Original subtitles

When a night takes a turn for the worst...

Hey, turn here.

What?

It was dark, so she really

wouldn't have be able to see much.

At the mercy of a gun-wielding maniac...

No. No. No. No. No. No. No. Where are you taking her?

Was she thinking he'd come back?

Boy, I sure would be.

All there is left to do is pray.

Holy Mary, mother of god, pray for US sinners,

now and at the hour of our death.

There was no lights. There's no homes.

There was just simply no help available at that location.

Tuscarawas county is a quiet part of eastern Ohio

comprised of mainly farmland.

Its two largest cities are Dover and new Philadelphia,

but with each posting populations well under 20,000,

the vibe is very different from nearby Cleveland.

It's just a nice rural community.

The people are very caring and generous and helpful,

and it's just kind of a family atmosphere.

Hilarious.

Liz Reiser is a bubbly high school junior

living at home with her parents and three younger brothers.

What about this one? No.

Not that one. I look awful.

No, you don't.

Liz would scrapbook,

and it was good because it brought she and I together

a little closer.

We got to be a little more than the mom and daughter.

We were more friends.

Wow.

It's the first one with our eyes actually open.

That must be a first.

Like the rest of her family,

Liz is very active in her church and so are most of her friends.

What do we have on this page?

That night, her friend

Brandi was going to attend her choir banquet,

which she would have been recognized

for having been in choir for a certain amount of years.

Wow.

She asked that Liz be allowed to attend.

Hey, mom.

I know it's Tuesday, but do you think

I can sleep over Brandi's house tonight?

I mean, after the choir banquet?

I -- I don't know, honey.

The fact that it was a school night

and Liz asked if she could spend the night with Brandi

raised some flags in my heart and in my mind,

but because of her being on the honor roll

and her chores were done, we told her she could go.

I'm afraid I'm going to regret this,

but I have too much of a headache to argue.

Yes. Okay.

I'm going to go pick out an outfit.

Just a flew blocks away at her new apartment,

Brandi Hicks is getting ready for her fun night with Liz.

Brandi had moved out from her mother's house

just probably several weeks prior to this,

was living in a house with two roommates.

One was, um, pastor's daughter,

and the other one was the youth-group leader.

So they were both very nice girls.

Hey, are you doing something tonight?

Yeah. I'm going to my choir banquet with Liz,

and then afterwards I told my mom we'd go see her

for a little bit at her house.

Fun. Tell her I said hi.

What time do you think you'll be home?

Well, we're going to pick out a movie to watch,

but it shouldn't be too late. Like, 9:30-ish.

You want to come with US?

If I can stay awake that long.

I have had a crazy day.

I don't... I'm ready to pass out.

Okay. You have no parents, no curfew,

an apartment to yourself, and you're going to sleep.

That sounds like a blast.

Bye.

When Brandi came to pick Liz up, I could hear

Liz giggling and I could hear Brandi laughing.

I can remember all of this going on and Liz

leaving and going out the door,

and I never, never said goodbye to her that day.

And that's something that has bothered me for years,

but she was so happy,

and she was so looking forward to that night.

Hey, girl. Hey.

Brandi, you still haven't cleaned out your car.

Hush.

Look, I'm still moving to the new place.

I'll get to it next week.

Yeah, right!

Okay. Nothing sappy.

Yeah, Brandi.

After the choir banquet

and a brief stop at Brandi's mother's house,

it's about 9:30 P.M.

When the girls head to a local video store.

What about this one?

We saw that last week.

I know, but it's really good.

This is just normal girls doing a normal thing

on a normal night in the middle of the summer in Ohio.

In the store's parking lot,

someone else has different plans for the night.

As much as he was, like, 3 years ago.

Yeah.

Is this a horror movie, because it looks like it?

I mean, like, a quirky kind of movie.

Yeah, you know? It isn't, like, a nerdy.

Hey, what about this one?

Yeah. I've been wanting to see this one.

Cool. I thought we'd be here all night.

Rude, but okay.

Hey, I want to hold it. Here. Here. Here.

Do you have the receipt? Yeah.

