who could assault a child. The police were wrong.

From the day Elizabeth was taken, leads came pouring in that were fruitless. It was so hard to get our hopes up—even with a sketch of Brian David Mitchell. It wasn't until Mitchell's sister finally called the police and identified the man in the original sketch as her brother that we could put a real name to the face known to us as “Immanuel.” She had heard about the sketch and knew it was her brother we were searching for. Even with that information, the police still turned up very little evidence pointing toward him as the perpetrator of the crime. Barzee's sons identified Mitchell after seeing him on
America's Most Wanted
several months later.

The police continued to give us reasons why they could not pursue this very important lead more than they already had. There had been no recent sighting of Brian David Mitchell. He had no known mode of transportation, which meant they were traveling on foot. Logic, statistics, and a lack of evidence precluded the police from looking very intensely. We had heard from a friend of Tom's that a fellow worker at
The Deseret News
had recently hiked up the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, a frequently traveled hiking path behind our house, and had seen Mitchell numerous times over the years. He knew that in previous years Mitchell had kept a tepee up there. When we called the police to inform them that Brian David Mitchell was practically camped in our backyard, they still did nothing.

The day Mitchell was incarcerated, Ed held a news conference to announce that we were ready to reveal the story of “Immanuel.” We released the sketch we had and the information that Mary Katherine had identified this man as the man who had taken Elizabeth. We offered a $10,000 reward to anyone who could still vindicate Richard Ricci. Detective Baird was even quoted describing Mitchell as “one of the fifty homeless people who worked on the Smarts' home.” Every time we saw Baird appear, we knew disappointment was imminent. Someone had identified Brian David Mitchell from seeing the sketch from the news conference. It was Brian's sister. That was the first time we had a real name for the face. A week later, he was identified again after Wanda Barzee's sons saw
America's Most Wanted.
They called in the tip and positively identified Brian David Mitchell as the man America was looking for. Word was out about Brian David Mitchell. Doubters were now beginning to come around to the thought that perhaps Richard Ricci was not the man who had taken Elizabeth.

Salt Lake City mayor Rocky Anderson, who was a friend throughout the entire investigation, seemed troubled by the news about Mitchell. He always made time to meet with us. He did what he could do to help the investigation. He kept in touch with Rick Dinse, and one memo he sent to Dinse outlined his concern about the new information pointing toward the man the media knew as “Immanuel.” In his memo, the mayor made the following comments:

1. The only eyewitness, Mary Katherine Smart, has maintained from the beginning that she did not think Richard Ricci was the abductor.

2. There is no physical evidence tying Richard Ricci to the abduction.

3. Richard Ricci has no history of sexual abuse or abduction.

4. Mary Katherine independently suggested that the abductor may have been “Immanuel.”

5. Immanuel was somewhat familiar with the Smart home.

6. Immanuel has a history of child sexual abuse.

7. Immanuel was seen nearby, at a Kinko's on 1st South Street, near the University of Utah, on the afternoon Elizabeth was abducted.

8. Immanuel was known to camp out near the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, above the Smart home.

9. Perhaps most telling, Immanuel apparently has left the area since information about his possible involvement was disclosed.

FINALLY! Someone from the world of law enforcement would seriously have to take the mayor's points into consideration. The mayor had become outraged by what we had known all along. The Police Department was not aggressively pursuing any angle outside of Richard Ricci, and they were diminishing the relevance of Brian David Mitchell to the case.

As we started to hear unsavory things about Mitchell, we didn't want to believe that Elizabeth was with him. We heard that he had a history of abuse. The police wrote that off to a nasty divorce and an unhappy ex-wife. A few days after hearing the police opinion on stories that were surfacing about Mitchell, we called one of the detectives working on the case and asked if he knew, without a doubt, that Mitchell hadn't been involved in abuse. We needed to know that there was no chance of this allegation being true. The detective professed that he had heard evidence to that effect and that it was his belief that Mitchell had not abused anyone.

“How do you know?”

We were told that one of the officers talked to the ex-wife, and after checking the story, his conclusion was that it was just a nasty divorce.

That wasn't good enough for us.

It was beyond hearsay.

This was our daughter we were fighting for. We'd heard that there had been medical records qualifying the reports of abuse. Had the police checked those out? They had not. As parents we needed hard evidence. We needed to check this out. The thought that our daughter might be in the hands of a known sexual offender was a living nightmare. We pleaded with the officer to follow this through. We needed to know if Elizabeth was with a man who was capable of hurting her—or worse.

Knowing we didn't have the stamina to go through the ups and downs again, Tom and David had taken it upon themselves to talk with Mitchell's family, who had provided photographs of Mitchell for us to look at. Tom e-mailed them to us. When we pulled them up on the computer, we stared in disbelief. It was incredible. To this point, no lead had turned up anything that had potential. We had found the man we were looking for. It was him. We felt sick.

After Elizabeth came home, people would recall that they had seen Brian David Mitchell and two veiled women all around town. The sightings that were later reported in November and December were false, because Brian, Wanda, and Elizabeth were in California. There was a confirmed report that someone had called in a tip about Brian David Mitchell to the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping tip line in August. A lead had come in, but the police were prioritizing the hundreds of leads they had received, and he was not high on the list. In a bizarre twist, it was reported that Brian David Mitchell had walked into the
Deseret News
offices, pulled Elizabeth's Missing poster off the wall, said, “Oh, she's been found,” and walked out of the office.

