1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,040 Hi everyone, this is Deb from Dying to be Found. 2 00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:12,340 Before we get started, I just wanted to say that episodes contain disturbing discussions on harmful acts and crimes against animals and or humankind. 3 00:00:12,340 --> 00:00:18,560 Recordings are not intended for young or sensitive audiences due to the content nature of this podcast. 4 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:34,080 Listener discretion is strongly advised. 5 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:38,720 Hi everyone, I'm Deb, your host of Dying to be Found True Crime Podcast. 6 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:46,040 And today my daughter Shelby is here, ready to help me get back into my routine. 7 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:50,680 Shelby, we have not recorded all summer long. Can you believe that? 8 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:54,440 I can't. It's just been so busy for everybody. 9 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:58,840 It really has. We've had a lot of life changes between you and me. 10 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:05,520 The last time we really had a long conversation besides the car ride home is when we went to the beach a month ago. 11 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:09,760 Yes, I'm ready to go back. 12 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:18,320 I think I am too. Well, I want to give a huge shout out to my summertime co-hosts who all agreed to record with me this year. 13 00:01:18,320 --> 00:01:23,600 You are my saving grace because I've had a lot of unexpected things going on. 14 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:31,520 So I actually had a little vault and dug out all of my collabs that I've been saving up to spread throughout this season. 15 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:40,240 So listeners, if you've noticed that we've had a lot of featured guests is because I've added a summertime list from some of my favorite podcasts. 16 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:43,880 So be sure to go check those out. Let me know what you think. 17 00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:52,760 And I'm just going to throw in here now, if anybody is a true crime podcaster and you want to showcase your podcast here on Dying to be Found, 18 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:57,800 email me at dying the number two, the letter B found at gmail dot com. 19 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:02,560 And I'll get you on an episode of The Dash. Other than that, Shelbs, let's get back to you. 20 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:07,560 What's going on with you? Kids are about to get back into school. 21 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:12,320 We are starting a restaurant, very small salad and sandwich shop. 22 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:16,840 So that's what's been filling up my weekends this summer. Super exciting. 23 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:20,720 I think we're maybe about two to three weeks from opening. 24 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:25,040 And we have done all of this in the last 25 days. 25 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:30,200 Wow. Have you been planning for this for longer than that? 26 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:33,560 Or was it just a last minute thought? What's going on? 27 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:37,520 We've been talking about it for a very, very, very, very long time. 28 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:41,000 And it was just right place, right time. 29 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:45,000 We found the perfect landlords for the owner of the building. 30 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:47,960 And we are just we're so excited. Oh, good. 31 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:51,080 Do you want to tell anybody what the name of it is, where it's located? 32 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:54,200 Are we going to still keep the mystery of our location? 33 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:59,600 We're still going to keep the mystery of our location. 34 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:02,400 Well, Shelby, I'm excited for you. 35 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:06,640 Believe it or not, I have an extra week later in September. 36 00:03:06,640 --> 00:03:09,720 I might have to come check out that new restaurant of yours. 37 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:11,960 I'll do a review about that. 38 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:14,960 Absolutely. We're going to do a soft opening. 39 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:17,800 So we'll we'll see. Very good. 40 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:20,440 All right. Well, speaking of adventures, 41 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:24,320 we're going to be talking about a very adventurous young woman today. 42 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:28,560 And Shelby, I'm getting a little bit of contradiction 43 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:31,480 on the location on where she's at. 44 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:33,880 We're talking about Colleen Stan. 45 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:39,560 And I'm just going to say that Colleen is based out of Eugene, Oregon, 46 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:42,400 because a lot of the articles that I found, 47 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:45,200 some of them said that she lived in northern California. 48 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:48,080 Others said that she lived in Eugene, Oregon. 49 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:52,200 So the more reputable ones are saying that she was in Eugene. 50 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:54,720 And that's where I'm going to be saying that she's based out of. 51 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:58,920 If any of our listeners can correct me and actually verify that, 52 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:02,720 that would be great. Just make sure you DM me on Instagram. 