1997

1997 was such a great year for me and my family. Finally, things were really starting to happen with my in home business, Desktop Publishing and Designing and my freelance modeling! I was getting calls from New York, California, New Orleans, Arkansas and Chicago. Wow! I was actually making it! The California call wanted me for a lot of different things, one being a print add model. But, at that time, they were looking for someone with lighter color hair. I was put on a "hold." The call from New York wanted me for print work as well, but at the time, he told me I had too much of a "friends" look. Like Courtney Cox. Since that was such a big hit then, he needed another look as well, and he put me on a "hold." The one in New Orleans needed a hand and legs model. I got that job! The one in Arkansas wanted me to be in a video and print work! I got that one as well! As a freelance model, I had two contracts drawn up, that I would have signed. A models contract, and the photographer's contract. I was covered that way, no one could own my negatives but me, and the model contract...was very precise, how many hours and the amount I would be paid, etc... I wouldn't do a job unless they were signed and agreed upon. My husband and I had talked to both of them men that wanted me to model for them. We all talked for 3 months. I had to make a choice between the two of them, because of theirs and my time schedule. I picked the one in Arkansas, becasue I thought to be in a video would look good in my resume. Which would give me another leg up in the business. The more you did, the more work you got.I had this guy checked out by one of my photographers in PA. (Everytime I had an offer, I always had them all checked out to make sure they were who and what they said they were. Everyone of them did check out to be who they said they were.) I was to go down there for 2 days, on a weekend, and my brother in law was going to go with me as my body guard. The day came for me to leave. This was the beginning of October.( I can not remember why my brother in law couldn’t go with me.) I get a call from him letting me know that he would be late because his limo was in Cincinnati broke down and his agent and assistant were going to stay with the limo. Ok. He said that the place the limo was, let him borrow one of their cars. Ok. It sounded legit. A white car pulled up in front of my house and a man wearing a cowboy hat got out. It was the man that I and my husband had spoken to many times. I'll never forget that voice! I got in as he was telling me all about the limo and that we needed to go get it and drop the car off. Ok. (I always took a plane everywhere else for a shoot) We got to Cincinnati and he was driving around looking for "this place." He said he lost the directions and address. hhhmmm! Red light came on! We stopped to get a soda from a machine. He got it for me .The next thing I remember is that he had to go to Nashville for some reason. (No limo, or agent or an assistant and still in the white car) He scared me so very bad by then. I do remember while leaving the state of Ohio, he kept asking ME to drive! I asked him why?( As a model, there are stipulations that are followed. Well, that I had and I followed. I was always set up in a nice hotel suit, had to eat 3 meals a day, no alcohol at all while on a shoot, bed time was at 10:00 and wake up was at 7:00. On the shoot at 8:00 and I did my own hair and make-up. They would buy my plane tickets and pay for the hotel suit. Any and all clothes that were provided, I kept. That was all stated in my contracts.) He told me that HE needed to get some rest before our shoot for the video! He pulled over and got out. I sat there. He made me get out and get in the drivers seat and drive! Red light! Finally, I get to Nashville. I called my husband. It was 10:00 p.m. He told me what to tell my husband. I did. He wore a 6 inch blade knife and did use it on me. I was scared! I told my husband where I was at and that I was fine and everything was going great! Just like all of my other shoots. I used a pay phone. The guy put gas in the car and again gave me another soda. I was drinking them, and not thinking anything wrong. I was feeling a bit strange since Cincinnati. I just assumed that since this whole ordeal was so different then I was used to, I was just tired and worn out and that’s why I was feeling so tired and sort of out of it a bit. The next thing I remember is being pulled by my arm into a jazz bar. I went to the bathroom, big mistake! Because when I came back, he had ordered a drink for me. I sat down and he was turned talking to an older couple and then had turned back to me and said that I needed to at least drink my drink, because he said that the older couple has bought it for me. I remember taking 2 drinks from that glass! All of the sudden, I couldn't move! I could only move my eyes! The music and everything was getting so loud and the room was blurry and I was very sick to my stomach. I could hardly even speak! I tried my best to ask him to