All language subtitles for FEDS.2023.S01E01.1080p.WEB.h264-DUHSCOVERY_track3_[eng]

[Wayne] People get kidnapped.

People get taken
against their will.

That is not that uncommon,

but for it to happen
to a couple

like the Van Oostens,

who have never wronged anyone
is a terrible feeling.

How does something
like this happen,
especially in our little town?

You could see footage
of two people on a mattress

in a room that had
no windows or doors.

-[FEDS speaking]
-[suspect speaking]

When they said, "Do you know
anybody you can think of
that would do this?"

[suspect speaking]

Never would have thought.

There was definitely
an understanding that
kidnappings don't end well.

[police siren wailing]

[Wayne] The level
of depravity they're
subjected to,

it's unlike anything
I've ever seen,

and I hope I never seen
anything like it again.

I'm Special Agent
Wayne Jackowski.

I'm Special Agent Andy Kehren.

[intense music playing]

[narrator] This is FEDS.

[police siren wailing]

[dramatic music playing]

[Amy] I grew up on a farm
outside of Erie.

It's very quiet, peaceful.

My brother and I
were able to

run and do what kids do

when there's
a wide open space.

Erie is a small rural town
in central Illinois,

about two hours
west of Chicago.

Farms just about
everywhere that you look.

Everybody knows everybody.

It really is
a great place to live.

My parents own their own
businesses for many years.

My mom, Connie,
had a flooring store.

My dad, Larry, owned his own
pest control business.

They were very respected
in the community.

Both businesses
really thrived.

When I got pregnant
with my daughter,

I took over
the flooring store.

My brother, Jeff
wasn't really interested

in taking over
the pest control business

because he had
a heart for farming.

So, my dad sold his business.

We didn't know how much
he sold the business for,

but it was enough
to have investments

to live on and retire.

They were able to do
a little bit of traveling

and get very active
in their church,

teaching Sunday school,

helping out with different
community groups.

When my brother Jeff and I
started having our own kids,

they really
stepped into action,

helped whenever they could.

They were always there,

just giving us
whatever we needed.

We were blessed
to have such great parents.

[Amy]
The day that it happened,

I was between my house
and the school

to pick up my daughter.

My brother called

and he was telling me,

"Mom and dad were abducted."

And I thought that somebody
is pranking you

or that's not funny.

It's not a funny joke.

But he kept telling me,
"No, they told me that..."

We have a friend who is in
the local police department

that called my brother
and he said,

"They've got your mom
on camera

and we think that
she has been kidnapped."

It was complete disbelief.

I could barely breathe.

There was a lot of chaos
in my head

of how could this be?

I had to get off the phone
with my brother

because the police
was calling me,

asking me to meet them.

[police siren wailing]

I'm Sheriff John Booker,

but at the time,
I was service lieutenant

for the Whiteside County
Sheriff's Office.

When we got the phone call
of a possible kidnaping

at the bank, I thought,

"There's no way
a kidnaping happened

in the Whiteside County."

We don't have crimes like that
that happen.

That's in the bigger areas.

But the bank has video
that runs the whole time,

so when we arrived,
we were able to find out

that Connie Van Oosten
had came into the bank

and asked the teller

for a large amount of money,
$350,000.

But then she gave a note
to the teller

saying her and her husband
were held at gunpoint

against their will
and they needed help.

She had a church bulletin
in her purse

and that's what
she wrote the note on.

I can't even imagine being
under that sort of duress

and even having
the frame of mind

to think of doing
something like that.

[John] The bank personnel
tried to talk Connie

into staying at the bank.

But Connie told the
bank people
if she didn't leave,

that she was afraid
her husband would be killed.

The bank agreed
to write the check

and give that to Connie
because they didn't want

anything to happen to her
or her husband.

You can see Connie
leave the bank,

walk down the sidewalk.

The bank personnel
started making phone calls

to the police authorities

to try and get some help.

Through the video,
we were able to see

the car parked down the road,

Connie gets inside the vehicle
before it takes off.

We can't see license plate.

We have no idea where
this vehicle traveled to.

[Amy] There was
a little bit of relief

knowing that
she was still alive

at that moment,
fear, obviously,

that we didn't know
where my dad was.

Were they separated?

