All language subtitles for Escaping.Captivity.The.Kara.Robinson.Story.2021.720p.WEB.h264-BAE

[heavy breathing]

[somber music]

- I didn't look back.
Not for a second.

I just ran.

[panting]

I kept thinking,
"he's gonna wake up.

"he's going to
look out the window.

"he's gonna pick up the gun,

And he's gonna shoot me
in the back."

But I did not care,
because I knew I was out.

My name is Kara Robinson.

I was kidnapped 18 years ago.

And some days it feels like

Yesterday.

But some days, it doesn't
even feel like my own life.

Feels like...
Somebody else's life.

[uneasy music]

♪ ♪

[birds twittering]

[dog barking distantly]

♪ ♪

[background chatter]

- It was the summer of 2002

Before our junior year
in high school,

Our group of friends.

We were, uh...
We were a fun time.

We were always together.

And my girlfriend
was Kara Robinson.

I was 16 years old,
and she was 15.

She was my first love.
She meant the world to me.

She could light up a room
with her smile.

- Kara called me daddy.

She was daddy's little girl.

♪ ♪

Kara was a very
affectionate child.

- She was always very huggy,
kissy,

Squishy kind of person.

When she was little,
anywhere I took her

And they're like,
"she's so beautiful."

I had people that tried to
get me to put her in pageants.

She didn't want to do it.
She was a tomboy.

She just wanted to ride
dirt bikes,

Ride horses, climb trees,

And run in the woods
with her friends.

And then she found
boys and cars.

- When Kara and I were dating,

We both went to white knoll
in Lexington county.

And we had some mutual friends.

My best friend, heather,
and Kara were always together.

- Heather had just gotten
her driver's license

So they have that...
that freedom

That...that
you've never had before.

Kara wanted to go spend
the night at heather's house.

They were going to go
to the lake the next day.

And so I took her over there,
and they were excited

'cause they could actually
go to the lake

Without having
to be chauffeured.

- Early the next morning,

We had just
a regular phone call,

Hoping that she had a good day

And looked forward to seeing
her later on that evening.

[quiet music]

- I was at lunch when I got
a call from heather

And, um, she told me
Kara was missing.

And I was like,
"what do you mean?"

She said she was
in the front yard.

Now she's gone.

I said, "what do you mean
she's gone?"

And she said that her and Kara
had called her mom

And her mom had said,
"y'all can go to the lake,

But I need you to do..."
dah, dah dah.

One of the things she wanted
to heather to do

Was water the flowers
in the front yard.

So Kara said, "heather,
you go take a shower.

I'll water the flowers
in the front yard."

So heather
went and got in the shower.

Kara went out
and watered the flowers.

[dark music]

15 minutes later, when heather
got out of the shower

And she went outside...

The hose pipe was laying there
and it was running,

And Kara was gone.

She explained that her purse
and her shoes

And everything were there...
now she's gone.

Heather had called her mom and
heather's mom called the police

And...and reported
that Kara was missing.

♪ ♪

Heather
was completely hysterical.

She knew that Kara
would not just walk away.

Called Kara's father.

We had just gotten divorced
a month prior.

And he was actually
in Georgia working...

And told him
that Kara was missing.

- And she said,
"Kara's gone."

I couldn't process
what that meant.

And I said, "gone?
What does that mean?

[heavy music]

Then it dawned on me
what she was talking about.

And people around me said
my face just went blank white.

And I was four hours away.

Only thing I could do
was get in my truck...

And come home
to south Carolina.

- When I was driving
to heather's house,

I just really knew that
something bad had happened.

I could feel it in my heart.

♪ ♪

- I was out working that day,

And I got a phone call
from heather,

And she called and told me that
she didn't know where Kara was.

And knowing Kara very well,

She definitely
wouldn't have just gone

Without telling heather
that she was leaving.

So I got in my car
and drove straight over

To heather's mother's house.

My mind was racing, you know,
a thousand miles an hour.

- Lexington county
sheriff's department,

Which is our
neighboring county,

Initially received the report

That Kara has been missing.

Lexington county interviewed
another teenager

That Kara was with that day.

Kara's friend heather

Said that a neighbor
had seen something.

So Lexington county
interviewed that neighbor,

And he gave a statement.

He saw Kara get into
a green trans am vehicle.

The neighbor didn't see
anything unusual.

Didn't see Kara struggling.

Nothing that would
concern him at that point.

You're kind of skeptical
when it's a teenager

In absence of any evidence

Saying that teenager's
been abducted,

Because unfortunately,

We have teenagers that run away
too many times,

And then they return.

- When I arrived
at heather's house,

Police were there,
and they asked me

If my daughter would run away.

And I'm like,
"what do you mean run away?"

Kara wouldn't run away.

Lexington county asked me
for description of Kara.

I told him that she was blonde,
blue eyed,

5'4", slim built.

As far as I knew,

She had on a pair
of shorts and a t-shirt.

[dark music]

At that point in time,
I was told by Lexington county

To go home and basically
wait to see if she called me.

It was very hard
for me to leave.

I was numb, in disbelief,

And you just keep thinking
that she's going to call.

That she's just down the road
or at a friend's house

But you know it's not.

- On the morning of June 25th,
I was working the day shift

And I heard our
squad room door open,

And I saw a figure go running
by the squad room hallway

And called out,
"can I help you?"

- I held my arm up to show him
my handcuffs,

And I said,
"my name is Kara Robinson.

I was kidnapped,
and I escaped."

I looked in the backseat,

And there's a giant
plastic storage container.

He said,
"get in the container."

That was the first moment

That I thought,
"I could die right now."

[ominous music]

♪ ♪

[dark music]

♪ ♪

- Before June 25th, 2002,

I had never had anyone
come into the substation

And say that
they had been kidnapped.

