Elizabeth smart.

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The Story of Elizabeth Smart

In Salt Lake City, UT, a young teenager by the name of Elizabeth Smart was taken from her bedroom in her family's million-dollar home. An unknown man, later identified by as Brian David Mitchell, took her on June 5, 2002. Elizabeth's 9-year old sister, Mary Catherine, told investigators that an older man had abducted Elizabeth at knifepoint. Mitchell had previously worked for Ed and Lois Smart as a handy man at their home. Mitchell was known as a homeless preacher on the streets of Salt Lake City, and believed himself to be God. At one time, Mitchell wrote a 27-page manifesto in which he declared this. The manifesto also stated he should take upon himself multiple wives. Elizabeth was his second wife next to Wanda Barzee, and possibly the first of several. Elizabeth, along with her abductors, slept under highway bridges, in tents, and even as close as Dry Creek Canyon, located just two miles from the Smart's home.

It was later stated that Elizabeth could actually hear her uncle calling her name while searching for her.

Mitchell and his wife Wanda brainwashed Elizabeth to the point where if she had the chance to escape, she wouldn't. Steven Alan Hassan, a cult expert and mental health professional, believes Mitchell used their shared Mormon background to brainwash Elizabeth. "Brainwashing is a three-step process: Unfreezing the current identity, changing it, and refreezing a new cult identity," says Hassan. Hassan also believes that Mitchell new the right words to say because he himself was a Mormon who had been excommunicated and Elizabeth was also a Mormon.

On March 12, 2003, two couples spotted someone that looked like Elizabeth near a fast-food restaurant in Sandy, UT, and notified the police immediately. Elizabeth was rescued then returned to...