take me home now….but it was so loud in there, I couldn’t get my voice any higher. He picked me up over his shoulders got me out of the bar and drug me to the car...and then put me in! I vomited white foamy stuff! The car door was open, and I couldn’t seem to stop the vomiting. He reached in the back, got in a cooler that he had, that I didn’t even see, and grabbed a bottle of water and told me to drink it because it would make me feel better. I grabbed the bottle of water and downed it! I remember putting my feet on the dash board and my hands up on the roof to have the feeling of holding on. Everything was spinning so fast. The next thing I remember was a gas station and I had a pair of my shorts on and a t-shirt! Not what I had on before! I was very dizzy, could move only slightly and the seat was pulled all the way down to where I was laying down. I was able to peak up just enough to see that I was at a gas station with all of the bright lights. I passed back out. We were still in Tennessee. I remembered that I called my husband at 10:00 and we were in Nashville! When I woke up, it was 6:00! There was no way that we could have still been in Tennessee the whole time driving to Arkansas! That’s 8 hours missing! Where did it go? I seen him coming back to the car, and he had more soda’s. Once he got back in, I asked him where we were and that’s how I know that we were still in Tennessee. I also asked him why I was in different clothes. He told me that I changed on my own! I knew better then that! I could feel something very different in my panties. I knew. He started driving and the sun was coming up. I ask him how much longer it would be to take me home. He told me that he wouldn’t do that and we were going to go where HE said! That was that! At 8:00 we got to Memphis! Each time I passed out, it took longer to get to where HE was going! The next thing I remember is my seat was up more and I could cotton fields all around. I asked him where we were. He told me that we were in Arkansas. I asked him what city. He said Batesville. I passed out again. In between the times that I wake up, I’m so thirsty, I can’t stand it. So, he gives me the water or the sodas he has and I down them! Then, I would pass out afterwards. It was like a cycle. Some kind of a control he had over me already from Ohio. At this time, my will to fight him was very weak. I still had a hard time speaking. I begged him to take me home. I cried. I was so scared. I knew that I was going to die. It was a very strong feeling. Plus, all the things that he was telling me…like, "I’m going to kill you when I get you there," that I believed! It was about 2:00 by the time we got to Batesville. I don’t remember the town, all I remember is this little shack that he told me to go into. I listened because of him carrying that knife and a gun he just so happened to have in the glove box of the car! As soon as I got in the door, he pushed me all the way to the other side of the room and onto the couch. He proceeded to repeatedly rape me. I didn’t know what he was going to do to me next, it was always something that had to do with a knife. The threats. There was a table on one side of the room that had a Bible and a few other items, and he said that they belonged to his grandfather. It was set up like a shrine of some sort. He would go over to it, kneel down and talk and ask questions. That was even scary. After he would do this little ritual, then he would start ranting and yelling at me and rape me all over again! I tried fighting him but I was still under the influence of what ever it was that he was drugging me with. I was still passing out. I would wake up very thirsty and he always had a pepsi ready for me to drink in a glass, not in the can. Again, I didn’t think, I just drank it. Another red flag! It was dark out when I woke up again. I was in another room. This room was his room. It seemed to be like a "command" post or something like that. He had his computer a huge recording system, a large box and a very large safe. I was on this "makeshift" bed. Each time I woke up, he had me drink what ever he had in a glass for me, and he was always talking to himself! I did, however, leave his phone number at home for my husband to be able to get ahold of me. So, down deep inside, I knew that he would call to check up on me if he didn’t hear from me. Because I was suppose to be at this hotel, and the number of the hotel I had left at home as well. So, I knew he would be calling there. The next thing that I can remember is that a day had gone by and I didn’t know it. I had been out that whole time! I woke up and he had told me that my husband had called for me. He also told me that he let him know not to call there ever again! He had his knife, and was wailing it around while telling me this and was talking in that crazy voice. After that, I was no longer to go to the bathroom by myself. I was allowed to take a bath, but he had to sit in there with me with his knife and gun. Each time I was allowed to eat, he cooked, it was his left