[emotional music]

- I said,
"my name is Kara Robinson,

And I escaped my captor."

- Something that struck me
immediately

Was on one of her wrists,
she had a pair of handcuffs,

Looked like some type
of adult novelty handcuffs.

She was very composed...

But it didn't take long
at all to understand

That this was
a serious situation.

At that point,
I called for an investigator

So they could come out
and take the case over.

[uneasy music]

- When I arrived
and we walked in,

I saw a little girl
sitting in a chair.

She was quite young.
And as soon as I saw her,

I went to remove
the handcuff from her arm.

And then asked Kara
to tell me

Exactly what had
happened to her.

[dark music]

♪ ♪

- The morning of June 24th,

I was outside
watering the flowers...

And I noticed a car on the way
out of the neighborhood.

The car was a green trans-am,
such a cool car.

This...I want one of these.

I kept watering the flowers,

And I saw the car
come back into the neighborhood

And pull into the driveway.

A guy gets out of the car.

He said,
"hey, how are you doing?"

And he said,
"I have these magazines."

And then he asked me
if my parents were home.

I told him
this is my friend's house.

And so then he asked me
if her parents were home.

I said, "no, her mom's
not home right now."

At that point,
the man asked me

If he could give me
the magazines.

And when I said yes, he leaned
in to hand them to me.

And as he was leaning in,

I felt a red flag
somewhere in my head.

And the same time
I felt that red flag,

I felt a gun press
to the side of my neck.

And he said, "if you scream,
I'll shoot you."

And he said, "you're
going to come with me."

I felt a moment of terror.

But I knew I just needed to do
what he told me to do.

I looked in the back seat

And there's a giant
plastic storage container.

It took up the whole backseat.

He said,
"get in the container."

At that point,
my brain shut off my emotions.

I just went into
survival mode.

I put one leg in at a time,

And then I turned around

And I was on my back
and in a fetal position.

He loosely set the lid on top,
and he got in the car

And he reversed
out of the driveway

And drove out
of the neighborhood.

♪ ♪

I thought he was
going to assault me

And that my life
could possibly be at risk

If I did not take action.

I knew that I had
to be my own victor

And that I had to save myself.

I had to get as much
information about this person

And my surroundings as I can
so that I can escape

And so that I can identify
this person when I do escape.

One of the first things
that I locked into my brain

Was a serial number
on the container itself.

I remember like someone else
took a photo,

Like a series of snapshots.

We drove for a little while,

Until I felt him pull off
the shoulder of the road.

He took the lid
off of the container

And he told me that he was
going to restrain me

And he put a gag in my mouth.

So I just...I just like,

See the snapshot again of me

With the gag in my mouth

And handcuffs around my wrists

And a rope on my feet.

I think that the adrenaline

That was coursing
through my body

Helped me to remember
all of the things.

The car drove for just
a couple more minutes

And he parked the car...

And he picked
the container up.

And then I felt him drag
the container across concrete.

And then it was just quieter
and more still...Sounding.

He opened the container.

He told me that if I promised

To not scream or yell
or be loud,

He would take
the gag out of my mouth.

I shook my head
that I would be quiet

And that was
when he took the gag off.

[uneasy music]

[heavy, shaky breathing]

I looked around
and I noticed

We were in a living room.

There was a wall with

Some small animal cages,

Fish, lizards.

There was a guinea pig.
There was at least one bird.

He told me to come with him

And we went through a door.

Inside the bedroom,
there was a big blanket

Hanging above the bed
with a wolf on it.

And he told me
he was going to tell me

What the rules would be
while I was there.

The first rule was that he
would always have a gun nearby

And that I had to listen
to what he said

Or there would be consequences.

He also told me
while I was there

That I was going to
have to call him daddy.

[dark music]

♪ ♪

I just...so icky.

Like I just had like
a full body, like...

Visceral reaction.

He started asking me questions
and writing down the answers.

When he asked me
about my boyfriend

And about my family
and my friend...

"do you think they miss you?"

I...I kinda broke down
a little bit into tears.

And it was...it was very real
for me in that moment

That I may never get
to see them again.

[uneasy music]

- When I got over to heather's
the deputies asked me

If I might've had something
to do with,

You know, her disappearance.

It really dawned on me
that this is real.

It scared the hell out of me.

In that moment, I had thought
somebody had kidnapped her.

Ripped me to shreds inside.

- When I got home, I just
basically sat on the couch

And stared at the wall.

Couldn't leave,
'cause they told me not to.

You know what's going on,
but you don't wanna believe it.

[somber music]

- In that apartment,
I kept thinking about

How worried everyone must be.

And when I started crying,
my abductor,

He told me
to lay down on the bed,

And I could just feel panic
in my whole body.

Just...my heart was pounding...

[dark music]

And I knew what
was coming next.

- In that apartment,

I knew what this man's
intentions were for me.

While I was being assaulted,

It felt like something
that happened to someone else.

I kind of shut off my brain
and...

Left my body.

♪ ♪

I-I can't explain
where it came from.

There was just this voice
that said

My options were
to do what I was told

And to escape and to survive

Or to panic, to fight,

And maybe die.

So I strong-willed myself
into remaining

As calm as I could
as long as I could.

I remember at one point...

[dramatic chords]

There was a gun
within my reach,

And I thought for...

For a moment
about grabbing the gun.

[suspenseful music]

And then I realized
there was little chance

That I was going to
win that fight.

And it reinforced a mantra

Kind of going through my head
of gather information,

Wait for him to be complacent,
escape.

It was just kind of...

That was just rolling
through my brain constantly.

[somber music]

After that,
we went into the bathroom

And he made me take a shower.

[water running]

That's when I noticed
some hairspray.

