Photo Shows Wanda Barzee's First Taste of Freedom After Release From Utah Prison
The woman who kidnapped Elizabeth Smart is enjoying her freedom after 15 years behind bars.
A photo showed Wanda Barzee, 72, carrying a salad and a banana and wearing a pink sweatshirt and gray pants as she walked in Utah Wednesday.
According to one published report, Barzee spent her first night of freedom "wailing religious scripture at the top of her lungs" in her hotel room. Police said they did not receive any reports of the alleged incident.
Smart, who was 14 years old when she was abducted and held captive as a sex slave by Barzee and her husband, Brian David Mitchell, was asked about Barzee's release Wednesday night.
“Do not let the horrible things that have happened to you describe you or define your life," she told a packed room at the Price Auditorium at Lock Haven University in Pennsylvania. "Your choices define your life. There is nothing that can be done to you that can take away your worth as a human being.”
She continued: “I encourage anyone that is experiencing that kind of darkness to find even the smallest speck of hope and hold on to it. I now have two children, with a third on the way. Family means a lot to me. There were times my faith wavered.
"I’m not perfect, but I never gave up hope that my family would find me."
Earlier this month, Smart called her abductor's release "incomprehensible."
“I appreciate the support, love and concern that has already been expressed and will work diligently to address the issue of Barzee's release as well as to ensure changes are made moving forward to ensure this doesn't happen to anyone else in the future,” she said in a statement at the time.
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