The abduction of Elizabeth Smart has once again resurfaced in the age of social media. The reason for it is that her story has been retold in a new Netflix documentary.

Keep reading to know more.

Netflix’s new documentary Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart focuses on the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart, who was kidnapped from her home in front of her 9-year-old sister, Mary Katherine Smart.

The case attracted nationwide attention in the United States because of the facts being so interesting. The girl was also found nine months later because of a key detail.

Mary, who was only nine when the entire incident occurred, saw a man break into their house and take her sister with a knife to her throat. Now, the sisters appeared in front of a camera and spoke to the documentary people about how, at the time, the little girl realized who was behind the kidnapping.

It was reading through Guinness World Records that helped Mary make the breakthrough that solved everything.

After the kidnapping, officials focused quite a bit on the 9-year-old because she believed she recognized the voice of the kidnapper. Mary explained in the documentary that she eventually was the clue that helped solve the mystery of who had kidnapped her sister.

She shared, “After my sister was kidnapped I was very frightened to go to sleep, my dad would have to come in and tuck me in and while I was waiting for him I would be looking at books or racking my brain about who could have taken Elizabeth.”

She recalled the fateful night of when it clicked, “One particular night, four months after Elizabeth had been taken, I was flipping through the Guinness World Records.”

She went on, “For some random reason in that moment the name popped into my head and I knew immediately who was in my bedroom June 2002, that’s the man who kidnapped Elizabeth.”

Ed Smart, the girls’ father said, “Lois and I had gone out for the evening and when we got home Mary Katherine had said ‘I think I know who it is, and she said it was ‘Immanuel’.”

Immanuel was the preacher’s name Brian sometimes went by. He had met the girls‘ other Lois while he had been preaching in town as a homeless man. Lois had given him her husband’s card, saying he could perhaps help him and he could work on the house. Brian David Mitchell who was going by Immanuel with the Smart family accepted the offer.

When he came over to do the work on the house, Mary Katherine had been reading the Guinness World Records book, and re-reading it all those months later helped jog her memory and recall his name.

The police were skeptical since they believed another suspect had been behind the kidnapping, someone who had already died in custody. But Mary Katherine Smart had been right; it was Brian David Mitchell who was responsible for the kidnapping.

The family eventually released a sketch of him, which ultimately led to his spotting and subsequent police arrest.

During this time, Elizabeth had been held in captivity by her kidnapper. During captivity she was raped, forced to drink alcohol till she threw up, and was ‘married’ to Brian in a bizarre ceremony.

24 years after her harrowing experience, she is speaking about it. She shared that during the process, she understood that filmmakers did not want to traumatise her by recalling the experience.

She said about it, “They wanted to be so sensitive to me. Well, I didn’t go on vacation, I definitely wasn’t just sunbathing up in the mountains waiting for someone to come and rescue me.”

She added, “When I saw the final cut [which includes her discussing the details in graphic accuracy], I was like, ‘Thank you’, [The filmmakers] made me proud. They did justice to my story.”

This is an important story, and we are so glad it is being told. Share this with others who might not know about this story.