Was he even still with us?

[intense music playing]

[John] You always wanna
check out the residence

of the victims of crimes

to see what might have been
going on at their house.

When our deputies arrived
at the Van Oostens' house,

their son, Jeff, was already
on scene at that residence.

Jeff said he's been away
for a few days,

so he hasn't talked
to his parents
in a little while.

The deputies conducted
a search of the residence.

They were able to find
a window in the basement

that appeared to be broke
from the outside in.

They were also
able to find confetti

that would come out
of a taser.

When tasers deployed,

it shoots out
little pieces of paper

and that was
around the area as well.

As they looked around,
they were able to find

a few spots
where drops of blood

had fell on to the carpet.

We are realizing we have
a full-blown kidnaping case.

So, we reached out
to our federal agency,

the FBI out of Rockford.

My name is Wayne Jackowski.

I'm an FBI Special Agent.

I work at the Rockford
Resident Agency,

a smaller satellite office
of Chicago.

One of our main roles
is to support

the local agencies
within a 10-county area.

Most of which is rural,

smaller law enforcement
departments

who have limited resources,

when things happen
that maybe are not something

that they can handle
on their own.

As I remember it that day,
I was in the office

the majority of the day.

Ended up arriving at home

and sat down
to have dinner with my wife,

and then a call came.

The call is coming from
the FBI office in Chicago,

which doesn't give you
a good feeling

because you know something bad

has probably happened
or is happening

and you're gonna need
to deal with it.

When I answered the call,

I was told that the Whiteside
County Sheriff's Department

was looking into a matter
involving two people

who were believed to be
missing

and that they might need
assistance.

Once the information
is shared,

that Connie Van Oosten
had gone into the bank,

that made everything
very clear

and very real, very quickly.

With my experience,
when someone is kidnaped,

and there is a purpose,

once that purpose
is fulfilled,

something bad happens
to the people
who have been kidnaped.

And knowing that
Mrs. Van Oosten

went into the bank
and got the money,

to me right away,
struck a nerve

because the kidnaper
got what they were after,

so time is not on our side.

[John] Talked with the FBI.

No one was convinced
we were gonna find

the Van Oostens alive.

[Wayne] So it drives
the urgency level way up.

It is incredibly stressful.

I remember getting a knot
in my stomach at that point,

thinking, we have to
figure this out.

[dramatic music playing]

Whiteside County
don't have a lot
of resources to draw from,

so we quickly determined
that we would need

to bring in as many
other agents as we could.

My name is Andy Kehren.

I'm a Special Agent
with the FBI.

Not all agents
are gonna tell you

that they wanted
to be an agent

when they were a kid,

but I was recruited
in the FBI by Tom Clancy.

I read... I read
these Tom Clancy novels.

I wanted to be in
the FBI or the CIA.

I wanted to catch terrorists
and bank robbers,

and it was gonna be awesome.

And it just happened to be
that my dream came true.

At the time of the case,
I was the newest agent

at the FBI
in the Rockford office.

I had the worst vehicle
that our office had.

I was driving a minivan.

I didn't mind
because I was an agent

and I was excited about it.

This was my first
kidnaping case,

so I have a million questions

racing through my mind
as I'm driving there.

But with all the experience
in the office,

those guys had
worked kidnappings

and there was definitely
an understanding that

they might already be killed.
You know what I mean?

Like it might already...
It might be too late,

you know, even right now.

It might not be,
but it might be.

In fact, it probably is.

And so, we're just trying
to get to the bottom of it

as fast as we can,

because if there's any chance,

we only get it if we're fast.

Got to the sheriff's
department.

Walking in to
the investigations area,

I would describe it
best as a little chaotic.

I heard that
the FBI had come in,

clinging on to
a little bit of hope there,

that if we have
the FBI covering this,

that we've got to
find something.

[Wayne]
As well as the other agents,

people kept coming
through the door.

Most were very
small town departments,

but they're sending
resources from everywhere

to try to pitch in and help.

For all of us to get
on the same page quickly

was extremely important.

At that point, generally,
the FBI form a command post,

central base of operations
were any information

about that case is shared.

There will be whiteboards
that will show

what cars are of interest,

persons are of interest.

Early on,
everybody is a suspect, I...
I'll just put it that way.