I noticed feminine
hygiene products.

I noticed a hairbrush
with long red hair in it.

I just remember thinking

There was a woman
that lived here

In the apartment
of my captor.

It just...

Feels so gross.

- Kara was reported
as a potential runaway

Because they had nothing to go
on that would have indicated

That she had been the victim
of some sort of abduction.

There was no sign
of a struggle,

No sign of any kind
of violence.

And stranger abductions
are by and large fairly rare.

- Lexington county
entered Kara into

National crime
institute center

Where we put missing persons.

[dramatic music]

- At first, they called her
a runaway,

And that really pissed me off.

I feel like that was time
wasted

When they could have been,

You know,
out there looking for her.

At that point,
one of my friends and I,

We drove around
for a couple hours

Just looking for the forest
green firebird trans am.

And...

It was a, you know,
helpless feeling that I had.

[dark music]

♪ ♪

- I was sitting on the couch
with this man,

And we were just having
a conversation

Like you
would have with someone

That you met on a bus.

I knew that

If I was
easy to get along with,

Then he would be more likely

To let his guard down.
At some point.

I started
asking simple questions,

And I kept locking away
the things that he told me.

He told me that when
he was finished with me

That he would take me somewhere
that I didn't know where I was

And he would leave me there.

♪ ♪

- When I got back from Georgia
and knocked on Debra's door,

I-I w...I could tell Debra
was really worried.

And you've been told
what's happening,

But you can't totally
process it because,

You know, it...
not my little girl.

[dramatic music]

- I told him I had not heard
anything from the police,

That I was still waiting
on a phone call.

- They gave me the detective
in charge

His phone number and name.

I started ringing
his number off the hook,

But it kept going to voicemail.

I couldn't get in touch with
anybody to tell me anything.

[uneasy music]

- The next snapshot

That stands out to me was...

When it was time for dinner
and he said,

"you're going to have to eat

"at some point
while you're here.

"just remember
there are consequences

If you don't do
what I tell you to do."

And I-I told him I understand.

I wanted him to think that
I was going to be compliant

So that I could later escape.

And I said,
"is there anything I can do

While you are making
your food?"

And I...Swept his kitchen.

And I used that
as an opportunity

To get close
to his refrigerator

Where there were magnets that
had his dentist information.

Gather information, wait for
him to be complacent, escape.

And I said it over
and over and over again.

This man told me that we were
going to watch the news

And we were gonna see
if anybody missed me

And if anybody
was looking for me.

And there was nothing
on the news about me.

♪ ♪

I had only been missing
a few hours at this point,

So I truly didn't expect
anything to be on there.

But I still knew that
without a shadow of a doubt,

My family and my friends

Had to know
that something happened,

And I just wanted
to get back to them.

- It was kind of useless
for me

To go out and drive around
on the roads

Not knowing where to go.

It feels like your hands
are tied

And you want to do something,

But there's nothing
you can do.

- I continually prayed

That he would protect her
and bring her home.

But I thought
she was gone for good.

I didn't think
I'd ever see her again.

- Later that night,
he took me into the bedroom

And told me that he had
to make a phone call

And I was going to get
in the container.

The container
was on top of the bed,

And he was going to put
the gag back in my mouth.

[uneasy music]

♪ ♪

After being in the container
for a few minutes,

I started to feel like
I was suffocating.

I was just sobbing.
I can't breathe.

I can't breathe.

[intense percussive music]

That was the first moment
since...

I had a gun
held to the side of my neck

That I thought,
"I could die right now."

♪ ♪

[dark music]

♪ ♪

- I was in the apartment
of my captor,

And this man forced me

To get back into the container
that he took me in.

I was panicking
because I could not breathe.

And when he came in,

I saw...Real anger

And aggression.

[eerie music]

He asked me
why I was making noise,

And he took the gag
out of my mouth.

And I said, "I can't breathe.

I'm suffocating in here."

My heart was pounding.
I was crying.

I felt that my life
was about end.

And then that just kind of
spun the panic

Up and up and up.

I remember when I got
out of the container,

He told me he was going
to give me something

For my anxiety.

And he gave me a pill
and he gave me some Gatorade

And told me to swallow it.

I was assaulted
multiple times,

But there were
a lot of other things

That happened during that time.

We were in the living room,

And he made me sit down
in front of the TV

And watch a pornographic tape

And describe
what was happening.

I was 15 years old.

I was seeing things

I didn't even really know
how to describe.

There were things
that he asked me to do

That I didn't know how to do.

And I got emotional,

And he compromised with me
on those things.

I had been so compliant
about everything else.

And I really think I had gotten
his trust at that point.

- I shed a lot of tears
that night.

I was pacing the floors.

I repeated over and over
and over, "get out.

Kara, get away."

Hoping that somehow,
as a parent-child connection,

She would hear me.

- At some point,
I actually did fall asleep

For a couple hours
on the couch

Sitting up
waiting on the phone to ring.

- Going into
the morning hours,

I'd try my best
to be strong.

There was a breaking
down point.

I was just...just poured
out of me.

It was very heartbreaking

Just thinking of a possibility,

You know,
I may never see her again.

[dark music]

♪ ♪

- The things that were
happening to me

Were...

Any person's
worst nightmare.

But during all this time,

My mantra just continued
to be: Gather facts,

Make him comfortable,

Wait for him
to let his guard down,

Escape...over and over
and over again.

The next snapshot I remember

Was when it was time
to get ready for bed.

I was wearing his t-shirt,

And he put the handcuffs
back on me.

And there was a rope that was
coming up from behind the bed

With a quick link
c-clamp on it.

He attached that
around the chain

In the middle of the handcuffs,

And he put a restraint
on my right leg,

And that was attached
to the foot of the bed.

