Elizabeth Smart was taken from her bedroom in Salt Lake City in 2002
The kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart was bizarrely cracked wide open by a Guinness World Records compendium.
In the summer of 2002, 14-year-old Smart was held at knifepoint in the middle of the night by Brian David Mitchell, who is now serving a life sentence behind bars.
He’d previously gained employment at the family home and was not on anybody’s radar when it came to possible criminal leads.
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That’s where the teenager’s younger sister, Mary Katherine Smart, came into the equation.
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Aged nine at the time of the kidnapping, she was the only person to witness what happened in Salt Lake City that evening, but the horror of the experience effectively clouded her judgement for the next four months.
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The Smart sisters went through hell together in 2002 (Netflix)
Speaking to broadcaster Diane Sawyer when her sister had been safely returned, Mary Katherine recalled being woken up in their shared bedroom as a man was silently tapping on Elizabeth’s shoulder.
He then forced her to get up out of bed and put some footwear on. The terrified youngster decided not to call for their parents out of fear that he’d come for her, too.
“I thought, you know, be quiet, because if he hears you, he might take you too, and you’re the only person who has seen this. I was, like, shaking,” she said.
Mary Katherine proceeded to lie in bed for the next two hours, having only heard the perpetrator’s voice and not seen his face.
Per the 2006 book In Plain Sight: The Startling Truth Behind the Elizabeth Smart Investigation, local police chief Rick Dinse shared during a news conference at the time: “We may learn more from [Mary Katherine] as time goes on because of the ability to remember and recall a traumatic situation, particularly with a child of her age.”
Lo and behold, his prophecy materialised in October 2002.
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Elizabeth Smart has her younger sister to thank for her safe return (Netflix)
It’s revealed in new Netflix documentary Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart that while Mary was leafing through the doorstop-sized 2001 edition of the Guinness World Records, a photo of a muscular woman sent her synapses sizzling.
She immediately told her father Ed Smart that she knew who took her sister: Emmanuel, whose real name was Brian David Mitchell and had been helped by the family a year earlier.
Even though his time under their roof was fleeting, Mary remembered his voice and paired it with her sister’s abductor.
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During an interview on Today, Elizabeth, who is now married with three children, would later state: “Had she not remembered who had kidnapped me, who’s to say that I would be here today? The police all had their suspects, and my captor I don’t even think was on their radar at all. So she is my hero.”
The survivor also addressed whether she’s spoken to her kids Chloe, Olivia, and James about the ordeal.
“One of the best pieces of advice I was given as far as parenting goes: When your kids start asking questions, that’s the right time to start talking about it,” she noted. “And honestly, that started way before I was prepared, way before I ever thought it would come up.
“I think my oldest was, like 3 years old when she started asking me questions, like where was I going, what was I doing, why was I doing it. And that was shocking. I was not ready.
“Honestly I’m not sure if I’m still ready. But I would say that opened the door to start having those conversations, and then just as they have grown, I’ve been able to let that conversation grow as well.”Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: Crime, Parenting, US News
Child tells police her 9-year-old sister was ‘killed by my mom’ leading to shocking new charges after arrest
Chyanne Porter was recently booked into the Vanderburgh County Jail
A woman who was already convicted of heinous crimes is now facing further charges.
In December 2024, Chyanne Porter was convicted of complicity in criminal abuse, tampering with physical evidence, and abuse of a corpse after nine-year-old Alianna Maya Gomez-Alvarez’s body was discovered in a tote bag in a storage unit in Owensboro, Kentucky.
Police say Alianna was one of three children that Porter’s boyfriend, Jose Gomez-Alvarez, had from a previous relationship, and the pair had two shared kids as well.
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Both Porter and her boyfriend were charged, and officials at the time determined Alianna had died of convulsions after being locked in the basement for an extended period of time, KTLV previously reported.
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After her conviction, Porter was booked into Daviess County, Kentucky, but she has now been transferred into the custody of the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office in Indiana.
Alianna Maya Gomez-Alvarez was last seen alive in November 2021 (KLTV)
Porter has now been charged with nine additional counts, including neglect of a dependent, obstruction of justice, abuse of a corpse, and failure to report a dead body, Law & Crime reports. She was extradited on January 6.
According to US Weekly, Porter still has six years left of her sentence to serve in Kentucky.
Her extradition to Indiana comes following information Porter’s children gave to police about how Alianna was treated before she died.
Per the affidavit seen by 14 News, Porter and Gomez-Alvarez allegedly abused their three children from previous relationships and would hit, choke, and not feed them.
Another of the children alleged that Alianna starved to death at their home in Evansville, Indiana, before she was transported to a storage unit 40 miles away in Owensboro.
“My mom never fed her,” a child told investigators. “She was very very skinny. She got skinny when my mom didn’t feed her.”