Fairly soon, this typical late spring evening

in small-town Ohio will veer shockingly off course.

I don't think we're going take it back.

We were going to take it back because it's, like, $4.

Hey, girls. Hey. Hi.

Do you think I can get a ride to my house?

It's just down the road by the elementary school,

and I usually wouldn't ask but...

I don't believe that it was common

for someone to hang around to get a ride.

Most people had their own transportation,

it was in a busy area.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm just...

I'm almost out of gas, and I just spent my last

couple of dollars on this movie so...

Hey. Hey, girls.

My name is Mark.

I've been walking all day.

Please.

I'll give you $20 to help out with gas.

No. I don't want to take your money.

Seriously. I would walk, but it'll take too long,

and I want to see my kids before my wife put them to bed.

It'll be fine. Yeah.

Of course. Man, thanks.

Yeah. Thank you, girls.

You just get in the back.

Liz and Brandi were good people

and had a good heart.

And you know, when someone asks what seemed to be innocent

as a ride across town,

they agreed to it.

You girls in school?

Yeah. Yeah. We're in high school.

Cool, man.

Good stuff.

I'm in school too.

Taking psych classes at Kent state.

He told them several things about himself.

He thought if he told them about himself

that they would feel a little more comfortable

in giving him a ride.

Wow.

I -- I can't tell you how much this means to me.

I've been having a hard time lately, you know?

See, that's why I'm taking these psychology classes now.

I think maybe one day I'll be able to help someone

who's going through the same thing.

Wow. I mean, that's really great.

You know, it's -- it's never too late to turn over a new leaf.

Yeah.

You know, you should come to our church sometimes.

Our pastor is really awesome.

He could probably really help you.

They were helping.

The girls loved to help people,

and so they thought everything would be okay.

Hey. Hey, can you stop here for a sec?

Just -- just on the side of the road here?

Yeah, yeah, just right here.

Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Hold on.

Okay. All right. It's fine.

Just stay here. Wait.

Don't leave. Wait. Where are you going?

Wait, where did he go?

I don't know. I can't tell.

Maybe we should just leave him.

He got out of the car, and in those few moments

they almost drove away.

They almost, you know... They kind of had a red flag,

I think maybe.

Come on. Let's just go.

We're -- we're probably really close to his house by now.

Yeah. That's true.

Let's pull off to the side.

Before they could make that decision,

he was back in the car.

And once somebody is in your car, can you really ditch them?

What the heck?

I just had to grab this bag.

They're presents I bought for my kids earlier.

It was too heavy to carry, so I left it here.

We're sorry, but you just... We thought that...

Yeah. We just thought you, like, lived here or something.

We were just going to go.

No, we still got a little ways to go down here.

Brandi and Liz have been on the road

with their strange passenger

for about 20 minutes already,

but he's given no indication

that they're close to his destination.

Hey, um, we passed the school a while back.

Is your house coming up soon?

Yeah. Totally. We're almost there.

Hey, Brandi.

Um, it's getting kind of late, you know, and, um,

we're really far from your house now.

If we want to watch those movies and get to bed at a good time,

we should probably head back, you know?

Yeah. Yeah. Look.

We're just going to let you out here.

I mean, you shouldn't have too far of a walk now,

and we really need to get home.

Would it change anything if I told you I had a gun?

Would it change anything if I told you I had a gun?

Fifteen miles away from the nearest town,

teenage friends Brandi Hicks' and Liz Reiser's plans

for an innocent movie night

have morphed into something out of a true-life horror film.

They have no idea what the stranger in the car

wants from them,

but it's clearly nothing good.

The fear just sunk deeply within them.

I mean, what could these teenage girls do at that point?

They're going to comply with him.

Please just don't hurt US.

We'll take you to your house. We promise.

Hey, stop. Shut up.

Just keep going down the road here.

Okay. Yeah.

Just do what I say... All right.

And everything is going to be okay.

Okay.

Hey, careful. You'll drive US into this ditch.

I'm sorry! You're okay, Brandi.

You're okay. You're okay.

I can't imagine how they must have felt.

I would have been horrible, horrible.

Hey, turn here.

What?

Turn here. Okay. Okay. Okay.