I was under the influence
of drugs at that point,

And I fell asleep
pretty quickly.

I opened my eyes,
and the first thing I noticed

Was there was just a sliver
of early morning light

Coming through the window.

♪ ♪

And I just instantly

Was hit with this thought,

"this is it.
This is your time.

Let's go."

So I paid attention
to my captor's breathing,

Steady and slow,

And so I knew
it was still asleep.

I knew that the first thing
I was going to have to do

Was to get my hands free.

[tense music]

So I tried to reach
my hand around

To unscrew the quick link,

But I couldn't get my fingers
on it tight enough.

So I used my teeth
to unscrew it enough

That I could then use
my hands and unscrew it.

And I disconnected
the restraint

That was on my leg
from the rope on the bed.

My biggest fear was that I was
going to wake up my captor.

[tense music]

♪ ♪

But I...Slowly

Just slid out of the bed
to the side.

I had to slide
one of my wrists

Out of the handcuffs.

I was just barely able
to squeeze it out.

I, like, put my shorts on...

[clock ticking]

And then I went
to the front door.

I looked at the door,
and the deadbolt was locked.

The doorknob was locked,

And there were metal
accordion closet doors,

And they blocked the door
from opening.

So I knew that if I was
going to make noise,

It had to be all the noise
all at once

As I was running out the door.

My heart was beating so fast,

And I had so much adrenaline
in that moment.

[tense music]

I put my hand on the knob.

And I know this is
my moment to escape.

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

- I knew that I was not

Going to get another
chance to escape, and...

This is the moment
I had been praying for

For all those hours.

[music intensifies]

I turned the knob,

And I closed the closet door

At the same time.

I flung open the front door,

And I just ran.

[intense music]

My entire peripheral vision
was just a blur.

♪ ♪

I saw a car driving
across the parking lot,

And I just ran straight
for the car.

There were two men in the car
and I said,

I was kidnapped
by the man in that apartment.

And the man
that was driving said,

"what do you want us to do?"

I said, "take me
to the police station."

I felt like getting
into that car

Was my first step
back into safety.

- As Kara was presenting
her story to me

About what had happened
the night before,

As a father,
I wanted to hit the table.

But Kara was very composed.
She was a survivor.

She could go back and repeat
exactly what happened.

You just have a big hole
in your heart

That she had to go through
something like that.

[soft music]

At that point,
I called Kara's mom.

- I got a phone call

From Richland county
sheriff's department.

And the gentleman on the other
end of the phone asked me,

"is this Kara
Robinson's mother?"

And I said, "yes."

- I just remember
hearing him say,

"we have your daughter,"

And I could hear my mom
through the phone

With tears in her voice say,

"Kara? You have Kara?"

- I said, "is she okay?"
and he said, "yes."

And I could hear Kara
in the background.

And they put her on the phone,
and she was crying,

And she said...and she said,
"mama...

Come get me."

[soft music]

♪ ♪

And I said, "baby, I'm coming.

I'm coming.
I'll be right there."

♪ ♪

- While we waiting on
her mother to arrive,

I asked her if she would mind
riding back over there with me

If she could identify
the apartment.

- He asked me if I was okay
with that,

And I said I was.

- The gentlemen that brought
her there told us

They brought her over
from crossroad apartments.

[percussive music]

- When we got to
the apartment complex,

I realized
they all looked the same.

There was no way
I was going to be able

To pick out this one apartment.

- If you work these apartment
complexes often enough,

There's guys in golf carts.

Those are
the maintenance guys.

And maintenance guys

Usually know
everything that's going on.

- While we were driving around
the apartment complex,

We saw a man in a golf cart.

And I told him
that this was a white man.

He was maybe
30 to 40 years old.

He lived with a woman
that had long red hair.

He had animals
in his apartment.

- Kara's description
was integral

In making sure
we were able to pinpoint

What apartment they believed
we were looking for.

- The maintenance manager
immediately was like,

"I know exactly
what apartment that is."

- The apartment number was 301.

Once we've identified
the apartment,

My next step
was to get officers

To the manager's office

To find out
who had leased apartment 301.

But we also
needed to get Kara

Back to our substation
to her mother.

- We drove to Richland county,

The substation where Kara
was supposed to be.

And when we got there,
I busted in the door.

And there was
one police officer in there

And I told him
I'm Debra, I'm Kara's mom.

I'm here to get Kara.

And he's like,
"she's not here."

And I just stopped.

And I was like, "what do you
mean she's not here?"

[uneasy music]

♪ ♪

I was on the verge of being
extremely belligerent,

And Kara came in the door.

[quiet music]

She walked in the door
like nothing had happened

Until she saw me.

And then she just fell apart

And became
a 15-year-old child.

[soft emotional music]

♪ ♪

- While at the apartment,
we know there's one way in

And one way out
of that apartment.

We're not for sure

If the abductor is still
in the apartment or not.

Maintenance has a pass key.
We knock on the door.

[tense percussive music]

Yell,
"police, sheriff's office."

No one comes to the door.

- This could be a potentially
deadly situation

Because you've got somebody
who's, you know,

Shown the willingness to commit
a crime of kidnapping and rape.

- We unlock it.

We go in, and we go in
with the weapons drawn,

Because we have no idea.

In the corner of the bedroom
was a foot locker.

And in that foot locker,
we found newspaper clippings

Of young females,
approximate age of Kara

That were abducted and killed.

- That's just not something
that somebody would keep

Unless they were
involved in it.

At that point,

I knew we had a possible
serial murderer out there.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- When the word came out that
there had been an abduction

Northwest of Columbia,

We didn't know who the
victim was at the time.

We knew that she was around
15 years old...

And she had escaped
from the apartment

Where she was being held.