53 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:04,000 I'd love to hear from you. 54 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:08,800 It's kind of funny because we were literally just talking yesterday about 55 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:11,920 if I moved to California, then you can move to Oregon. 56 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:16,360 Yes, we did have that conversation. 57 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:18,640 And as a matter of fact, let me just tell you this. 58 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:23,360 We were out in Oregon last summer visiting Emily and Jessica. 59 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:25,160 Hi, ladies. Hi, Emily. 60 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:28,880 Hi, Jessica. I flew into Eugene, Oregon. 61 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:31,760 It is a beautiful area of the country. 62 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:33,400 It's very rural. 63 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:36,440 Honestly, it reminds me a lot of Georgia. 64 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:38,640 All the hills, all the trees. 65 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:41,800 The only difference is, is that you are trading in the pine trees 66 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:45,440 that I have here in Georgia with fir trees out in Oregon. 67 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:47,520 So it's just a beautiful area. 68 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:51,600 Very rural, very isolated, very small airport. 69 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:55,720 But it is a beautiful part of the country, regardless on where it's at. 70 00:04:55,720 --> 00:04:57,520 I mean, northern California. 71 00:04:57,520 --> 00:04:58,360 All right, Shelbs. 72 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:00,920 So we're going to go back to the 1970s. 73 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:03,400 And what do you know about the 70s? Anything? 74 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:04,800 I know you weren't around. 75 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:06,520 I was ultra young. 76 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:11,440 But what do you know about the 70s and the lifestyles, especially in California? 77 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:14,600 It was the era of love. 78 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:17,560 Peace and love. 79 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:19,680 Yes, free spirits everywhere. 80 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:22,600 Lots of hippies. And yeah, peace and love. 81 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:26,840 We saw the movie Jesus Revolution in theaters. 82 00:05:26,840 --> 00:05:33,080 And that was literally it was 70s hippies hitchhiking, singing Kool-Bai-Yah. 83 00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:35,440 There you go. I haven't even heard of that. 84 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:38,040 Is that new? Oh, it's so good. 85 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:41,520 It's so good. It came out over the summertime. 86 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:42,880 OK, cool. 87 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:45,160 All right, well, I have a question for you. 88 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:47,440 You know, I always like to start things off that way. 89 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:48,400 All righty. 90 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:51,120 Have you ever taken a ride from a stranger? 91 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:53,200 Maybe your car broke down. 92 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:55,480 Have you ever hitchhiked, anything like that? 93 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:58,080 Go ahead, Shelby, enlighten your mother. 94 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:00,520 Tell me all about it. Now's the time to confess. 95 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:05,320 I don't think this is a story you should know. 96 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:10,280 It was not one of my best moments at all. 97 00:06:10,280 --> 00:06:14,200 Give me the abridged version of you taking a ride from a stranger. 98 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:16,360 Was I living in the same town with you? 99 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:18,160 No, you were not. OK. 100 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:26,400 OK. And my friends and I had taken an Uber to Atlanta. 101 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:31,280 Well, the night didn't end so well. 102 00:06:31,280 --> 00:06:34,000 Somehow we all got broken up. 103 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:39,200 My wallet was stolen and I had no money or phone. 104 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:41,440 Oh, wow. To call anybody. 105 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:43,240 Oh, wow. 106 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:49,640 So I somehow had the right person at the right place 107 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:52,160 and the right time and a kind heart get me back home. 108 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:54,640 OK. Safely. Wow. 109 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:59,000 OK. Did your spidey senses ever go off or you just I mean, 110 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:01,120 you weren't desperate for the ride. 111 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:04,400 You used your judgment, I hope. 112 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:07,640 I got home very safely. 113 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:09,320 OK, I'm glad to hear that. 114 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:12,760 I mean, I've taken rides from people because my very first car 115 00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:15,160 was a Renault Alliance. 