You don't know exactly
who you're dealing with.

Not that many people
would likely know

that they have
that kind of money available,

so there are important people
who need to be interviewed,

such as their children.

The FBI explained that

we're gonna have to do
a tough thing

and interview the
Van Oostens' daughter, Amy,

son, Jeff,

and ask them questions

that they're probably
not gonna like.

[intense music playing]

The interviews were tough
to go through,

but it had to be done.

More interrogation
was done to Jeff than Amy,

because of Jeff was away
for a few days

and, he was at the house
before the deputies.

Knowing that Mrs. Van Oosten

went into the bank
and obtained $350,000,

money seemed to be
the motivation.

[John] Our detectives
were asking Jeff

tough financial questions,

"Did you borrow money
from your parents?

Were you into
financial trouble?"

At that time, I was like,
whatever you have to ask me,

ask me and I will tell you

as truthfully as I can
what is going on.

They asked me some questions
about how I had just flown in

from Washington getting back
from a business trip,

and how when I got the call,

my initial reaction was to

get up right away
and come here to the house.

They asked me some questions
about my finances and how I...

You know,
how I was financially,

and got down to...

Well, basically,

if I wanted money
from my parents,

I would ask them
and they would
give it to me, so...

The investigators
that conducted the interviews

did not believe Amy or Jeff
had any involvement

in Larry and Connie's
disappearance.

[Jeff] That's kinda
when everything ended,

as far as the questioning.

The thought of me

ever doing something like that
to my parents would just...

It makes you
sick to your stomach.

But you've got to think
about the bigger picture here

and if they have to
ask a question,

they're doing their job,
whatever.

Let's just keep moving.

[police siren wailing]

[Wayne]
It's getting frustrating.

You're hoping
the light bulb's gonna go on

and somebody is gonna be
a clear cut suspect,

and that didn't happen.

But it's a constant process.

What's the next lead
that needs to be handled?

Based on video surveillance
outside of the bank,

we're able to determine
that the vehicle

that Mrs. Van Oosten
was driven away in,

it's an older, like
early 1990s Chevy Caprice,

and that's a rarer vehicle.

There aren't a lot of those
left on the road,

especially
in small town America.

But when we put the vehicle
in our computer system,

nothing showed up.

[Wayne] So for a case
like this,

if people who are missing
and in danger,

the FBI has the ability
to set up a tip line.

So, any person that believes
they may have information,

can call the number
1-800-CALL-FBI

and it goes in to our national
call center in West Virginia.

So, the video, it was
distributed to the media

and information started
coming in the command post

through the FBI tip line
from anyone who thought

they saw a similar vehicle.

I didn't like
sitting in the command post.

I didn't like it.

I felt like I was
sitting on my hands.

But then we got this lead.

Somebody says
that they saw the vehicle

in one of the bigger towns
in this area, Geneseo.

I finally got the chance
to chase down this lead.

I took it and I was excited to
get out of the command post,

and I didn't intend to go back
unless I was told to.

[laughs]

[Andy] Geneseo, which is
a small Midwest town

with a handful
of gas stations

and a grocery store.

We went there,
we did the interview.

The person told us the car
was heading northbound,

and so I just started
heading down that road

and there was a hospital
right by the road,
I was like, "Oh, perfect."

The hospital might
have security footage,

but we didn't see the car.

There was pressure.

There was pressure on us
to perform.

[Wayne]
In the back of your mind,

you know the clock
is not your friend.

But as an FBI agent,
we don't give up,

especially not
for something like this.

Early on,
we're trying to process

a lot of information
very quickly.

You have to sit back down
in the command post

with the people
you've been working it with

and see if we
missed something,

because it is easy to do.

We started to go back over
what we currently knew

and what the details
were surrounding those things,

which included
Mrs. Van Oosten's
visit into the bank.

We started to reexamine that
trip back inside the bank

in a greater detail.

Mrs. Van Oosten
went inside the bank,

approached the teller counter
and asked for a $350,000.

But then
the question was asked,

what form of money
did she get it?

Was it a wire transfer?

Was it a check? What was it?

And we're told
it was specifically
a cashier's check.

The bells go off
at that point.

My question
was immediately asked,

well, who was
the check made out to?

