Just last week, Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro was sentenced to life in prison for abusing, raping, and keeping Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus captive for over a decade.
Amazingly, the victims are continuing with their life after enduring the horrific crime, even so much so that Knight was able to face her captor to let him know that she – and the other girls – will be fine.
We started to wonder, what happened to other young people who were kidnapped and endured similar situations? The Cleveland kidnapping is just the latest in a long line of horrific crimes and abductions in America that have made headlines.
So, we’ve compiled a list of 11 victims who’ve lived to tell the tale of their criminal ordeals.
Whether it was an 18-year captivity or a 24-hour torture, each of these heroic individuals have incredible stories that demonstrate immeasurable bravery and strength.
Some died tragically young, others have been happily married, and almost all have made it their mission to support families of abducted children. Read on to find out who’s who.
1. Jaycee Lee Dugard
On June 10, 1991, Dugard was abducted at age 11 when walking home from school in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. Nearly 18 years later, in 2009, she was freed after her kidnapper, convicted sex offender Phillip Craig Garrido, exhibited erratic behavior at University of California-Berkley with two children he’d had with Dugard. Officials investigated Garrido, and soon after, arrested him and his wife, Nancy Garrido. Phillip Garrido was sentenced to 431 years in prison, Nancy is serving 36.
Today, Dugard works as an activist for abduction victims. Her foundation, JAYC, supports families of kidnapping victims. She received a $20 million settlement from the state of California because of failures by Garrido’s parole officers during her captivity. She wrote a memoir entitled “A Stolen Life,” which became an instant bestseller after its release on July 12, 2011. Dugard currently lives in California with her mother and two daughters.
2. Steven Stayner and Timothy White
On December 4, 1972, seven-year-old Stayner was lured into a van on his way home from school. The driver, Kenneth Parnell, a convicted sex offender, would hold Stayner captive for seven years and three months, over the course of which he sexually assaulted Stayner over 700 times. As Stayner entered puberty, Parnell needed a new, younger boy. On February 14, 1980, he and a friend of Stayner’s, whom he bribed with drugs and money, kidnapped 5-year-old Timothy White. Unwilling to allow White to endure the torture he did, Stayner escaped with White on March 1, 1980 while Parnell was working a night shift. They went to the police station, and the next day, Parnell was arrested for the kidnappings. He was sentenced to seven years in prison, only five of which he served.
In 1985, Stayner married and had two children. Tragically, on September 16, 1989, Steven, 24, died after his motorcycle crashed into traffic. Over 500 people attended the funeral, and White, who was 14 at the time, carried the coffin.
Later, White became an L.A. Sheriff’s Deputy, married, and had two children. At 35, he died of a pulmonary embolism.
3. Elizabeth Smart
Taken from her bedroom in her Salt Lake City home on June 5, 2002, 14-year-old Smart was missing for nine months when she finally was found at the home of Brian David Mitchell, and his wife, Wanda Ileen Barzee. Mitchell used to do odd jobs around the Smart house. According to court testimony, he repeatedly raped Smart. He was sentenced to life in prison and his wife is set to be released from prison in 2016.
Today, Smart is married and an outspoken critic of abstinence-only sex education programs. She also began the Elizabeth Smart Foundation, which raises awareness about abductions.
4. Colleen Stan
While hitchhiking in California in 1977, 20-year-old Stan was kidnapped. She was locked in a box and tortured and sexually abused by Cameron Hooker and his wife, Janice. At times, Stan was allowed some freedom and in 1984, she ran away. Cameron Hooker is currently serving a 104-year prison sentence.
Stan went on to get a degree in accounting, marry, and have a daughter. She lives in California under a changed last name and is an advocate for abused women.
5. Elizabeth Shoaf
On September 6, 2006, 14-year old Shaof was abducted after leaving her school bus in Lugoff, S.C., by a man dressed in combat fatigues who claimed to be a police officer.