- Once we identified
the apartment 301,

We go in, and we go in
with the weapons drawn,

Because we have no idea.

[intense music]

He wasn't in it, of course.

[dark music]

It didn't take three minutes
to scan the apartment,

But you can see the things

That Kara had identified
previously to you...

The pictures of the animals
on the wall,

The small animals, the blanket.

As an investigator,
you know, this is it.

Now you just need
a search warrant

So you can start through it.

- The next thing
that I really remember

Was being in the car
on the way to the hospital

So that I could get a sexual
assault examination done.

- I asked her questions
in the car.

What happened?
Where have you been?

Are you okay?

But being a mother
of a 15-year-old child,

I really didn't wanna know.

You don't want to know

Your child's been
violated like that.

- Kara's mom called me and
said that she'd been found.

There was a voice sounding
still a little shaky,

But I knew Kara was alive

And that was a good
starting point.

[soft music]

- It felt like an elephant
had just stepped off my chest.

It was so much relief, joy,
and my prayers were answered.

But in the back of my mind,

Just what all she went
through, um...

Scared me.

- While I was at the hospital,
another deputy came in

And was asking me for
information about my captor.

And I told them about
all of the things

I had remembered
from his apartment.

- She recited the
dentist's name, address,

And phone number.

And then she said,
"and he's married,

And his wife's got long,
red curly hair."

I've never been so floored
in my life.

I was like,
"how do you even know that?"

Then they started asking
some more pertinent questions

About what had happened,

And that's when she asked me
if I minded leaving the room.

'cause she didn't
want me in there.

She started
just shutting me out.

I felt so heartbroken.

It became very evident to me

That the child I got back

Was not the child
that was taken from me.

[sobbing]

- When I think back
on what happened,

There's very little
emotion involved,

Because my body's
protection mechanism

Was...To shut off emotions.

But at 15,

I just didn't wanna
talk about the details

Of what happened

With the people that would be
hurt by hearing it.

- Maybe I shouldn't have
left her,

But she asked me to with...

Tears in her eyes,

So I did.

[quiet music]

♪ ♪

- When I was sitting
in the waiting room,

I remember overhearing
that Kara had been raped.

It's like it just sucked
the life out of me.

I wanna kill him.

[dark music]

♪ ♪

[police radio chatter]

- By that point, we had
a lot of police presence

Out at the apartment complex.

- Once the people that were
leasing the apartment

Were identified,

It was very important
to get a positive id

And get a photo lineup ready.

We pulled his driver's
license up and we matched that

With five other people
that looked like him.

One of the investigators
brought the photo lineup

To the hospital,
and they met with Kara

And presented the photo lineup.

- When I saw
my captor's photo

In the lineup,

Without a shadow of a doubt

I knew that that was the man
that had taken me.

My abductor's name
was Richard Marc Evonitz.

[dramatic music]

- We put out a bolo
early that morning

For Richard Marc Evonitz.

We thought he was driving
a trans am at that time.

We started putting it out
to everybody,

Be on the lookout for him.

- We found out he was married.
So Kara was right about that.

And it was also determined
by the office

That Evonitz
owned a green Taurus,

And it was located in
the parking lot and secured.

He was driving
a firebird trans am

The day of the abduction,

But we're not going to let
the Taurus go either.

At that point,
there was enough there

For a search warrant.

And we entered the apartment.

Some of the things
that Kara had described...

A magnetic clip on the
refrigerator from the dentist,

That was there.

In the bedroom, we pulled open
a nightstand drawer

And found a revolver.

Also, there were many,
many sexual toys.

As we're searching
the apartment,

Over in the corner of
the bedroom was a foot locker.

[uneasy music]

That foot locker was locked.

Of course,
they're very easily picked.

So we opened
the foot locker...

And in that foot locker

Was some
very disturbing things.

There were panties in it.

We didn't know
where they came from.

And what was very,
very disturbing

Was we found
newspaper clippings

Of young females,
approximate age of Kara,

That were abducted and killed
in the same town,

Spotsylvania, Virginia.

♪ ♪

- At that point, we all knew
that it was probably

A lot bigger
than just Kara being kidnapped.

- In the hours
after Kara's abduction

While we're looking through
the foot locker

Here in south Carolina,

We find these newspaper
clippings of a little girl

Named Sofia Silva
from spotsylvania, Virginia,

Who was kidnapped, raped,

And found deceased in a shallow
creek several years before.

- In the fall of 1996,
we had just started school.

It was the first week.

Sofia usually got a ride home
with her best friend,

But that day
she couldn't give her a ride.

So I ended up asking
if I could take her home.

It was just a joyful ride home,
laughing with friends.

[uneasy music]

The next morning,
a mutual friend asked me

If Sofia's mom had called me
because Sofia had gone missing.

I was shocked when I learned
she was missing.

- The Silva family said

That Sophia
was out on her front porch

Doing her homework...

And her sister Pam
discovered a short while later

That her books
were still on the front porch,

Her soda was still out
on the front porch,

But Sofia was missing.

♪ ♪

- Pam was in the house.

Didn't hear a car, didn't hear
any kind of conversation.

- Eventually, after not being
able to locate her,

They contacted the
spotsylvania sheriff's office

To file
a missing person's report.

- Spotsylvania county
sheriff's department

Arrived on the scene,
and they took a report.

In Sofia's case,
she was a slim brunette,

Curly hair, athletic build.

She was a typical old
16-year-old girl.

[soft music]

- Sofia had a great
sense of humor.

She liked to laugh. She liked
to make other people laugh.

And Sofia ran track.
She was very athletic.

Purple was her signature
color.

It was one of the things
that everybody knew

When she went missing
was her purple nail polish.

- The deputy originally
classified

The missing person report
as a runaway.