It would have been further and further way

from the city of new Philadelphia,

less homes, less lights, dark rural country roads.

Stop.

Please just let US go.

Quiet.

Get out both of you. Go.

Liz, come on. Okay. We're going.

We're going.

Get over there.

Take your shoelaces outta your shoes.

Wait, I thought you said you wanted to see your kids?

We'll take you to your kids.

Shut up. Don't talk about my kids.

Now do what I say.

I can't imagine, you know, what's going through

Liz's head when he did ask her to remove her shoelaces,

but at that point, you know,

they were too scared to do anything

other than what they were told to do.

Take your shoelaces, tie your hands to the steering wheel.

Come on. Okay.

The girls have no choice but to comply,

and soon Brandi is bound and completely helpless.

It's okay. It's okay.

Get up. Let go.

All right. That's good.

A terrifying situation only gets worse

when their captor decides to separate the girls.

No. No. No. No. No. No. No.

Where are you taking her?!

Please! Please!

I mean, it's just adding on more terror to their life,

and I can't grasp the fear

that these girls went through that night.

No! It's okay, Liz.

Liz, it's okay. I love you!

I love you too.

Hey, let's go. Let's go.

No.

While her friend, Brandi,

remains restrained back in the car,

Liz is forced to walk into the dark woods.

Okay. Okay.

Please don't do this.

Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you.

I'm going to let you go.

Once we get up here, I'll tell you how to get back to town.

See, I'm not a bad guy,

I have just been having a bad couple of days.

I don't want to hurt you.

What about Brandi?

She'll be fine.

But just as Liz gets a glimmer of hope

that she'll be let go,

her abductor appears to change his mind.

Kneel down.

You said I could go.

There was no lights. There's no homes.

There's just simply no help available at that location.

Kneel down.

Shh.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou amongst women,

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

She was probably asking god to help her,

you know, to do the right thing, to keep her safe.

That's just the way she was brought up.

That's what we did when we got into a situation where,

you know, you're fearful or you're concerned.

We prayed.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou amongst women,

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, mother of god, pray for US sinners,

now and at the hour of our death.

Kneel down.

Off a rural farming road in eastern Ohio,

17-year-old Liz Reiser is miles from home and help

as a stranger threatens her life.

Holy Mary, mother of god, pray for US sinners,

now and at the hour of our death.

Something snapped in him, and he just decided to...

To kill Liz.

Help!

All this time, 18-year-old Brandi

has been trapped back at the car

waiting in terror to see her friend again,

but as the stranger emerges from the woods,

she comes to the frantic realization that he's alone.

Come on.

Where -- where is Liz?

I said come on.

He led Brandi back the same road where Liz was.

It was dark, so she really wouldn't have

been able to see much.

But when they got up into this field,

she could see something on the ground,

and she assumed that it was Liz.

And she was fearful that Liz was dead,

but she didn't honestly know.

Until she's told the horrifying truth.

I killed your friend.

What do you think about that?

No! Liz!

No. Liz, I'm sorry.

It was more or less a veiled threat.

"If you don't do what I tell you,

this is what's going to happen to you."

Back at Brandi's apartment in new Philadelphia,

all is quiet.

No one here has any idea of the brutal crimes

happening deep in the woods.

This was in the middle of the night, so no one knew.

And it was a Tuesday night in tuscarawas county.

So nothing like that normally happens.

Brandi?

When Brandi's roommate checks her room

and finds it empty, she doesn't think much of it.

This was an 18-year-old girl,

and school was out

and people knew they were going on a girl's night.

She could be out at 1:30 in the morning.

It wasn't like there was a curfew they'd missed

or anybody was expecting them anywhere.

Miles away,

Brandi's living nightmare continues to play out.

They were walking along the railroad tracks at 12:30,

1 o'clock in the morning,

along the way where he did attempt to rape her

and failed that attempt.

So that sets his tone, I think, for what some of the things

that may have been happening next.

Hold this.

Miller: He has Brandi carrying his beer at that time.

Brandi has her shoes and socks off.

Somewhere along the way, Brandi complained of her feet hurting.

