Editing Kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart (section)

==Backgrounds of the kidnappers==
Brian David Mitchell was born on October 18, 1953, in [[Salt Lake City]], [[Utah]], the third of six children in a family belonging to [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church). His mother was a teacher and his father was a [[social work]]er. In order to teach Mitchell about sex, his father reportedly showed his adolescent son explicit photos from a medical journal, and, in order to teach him about independence, would drive him to unfamiliar parts of the city, drop him off, and leave him to find his way back home.<ref name="mitchell">{{cite web|author=Montaldo, Charles|date=October 29, 2017|title=Profile of Brian David Mitchell and the Kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart|url=https://www.thoughtco.com/profile-of-elizabeth-smarts-kidnapper-brian-mitchell-971140|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014115959/https://www.thoughtco.com/profile-of-elizabeth-smarts-kidnapper-brian-mitchell-971140|archive-date=October 14, 2017|access-date=November 9, 2017|work=Thought Catalog}}</ref>

At age 16, Mitchell [[indecent exposure|exposed himself]] to a child and was sent to a [[juvenile hall]]. At age 19, he married sixteen-year-old Karen Minor, with whom he had two children. After their divorce, Minor was awarded [[child custody|custody]] of both children, after which Mitchell temporarily fled with the children to [[New Hampshire]].<ref name=mitchell/> He resided there for two years, joining a [[International Society for Krishna Consciousness|Hare Krishna]] 
commune.<ref>{{cite web|author=Reavy, Pat|url=https://www.deseret.com/2010/11/18/20153760/parents-describe-struggles-during-brian-david-mitchell-s-childhood/|title=Parents describe struggles during Brian David Mitchell's childhood|website=[[Deseret News]]|date=November 18, 2010|access-date=November 17, 2017}}</ref> 

Mitchell had a history of [[drug abuse|drug]] and [[alcohol abuse]] in his adult life; upon returning to Salt Lake City, he was inspired to seek [[sobriety]] by his brother, who had recently returned from an LDS Church [[Mission (LDS Church)|mission]]. In Salt Lake City, Mitchell had two additional children with his second wife, Debbie, who herself had three children from a previous marriage. Debbie alleged that Mitchell was abusive during their marriage, and they divorced in 1984. After their separation, Debbie alleged that Mitchell had [[child sexual abuse|sexually abused]] their three-year-old son; the claim could not be medically confirmed, but Mitchell's future visitations with his children were ordered to be supervised by the [[Child Protective Services|Division of Child and Family Services]]. One of Debbie's daughters from her previous marriage would later claim that Mitchell had sexually abused her for four years.<ref name=mitchell/>

On the day his divorce from Debbie was finalized, Mitchell married Wanda Elaine Barzee ({{abbr|b.|born}} November 6, 1945, in Salt Lake City), a then-forty-year-old divorcee with six children.<ref name=mitchell/> Barzee had a troubled relationship with her children; one of her daughters would later refer to her as a "monster," and she also claimed that when she was a child, Barzee fed her pet rabbit to her for dinner.<ref>{{cite web|work=ABC News|url=https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/wanda-barzees-children-oprah-monster/story?id=9731355|title=Kids of Elizabeth Smart's Kidnapper Call Wanda Barzee a 'Monster'|author=Mooney, Mark|date=February 2, 2010|access-date=November 19, 2017|archive-date=October 24, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161024120322/https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/wanda-barzees-children-oprah-monster/story?id=9731355|url-status=dead}}</ref> 

Together, Mitchell and Barzee became actively involved in the LDS Church. Eventually Mitchell began going by the name "Immanuel David Isaiah," claiming to be a [[prophet]] of [[God]] who experienced visions.<ref name=mitchell/> The name relates to Mitchell's belief that he was the "Davidic Servant" spoken of in [[Avraham Gileadi|Avraham Gileadi's]] book ''The Literary Message of Isaiah''.<ref name=duffy /> For this, the two were [[Church membership council |excommunicated]] from the church in absentia in June 2002.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/10/21/gone-girl-2 |title=Gone Girl |first=Margaret |last=Talbot |magazine=The New Yorker |date=October 14, 2013|via=www.newyorker.com}}</ref><ref name=duffy /> Barzee began going by the name "Hephzibah," and the two would [[Begging|panhandle]] and preach in downtown Salt Lake City. Mitchell presented himself in an image that was akin to the image of [[Jesus]], dressing in white robes and tunics, and growing a beard.<ref name=mitchell/>