- It was way out of character
for Sofia,

And it was something
that I think anybody

That knew Sofia
knew was not possible.

[siren blaring]

- The next days were kind of
a blur of emotion and grief.

- People at
the sheriff's department

Were getting
definitely concerned.

- The entire region
and surrounding

Law enforcement agencies
was made aware

That there was a 16-year-old
girl that was missing.

The picture of Sofia
was distributed

To our law enforcement
and then also we were informed

That she had purple
fingernails and toes.

- I prayed every night that she
would just show back up at home

And it would all be over.

[uneasy music]

♪ ♪

- After several weeks,

We received a call
on October 14th in 1996.

An employee of a large
greenhouse complex

In king George

Saw what appeared to be
a body wrapped in blankets.

- The sheriff's deputies
arrived on the scene,

Discovered the body
was submerged in water.

The body was covered in two
light blue moving blankets.

And was secured by
abundant ropes and knots.

- The only thing I could see
at the end of the blanket

Was her feet and her toes,

And I was able to see
purple nail polish.

At that point, I contacted

Spotsylvania sheriff's
office immediately.

I went to the autopsy
the next morning,

And the medical examiner

Was able to make
a positive identification

Through dental records.

[heavy music]

It was Sofia Silva.

The medical examiner
was unable to

Determine cause of death

Due to the decomposition
of Sofia's body.

- I remember my mother
told me to sit down.

She wanted to let me know
that they had found Sofia.

She made sure that,
as a 16-year-old kid,

I didn't fall apart
and lose my mind

Because I don't think
you can ever imagine

Something like that happening.

And it really shook
this whole

Everybody-knows-your-name
kind of community.

- Everyone in the community
started keeping a closer watch

On what was happening
with their kids.

- Nobody was going to feel safe
until sofa's killer was caught.

- Here in Columbia,
south Carolina,

We thought, "why are we finding
this stuff from Virginia

In Evonitz's apartment?"

- That's just not something
that somebody would keep

Unless they were
involved in it.

At that point, I knew
that if Kara hadn't escaped,

Then she'd probably
been killed too.

- When I walked out of
my exam,

I remember seeing my dad,

And he just walked towards me.

He didn't say anything.

And to see just the emotion

And...

The steadfastness of my dad,

And that was...

That was so heartbreaking.

- It was my job
to protect her,

And I feel guilty for being
out of town when it happened.

It took me quite a while
to get over that,

The feeling of guilt
not being here.

- It was awkward.

Didn't really know what
to say, what to ask,

How to act around her.

♪ ♪

I just knew that I needed
to be there for her.

- We had a monster out there,
and the emergency

Was to find him
and get him arrested.

- At the same time we are
searching the apartment,

And once you see the headlines
you start thinking,

"we were so fortunate
that Kara had escaped,

But this little girl
in Virginia didn't."

And then there was
another paper clipping.

Two other little girls
in spotsylvania,

They had met the same fate.

- I was being briefed on how
the search warrant

Was going at the apartment
of Marc Evonitz.

And then the next phone call
I got said

"sheriff, we got
something bigger here."

They had found new newspaper
clippings.

The newspaper articles
had to do with two sisters

That had been abducted
and found murdered in Virginia.

And this was quite some years
before Kara was abducted.

We hadn't put
the cases together,

But we think it's the same
person responsible.

- It was like any other day
for Kristin and Kati Lisk

Coming home
from school on may the 1st.

They got off on separate buses

And went to the house
together.

The girls would go in the
house and call their father.

- That afternoon when Mr. Lisk

Did not hear
from his daughters,

He called
the...the family phone.

There was no answer.

[phone line ringing]

- So he starts frantically
calling over and over and over.

No answer.
He then races home.

- When Mr. Lisk arrived home,

He discovered
Kristin's book bag

And a school book
in the front yard,

But he saw no trace
of his daughters.

[somber music]

♪ ♪

He called his wife, he called
the neighbors and eventually,

The sheriff's department
was called.

♪ ♪

- When investigators
come on the scene,

Everything indicated that
the girls had gotten home.

The question is
what happened next?

[heavy chords]

♪ ♪

Kristin was 15,
taller than Katie, who was 12.

- Kristin was on the school
dance team.

Kati likes to play basketball
and swim.

The sisters were described
to be inseparable.

And it was uncharacteristic
for them to just disappear.

- I remember thinking
this is so eerily similar

To what we had
just gone through

With Sofia seven months prior.

- The community
came out in force

To look for these girls.

Volunteers
were marching through fields.

Well over a thousand people.

It's all anybody
ever talked about.

- Five days after the sisters
disappeared,

Approximately 40 miles away
from the spotsylvania...

A canoeist
alerted the road crew

That was working on
top of the bridge

That something suspicious
was in south lake Anna river.

Spotsylvania county
investigators

Responded to the bridge
overlooking the river.

They saw two what
appeared to be human bodies

Submerged in the water.

The bodies were clothed,

And divers
recovered the bodies.

It was two young women

Matching the description
of the sisters.

♪ ♪

The spotsylvania county
sheriff's office

Realized that the sisters
had been murdered.

It was unknown at that time

Whether the girls had been
smothered or had been drowned.

- Our hearts are broken,
certainly, for these girls.

Our hearts are broken
for these families.

- Everybody
just was shocked that

In a matter of eight months,

Three girls have gone missing
and ultimately been murdered.

- This is where the FBI
comes in.

They began looking
at the similarities

Between
the sisters' disappearances

And the disappearance
of Sofia Silva.

All three girls
were missing their shoes.

They were missing their bras
and their panties.

And the bodies
were submerged in water.

The FBI lab determined

That there were
distinct similarities

Between the hairs and fibers,
specifically carpet fibers

That were found on Sophia Silva
and Kristin and kati lisk.

