Natalee Holloway: A Case That Captivated The Nation

Finding Elizabeth

Other suspects, like Richard Ricci, a handyman who confessed but later died in jail, turned out to be poor leads. Elizabeth was still missing and police were losing hope at finding her captor until one day in October when Mary Katherine had a breakthrough. She remembered where she had heard Brian Mitchell’s voice and told her parents she thought it was Emmanuel.

The Smarts frequently gave unemployed and homeless people odd jobs around their property. Mitched was a worker who had called himself Emmanuel. He worked with the Smarts for five hours fixing the roof and raking leaves. Police didn’t feel this was enough evidence because Mary Katherine had only briefly met Emmanuel and didn’t remember initially. The Smarts had a police sketch drawn up by artist Dalene Nielson. This was later released to the public and in outlets like Larry King Live and America’s Most Wanted. Emmanuel’s family recognized the drawing as Brian David Mitchell and contacted the police.