In an odd show of kindness,

her captor offers his help.

Sorry.

Here.

Thanks.

That's a real change from what she had seen

all along up to that point.

Here he is, he's offering her his shoes to wear

like he's trying to help her,

but yet, you know, it's more information

that's very confusing and fearful

to her I'm sure.

It's right under here.

Come on. Watch your head. Watch your head.

Here we are.

It's okay. I'm -- I'm not going to hurt you.

Sit down.

Enjoy it.

You got, big plans for the future?

Go to college?

Be a doctor or something?

No. No.

I'm not going to college.

No way.

You have to.

Everyone should go to college.

I'm going to tell my kids they have to go to college.

Yeah. Well, not me.

I want to be a photographer.

I've always wanted to be a photographer.

What?

That is so stupid.

You'll never make any money doing that out here.

I'm telling you.

You're making your own choice.

You should go to college.

He was just talking to her just like any,

you know, any person, anybody else.

After all that he had done that evening already,

it just wasn't really phasing him.

And I'm sure Brandi was scared as ever,

and just continued to have conversation with him

just to maybe distract him in a way.

Suddenly, the predator ends the small talk.

Confident that she's dead,

he pushes her body into the river nearby.

This was a young woman

who had the presence of mind to play dead.

She knew if she moved, maybe she wouldn't come home

because she had just seen what happened to her best friend.

Miller: Sitting in that freezing cold water,

I'm sure it just felt like an eternity

just waiting for him to leave in hopes that,

you know, she can escape this ordeal.

But Brandi is not out of danger yet.

Was she thinking he'd come back

when she was crawling up that embankment?

Boy, I sure would be.

Brandi Hicks has played dead

and managed to escape her captor.

Now she's hoping to find help before the killer finds her.

That would have been so hard.

I don't know that I could have done that.

Well, I know I couldn't have done it.

I just can't imagine what that trip would have done to her

in her mind and her heart.

Soon she hears the sound of a car coming from the road.

It could be rescue, but it could also be the killer.

She had just picked up somebody,

and it ended in the death of her best friend

and horrible things had happened to her,

but she still ran out into the road

and flagged down the first person she saw.

Hey. Hey. Hey. Stop.

My god.

Ma'am, stay right there.

It was definitely a miracle.

God has his hand on the whole situation.

And I know a lot of times people say,

"well, why didn't god stop it then?"

But that wasn't what the plan was.

But it was his plan for Brandi to survive, and she did.

Are you okay? What happened?

My -- my friend -- my friend, she -- she's still there.

Everything she had just gone through,

she probably wasn't making too much sense at that point.

Need an 1138.

Just came across female victim, Brandi Hicks.

I'll bring her in for a statement.

Be advised, there's a missing female in the area.

Brandi is rushed to the hospital

and reunited with her family

while law enforcement tries to put the pieces

of the harrowing puzzle together.

Now I know it's hard,

but if you can remember anything

about where you were when you last saw Liz?

Do you actually? No.

Hey, I want to hold it. We were at the video store.

Okay.

And then this guy, Mark...

Hey, girls.

Hey.

Got in with US.

And he made US drive

past the elementary school...

Stop. Stop. Shut up.

And then just keep going further.

Eventually, turned right onto harmon hill.

No. No. No. No. Where are you taking her?

Please. Please.

And then he took Liz up some trail around there.

For police, the first order of business

is finding Liz Reiser.

Let's round up all available units and search that area.

Hey, I got something here.

Dispatch, this is unit 2450.

I believe we've located the missing female.

Appears to be deceased.

Please send an ambulance and all available units.

Liz's parents, becki and Jeff Reiser,

arrive at the hospital.

They have no idea that their daughter's body

has just been found.

I was glad actually that they were at the hospital

and that we could be there and tell them soon as we knew.

What do you know? What can you tell US?

Let's -- let's, um, get a seat here.

Thanks.

All right.

Did you find her?

Well, here's what we know.

I, I already --

I already know that my daughter is dead.

I'm sorry...

But we have a lot of information.

Now I had no idea what had happened.

All I knew is my husband said that our daughter was dead,

and that was the last thought that had ever entered my mind.