Now a killer is stalking
specifically young girls

In spotsylvania county.

- Spotsylvania sheriff's
office,

The king George sheriff's
office, state police,

And the FBI
formed a task force.

They left no stone unturned.

- We examined over 12,000 leads

And offered
a substantial reward.

- I felt like these girls
were mine.

We all did.

You're not supposed to get
personally involved

But this case,
everybody on that task force

Became personally involved.

We became very determined that
we're going to find the person

Responsible for these
girls' abductions and murders.

- Once I received the call
about the newspaper clippings

In Virginia, spotsylvania,

That kind of changed
everything at that point.

In my mind, I thought
Richard Marc Evonitz

Got away with
at least three murders

And that he was, you know, Kara
had been his fourth victim.

- After I left the hospital,

I knew that my captor
had left the apartment,

And I knew that they did
not know where he was

And that was about all I knew.

I definitely
wanted to go home.

But I didn't want anybody

To treat me like
I was made of glass.

And I didn't want to talk about
this thing that happened to me.

I don't think
I made it a secret,

And I feel like everyone
around me

Tried their best to...

Continue business as usual.

- You would expect her to...

Break down,

But it's almost like it didn't
really happen or something.

She just, you know,
wanted to erase that event

Out of her life
it seemed like.

We never spoke about it.

[somber music]

- Kara used to be
very affectionate.

The child I got back
was not huggy, not kissy.

That was her coping mechanism.

But it was beyond devastating.

You can't...

You can't hug your kid.

- Kara, she called me daddy
before that.

She stopped calling me daddy
and started calling me dad.

And I knew that had
something to do

With what happened to her.

Broke my heart,
but I understood why.

♪ ♪

- I wanted him dead
for what he did to her.

- The hours after
Kara's abduction,

We had information
that we provided

To the national center
of missing persons.

That information
was turned over

To spotsylvania
sheriff's office.

- Our people contacted them
and said,

"look, we've got a girl
that's been kidnapped here,

"15 years old.
She was able to escape.

"we found newspaper articles
that tie into your cases.

We think it's the same
person responsible."

We felt that we had a possible
serial murderer out there

And we needed to catch him.

- In June of 2002,
the Richland county sheriffs

Were investigating
a child abduction and rape.

[intense music]

They had no direct knowledge
of our murders

In spotsylvania county,
Virginia.

- But we were able to call

The sheriff's department
in spotsylvania.

And I think they were
a little amazed

That here we are
in south Carolina

Calling about a cold case
that they had had.

- When we compared cases,

We discovered
certain similarities

Between the victims.

In the Columbia,
south Carolina case

Was a young girl, age 15.

She was also in the front yard
in broad daylight.

[ominous music]

And they were
sexually assaulted.

The similarities were just
too much of a coincide.

When we ran a background check
on Richard Marc Evonitz,

We discovered
he had owned a home

In spotsylvania county
in 1996 and 1997...

When the lisk sisters
and Sofia Silva disappeared.

[dramatic musical sting]

- In the thousands of leads

That we looked at
as a task force,

Evonitz never was
on our radar screen.

- We immediately dispatched
the members

Of the Silva-lisk
task force

To Columbia, south Carolina.

- You know you're dealing
with a very dangerous person.

We just had to find him.

[birds twittering]

[moody music]

- Everything after
I left the hospital

Was pretty much a blur.

There were deputies
and police officers

In and out of my house,
and it was a whirlwind.

- I wanted to meet Kara.

Just wanted to see
how she was doing

And also reassure her
and her family

That we were doing everything
that we could

To...to catch evonitz.

- He didn't know me, but...

He never failed to tell me
how proud he was of me

And to treat me
like a survivor.

And it was so impactful
for me.

[stirring music]

- You're not supposed to get
emotionally involved in cases.

We...we try not to do that.

But the emotions that you have
translate into you

Going out and doing your job.

- When we got to
south Carolina,

We immediately went to

The Richland county sheriff's
office

And reviewed some of the items

That were recovered
from Marc Evonitz's apartment.

- We recovered homemade tapes

Where he videotaped himself
masturbating

And fantasizing
at the same time

Talking about the crimes
he committed.

- We put out a nationwide
bolo,

Be on the lookout
for him at that point.

During the investigation,

We were able to locate
Evonitz's wife.

- It was discovered
that she was in Disney world

With the abductor's mother.

They had taken a nephew
on vacation.

- Our investigators told
his wife that what we felt,

That he was responsible
for abducting Kara

And sexually assaulting her
in their apartment.

The investigators
wanted them to know.

Have you talked to him?
Had you any contact with him?

What do you know about
where he could be?

His wife's reaction
was one of shock

That knew absolutely
nothing about it.

- She said she had not
talked to him.

The wife informed us that they
were returning the next day.

At that point, they would
come in and get interviewed.

- When you're looking
for a fugitive,

A lot of times they go
to their family members,

So that's the first place
we go check.

And we were able to locate
Evonitz's mother's house.

- At that time,
we already knew

That she was out of town.

And when we got there,

There was the green
trans am at her house.

When we see the car there,
we think, "okay, maybe

He's gonna come out
of that house guns a-blazing."

[eerie off-key notes]

When we searched the mom's
house, no one was home.

He wasn't there.

And we didn't find anything
in the house

That was relevant
to the case but the car.

We secured the car and then
we found out that the car

That he used to abduct Kara
was...was his mom's car.

The next day,
Evonitz's family came in

And met with our investigators.

- We learned
that Marc evonitz

Had a dysfunctional
upbringing.

At age 12,
he was involved in burglaries.

He was using drugs.

He was making
obscene telephone calls.