Because somebody needs
to cash it at some point,

because if they can't,
all of this is for nothing.

We asked the bank to provide
a copy of the check.

Could we see it?

At which point somebody
produced a copy of it,

which was very exciting

because the check
was made out

to an actual company,

The Store Edge, LLC.

So the knot in my stomach
was turning into more

like a jittery excitement

because this is
the first thing

that we really feel
is a good, solid lead

that we can run down.

[phone ringing]

So as we were looking
into the individuals

associated with
The Store Edge, LLC,

we're also looking into
their background,

things that are related
to them, any vehicles.

At that point, we noticed

that there was
a older model Chevy Caprice

that could match
the description

of the one at the bank,

registered
to one of the individuals

tied into
the Store Edge, LLC.

That individual's name...
was Chad Schipper.

That was a totally
new name to us,

but one that we had to
run down very quickly.

Can we bring a connection

between he
and the Van Oostens?

[John] We reached out
to the family

trying to get some information

about Chad Schipper.

[Jeff] When you grow up
in a small town,

you know who everybody is,

but it's not him,

you know, it couldn't
be possibly be him.

Never.

Never.

I've known him...

since we were in
Sunday school together,

you know, little five, six,
seven-years-old, probably.

Growing up, he was always
a year ahead of me in school,

from elementary
to high school.

We didn't run
in the same crowd,

but if I saw him,
I'd say hi to him

and maybe talk to him
a little bit.

He was valedictorian
of his class.

Growing up, I don't want
to admit that I looked up
to him, but I'm like, "Man,

that guy is living the life."

He's intelligent and smart.

You look at
somebody like that

and you're like,
"Well, you know,

there's somebody that's
got their act together."

[Amy] Families went
to the same church,

we were in the same
youth groups.

He could whip out
those Bible verses

in Sunday school
like nobody else, you know,

just would have never expected
anybody from the community

ever, let alone somebody
that we went to church with.

Never.

[Wayne] The next step was,
where does Mr. Schipper live?

Where does he work?

Does he have
a financial background?

And more importantly,

where could he possibly have
the Van Oostens,

if he has them?

[Jeff] Several years prior
to this,

I remember having
a conversation with my dad.

At that time, dad was
an elder at the church

and Chad was an elder
at the church.

And Chad was starting out
as a financial advisor.

I remember dad, he's like,

"Well, I'll give him a shot
because, you know,

we go to the same church."

You should be able to trust
somebody like that.

But dad looked at
Chad's proposal

and he's like,
"This is not a benefit

for me and my finances."

[Amy] They had mentioned
that

they had met
with him those year...

Two years prior,

so he knew about the money
and the investments.

Complete, just, shock.

So as we continue to look
into Mr. Schipper,

we determined
he would likely know

that they have that
kind of money available.

And we determined
he had several properties

that he was associated with.

At least two residences
were in Geneseo, Illinois.

[Andy] I got a call from
the command post saying,

"We think we might
have figured out

who the subject is.

We're all heading
to some little small town

called Geneseo."

And I was like, perfect,
we're already there.

We went to one
of the addresses

that was tied to the subject.

It was a big house.

It had, you know,
at least a four-car garage.

We're moving
around this house.

We were trying to stick
to the shadows

of the trees
and things like that.

We're trying
to find probable cause.

Anything in the premises
that suggests

that there's kidnapped
people.

But as we looked around
the property,

there was no reason to think
that they were there.

We'd all had loved to just
gone into the house,

but we can't just enter
people's residence

unless we have probable cause
to go in.

[Andy] Once we figured out
we didn't have any

probable cause to
think that the victims

are at that address,

at that point,
it was a game of surveillance,

where you're gonna,
sit and watch,

and wait for anything
that would add

to our probable cause.

It was a lull.

There was nothing going on.

Surveillance is boring anyway

and it's especially boring
in rural Illinois.

It was frustrating
because we knew

that the Van Oostens
were good people...

but everyone kinda knows,

like, these rarely
have happy endings.

We're just sitting here
hoping for something,

some type of probable cause

and we're probably
not gonna get it

because it's 1:00
in the morning

in rural Illinois.

[John] It was getting late
in the night.

We had all worked all day,

but none of us
were ready to quit.

