I was ‘The Girl In The Box’ – sick couple kidnapped & brutally tortured me while I was chained in darkness for 7 years

AFTER being kidnapped astatine knifepoint and imprisoned successful a pitch-black box, for 7 agonising years Colleen Stan endured unimaginable fearfulness astatine the hands of her sick captors.

She was tortured, whipped, hung from the ceiling, raped repeatedly, forced to motion a ‘slavery contract’ and kept nether the furniture portion kidnappers - Cameron and Janice Hooker - adjacent had sex connected apical of her.

To this day, it remains 1 of the astir harrowing kidnap cases successful past - made each the much singular because, miraculously, Colleen survived to archer the tale.

Recalling her ordeal, Colleen, present 68, says: “I was kept successful this container 22 to 23 hours a day. I don’t cognize however to explicate what full acheronian similar that does to a quality soul. I felt similar they were going to termination me."

A fateful mistake

Before her nightmare begain, Colleen grew up successful California successful "a emblematic mediate people family". 

But connected May 19, 1977, the 20-year-old's beingness changed forever.

Speaking connected the documentary The Girl In The Box, disposable to ticker connected Hayu, Colleen says: "It was my person Linda’s birthday. I decided I was going to spell and astonishment her.

"I went down and I tried to get my car to commencement that time but it wouldn’t commencement truthful I said, ‘That’s alright, I’ll hitchhike.’"

Colleen acceptable disconnected connected the seven-hour trip, initially getting rides from motortruck drivers who’d instrumentality her arsenic acold arsenic they could. Then a car stopped for her.

She says: “I instrumentality retired my thumb and this young mates pulls up, astir my property with a small baby.

"I evaluated the concern and it seemed safe."

As the writer of Perfect Victim: The True Story of 'The Girl successful the Box' Carla Norton comments: "Hitchhiking was precise communal astatine that time, particularly for young people.”

It was a split-second determination that would person horrific consequences.

She says: "I told them I was going to astonishment my person truthful they didn’t cognize I was coming. They had each this accusation connected me, and I didn’t person immoderate accusation connected them."

'If I screamed cipher would perceive me'

After a fewer hours, they pulled implicit astatine a petrol station, and Colleen utilized the toilets portion the mates refuelled the car.

She says: “When I got backmost successful the car determination was this unusual woody container successful the backseat which wasn’t determination before. It was benignant of square. It appeared to person latches connected it."

The mates took a detour down a quiescent ungraded road, and Janice took the babe down to play successful a tiny creek.

Colleen says: "All of a abrupt [Cameron] jumps successful from the rider side. He has a large weapon and pushes it into my pharynx and says, ‘Put your hands supra your head’.

"He throws a blindfold implicit my eyes, tied my ankles unneurotic with immoderate enactment and puts the weapon backmost to my pharynx and says, ‘Are you going to bash what I say?’ Of people I said yes.

“He takes the woody container and helium puts it implicit my caput and helium unopen it and latched it connected the extracurricular astir my cervix truthful if I screamed cipher would perceive me.

"I was precise frightened and successful shock. It was precise stifling, precise claustrophobic, precise hot.

"I was wholly successful panic mode and freaking out. I didn’t cognize what these radical were going to bash with me.”

'They had enactment astatine her feet'

The homemade container was double-walled, insulated and weighed astir 20lb.

The mates past waited for nightfall and smuggled her into the basement of their house. 

Colleen says: “He took the handcuff disconnected 1 of my wrists, and slaps connected this leather cuff and hooked it into a hook connected the ceiling."

She past had her apparel stripped disconnected and was suspended from the beam successful the ceiling - earlier Cameron brought his Janice downstairs and the brace had enactment astatine her feet.

'I'll chopped your vocal cords'

The adjacent time Cameron - chained Colleen up to what helium referred to arsenic 'the rack'. 

She says: "He said, 'Go up and scream, I’ll chopped your vocal cords, I’ve done it before.'

"He kept maine connected the rack for a mates of weeks portion helium built different box. It was a container wrong different container - a small spot bigger than a coffin. 

“Once an evening he’d travel down, get maine retired of the box, fto maine usage the furniture pan, past helium would usually person maine beryllium connected the rack, manus maine thing to eat... I had to bash each that, naked. Then helium would bent maine up and torture me.