116 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:16,600 I don't even know what that is. 117 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:18,000 That is a French vehicle. 118 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:20,760 If anybody knows what that is, it's a French vehicle. 119 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:26,320 And that thing broke down every other day. 120 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:28,000 That was in my flight attendant years. 121 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:31,600 And I used to have to drive to the Atlanta airport in it all. 122 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,760 The time and it would break down every other day. 123 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:37,440 Well, I always used my judgment. 124 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:38,800 There were a lot of nice people. 125 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:42,880 There was one time when I actually broke down in the town that you lived in. 126 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:47,280 And I don't know, it was probably a four mile walk home. 127 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:50,120 And I did have people stop along the way. 128 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:53,920 Although I was grateful and I didn't have any weird vibes 129 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:55,640 of getting in a car with anybody. 130 00:07:55,640 --> 00:07:58,240 I literally said, you know what? No, I'm I'm walking. 131 00:07:58,240 --> 00:07:59,160 It's a nice day. 132 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:02,200 I'm just going to walk home today. And they're like, are you sure? 133 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:04,080 I was like, yeah, thank you anyway. 134 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:07,680 So I wouldn't say that I've ever gotten in the car with a stranger 135 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:11,880 that I ever felt like something weird was going to happen. 136 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:16,000 But, you know, you just have to be careful, especially in today's day and age. 137 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:19,760 That's right. Because back in the 70s, everybody was hitchhiking. 138 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:23,400 Everybody was, you know, like we said, kumbaya. 139 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:25,760 But what else was happening in the 70s, though? 140 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:28,080 I think they were like, oh, I'm going to go to the beach. 141 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:31,880 So I think there were a lot of serial killers back in the 70s. 142 00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:33,840 So, yeah. All right. 143 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:35,640 Well, let's talk about Colleen. 144 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:38,880 You had mentioned to me, I don't know if it was before we started recording, 145 00:08:38,880 --> 00:08:40,600 but you have not heard about this case. 146 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:44,240 No. Colleen is also known as the girl in the box. 147 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:50,520 So back in May 1977, Colleen set out to see one of her girlfriends. 148 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:55,080 She was traveling from Eugene, Oregon to northern California. 149 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:59,200 And she was very careful about who she would take rides with. 150 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:03,120 Apparently, Colleen was not a stranger to hitchhiking. 151 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:04,640 It was just the times. 152 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:07,000 She was very careful, like I said. 153 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:13,240 Even at one point, there was a car full of young men who had pulled over to offer her a lift along her path. 154 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:15,200 And Colleen politely declined. 155 00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:17,000 Now, she probably knew enough. 156 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:18,800 OK, there's a bunch of guys in the car. 157 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:21,520 I probably don't want to get in that car. 158 00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:26,800 She used her judgment, so she would kind of scope people out before she said yes. 159 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:34,360 As she was making her way out of town, a young couple by the name of Cameron and Janice Hooker stopped to offer Colleen a ride. 160 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:35,560 They were young. 161 00:09:35,560 --> 00:09:40,720 They smiled sweetly at Colleen at all the right moments during their conversation. 162 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:44,680 And best of all, Colleen saw that they had a baby in the backseat. 163 00:09:44,680 --> 00:09:46,800 So what can go wrong here, Shelps? 164 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:50,360 Yeah, I mean, it looks like they just look like the normal, normal family. 165 00:09:50,360 --> 00:09:52,440 There's a baby in the car. What could go wrong, right? 166 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:55,600 Absolutely. And I don't know about the 70s. 167 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:58,040 They didn't have a lot of car seats. 168 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:01,040 I don't know how old the baby was, maybe a toddler. 169 00:10:01,040 --> 00:10:07,280 But there was enough for Colleen to look around and say, OK, well, there's that baby in the backseat. 170 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:08,680 Should be no problem. 