over’s. He wouldn’t let me get my own drink. I was still passing out. But, not vomiting like the first time. He put me back in his room. He got out this box out of one of his drawers in his computer desk. He opened it, and it had white powder in it and a small type straw, a mirror and a thing that might have been a credit card or just a regular playing card. I can’t remember. He looked at me and told me that he was giving me this stuff in my drinks and that he mixed it in with other things hat he gave me! He warned me that I was not to get near that drawer that it was in. By this time, I had no concept on what day it was or time or even eally how long I had been there, I think it was three days. I knew I had another shoot to get to that week in PA. But I couldn’t keep my mind working right, no matter what I did. He went back to talking to himself and out I went again. The next day I tried to get up on my own to try and sneak the phone. I got caught. That really set him off! He went to that shrine and started ranting things and swinging his knife and gun around and pointing the gun right between my eyes! I thought that was it for me. Again, I was put back in that room in that bed. I was given a drink and I was out once again. Each time I was passed out, I was raped. He had a Polaroid camera. I seen that he had taken photo’s of me in my bra and panties propped up in his computer chair with a guitar in my lap/hands! My head was drooped and my eyes were closed! I couldn’t believe what was happening to me! And what was he going to do with them? Or did? Then I remember that he let me call my husband. But, he sat next to me with the knife in my side. I do mean it was in my side. He told me hat I could say to him, and most of it wasn’t very nice. If I hesitated on saying anything, the knife went in my side further. After that, The next thing I can remember is actually being back in Piqua…Home! I don’t remember the car ride there! I remember him giving me orders on what to do and what to say. And I did it. I was scared. He had my kids with him at a hotel room in town and he gave me a time limit to do the things that he wanted me to do, and if I didn’t, then they would be hurt. I was to call my husband, ask him for money, take more clothes, move things to a storageunit and than go back to the hotel room at a certain time! I only remember bits and pieces of that day! I remember when I seen my husband, I said to him, "please help me." He didn’t hear me…he thought I said something else and walked away from me! I didn’t have the strength to yell, but I did. He was too far away from me to hear me. Plus he was mad at me for the things that I was made to say to him and to do. :o( I got in the car and cried so hard. I went back on time. The next thing I remember is back in that shack once again, but with my kids! He kidnapped my kids too! I still have no idea how many days this has been. My daughter told me that she was there for 3 or 4 days. He didn’t do anything to her. Thank God. How she was saved was apparently my sister was at my house that day, and she called her dad, and somehow he found us, and flew down there and got her! There was a knock on the door early in the morning. The guy looked out the window and seen that there were 3 police cars out there! I was to answer the door and have the kids with me. He had the gun and the knife and the phone with someone else already on the line! I answered the door, and when I seen that it was her dad, I started crying and was telling them all that he was going to kill me! Her dad got my daughter and I told him, he was going to kill me! The guy came around the corner of the wall in the shack and yelled out, "she means her husband." I said no! And then they left! It was then my son and I left there. I knew my daughter was safe with her dad. But of course I was very sad that she was taken from me. Court wise. But, I understand. At that time, no one knew what was going on. My daughter told her dad, but he didn’t believe her. He told her that things like that just don’t happen in small towns, only big cities! Yea right! I remember that since my son was there, the guy put a blanket up in the doorway of that room. One time, he made my son sit right out in front of that blanket to hear him rape me! :o( More then once. :o( Then drugged again. In the box that was in that room were things from other people. And in the safe that was in that room was full of photo’s of girls! He was having my son forge different names on these different documents! He showed my son a certain thing to do on line to do for him as well! :o( It of course was illegal. He had tried to a few times to get rid of my social security card! He told me that by doing that, then no one could find me. Thankfully it didn’twork. He used my son as a slave. He was going to sell him. He worked him hard. My son would sit in the corner and cry and rock back and forth. :o( I held him and did the best that I could to comfort him. He was 15. My daughter was 12. We seen no hope in getting free. Halloween