In the 1980s Muslim extremists kidnapped seventy westerners off the streets of war-torn Lebanon. Journalist Terry Anderson would become the longest held hostage in American history. Hostage Beirut documentary
In 1982 Israel invaded Lebanon, and America established a military presence that supported the Christian minority. ibid.
Two months into his captivity Anderson became aware of another hostage on the other side of the wall: it was CIA Station Chief William Buckley. ibid.
Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for Anderson’s kidnapping. ibid.
Waite decided to stay in Anderson’s old apartment in Beirut in the hope that the kidnappers would contact him. ibid.
Terry Anderson was moved more than twenty times over the years. ibid.
Now the kidnappers told Waite they would release their hostages if these seventeen terrorists were freed from the Kuwaiti prison. ibid.
Westerners began disappearing again including Irish teacher Brian Keenan and British journalist John McCarthy. ibid.
Only a few steps away from the other hostages Terry Waite was in solitary confinement. His perceived link to the Iran/Contra scandal angered the kidnappers, and he was kept in isolation for three and a half years. ibid.
John McCarthy 5 years 4 month in captivity. Released August 1991. ibid.
Terry Waite 4 years 9 months in captivity. Released November 1991. ibid.
In 1992 twenty-five-year-old Stephanie Slater was kidnapped and locked inside a coffin for eight torturous days. Her attacker Michael Sams had already killed before. Crimes That Shook Britain: Stephanie Slater
He wanted £175,000 in return for her life. ibid.
The kidnapper has successfully fled with £175,000 and the police have no trace on him. ibid.
Stephanie Slater arrives on her doorstep alone. ibid.
[For] the settlers along the American frontier it was the ultimate horror, a fate worse than death to be carried off by Indians. But for more than two centuries it happened to thousands of men, women and children. What was their fate? In Search of History s1e6: Captives, History 1996
The kidnapping of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart. Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart I, television news, CI 2018
I wasn’t just raped, I was chained up, I was starved, I was denied water, I was denied food. ibid. Smart
Terror, boredom and rape. ibid.
Complete hopelessness, despair. ibid.
He raped me. And I was devastated. ibid.
I’ll kill you. I’ll kill your family. Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart II, Smart’s account of kidnapper’s threats
We actually tied him in to three other rape cases in the area. ibid. rozzer
Brian David Mitchell’s ex-wife called America’s Most Wanted. ibid. host
Elizabeth, is it really you? ibid. dad
15-year-old Elizabeth Smart was found alive today … ibid. television news
I won’t ask you to let me go again. Just tell me why I’m here please. I have a right to know why. God, I’ve already been locked in here for two months. Oldboy 2003 starring Choi Min-sik & Yoo Ji-tae & Kang Hye-jung & Kim Byeong-ok & Oh Tae-kyung & Yoo Yeon-seok & Woo Il-han & Yoon Jim-seo & Oh Dal-su et al, director Park Chan-wook, Oh Dae-su
If they had told me then it would be 15 years, would it have been easier to endure or harder? ibid.
My home is gone. I cannot call my friends or relatives because they say I murdered my wife. I am a fugitive. ibid.
They are the most notorious parents in America today accused of torturing, abusing and imprisoning twelve of their thirteen children. Early on Sunday January 14th police in California are called to the home of the reclusive Turpin family and make an horrific discovery: 13 children, most are starving, some are shackled to beds. Their parents, David and Louise Turpin, are arrested. Tortured by Mum & Dad: The Turpin 13, Channel 5 2018
As children they were subjected to sexual abuse. ibid.