171 00:10:08,680 --> 00:10:09,960 Let's go ahead and jump in. 172 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:15,680 She decided that this couple was probably safe and that everything was going to be fine. 173 00:10:15,680 --> 00:10:17,560 So she went along for the ride. 174 00:10:17,560 --> 00:10:24,520 But I want to kind of pause here for just a moment because I want to give you a back story on Cameron and Janice, 175 00:10:24,520 --> 00:10:28,600 just so you kind of get a good indication of the type of people they were. 176 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:32,640 The Hookers were married two years earlier in 1975. 177 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:38,040 Well, once they were married, Cameron practiced bondage on his new bride. 178 00:10:38,040 --> 00:10:42,520 But at some point, Janice was ready to give all that up and to have children. 179 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:45,640 Obviously, they did because there was one in the backseat. 180 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:47,520 And what does Cameron do? 181 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:56,840 He presents Janice with the idea that he would love to bring a slave into this relationship so that he could do with her whatever he wanted. 182 00:10:56,840 --> 00:11:01,160 Mainly, he just wanted a little bit of help around the house, sort of like a maid. 183 00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:03,200 What do you think of that? Interesting. 184 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:05,240 Mm hmm. Well, here's the kicker. 185 00:11:05,240 --> 00:11:10,160 Janice agreed, but she had terms in order for this agreement to take place. 186 00:11:10,160 --> 00:11:16,560 OK, what would you do, Shelbs, if you were presented with this proposition? What would you do? 187 00:11:16,560 --> 00:11:20,520 I would politely say no, thank you. 188 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:24,920 I think Janice kind of had reservations as well, but she did agree. 189 00:11:24,920 --> 00:11:33,200 I think my words would be a little spicier, though, than politely saying no, thank you. 190 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:36,480 I'm not going to say how spicy, but. Yeah, I think so, too. 191 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:45,760 I'm not sure how spicy they were for Janice, but she did agree, although she had some terms they negotiated in this little arrangement. 192 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:53,640 The big one here, Shelby, was that under no circumstances could her husband have sex with anybody that he brings into the house. 193 00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:59,520 I mean, yeah, I know, right? OK, under no circumstances can you have sex with her? 194 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:03,320 And I mean it now. You can do this, but no sex. 195 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:08,760 So moving on, naturally, Cameron agrees to this. What a deal, right? 196 00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:16,680 Absolutely. Voila, the hooker's hatch is planned and all they have to do now is go find an unsuspecting victim. 197 00:12:16,680 --> 00:12:23,600 Let's fast forward to May 19th, 1977, where Cameron and Janice were out trolling. 198 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:25,760 I'm going to say trolling is a good word for this. 199 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:30,760 When they came upon Colleen Stan hitchhiking to her girlfriend's birthday party. 200 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:37,880 Now, Shelby, I looked this up, the distance between Eugene, Oregon and northern California, 201 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:45,040 the border there is about 200 miles or 321 kilometers driving distance. 202 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:49,000 So that would be somewhere around three hours away. 203 00:12:49,000 --> 00:13:00,720 And I don't know why the hookers would be that far from home unless they went the distance to make sure that I don't know what to kind of cover their tracks. 204 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:02,880 Was that the right phrase there? 205 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:09,240 Possibly go to a town where nobody knows them and find someone to pick up there. That makes sense to me. 206 00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:15,360 Yeah. So Colleen had made that judgment call to get in the car because of the baby in the backseat. 207 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:22,080 Everything's harmless here. Colleen hops into the backseat next to the kiddo. Everyone heads on down the road. 208 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:30,200 Now, Shelby, you and I have been on enough road trips to know that when there are multiple people in the car, we have lots of pit stops, eh? 209 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:33,320 Of course, especially when there are children. 210 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:38,600 Yes. Even when you say go to the bathroom before you leave, you know somebody's going to have to stop. 211 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:42,640 Well, Cameron makes a pit stop at a gas station to use the restroom. 212 00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:51,320 And it was during that time, Shelby, that just for a split second, Colleen's gut instinct told her to run and don't look back. 213 00:13:51,320 --> 00:13:56,200 I mean, go with your gut. Go with your gut here, girl. Go with your gut. Have you ever had that feeling? 214 00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:58,000 Oh, yes. Did you listen to it? 215 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:06,000 I did. It used to happen to me quite often, especially when I was in high school and it was kind of like a almost like a warning. 216 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:15,600 Mm hmm. And I knew what it was for and why it would happen. And sure enough, within two days that. 217 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:20,880 Oh, I remember that. Do you remember that? Yeah, it would be like within two days. I do. 218 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:26,440 I would run across why I had that gut feeling. It was a premonition. It was so weird. 219 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:30,640 I swear I have a sixth sense or something. I don't know. 220 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:35,840 Mm hmm. I think we all have that, to be honest with you. I mean, it's our gut feeling. 