- We found out
he was in the navy.

He had an ex-wife
in California.

She provided
a lot of information

About the sexual activities
that he engaged in.

- He was spurred by themes
of bondage,

Abductions,

Blindfolding, handcuffing...

Inflicting punishment
on the victims.

- We realized at that point

That he had kept that
from his wife,

That she wasn't party of it

Or had any information
about it whatsoever.

Evonitz's sister was very
reluctant to cooperate with us.

But as we continued
to talk to her,

She felt like she needed
to give us information.

[uneasy music]

Evonitz's sister had
a conversation with him

While he was on the run
and he had told her

That he'd done
some terrible things.

♪ ♪

And then she told us he was
a motel in Orangeburg,

South Carolina, which is about
an hour from Columbia.

We couldn't get there
fast enough.

- We used a passkey
to open the door.

[intense music]

- He wasn't in the room.

- The sister told me he was
in a ford escort at that time.

We learned the ford escort
belonged to his wife.

The escort wasn't in
the parking lot either.

We were going to find him
regardless how long it took.

- At that time
from the family,

We found out
he had a sister in Orlando.

We talked with his sister,
and she acknowledged

She's going to meet him
at a ihop.

An FBI agent in Orlando
was notified.

Communications were set.

He had the local
law enforcement people ready.

When evonitz drove
through the parking lot,

He got a little bit hinky
that law enforcement

May be there and took off.

- We received word
that they saw him.

That they saw the car.
They tried to stop him.

[intense music]

- There was a high-speed chase

That went as far as
120 miles an hour.

- Sarasota police department
officers

Blew out his tires
with a spike strip.

[brakes screeching]

A k9 officer
approached from the front.

[siren wailing]

[dog barking]

As the dog approached...

Evonitz took
a 25-caliber pistol out.

- It's about as high alert
as you can get,

So you gotta prepare
for the worst so you're ready.

- On June 27, 2002,
Richard Marc evonitz

Was surrounded
by police officers

From the Sarasota
police department.

And as the police canine dog
began to bite and attack him,

Evonitz placed that pistol
in his mouth

And discharged his weapon...

[silence]

[police radio chatter]

Killing himself immediately.

- Had a completely
different ending

Than what we had hoped for.

But Kara was safe,
and the bad guy was dead.

- Two days after I escaped,

I found out that my captor
had killed himself

And I was really,
really angry.

I just wanted him to sit
in a courtroom across from me

And look in my eyes

And know that picking me

Was the greatest mistake
he ever made.

- Even though he was dead,

We gathered
additional evidence

To help with our case
here in Virginia.

We later matched some of
the hairs and fibers

Found inside Richard Marc
evonitz's apartment

In Columbia, south Carolina

To our
spotsylvania county victims.

- Marc evonitz also had
a green ford Taurus.

I dusted the interior
of the trunk lid

And was able to identify
some fingerprints.

We sent the entire deck lid
to the FBI laboratory.

The results
of their examination was...

They were the fingerprints
of Kristin lisk.

- I remember
getting that phone call

And I'm going,
"that's divine intervention."

- It really locked down
that case.

- I don't think I had

The emotional maturity

To comprehend what it meant
to be the only survivor

Of someone

Who killed other girls.

♪ ♪

He would have killed me

If I would not have escaped
his apartment that day.

And he very well
could still be out there,

And he very well
may have killed other girls.

- Kara never really showed
any emotion after it happened.

But a couple months later,

Kara was curled up,

And she just kept saying,

"I should have been dead.
I should have been dead."

- Kara's mom, she told me,
"Chris, just be strong

'cause Kara, she's going to
start pushing people away."

And sure enough,
I was pretty much

The first person
she pushed away.

And, you know, ultimately,
you know,

It ended Kara
and I's relationship.

I just felt
absolutely devastated

'cause it's like I just lost

One of the most important
things to me.

- I would say
the 15-year-old me loved him

As much as I had
ever loved anyone.

I was heartbroken.

But I just focused
on being a survivor.

A couple of months
following my escape,

I was able to go to Virginia

And meet with the families
of the three girls.

And that meant
so much to me.

- Richard Marc evonitz took
a light from this community

In all three of those girls,

But we might never
have had closure

In the way that we do now

Without Kara
and her will to survive.

- We gave the $150,000 reward
to the most worthy person

I could think of,
and that was Kara Robinson.

- After meeting Kara
that very first time

And such a unique story
of survival

And being a warrior...

We did stay in contact.
She went off to college.

And she just one day said,
you know,

I'd like to work with kids.

- I went to work
at the sheriff's department.

And I went to the academy

And I became
a school resource officer

Because I could help kids.

- She was gonna do everything
she could to be a survivor

And then to watch her all these
years still be that survivor.

[stirring music]

♪ ♪

- Your one mission in life
when you are a parent

Is to protect your child

At all cost.

Sometimes you can't do that.

But the one thing that
you can overcome is death.

Kara's living proof.

- What happened to her
doesn't make her.

It empowers her. And so,
I'm proud of her for that.

[uplifting music]

♪ ♪

- Today, I look at Kara and
I'm just absolutely amazed

With how far she's come
to turn something so negative

Into a positive
to help other survivors.

She's helping other people
that need it.

- My life today is crazy,

Chaotic, and wonderful.

I have a wonderful husband.

I have two amazing
little boys.

And I want my boys to know

What a strong woman looks like.

I thought for a long time
being a survivor

Meant that I wasn't affected
by what happened to me.

And it took me over 15 years

To even realize it's okay
to feel feelings.

And it doesn't mean
that I'm any less strong.

I don't give that man
the power

To even say
that he took anything from me,

Because my life truly
would not be what it is today

If it weren't
for what happened to me.

[soft music]

♪ ♪