---

---

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Item 2696 • Posted: Thursday March 13, 2003  

---

AP, Mar. 12, 2003
http://www.cnn.com/

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (AP) — The drifter found with Elizabeth Smart lived by begging and believes he is a prophet who needs to preach to the homeless, his stepson said Wednesday.

Brian Mitchell was taken into custody Wednesday, but not immediately charged. He had been identified by the Smart family in February as someone who resembled the man Elizabeth’s younger sister told her parents abducted Elizabeth last June.

Mitchell, known to the Smart family as “Emmanuel,” was “capable” of kidnapping a child, his stepson, Mark Thompson, told The Associated Press.

Elizabeth’s mother, Lois Smart, has said she met Emmanuel in downtown Salt Lake City when he asked for money. She gave him $5 and hired him to help her husband work on the roof of their home in November 2001. He worked for about five hours and the family didn’t see him again, she said.

Mitchell’s sister called law enforcement with his identity after the Smart family held a news conference February 3 to circulate a sketch of him clean-shaven, Thompson said.

Photographs released by Mitchell’s family show him with a long beard.

Mitchell was a downtown fixture, frequently seen wearing white pants, a robe-like tunic and a brimless white hat that resembles a puffy turban or baker’s toque. One of the photos provided to law enforcement shows him in such a hat.

He often was seen panhandling and preaching to the homeless in downtown Salt Lake City before Elizabeth’s disappearance last June. He and his companion, Wanda Eileen Barzee, sold their belongings and started living on the streets in the late 1980s. Barzee also was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon, police said.

Mitchell’s family said he often spent time in a teepee in the mountains outside Salt Lake City.

Police initially suspected handyman Richard Albert Ricci, who had also worked at the Smart home, but he was never charged in the case. Ricci died after suffering a brain hemorrhage in August while in prison on an unrelated parole violation. He had denied any involvement in Elizabeth’s disappearance.

---

What You Can Do From Here

---

Read More Articles On These Topics Categories: Brian Mitchell and Wanda Barzee Share, Blog About, Bookmark, or Email This Article Subscribe Religion News Blog RSS feed [What is this?] RSS by topic: Brian Mitchell and Wanda Barzee Read Another Article Previous entry: Mitchell was odd, familiar figure downtown Next entry: ‘Mickey Mouse Peace Plan’ urged RNB Homepage with latest headlines Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults Find Related Books Brian Mitchell and Wanda Barzee Most Popular Today World’s oldest ocean-going passenger ship, ministry ship Doulos, to stop sailing Pakistan Militants Bomb CD Shop For Selling ‘Jesus Film’ Muslim Violence Ongoing in Egypt; Christians Plead For Help

---

Share This Article

---

To share this page simply copy and paste one of these URL's:

• Post a link on your blog or website:
  
• Send in an email or IM:
  
• Post on a forum:
  

Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- CounterCultSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.

Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- ApologeticsSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.