"He enactment bare wires connected my breasts and connected the wrong of my thighs. I was electrocuted. He would say, 'I’m not doing this to punish you, I’m doing this due to the fact that I similar to.'"

Meanwhile, Colleen's housemates inevitably grew acrophobic and filed a missing person’s study with the constabulary - but determination was a 400-mile agelong successful which she could person gone missing, and not overmuch to spell on. 

Seven months later, successful January 1978, Cameron removed Colleen’s blindfold for the archetypal clip to motion a ‘slave contract’, which helium said was overseen by a almighty organisation called ‘The Company’ who would wounded her and her loved ones if she didn’t obey.

After that, the mates started to fto her retired astatine nighttime to bash chores astir the location - and Cameron began raping her.

Colleen says: "The archetypal rape, helium took maine upstairs to their chamber and helium tied maine up to their bed. I could consciousness them and perceive them kissing implicit maine and past each of a abrupt helium jumped connected maine and raped me."

'I thought astir taking my ain life'

Meanwhile, Colleen’s hopeless household hired a backstage researcher to effort to find her. They refused to springiness up anticipation that their girl was inactive alive, but their hunt proved fruitless. 

Eleven months later, the Hookers moved to a agrarian determination successful a smaller mobile location with nary basement, wherever Colleen was kept successful a container nether the furniture - wherever she could perceive the mates person enactment supra her. 

By 1980, Colleen has been mentally and physically nether power of mates for 3 years and was, for a time, granted a fewer ‘privileges’.

Bizarrely, astatine 1 constituent she was adjacent allowed to sojourn her household - but told they would beryllium wounded if she revealed the horrors of what she was going through. 

Colleen says: “People ever say, 'Why didn’t you tally away?' I conscionable felt that it wasn’t an enactment astatine that time. [After signing the enslaved contract] I truly felt I’d beryllium wounded and different radical would beryllium wounded if I went against them.

“He was telling maine what to say...that helium was my fellow and we were going to get married.

"He said 'The Company' had acceptable up thing to ticker [her parents'] location and bug their phones and if I said anything, radical were going to die.

"I didn’t archer them astir thing - I didn’t privation anyone to beryllium hurt.” 

After that, the conditions successful which Colleen was forced to unrecorded got adjacent worse.

She says successful the documentary: “Once a day, I was fixed thing to devour and past it was beauteous exclusive for astir 3 years - I was locked up successful the box.

“The much I was whimpering oregon crying, the much excited helium got. If I didn’t react, it benignant of got boring for him.

“I was a mess. I got precise skinny. Looked anorexic. My hairsbreadth was falling out. After truthful galore years had passed, determination did travel a constituent erstwhile I thought astir taking my ain life.” 

A daring escape

By 1984, Cameron's woman Janice was successful the midst of a tense breakdown, filled with remorse implicit what they had done.

While Cameron was astatine work, she fled with Colleen to her parents' house, wherever Colleen was capable to interaction her household and yet instrumentality home.

However, she was hesitant to study her ordeal. Unable to archer who she could trust, she decided not to spell to the police.

Meanwhile, Jan told her pastor everything astir Colleen - and besides an alleged execution 9 years previously, of Marie Elizabeth Spannhake, a pistillate who went missing successful 1976.

According to Janice, they had kidnapped Marie and held her successful a akin mode to Colleen earlier sidesplitting her - however, Cameron ne'er admitted to this, and nary charges were filed against him. 

'Life contiguous is good'

The Pastor called the constabulary and 3 months aft Colleen’s escape, Cameron was taken into custody. Controversially, Janice was offered immunity successful instrumentality for giving grounds against her husband,

Police recovered the caput box, enactment magazines, restraints and a representation of the enslaved declaration and Cameron Hooker was recovered blameworthy connected a fig of charges, including kidnapping and intersexual assault.

He was sentenced to 104 years successful prison, with the justice commenting: “I see this suspect the astir unsafe psychopath that I person ever dealt with… He volition beryllium a information for arsenic agelong arsenic helium is alive.”  

Colleen went connected to person a girl successful 1987 and each twelvemonth she celebrates the day of erstwhile she returned location to her household with a formation party. 

“I thoroughly bask my freedom. Life contiguous is good," she says.

"You person to larn however to unrecorded successful the now, and not fto that past resistance you back."