People Who Were Kidnapped Are Sharing What Happened And How They Survived, And Holy Crap

Yahoo

8 hours ago

Recently, I came across this Reddit thread where u/ZeusDX1118 asked "People who've been kidnapped, how did you survive?"
Here's what people shared:
1."It was 1988. I was kidnapped way before my memories formed, so this is all from my parents and the police report. Basically, a lady in the nursing ward decided to give me a 'spicy adoption' by hiding me in some sheets and taking me out of the hospital. She was tracked down a few days later, and I was handed back to my parents. She didn't mistreat me. Apparently, I was a healthy, normal child, and she even bought the expensive stuff in order to take care of me. I got to meet her in my teens. I asked her, 'Why me?' and it was because my family hadn't done the paperwork for me correctly, so I was easier to slip out and potentially give her more time to disappear with me. If you have more questions, feel free to reply to the message, and I'll answer them."
—None
2."I was kidnapped when I was 7. It was by a very person addicted to drugs, a family member, who told me he was bringing me out for ice cream. He left me on a bench outside a bar when the bartender told him he couldn't bring kids in. It was a dirty biker bar in Las Vegas during the 90s. I was young, scared, and didn't fully comprehend the situation. I was confused why we didn't go to an ice cream shop. The family member came out with two men who fully terrified me. One of them touched my curly, bright red hair and smiled widely. I remember not knowing what to do, so I started singing Joan Osborne's 'What if god was one of us?' They got freaked when I wouldn't stop singing and walked back into the bar. I was definitely a weird kid, but scream singing as self-defense was kind of smart."
"I was left alone on the bench again when a man walked up and asked me where my parents were. I told him I didn't get ice cream and wanted to go back to my mom, but my family member wouldn't let me. He walked into the bar but came out just a minute later and sat with me until the police arrived. Twenty years later, my mom saw that family member for the first time. He was on end-of-life hospice care but made it to another family member's funeral. When everyone was filtering out, he was waiting on the bus home when my mom punched him in the face. I love my mom."
—None
3."I was kidnapped at gunpoint along with my younger brother and my early-twenties mother when I was in kindergarten. My father, 40 years old, hadn't taken the divorce well and already had some psychiatric illness, so he forced us all into his truck and drove us from California to Mexico. At the time, my parents told us kids that we were taking a family trip. I remember the drive, shopping in a street market, and being greeted by the flashing lights of police cars when we eventually returned to the States. The police were nice and let us sit in the police car! I remember being excited about that."
—sensualcephalopod
4."A cousin of mine was kidnapped as a baby by his aunt and uncle and taken to Australia and raised as their very own child. The kid was born to a middle-income family in a third-world country. My cousin's father's brother was a wealthy man in Australia who had spent the previous year living back home. He and his wife, who could not have children, plotted to visit the new baby and claim him as their own, with the father of the child aiding them in the kidnapping. The baby was taken from the mother in the middle of the night (they drugged her) and flown to Australia, where the uncle and aunt claimed the child was theirs."
"This happened in the late 90s, so I'm not sure how they did it, but regardless, the child was never returned to the mother. They ended up telling her where the child was but threatened to have her put in prison and the child up for adoption if she ever spoke out, so she never did. My cousin was raised until 17 years old with his false family until he found the truth by reconnecting with his mother through Facebook. When he turned 18, he confronted his real parents, and they admitted everything. The next day, he moved out and flew 12 hours to meet his new family. Really messed up story. The kid is a great dude, tho."
—mariokart890
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5."A friend of mine was kidnapped on his paper route. The kidnappers/robbers wanted his van to commit a robbery. They handcuffed him, put a bag over his head, and left him in the back of the van during the robbery. When they were done, they told him to count to 100 before he got up and took off the mask. Pretty wild."
—strangesandwich
6."My grandmother's brother was kidnapped and held for ransom. He's a successful businessman. He was held at gunpoint in the parking lot of his office building. It was in the papers and everything. It was a month before the kidnappers even made contact with the family to make their demands. These guys were pros; they've done this before and did their research. They knew exactly how much he was worth. It was really tough for us. From his accounts, they never physically harmed him, but he was kept in a dark room the entire time and fed sandwiches. Even got him his medication. Prayer and thinking of his family were the only things that got him through those three months."
