One of Elizabeth Smart's kidnappers released from prison

Elizabeth Smart's case gained national attention when the 14-year-old was kidnapped right out of her Utah home in 2002 and raped for months by her captor. Now, one of her kidnappers has been released from prison.

Until last week, now 30-year-old Smart thought that the two people responsible for her nine-month-long abduction were safely behind bars, but that all changed with Wednesday's unexpected release of 72-year-old Wanda Barzee.

Barzee is the wife of David Brian Mitchell, the man who kidnapped Elizabeth from her home at knifepoint, brought her into the woods, and raped her almost daily for months.

Elizabeth Smart said Barzee herself encouraged her husband to rape Smart and even held her down during the attacks.

Authorities originally calculated Barzee's sentence would end in 2024, but last week they announced they made a mistake and Wednesday morning, Wanda Barzee walked out of Draper Prison. She will now be on federal supervised release for the next five years and is now a register sex offender.

In the decade-and-a-half since her abduction, Smart has been a prominent advocate for victims rights.

In 2006, just four years after the kidnapping, Boston 25 News reporter Bob Ward met Elizabeth outside the White House after the National Sex Offender Registry was formed. Smart joined the Massachusetts families of Molly Bish and Ally Zapp in strengthening federal laws to protect children from predators.

"Hopefully it will cause them to think twice, I mean, so many people go through things they shouldn't have to go through, and nobody deserves that," Smart said in 2006.

As for David Brian Mitchell, who was given a life sentence, he remains held.

Smart says she is determined to keep life happy and beautiful for her family.

Cox Media Group