221 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:39,760 Everybody knows what that is. Either you listen to it or you don't. 222 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:44,280 Usually when you don't listen to it, you get repercussions from it. 223 00:14:44,280 --> 00:14:49,000 I'm a full advocate for that. So I do. When I get a gut feeling, I go with it for sure. 224 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:53,920 Yeah. And I am not discrediting Colleen's instinct here. I've done it. 225 00:14:53,920 --> 00:14:57,840 I've ignored it. So you just kind of have to go. I don't know. 226 00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:00,320 The older you get, you just kind of know. All right. 227 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:03,760 I really need to listen to my gut instinct here. And she was young. 228 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:06,840 It was the 70s. She was free. All that stuff. 229 00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:13,040 What she didn't notice before she got into that car is that there was a weird looking wooden box 230 00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:16,680 with a hole in one side laying in the back seat next to her. 231 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:20,800 And I'm thinking it was probably on the other side of the baby. 232 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:25,960 She wasn't looking deeply around, but when she was sitting there waiting for Cameron to use the restroom, 233 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:30,000 that's when she noticed this box. And that's when the gut instincts had run, 234 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:32,880 but she just didn't listen to her instincts that day. 235 00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:39,880 Now, the trio headed on back down the road about 30 minutes into that next leg shelves. 236 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:45,040 Cameron turned down a dirt road telling Janice and Colleen that he wanted to do a little sightseeing. 237 00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:49,560 Colleen thought nothing about it because that entire area of the West Coast, 238 00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:54,120 especially, you know, 40 years ago, was very outdoorsy. It still is. 239 00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:57,440 And so he stopped the car to go sightseeing. 240 00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:03,120 And this is when Cameron pulled out a knife and threatened to kill Colleen if she tried to run. 241 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:07,040 Oh, yeah. He went on to bind and gag her. 242 00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:15,320 But also to make matters worse, he installed that weird looking box from the back seat around Colleen's head. 243 00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:17,560 The box weighed about 20 pounds. 244 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:21,720 It was soundproof and it locked in place around her neck. 245 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:24,280 Oh, my gosh. I could not imagine. 246 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:27,280 I know. I would be absolutely terrified. 247 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:33,800 Yeah. Because for the next seven years, Shelbs, Colleen lived seven years in hell. 248 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:42,880 Once the hookers had Colleen trapped, they continued their journey down the road to a little town called Red Bluff, California, where the couple lived. 249 00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:47,720 As soon as the hookers got home, Cameron forced Colleen down into the basement. 250 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:53,880 He stripped her down, blindfolded her and hung her by her arms from the basement rafters. 251 00:16:53,880 --> 00:17:00,760 And I'm not just saying that she was standing there with her arms put up in the air and she was tied to the rafters Shelbs. 252 00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:03,160 I'm saying that her feet didn't touch the ground. 253 00:17:03,160 --> 00:17:08,120 Oh, my gosh. The hookers would spend the next seven years torturing Colleen. 254 00:17:08,120 --> 00:17:18,000 She was whipped during the day and at night she was forced to lay in a three foot by six foot coffin style crate up to twenty three hours a day. 255 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:21,000 And this crate was stored underneath the hookers bed. 256 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:24,520 Oh, my gosh. Isn't that crazy? 257 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:33,000 Yeah. I mean, when you said a slave, I guess I was kind of thinking, did you mention that they wanted the person to clean stuff? 258 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:36,840 Because that's what I was thinking that they were going to like have her do. 259 00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:39,760 Yeah. Not this. 260 00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:51,480 I had mentioned that Cameron and Janice had participated in bondage, but he may have presented it to her that, yeah, we could use some help around the house. 261 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:54,800 Oh, by the way, I'd like to continue on with the bondage. 262 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:57,680 And Janice is like, sure, no problem. 263 00:17:57,680 --> 00:18:00,600 You just can't have sex with her sort of thing. 264 00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:02,240 So I don't know. 265 00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:05,040 You know, we can't get into the minds of wackadoodles. 266 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:10,120 We just can't. Now, the hookers thought of everything here, Shelby. 267 00:18:10,120 --> 00:18:13,920 As soon as they settled in, they presented Colleen with a contract. 268 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:16,400 And you know a little bit about contracts. 269 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:18,520 You just signed one yourself. 