Elizabeth Smart kidnapper skips parole hearing in Utah

A woman convicted of helping a former street preacher kidnap then-Utah teenager Elizabeth Smart from her Salt Lake City home in 2002 refused to attend a hearing before the state parole board that could have helped her get out of prison earlier.

A Utah parole board member said Tuesday at the hearing that 72-year-old Wanda Barzee also refused to undergo psychological evaluation needed to get out before her scheduled release in 2024.

Smart was found in a Salt Lake City suburb after being held captive for nine months by Barzee and Brian David Mitchell, who is serving a life sentence for the crime.

Smart, now 30, didn’t attend the hearing. Her father Ed Smart says Barzee’s behavior seems to indicate she had the same mindset when his daughter was kidnapped.