I had no idea.

I was just sure that Liz was going to come home.

I am so sorry.

Well, there's something --

there's something I need to say.

I want you and everyone to know...

That we forgive the man who did this to our daughter.

It was my choice, it was my option.

And as I made the decision, "yes.

I'll forgive this man too,"

I could feel this like someone was pouring pancake syrup

all over me, and it was just kind of coming down

and it was such a soothing feeling.

And with that feeling came total peace.

Yes.

We forgive him.

I've delivered considerable death messages,

not under exactly these circumstances,

but they have a daughter murdered,

and to...

To pretty much forgive the killer,

that does not happen often,

and it's only because you have a very strong faith

that they're able to do that.

Liz's killer may have been forgiven by Liz's parents,

but he's still on the run, armed and dangerous.

We were concerned for our community, not just ourselves.

We didn't want anyone else to die.

Days after a harrowing ordeal

on the outskirts of eastern Ohio,

investigators are searching for the man

who murdered 17-year-old Liz Reiser

and terrorized her best friend, Brandi Hicks.

Brandi helped make a partial composite

of the suspect.

I've never had a case like that

where someone who's been so traumatized

was able to help US so much

immediately after this had happened,

and she was just completely amazing.

Her strength was tremendous.

And I've just never forgotten that.

Yeah. That looks just like him.

Then, just hours after the sketch starts circulating,

there's a break in the case.

Yes, ma'am. How can I help you?

I'm, Sheila Davis.

I, was told you're the one

investigating the case with the two girls.

That's right.

You have some information for me.

Well, I mean, I don't even know how to say this.

My son, Matthew vaca,

I've been watching his kids for a couple days,

and, we have not seen him.

So you think he's in some sort of trouble?

He just, called me a little while ago and he, -

he said, um,

"mom, I've done something really bad,

and you're never going to forgive me."

What do you think he meant?

I know...

Matthew is the one who did this to these girls.

Matthew was a parole violator at that time,

and he had a history of past charges for,

you know, drunken driving, and b&e and grand theft.

And she knows that what she's doing

is going to take this man away from his children

for the rest of their lives.

She also knew that he'd taken a child away from her mom.

It was her conviction that when you do something like this,

you pay for it.

Matthew vaca's mother tells police they can find her son

at lake Clark,

a campground 40 minutes southwest of new Philadelphia.

And that same night, they bring him in.

Now what I need for you to do is I need you

to write down

your verbal testimony. All right?

I need it in detail from the beginning to the end.

Matthew wrote his statement that he wished

that he would not have done that.

He wished that he was in the girls' place.

That's what he wrote on paper.

Personally, I don't believe that.

I believe that he intended to do that.

I think he had that plan, and he just happened

to find a couple of victims

that he could do that to, and that's what he did.

Matthew vaca pleads guilty to all charges

on the 11-count indictment,

including aggravating murder,

attempted murder, kidnapping and rape.

He is sentenced to 96 years in prison

without the possibility of parole.

Our prosecutor asked US if we wanted to pursue

the death penalty.

And we are for the death penalty,

but at that point in time, in the year 2000,

the death penalty had not been upheld in the state of Ohio

since the '60s.

So the possibility of him actually being put to death

was slim to none.

He would have many, many appeals,

and we would have to go to court numerous times.

And she just didn't want to have Brandi have to do that,

and have US have to do that and relieve it all the time.

Liz has now been gone as long as she was with US,

and that seems so impossible

that so much has happened in 17 years.

I'm so grateful that we had her for as long as we did

and we were able to experience the things that we did.

And I miss her desperately.

Do I wish Liz was still here?

More than anything,

but I would not wish her back to this world

that's full of evil and terrible things.

She's with god. She's with the lord.

And she is experiencing amazing things.

As for Brandi Hicks, despite her trauma,

she has fulfilled a lifelong dream.

Brandi said at the sentencing

that she wanted to be a photographer.

She is a photographer in her hometown.

She's a mom. She's a married woman.

She has a business.

When somebody gets away, when there's so much to be sad about,

the one good thing is she got to live her life.

She got to do what she wanted to do.