270 00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:20,680 There's a boatload of fine print. 271 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:30,760 Well, the hookers told Colleen that the contract was, quote, managed by an organized crime, unquote, which even had a name. 272 00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:35,960 The hookers refer to this as the company. Very original here. 273 00:18:35,960 --> 00:18:39,280 They came up with a great name, didn't they? The company. 274 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:45,880 So the company contract that Colleen was presented with was a master slave contract. 275 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:48,360 In other words, Cameron was the master. 276 00:18:48,360 --> 00:18:49,920 Colleen was a slave. 277 00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:59,440 Cameron forced Colleen to sign this contract, giving the hookers the right to beat, torture, rape and enslave her at any given time. 278 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:04,840 Oh, my gosh. Yeah. What if she just absolutely refused to sign it? 279 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:08,440 What were they going to do? I know it says that he forced her, but. 280 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:11,840 OK, so here's the deal. Do you know how he forced her? 281 00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:18,320 No, he threatened her family by saying that the company would go after them if she did not sign it. 282 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:23,560 They said that Colleen's house was bugged and they were being monitored. 283 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:27,760 They didn't hold anything back in this contract or the threats. 284 00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:29,640 So that's how they got her to sign it. 285 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:33,880 And over the next seven years, Colleen cleaned the cookers house. 286 00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:39,080 She babysat for their child and was even introduced to the neighbors as the couple's nanny. 287 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:47,160 You see what I mean? How there was a little bit of an arrangement here with a little sidebars of different activities. 288 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:53,440 Yeah. Cameron and Janice always held that threat over Colleen's head for the next seven years. 289 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:59,280 Obviously, you know, when you're in that situation, they always held those threats over Colleen's head. 290 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:03,840 They told her if she ever tried to escape, they would go after Colleen's family. 291 00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:07,480 And that's how she ended up there for quite some time. 292 00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:13,480 Now, Shelbs, we've talked a time or two about victims who are eventually brainwashed by their captors. 293 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:16,440 I don't think that Colleen had any sympathy here. 294 00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:21,440 I don't think that we could compare this to Stockholm syndrome of any sorts. 295 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:23,400 We've talked about that in the past. 296 00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:28,760 It's more the fact that the hookers were holding that threat of harming her family over her head. 297 00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:30,880 And that's why Colleen stayed. 298 00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:38,080 Oddly enough, about four years into captivity, the hookers allowed Colleen to go visit her family. 299 00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:46,240 In March 1981, Colleen was given 24 hours to go back to Eugene, Oregon, unchaperoned to visit her parents. 300 00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:47,920 How about that? Wow. 301 00:20:47,920 --> 00:20:52,800 Colleen made the trip, then returned to California without incident. 302 00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:56,000 And again, you know, I would be fearful as well. 303 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:59,880 I would probably want to do everything they're saying if they made it believable enough. 304 00:20:59,880 --> 00:21:02,000 I mean, I'm not going to let anything happen to my family. 305 00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:03,280 And I think you know that. 306 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:15,480 Oh, yeah, no. And I mean, being with them for four years, you know, they've had to have built some kind of relationship and obviously a trusting relationship. 307 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:22,160 So, yeah, to an extent, but there remember the contract included torture anytime they wanted to. 308 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:26,320 And then keeping her in that box under the bed, 23 hours a day. 309 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:28,320 But then again, hey, we're going out to dinner. 310 00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:30,720 Can you babysit the kids? Yeah, sort of thing. 311 00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:32,200 I don't know. It's twisted. 312 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:34,240 It's to me unimaginable. 313 00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:42,760 And I read somewhere else, too, that Cameron had accompanied Colleen home on one of her trips to Oregon, where he was introduced as her boyfriend. 314 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:46,080 And I'm going to tell you right now, I mean, you know, Colleen was young. 315 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:51,680 I believe she was 19. Cameron was 19 when he picked her up and Janice was 23. 316 00:21:51,680 --> 00:21:56,720 So over this time period, they're still in their early to mid 20s this whole time. 317 00:21:56,720 --> 00:22:02,480 So, of course, if Colleen shows up with a new boyfriend, I'm sure her parents are not going to ask too many questions. 