For the next 10 days, 36-year-old unemployed construction worker Vinson Filyaw, raped her. He hid her in a bunker he dug in the ground deep in the woods next to his trailer home. Knowing she would never be found deep in a pit, she earned the trust of her captor. Finally, she convinced him to allow her to use his phone to play games. She quickly texted her parents and friends. Her message was broadcasted on TV, and soon Filyaw saw it. He fled the scene, and Shaof wandered out of the hole, yelling for help. She was found and reunited with her family. Later that year, Filyaw was sentenced to 421 years in prison.
After the grueling ordeal, Shoaf returned to high school.
6. Shawn Hornbeck
In 2002, 11-year-old Hornbeck was kidnapped at gunpoint while riding his bicycle in Richwoods, MO. Michael Devlin took Hornbeck to his apartment, only an hour from Hornbeck’s home, where he would keep him for five years. Devlin sexually abused, tortured, and terrorized Hornbeck. On January 8, 2007, Devlin abducted another, younger boy, Ben Ownby. Four days later, police, who had been looking for Ownby, searched Devlin’s apartment and found both boys. Currently, Devlin is serving 3 life sentences and an additional 170 years in prison.
Upon his release, Hornbeck returned to school and went on to community college. Today, he and his parents run the Shawn Hornbeck Foundation, whose mission is to reunite missing children with their families. Ownby returned home to his parents, who have made it their mission to support families whose children have been abducted.
7. Katie Beers
Kidnapped in Long Island, NY in 1992 at nine years old by neighbor John Esposito, Katie Beers spent 17 days in a concrete cell. She was repeatedly raped and traumatized. Beers, who had been emotionally, verbally, and physically abused at home, was placed in foster care following her abduction. Esposito was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.
Thankfully, her foster family was loving. Beers now has loving parents and siblings, a happy marriage, and two kids. She works in insurance sales and lives in rural Pennsylvania.
8. Florence Sally Horner
On June 15, 1948, in Camden, New Jersey, Frank La Salle posed as a policeman and “arrested” 11-year-old Horner. He caught her stealing a 5 cent notebook and told her he was an FBI agent and threatened to send her to reform school if she did not cooperate. For the next 21 months, La Salle took Horner all across the country and sexually abused her. In most places they traveled, he posed as her father. On March 21, 1950, Horner managed to call her sister and told her to send the FBI. La Salle was sentenced to 30-35 years in prison.
Sadly, Horner died on August 20, 1952. She was killed in a highway accident when the car she was a passenger in crashed into a parked truck.
9. Tanya Kach
At 13 years old, Kach was flailing. Her parents had just split up, her mom left, and her dad allowed his girlfriend to move in. The middle schooler began confiding in Thomas Hose, a 37-year-old school security guard. Their relationship moved quickly, and in February 1996, Hose confessed his love for Kach. He convinced her to runaway from home and move in with him at his suburban Pittsburgh home.
Hose lived with his parents, and locked Kach in the closet in his upstairs bedroom. She was given a bucket to use as a bathroom and allowed to shower once a week when his parents were asleep. He threatened to kill her family if she made a noise. After four years, Hose introduced Kach to his parents as his girlfriend Nikki, at which point she was allowed to move in. She was let out of the house occasionally to run errands and eventually confided in the local deli owner her real name. She asked to use his phone, and soon after, Hose was arrested and sentenced to five to 15 years in prison.
Today, Kach is still estranged from her parents. She is engaged to be married.
10. Erica Pratt
In the summer of 2002, six-year-old Pratt was just outside her Philadelphia home when she was grabbed, placed in a car, and driven 12 miles away. Hoping to get their hands on some of the life insurance money Pratt’s grandmother had just come into, Edward Johnson and James Burns decided to kidnap Pratt and hold her for $150,000 ransom. They locked her in the basement with duct tape bindings covering her hands, legs, and eyes.
She managed to chew through the tape on her hands, uncovered her eyes, and hopped up the stairs to the locked door. She broke the glass between the barred windows and screamed for help. Two boys heard her and called the police. Edward Johnson was sentenced to 10 to 37 years in prison, and James Burns was given 14 ½ to 49 years. Pratt’s only injury was a scratched cornea.
Today, Pratt hopes to be a veterinarian and is getting ready to attend Florida A&M in the fall.
SOURCES: KTVB / Listverse / Today / ABC / MentalFloss/ TopTenz / MSN