America's Most Wanted
aired its third segment about Mitchell on March 1, 2003. This time the show aired photos provided by Wanda Barzee's sons. A nationwide alert about Mitchell and Barzee had been put out. Calls quickly came in from all over; people were recognizing the man we were looking for—and confirming our suspicion and our hope that Elizabeth was in fact alive.

Chapter 20

P
RIOR TO KIDNAPPING ELIZABETH,
Brian David Mitchell had spent most of his time wandering the streets of Salt Lake City with Wanda Barzee, spouting his own fanatical ramblings. He was directed by prophecy he imagined had been given to him by God. He wrote a lengthy manifesto outlining the details of his mission, extolling the “blessings of polygamy” and calling himself a “just and mighty deity.” Somewhere along the line, Mitchell had become convinced that he was the Davidic King. Lacking volunteers willing to join his mission, Mitchell resorted to kidnapping. Though he had set his sights on other young girls, his first real victim was our daughter. Her captivity lasted nine months before they were captured by police in Sandy, Utah, while walking along a highway. They had just arrived back in Salt Lake, having stopped in Las Vegas en route from San Diego.

Several eyewitnesses spotted the three walking the streets. Mitchell and Barzee had Elizabeth in tow, dressed in baggy jeans, a wig, and sunglasses. Witnesses began to call 911 after recognizing Brian David Mitchell from the most recent airing of
America's Most Wanted.
The first call came from Anita and Alvin Dickerson, who had spotted a bearded man and two women walking on the street near a Kinko's in Sandy, Utah. Anita dialed 911 and told the operator she was calling about the man wanted in the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping case. The second call came moments later, from Nancy Montoya, who said she was sitting in her car with her husband and was watching a man who matched the description of the “Immanuel” police were looking for. The Montoyas had first noticed Brian, Wanda, and Elizabeth walking after coming out of the same Kinko's. Nancy seemed to recognize Brian David Mitchell instantly. As they took a better look, her husband agreed—that was him. They immediately called 911.

Sandy police officer Karen Jones was nearby when the 911 calls came in. The sightings were reported over police radios, warning officers in the field to be on the lookout. She was the first police officer to spot Mitchell, Barzee, and Elizabeth the morning of March 12. She, too, thought she recognized him as “Immanuel.” She approached the trio and separated Brian David Mitchell for questioning. She asked his name and for some identification. Mitchell responded with a pseudonym, “Peter Marshall.” He said his wife's name was Juliette and their daughter was Augustine. His response when asked for identification was: “We are messengers of God. We are free of all worldly things.” Elizabeth stood a few feet away, wearing a wig and sunglasses. A second officer approached the scene and made contact with the “daughter” for the first time, thinking she looked a lot like Elizabeth. Officer Jones asked the girl whom she was traveling with. “My parents,” Elizabeth said.

Backup was called—Officer Jones alerted the Salt Lake police to the situation. Two more officers arrived on the scene, Victor Quezada and Bill O'Neal. They took turns talking to Brian David Mitchell, Wanda Barzee, and Elizabeth. Officers repeatedly asked the young girl in the veil her name. “Augustine,” she said three times. “I know you think I'm that Elizabeth Smart girl who ran away, but I'm not.” Officer Troy Rasmussen said he could see her heart beating through her shirt. The police questioned her for forty-five minutes on basic background information about her “parents” and where she was from. They asked her age. “Eighteen,” Elizabeth said. Brian had done quite a job on Elizabeth's psyche. She stumbled with her answers, which convinced the officers that something was definitely wrong.

The officers were confused about why Elizabeth was resisting stepping forward and simply identifying who she was and why she wasn't asking for help. Clearly, she was frightened. She was confused, tired, and emotionally battered. They had been traveling—walking and hitchhiking through the desert. She had been physically tied and most certainly was suffering from emotional bondage. She had been gone so many months without anyone finding her that she believed that her plight was never going to end. Police had seen her in the past. Strangers had looked her in the eyes. Even with posters and billboards all around, no one had recognized her as Elizabeth and no one had rescued her. Why would this day be different? If she professed to be Elizabeth Smart that morning and Brian and Wanda were not arrested, Elizabeth was convinced that her life and the lives of her family members were at risk. By that point, Brian David Mitchell had surely convinced Elizabeth that she had no alternative but to stay. Kidnappers threaten their victims emotionally and physically. For nine torturous months, Elizabeth suffered. They can also make their victims feel guilty or ashamed. Those feelings can prevent an abducted child from trying to flee.

The hold that Brian David Mitchell had over Elizabeth was excruciatingly strong. Even when an officer showed her a Missing flier with Elizabeth's image, she denied it was her. When asked about her identity one last time, she finally admitted who she was by proclaiming, “If thou sayeth, I sayeth,” and then began to cry. It was over. She was safe. But even then, Elizabeth was unsure if this was really happening. The police tried to explain to her that she was very much loved and missed by everyone—especially her family. It was the beginning of the end of the hellish nightmare we had all been living for nine months. We certainly had no thought about how deeply traumatized Elizabeth would be—we simply wanted her home.

Chapter 21