An 80-year-old woman convicted for her role in the infamous kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart has been photographed grinning in a new police mugshot following her recent arrest.
Shocking Mugshot and Arrest Details
Wanda Barzee, now 80, was taken into custody for breaching the terms of her sex offender licence. Her updated entry on the Utah Sex Offender Registry features a cheerful smile, a stark contrast to her stunned appearance in 2003 after she and her husband, Brian David Mitchell, were jailed for abducting the 14-year-old.
Authorities state that Barzee broke the registry's rules in May by visiting two parks, locations from which convicted sex offenders are strictly banned under Utah state law. This violation could result in her return to prison.
Elizabeth Smart's Powerful Response
Elizabeth Smart responded to the arrest within hours through her foundation's Instagram page. She revealed that Barzee claimed she entered the parks because she had been "commanded by the Lord"—the same justification used during Smart's nine-month captivity in 2002.
Smart stated she had long warned that Barzee's release was "incomprehensible" and that this latest breach confirms her fears. She thanked police for their swift action, emphasising that taking such violations seriously "sends a very powerful message that survivor safety matters." She urged lawmakers to remember the vital public-safety reasons behind sex offender registries.
Recalling her mother's advice after being rescued, Smart ended her message by vowing not to live in fear. "Although this situation has arisen, I refuse to let anyone stop me from living freely," she wrote.
A Harrowing History of Captivity
The ordeal remains one of the most shocking abductions in US history. In 2002, Mitchell, a self-styled street preacher, crept into Smart's bedroom, held her at knifepoint, and dragged her from her Salt Lake City home. Smart later testified that he performed a mock wedding before raping her for the first time.
She was shackled with steel cables, forced to sleep in a dugout crawling with pests, drugged, made to drink alcohol, and raped daily—sometimes up to four times. Throughout the abuse, Barzee stood by, offering no help and at times encouraging the assaults.
The teenager was eventually rescued when a couple recognised the pair from America's Most Wanted and alerted police. Now 37, Smart has rebuilt her life as a leading advocate for women's and children's safety, a married mother-of-three, author, and public speaker.
Mitchell is serving a life sentence with no possibility of parole. He was recently transferred out of the US penitentiary in Terre Haute after surviving at least two attacks while in custody.