came along, and I was made to dress and act like a little girl. I mean to really act like I was a little girl, maybe the age of 10! I was shown his knife if I wasn’t doing a good enough job. I did because people actually thought I was his daughter! :o( And that my son and I were brother and sister. :o( So, that means that I was there for a month now. Which I still didn’t realize at the time. And to this day, it still only seems like I was there maybe a weekend to 5 days! My son seen what the guy was doing to me, and how he was doing it. So, he would get me drinks. I was starting to get a bit stronger each day. He would grab me up, when the guy would be in town, and take me out side and walk me around. It gave me back my mind. I was getting stronger mentally. But, when the guy was around, I acted like I wasn’t until I seen a loop in a way of getting out of there. That day came. The guy was gone and I found the phone and called my husband at work. I told him as fast as I could what was happening to us. He was hurt. :o( My son was the look out for me, and the guy was coming so I had to hang up and get back in the bed and act like I was asleep. It was close, but we did it. I don’t know how long this was since Halloween. A few hours later, my husband called there. The guy answered. He was yelling at my husband, and wouldn’t let him talk to me. I begged him. He let me as long as he sat next to me with the knife in my side. Of course, I agreed. He was telling me things to say, and I would say them, and my husband knew already that I was only doing that because I had to. Then I had an idea, just to see if it would work. I asked if I could go to the bathroom, and he said yes! By myself, with the phone too! This was it! This was our way out! I knew it was! I went to the bathroom and the guy was out side of the door listening. So, I was talking like he would want me too, then in a low voice, tell him where we were and to come and get us. Then I came out of the bathroom and the guy started yelling at me. I know he knew what I did. At that point, I really didn’t care. I was still on the phone with my husband. He told me that he was on his way! I know it was dark out. There were no t.v. or anything like that there. Except for his computer. He did let me on it once to talk to my best friend and at that time she lived in Chicago. And he st right next to me with the knife in my side. I IM’ed her to talk, and we know each other well enough, and after a few sentences, I would type in, "seriously." She got it! Between her and my husband, they figured out where were. My daughters dad did call my husband, but wasn’t much help. He did tell my husband that yes, I did look like I was drugged or something! Well hhmmmm! Because of the way I looked and what I was saying! Real swift. Well, that night all hell broke loose! The guy figured out that my husband was on his way. There was a shed out behind this shack, and it was in the 40’s that night, very cold. He made me and my son stay out there. Then he changed his mind. He brought us back in and told my son to sit at the computer and told me to get in the car. He called that "friend" of his, and told him to watch my son and to keep the gun on him, and make sure he didn’t go anywhere. He put duct tape, yellow nylon rope, blue tarp a blanket 2 sticks with a rope tied to them He told me that he was going to kill me! He had his knife and his gun. We were driving and we were going through this small town called Evingshade, I remember that because of the t.v. show. There were cars in front of us and cars behind us. A police officer had pulled him over. He had a tail light out, and expired tags. I have no idea how the police officer could have see that! It was pitch black! He told the guy to get out of the car and put him up against the back of the car and had him stay there. He asked him where we were headed to, and I have no idea what the guy told the officer. The officer then came over to my side of the car, opened the door, bent down and I had a huge blanket on me because it was so cold. He put his hand on my knee, and look right in my eyes, and told me to go home! I just looked at him…he had such a glow about him and this twinkle in his eyes! The, he told the guy to turn back around and to go home! Then I realized he was an angel! Because he did turn around and went back to that shack! The phone rang, and it was my husband! I told him the city I was in and to help me! To this very day, I truly believe the officer was an angel! He saved my life and my sons! My husband got there, and we were held at gun point until he let us leave! I told the police what had happened. Nothing could be done they said! It was my word against his!? Yes...I was drugged with GHB, and something else, I can't remember.
This is what I remember. I talked to both of my kids tonight about this, and this is what they remember as well. My son says that we were there for two months. I thank God for saving us all! I truly hope by posting this, it will help someone out there. I was very naive.