"In the end, they caught the guy on top of the operation, and they let him go. To say he was traumatized is an understatement. I've never seen a person so broken before. Couldn't even crack a smile."
—ParkerZA
7."My parents were kidnapped at gunpoint by two dudes in New Orleans. They went out to dinner for their 1st wedding anniversary and were held up outside of the restaurant. They forced my parents into their car in the backseat, and they drove around for a while. Took everything from my parents: wedding rings, watch, and wallets. Apparently, some lady saw this take place and called 911 from a pay phone. Luckily, the two guys dropped my parents off and drove away. I don't think they were ever caught, though."
—kingcakefucks
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8."When I was 12, somebody took me from a Target parking lot and put me in their trunk. Somebody saw and started driving after us. The guy stopped and ran away when he realized that people saw him. he stopped, and I got out."
—Brandcrazultra
9."I was working alone at a gas station in my middle-of-nowhere town. A robber came in with a gun to rob the store and then kidnap me. He made me drive his Durango to the next exit, and we drove out a few miles when he dropped me off. I thought he was taking me out to execute me, but it was in reality to get me further from a phone. This was 1999, so cell phones were not popular. Took me a while to make it to the closest house where someone answered the door with a shotgun. He ended up helping me get hold of the sheriff."
—auto_pHIGHlot
10."I was grabbed in a parking lot and pulled into the backseat of a car. I started kicking and screaming and flailing around. The passenger had a gun pointed at me, and I was trying to hit it out of his hand while the person in the backseat was trying to restrain me. I fought for my life. There was no thinking or anything, I just went straight to fight mode. They ended up stopping in a dark neighborhood and threw me out into the street. During all this they were calling me names and saying other shit but I don't really remember those details. I just remember fighting for my life and screaming."
—None
11."I was kidnapped when I was 9, but I didn't even realize at the time. My school bus got stolen, and the guy drove around picking up random kids. We caught on and started yelling out the windows. The guy panicked and dropped us off at a school none of us went to. We told the secretary what happened, and a bunch of cops came."
—imsothrough
12."One of the guy's girlfriends in the house found me and took pity on me. She snuck me out when they all went out drinking. She dropped me off at a corner gas station, and I think I ran the rest of the way home...I am not a runner by any means. I'll never forget stepping into the living room of my house that day...my shower...And how terrified I was to sleep, so I slept in the bed with my mom."
—sabineastroph
13."Technically, I was kidnapped by a fake cab driver in the nineties in London. I called a minicab company like a sensible 20-year-old, it being late and me being alone in a miniskirt. I wait outside the pub, the car turns up, and the driver says, 'Are you [my name]?' So I get in, he puts on the fare meter and off we drive, his company radio babbling in the background. A few minutes into this, the dispatcher starts talking to another cab driver over the radio, and the other cab driver on the radio says, 'That [my name] girl isn't at the Red Lion pub, someone said she got into another car. I look at his radio set up, his radio doesn't have a handset, just receives. Basically, this guy had bought a radio receiver to eavesdrop on the cab messages and poach their customers. So... I'm in the back of a total stranger's car now, no one knows this, and the car has taken an odd turn, not the route he should have taken to get to my block of flats."
"I go cold. As luck would have it, the car gets caught by a red light and comes to a stop. I grab my bag and bail out of the door, throwing a balled up five at him as I go. The driver then swears a bit, and I bolt into the off-licence next to the lights. He has to drive off because there's traffic behind him a few seconds later. I walk home via populated areas. Hard to say if this was a sex offender or just someone poaching fares. I didn't wait to find out."
—ukhoneybee
14."I was 6. I wandered away from my mom at a Value City (back when they sold clothes). I don't remember everything too clearly, but this man told me he would help me find my mom, and he took me to his car. Apparently, someone saw me crying and called the police, and the cops pulled him over. They arrested him. Not sure what happened to him."
—Poopdicks69
15.And finally, "I was kidnapped when I left work one night. We struggled briefly, but he forced his way into my car. He had a gun. He said he wanted me to go to the ATM and get money. I told him I didn't have any, but I could get some money from my work. After a short time, I just drove back to my work, got out of the car, and took my purse and car keys with me. Luckily, our security person was at the door when I walked in. I just completely broke down, and he took charge. He called the police, who got there really quickly. My kidnapper was waiting for me in my car to come back with the money. The police took him to jail."
—Iwantbubbles
If you were kidnapped and feel comfortable sharing your story, tell us in the comments or us the anonymous form below:
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