318 00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:05,800 Colleen was allowed to go jogging in the neighborhood. 319 00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:11,600 And in May of 1984, she began a housekeeping job at the local hotel. 320 00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:18,600 Yeah. So kind of what you said, Shelby, obviously, if she's been there that long, they've got to have some kind of structure. 321 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:22,360 I'm not going to say she was ever comfortable in the arrangement. 322 00:22:22,360 --> 00:22:27,760 But again, the organized mob crime called the company was always held over her head. 323 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:31,480 So she's trying to live her life as normally as possible. 324 00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:35,320 Now, let's talk about the day that she escaped. 325 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:41,200 I'm going to bring Janice Hooker back into the picture here because Janice seemed to have a bit of a conscience. 326 00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:46,160 I mean, first of all, when she was first married, she complied to her husband. 327 00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:49,720 But she spoke up enough to say, hey, I don't want to do this anymore. 328 00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:53,440 I want to have kids. I want to have a family. I want to live a normal life. 329 00:22:53,440 --> 00:23:03,920 In 1984, Janice was faced with a decision because Cameron had just told her that he wanted to bring in Colleen as his second wife. 330 00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:08,000 What do you think she did? Oh, wow. That just gave me goosebumps. 331 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:11,520 She was probably mad. I think so. Yeah. 332 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:14,480 Honestly, there's a third wheel in here somewhere. 333 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:19,160 And I don't know if it's Janice or Colleen, but obviously there is a third wheel. 334 00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:22,600 And now Cameron wants to solidify everything. 335 00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:26,800 And then we're going into an entirely different situation here. 336 00:23:26,800 --> 00:23:31,400 I'm going to say this was her tipping point because she didn't like the idea. Yeah. 337 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:44,400 By 1984, Janice seemed to want nothing more, like I said, to just simplify her life, settle down, have an everyday, nice neighborhood, family, raise kids, do all that. 338 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:47,000 Wipe the good fence. Yes, exactly. 339 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:57,720 Well, it was during this point in time that Janice went and paid her minister a visit to confess what had taken place behind closed doors over the past seven years. 340 00:23:57,720 --> 00:24:06,640 I think clergymen have a moral confidentiality clause or something like that where they just can't go to the police for anything. 341 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:11,120 I mean, it's almost like going to a lawyer. It's client lawyer privileges. 342 00:24:11,120 --> 00:24:18,600 So they're not obligated to go to the police. Janice ended up confessing everything that had happened over that period of time. 343 00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:28,960 She went on to tell her minister that she had just released Colleen Stan, who had been living in captivity over the last seven years with her and her husband. 344 00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:33,560 Here are Janice's accounts of events during her church host confession here. 345 00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:35,160 This is what she told the minister. 346 00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:42,240 The Hookers had held a young woman named Colleen Stan in captivity inside their home for the past seven years. 347 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:48,880 But Janice felt compelled to free Colleen after telling her the truth about everything. 348 00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:55,120 Janice confessed to Colleen that this organized crime mob called The Company did not even exist. 349 00:24:55,120 --> 00:25:02,840 Janice continued on to tell her minister that she had driven Colleen to the bus station to get her back to Eugene, Oregon. 350 00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:07,680 Colleen called her parents, had money wired to her, and she boarded a bus. 351 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:14,160 But not before placing a phone call to Cameron to say that she was leaving and there was nothing he could do to stop her. 352 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:20,200 Wow, I would probably wait until I was gone. 353 00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:22,880 Or why did she even call him in the first place? 354 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:29,760 I think that she and Janice probably had a conversation and that was probably what they agreed would be best. 355 00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:32,800 But imagine being in Colleen's shoes right now. 356 00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:42,000 Could you imagine after seven years having the wife of this man who is holding you captive tell you the truth about everything? 357 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:44,080 I mean, wow, just wow. 358 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:45,480 I'd be flabbergasted. 359 00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:47,720 I don't even know how I would react to that. 360 00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:49,720 I don't either. She was lucky. 361 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:52,560 She was very lucky. Yes, absolutely. 362 00:25:52,560 --> 00:26:01,720 Now, during the conversation between Janice and Colleen, Janice begged Colleen not to tell the police because I think that Janice wanted to do this herself. 363 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:10,480 I think that she felt that she could reform Cameron into going back to the picket fence life and everything would just turn out great. 