We had deputies
at Van Oostens' house,

in case anyone would come back
to that residence.

One of our deputies radioed.

[deputy speaking]

[woman speaking]

[deputy speaking]

[woman speaking]

[Wayne] We hear across
the radio something

to the effect of,
"I saw the car,

this Chevy Caprice,"

which has been a car
of interest from earlier on.

That vehicle
had been spotted.

[John] The deputy was
able to get behind it,

and then attempted to make
a traffic stop on it.

[intense music playing]

[deputy speaking]

[woman speaking]

[Wayne] We're listening
to the radio traffic.

[deputy speaking]

[Wayne] I'm in a car chase.

I'm chasing the car,
now I tried to stop it

and it sped away.

[police siren wailing]

[deputy speaking]

All of a sudden, you get
that spark and it's back.

This is the actual car
that she was in.

That's good.
That's a good lead.

[deputy speaking]

It sounds like, hey, maybe
they're onto something now.

Maybe it's Mr. Schipper
and he's running,

and there's a reason
why he's running.

[deputy speaking]

We had a good lead
and there's reason to think

that it will lead
to the Van Oostens.

[deputy speaking]

[woman speaking]

We're holding the radio
trying to will the officer

to catch him,

"Come on."

[deputy speaking]

[Wayne] Things are happening
very quickly.

Every second
that you're waiting

for what's gonna
happen next...

it's extremely exciting

and incredibly painful
at the same time.

[deputy speaking]

[woman speaking]

All of us were hoping
that the car chase would end

peacefully, slowly, and
that he would just pull over.

And that the Van Oostens
would be alive and well

maybe in the back unharmed.

[deputy speaking]

But that's not what happened.

[police siren wailing]

[deputy speaking]

[police siren wailing]

Chad Schipper was the driver
of the vehicle.

The deputies ordered him out
at gunpoint,

got him on the ground,
cuffed him.

[deputy speaking]

[John] The other driver
was okay,

only minor injuries,
and was able to walk away.

We're all on pins
and needles and just waiting

for the next voice to come
across the radio to tell us

anything that would help ease
our concerns.

Are they with him?

Are they alive?

[deputy] Whiteside 324,
can you advise
how many injuries?

There was no one else
in the vehicle,

but we discovered a shovel,

plastic sheeting, duct tape,

a saw, which all to us
indicated he was going

to put someone
in this plastic sheeting

and bury them.

They advised Chad
with his Miranda warnings

before they started
asking questions.

The next bit of radio traffic
was Mr. Schipper

is now acknowledging he knows
who the Van Oostens are

and he is saying,
"I have them"

and provides an actual
specific residence address,

which is one
we were already aware of.

The address that we were
doing surveillance at

was the address that was
chirped in over the radio.

Probable cause is established.

We're going into the house.

[intense music playing]

[Andy] Everybody's moving
towards the door.

There was breaching
equipment available,

but I kicked the door in
and it went in,

and so we didn't even need it.

[slams on door]

[Wayne] There's a ladder
pretty much right

in the middle of our way,

which doesn't really
make sense,

doesn't really seem
to serve a purpose.

We pair off and started
going room by room.

It's a methodical search,
but quickly at the same time.

[Andy] The house
was the typical house

you would see that was
under construction.

There was saw dust
kinda all over.

There was tools all over.

And we go room by room,
we're not finding anything.

[Andy] We cleared the upstairs
a couple times...

so we went down
to the basement.

There was a couple rooms,
we cleared those.

[Wayne] We go through
the entire house,

we do not find any threat

and more importantly
did not find

the Van Oostens

which was extremely
disappointing.

Everyone's like,
well, they must not be

at this house.

[Wayne] We get done clearing
the house,

but then we find something
that is extremely odd.

On the floor in one of
the rooms was a TV monitor.

We didn't study it at first
because we're trying

to clear the house,
but looking at it closer,

the TV monitor showed,
appeared to be some type

of a surveillance video feed.

[Andy] You could see footage
of two people...

on a mattress...

in a room that had
no windows or doors.

[Wayne] It could
be the Van Oostens.

And we're not sure
that they're moving.

We're fearful at that point,
they may not be alive.

We circle together and said,

"Where is this
video feed coming from?

