Is Elizabeth Smart's Kidnapper Brian David Mitchell Still Alive? Here's What We Know

True crime fans want to know if Elizabeth Smart's kidnapper, Brian David Mitchell, is still alive. Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee, kidnapped the then-14-year-old from her bedroom in Salt Lake City, Utah, in June of 2002. The couple kept the teenager in a dark hole, and Mitchell raped Elizabeth several times daily for nine months.

Elizabeth's then-9-year-old sister, Mary Katherine, witnessed her sister's terrifying abduction, and she remembered hearing Mitchell's voice before, but couldn't place it. She eventually remembered that he was the man she knew as "Immanuel," a worker who had previously worked on the family's roof. Elizabeth was rescued and credits her sister for saving her by identifying her abuser. So, is Brian David Mitchell still alive?

Yes, Brian David Mitchell is still alive. He is an inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution-Lewisburg in Pennsylvania. Mitchell was moved in October of 2025 from the United States Federal Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind., after he was twice attacked while in custody, according to Indiana Public Media. Mitchell was sentenced to life without parole for Elizabeth's abduction and daily assaults.

Mitchell kidnapped the teen from her bedroom in the middle of the night and told her that she was going to be his wife before raping her for the first time. In a Netflix documentary about her abduction, Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart, she recalled the horrific moment.

"I was in shock,” she said. "I thought, ‘He can't be serious.’ You can't just kidnap a child and then say, 'You're my wife now.' It's not legal. It's not OK. I never said yes. I never said I do. None of this is OK.”

Barzee was also convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison. She helped Mitchell abduct Elizabeth and watched him rape her repeatedly. She also helped him tie Elizabeth to trees with chains and a padlock. Barzee was released from prison back in 2018 and sent to a halfway house.

She later moved into a Salt Lake City apartment, but she was arrested again in 2025 after she violated the registered sex offenders' rules by visiting two parks in Utah. According to People, she was later released by a judge.

After her release, Elizabeth spoke on Barzee's freedom. "I’m not gonna let these people or this woman stop me from living the life that I want to live, and that’s how I still feel," she said, per People.

Elizabeth told the outlet back in 2024 that she thinks neither Mitchell nor Barzee should ever be out of prison.

"They’re not people that I think of regularly,” she said. "I guess every now and then, part of me wonders how you could get to a point where you would think it's OK to kidnap a young girl."

She also said Mitchell "should never get out" of prison. "I just think no matter what, if he got out, he would be a danger, if not to me, then to another young girl. I think he will always pose a threat."