“My mom killed Alianna and then put her in the basement,” they added.
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While Porter and Gomez-Alvarez are said to have abused their three kids, they treated their shared children better.
Chyanne Porter is facing new charges in Indiana (Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office)
Evansville Police Sergeant Anthony Aussieker said of the extremely sad case: “Those are the cases that are going to stick with you forever. That’s the most vulnerable people.
“We, as parents — speaking as a parent — that’s our number one job is to protect and nurture our children.
“These kids were not given that opportunity, it’s heartbreaking. So just thinking about those surviving children, hopefully they’re in a good, caring, stable environment and hopefully they’re flourishing and getting the treatment and the help that they need.”
A start date for Porter’s impending trial in Indiana has not been set, and she has not yet entered pleas to the new criminal counts she’s facing.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues or want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, the Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and receives calls from throughout the United States, Canada, US Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico.Featured Image Credit: Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office
Topics: Crime, Indiana, News, Parenting
Niamh Shackleton
Experts’ urgent ‘sextortion’ warning as 14-year-old boy dies 35 minutes after ‘flirting with girl’ online
The National Crime Agency has broken down how the blackmail can take place
Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing.
Experts have offered an explanation about the crime of ‘sextortion’ and how to recognize it, with the warning coming just weeks before a teen boy was died after connecting with a ‘girl’ online.
Caleb Moore, from Kansas, was just 14 years old when he was found at his home on 10 June, with first responders sadly unable to resuscitate him.
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The day after his death, police showed Caleb’s family messages they had found on his phone which showed that he had connected with someone online who he believed to be a 14-year-old girl.
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The ‘girl’ allegedly sent compromising photos of herself to Caleb, before asking him to send some of himself in return.
Caleb obliged, but things took a turn when the ‘girl’ allegedly began to threaten Caleb, demanding he pay a large amount of money or warning they would leak his photos.
“[Police] showed me the progression,” Caleb’s mom, Morgan, said. “It had stolen my boy’s happiness and hope in a 35-minute span.
“They made him feel like his life was over as he had made this mistake,” she added.
Caleb has been described as a ‘responsible’ teen (Kennedy News and Media)
What is ‘sextortion’?
The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) issued what it described as an ‘urgent warning’ about so-called ‘sextortion’ schemes earlier this year, after the number of global sextortion cases reported to the US National Center for Missing & Exploited Children increased by more than double in 2023, rising from 10,731 to 26,718.
The NCA has explained that this extortion is a type of online blackmail which involves people being forced into paying money or carrying out some other financial demand under the threat of nude or semi-nude photos of them being released.
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The photos could either be taken by the victim, or they could be fake photos created by the extortionist.
How does sextortion happen?
According to the NCA, sextortion against young people can play out as follows:
- Being contacted by an online account that appears to belong to another young person
- A quick development into sexually explicit communications, which may involve the offender sharing an explicit image
- The victim may feel manipulated or pressured into taking nude or semi-nude photos or videos of themselves
Rather than sending photos themselves, victims may also be told they have been hacked and that the offender has access to their images – even if this isn’t really the case.
At this point, the victim can be blackmailed into sending money or meeting another financial demand under the threat of the images being shared.
Extortionists threaten to share photos in order to get money (Getty Stock Photo)
What have experts said about sextortion?
James Babbage, Director General for Threats at the National Crime Agency, described sextortion as a ‘callous’ crime and urged educators and parents to be vigilant of it.
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“Sextortion causes immeasurable stress and anguish, and we know there are adults and young people who have devastatingly taken their own lives as a result,” Babbage said.
“A lot of victims feel responsible but we need them to know this is absolutely not the case; you are not to blame and help and support is available. As well as raising awareness with this alert, we want to encourage young people to report incidents to an adult they trust, the police or to the CEOP Safety Centre.”
The NCA has also advised parents whose children may be a victim of extortion to block the contact, but avoid deleting any evidence such as messages or phone numbers.
Victims are also encouraged to report the crime to the police.
Caleb’s mom hopes his story will help other kids (Kennedy News and Media)
Caleb remembered as ‘the most loved kid’
Morgan expressed hope that her son’s death would ‘have as much meaning as his life did, which was a lot’.
“He is very, very missed and very loved,” she said.
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The mom is hoping Caleb’s story will encourage other children to speak out if they feel in danger online, saying: “Caleb was a pretty popular kid, really funny and goofy and made people laugh a lot.
“He was mild-mannered so got along with everybody. He loves sports and played football, basketball and was really good at wrestling.
“I don’t know how to stress enough to children to tell someone your parents about it or another trusted adult. You just have to tell someone because they purposely make it seem like they have so much more power than they do.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help support Caleb’s family, which you can donate to here.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available through Mental Health America. Call or text 988 to reach a 24-hour crisis center or you can webchat at 988lifeline.org. You can also reach the Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741.