Could it be somewhere else?
Is it here?

And we're missing it."

There's just an overall
gut feeling,

we still think
they could be here somewhere,

but we need to go back
through this house,

go through every closet,
go through every cupboard,

see if there is something
we missed.

We get down into the basement.

We cleared a second time...

but there's something
in the back of my mind

that says,
this basement's weird.

Everyone's been in a basement.

And a basement
is almost always a rectangle,

but this one's not.

There was a corner
of the basement

that was unavailable.

Pushing on this wall,
this looks like

it was pretty recently
painted and sanded.

We were a short time away
from starting

to fight our way through that
wall, and then we hear it,

"Wayne, they found
something upstairs."

[Wayne] I happened to be
looking in a closet

and there was a piece
of plywood on the floor.

Something just told me to pick
up the piece of plywood

and I picked it up,
looked underneath,

and I got the biggest
knot on my stomach

from the whole investigation
leading up to that moment.

There was a fortified
steel hatch.

It was a solid steel door
in the floor,

above where that area
of the basement would've been.

[Wayne] It has a padlock
on it.

A very thick, heavy padlock.

Another agent had
his breaching equipment,

which included
a set of bolt cutters.

I had the bolt cutters
and put it in there,

and I squeezed as hard as
I could and I could not do it.

So, what I ended up doing
was putting one side

of the bolt cutters against
the wall and I grabbed

the other side with both hands
and broke it off that way.

Reached down, lifted it up.
It was heavy.

Push it open,
a dark room underneath.

[Wayne] The ladder that
we encountered as soon
as we made entry

through the door
started making sense now.

[Andy] I'm looking down
into this room

and I don't see much
because it's dark.

[Wayne] Andy puts his feet
into the hole,

starts to shimmy over.

[Andy] I went to my elbows
just dangling.

There's no ground for me
to reach.

Put his arms over
on each side,

to the point he was
kinda just dangling.

[Andy] At some point,
you have to just let go,

fall through the chasm
and land on the other side...

and so I did.

He had his arms
on either side,

and all of a sudden his arms
came up

and he just plunged
into the hole and he's gone.

[ominous music playing]

I just brought my arms up
and fell it through the hole.

It was just exactly
as you would think.

It was an eight foot ceiling
and I landed on the ground.

It was eerie, it was a room

that had no doors or windows.

There was a mattress
on the floor,

it had some blankets.

And that's where
we found them.

[ominous music playing]

[Connie] When Andy jumped
through the hole...

he had a huge smile
on his face

and just said,
they're fine, they're okay.

[Andy] Larry and Connie
were good.

They were very pleased
to have been recovered.

They told us it was the FBI,

and, uh, that they were here

to rescue us,
and that we were...

we were safe.

So that was
a very joyful moment,

but also one of,

is this really happening?

You know, are we actually,
after all this, safe?

I don't think we quit smiling

because, you know,
they were there.

They did come,
they did come to rescue us.

Connie gave me a big hug.

Larry gave me a big hug.

You could hear them
upstairs celebrating.

"We found them.
We found them. They're okay."

[Wayne] We put the ladder down
in through the opening,

and then
the Van Oostens came out.

To see them emerge
from a makeshift dungeon

and to be okay

was the most rewarding
feeling of my career.

It was unbelievable,
except it happened.

It never happens
except it did.

So, yeah.

[Jeff] When the police let me
know that they had found

my parents,
I didn't know how to react.

I didn't know how to...
Um, how to feel, really.

I've never felt emotions
like that in my life.

My brother was calling me
saying, we found them.

Ripping into the driveway
and pounding on our door.

So we were all able
to just hug.

We were told that they were
at the hospital in Geneseo.

Obviously,
just complete breakdown,

relief, and almost angry

because I wanted to know

what he had done to her,
to them.

[man speaking]

[Chad speaking]

[John] He was basically
a scammer, a swindler,

and was taking money
from family members.

He had no money to cover
the investments

that he was supposedly doing.

And that's why he decided
to act

because he thought Connie
and Larry had

lots of money and could cover
the wrongdoings.

[intense music playing]

[Larry] It was about
seven o'clock in the morning.

I was sound asleep.

I thought I was dreaming.

I felt a presence
in the room...

and I saw this person standing
next to the bed

dressed in a black
and with a gun.

Finally, I realized that this
is real and I yelled.

And the next thing I knew,
he shot a taser at me.

[Connie] The first words
that I spoke were,

"Oh, Lord, please help us.
Please help us."

And his first words
to me were,

"Where's your God now?"

He had me put handcuffs
on Larry,

and then he proceeded
to handcuff me.

He took duct tape
and put it over our eyes

and our mouths,
and we were told

to be quiet
and not say anything.

[Larry]
He took us out to the garage

where there was an old
Chevy Caprice parked there

and somehow got us
into the trunk.

We rode in that trunk
for half an hour or so.

[Connie] He took me out first

and led me to what I thought

was gonna be a small room,

but it turned out
to be a closet

and I had
to climb down a ladder.

It was a completely
sealed room,

concrete walls,
so it was very sturdy.

It was designed
to make sure that people

could stay there
for a period of time.

They had like stack
of ramen noodles.

They had a
shower and a toilet.

And then on the other side,

they had locking mechanism
for handcuffing.

It was very apparent
that this was a room made

for locking people
against their will.

This was a purposeful plan
that he had contemplated,

and thought about,
and worked to fruition

over months and years.

[Chad speaking]

I said to him,
"Why are you doing this?"

There was no emotion.
It was... It was basically,

"I'm gonna keep you until
I get all your money,

and then I have to kill you."

[Chad speaking]

[Larry] When he took her
to the bank...

I kept going
through different scenarios.

What should I have done?
What could I have done?

What can I do?

How do I help her?

And just being tied up there

and knowing
that there was nothing

I could do to help her,

I'll never forget that,
you know, never.

[investigator speaking]

[Chad speaking]

[John] Eventually, he took
a guilty plea.

He received 60 years in prison

with no chance of parole.

For the rest of his life,

he will be incarcerated
in the state of Illinois.

People get kidnapped,

people get taken
against their will.

That is not that uncommon,

but for it to happen to a
couple like the Van Oostens

who have never
wronged anyone,

the level of depravity,
which they're subjected to,

its unlike anything
I've ever seen and I hope

I never see anything
like it again.

[Connie] Larry never thought

that he protected me...

but he did.

He stood by me the whole time,

and he was there,
and did everything

in his power to protect me,

and he's continued to do that.

[Larry] She didn't have
to come back.

She could have stayed
right there at the bank

and sent the police,
but she didn't do it.

She came back
on her own free will,

just so they could find me.

She came back to save me.

[Connie] I just felt that
I had to do

something because
it was our last chance.

I believe God was there
saying, write that note.

And she may
not want to hear it, but...

[laughs]

...she absolutely is the hero.

[Amy] I don't even know
if there are any words

to say how proud I am
of them.

Just can't say enough
about how strong they are.

I wanna be like them
when I grow up someday.

[chuckles]

[dramatic music playing]

[doorbell chimes]

[Larry] We saw God act
in real time

in a matter of two
and a half, three days,

where he took us from
captivity to being saved.

He put those people
in those places,

the perfect people
at the exact right time

to be able to get us
out of there alive.

You know, I joke about it now

and I say, I peaked early.

You know, like,
is this what the FBI does?

Like, it really does this?

I'm just glad it was you guys

and you made it wonderful.

-[Larry] Yeah.
-[Connie] I mean,
all you guys did.

As a new agent,
it gave me the utmost

optimism in the career

that I was getting into.

And that's what the FBI is,
an incredible group of people

that given the opportunity
or the need arises,

we will get together
and accomplish whatever

needs to get done
for the greater good.

[dramatic music playing]

The criminals we target are
the worst of the worst.

They just appear to be
completely unstoppable.

One of the biggest cases of
my career.

The level of hate was just so
horrific.

Nobody was dealing anywhere near
as many pills as they were.

Each day that went by
the challenge built.

We could start bringing in
resources from

all over the country.

[Knocking]
FBI!

We risked having more victims.

People are panicking.
Time is running out.

Inmates could order violence out
on the street.

I had to separate myself
so I could do this job

because it's horrifying.

He's in the middle of a field,
by himself dead,

and I'm rolling up on
a dead body.

This is a lifestyle and you will
live it until you're done.