364 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:12,080 You know what I mean? Yeah. 365 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:14,400 She's been married to him for a long time now. 366 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:17,840 From my understanding, Colleen did not go to the police. 367 00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:23,560 But I will tell you this. Janice is the one that ended up turning him in. 368 00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:29,280 Oh, I don't want to give her props here because she went along with this scheme for seven years. 369 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:32,600 So long. Yeah, clearly she has a conscience. 370 00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:35,160 Clearly she wanted to do the right thing. 371 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:43,400 Maybe not from the beginning, but I don't want people listening to this think that I feel sorry for her because she did go along for the ride for so long. 372 00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:51,120 But I'm glad that she woke up and she did have a conscience enough to let Colleen go and to go to the police. 373 00:26:51,120 --> 00:26:52,480 That's all I'm saying, right? 374 00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:54,600 Because I don't know what's going on in her head. 375 00:26:54,600 --> 00:27:00,080 In 1985, Cameron stood trial for the kidnapping and rape of Colleen Stan. 376 00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:08,200 His defense attorneys argued that Cameron was innocent because the sexual relations between Colleen and himself were consensual. 377 00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:15,480 The prosecution was able to produce damning evidence such as that box that Colleen was confined to, 378 00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:20,000 the contract executed by the Ghost Mafia called The Company, 379 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:24,480 and also there were photos of Colleen being held in bondage. 380 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:29,480 So there was obviously enough evidence to prosecute Cameron here. 381 00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:36,680 He was found guilty of all charges and was sentenced to 104 years in prison where he remains today. 382 00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:46,880 Wow. He was denied parole in 2015 and won't be eligible to go back to the parole board until 2030. 383 00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:48,880 So another seven years from now. 384 00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:50,640 Oh my gosh. 385 00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:55,600 Janice did receive immunity for testifying against her husband in this case. 386 00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:59,080 She is a free woman today and she helps get this. 387 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:02,000 She works as a social worker in California. 388 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:03,560 Oh, wow. 389 00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:05,880 She does not keep in touch with Colleen. 390 00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:08,960 And I mean, there might be a court order. 391 00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:12,680 I would say I wouldn't want to remain in touch with somebody like that. 392 00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:14,200 No, me neither. 393 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:20,400 Yeah. And, you know, I guess the good part of this is that Janice does have a conscience 394 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:22,880 and she's doing good for the world. 395 00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:25,080 And that's kind of the way that I see it. 396 00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:29,120 Right. And there had to have been some kind of... 397 00:28:29,120 --> 00:28:29,800 Trigger? 398 00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:34,600 No, I just don't foresee her being completely forgiven 399 00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:38,280 because she did go along with everything for seven years 400 00:28:38,280 --> 00:28:44,320 unless there was some kind of threats being made from Cameron towards her. 401 00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:45,320 Does that make sense? 402 00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:47,640 Oh, yes. I never thought of that. 403 00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:50,280 You might be right. That's a great concept. 404 00:28:50,280 --> 00:28:54,880 Yeah, it's just I don't think it's just common for a couple to be doing something 405 00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:58,840 for seven years and both of them not serve time. 406 00:28:58,840 --> 00:29:06,280 There had to have been something more in the mix as to why she she was just immune from everything. 407 00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:10,920 But I'm glad. I'm glad she's doing better and has, you know, made some some better choices. 408 00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:12,800 So, yep. 409 00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:19,000 All right. Well, that is the story of Colleen Stan, also known as the girl in the box. 410 00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:23,200 And I'm very thankful that Colleen made it out of the situation. 411 00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:26,440 Extra thankful that she boarded that bus without looking back. 412 00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:28,880 That to me is amazing. 413 00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:32,160 So any other thoughts, Shelbs? 414 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:33,640 No, I don't think so. 415 00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:38,480 I'm glad she got out of it alive because not all of our stories end up like that. 416 00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:46,640 All right. Well, as always, we would like to hear from our listeners as to what you have to say about our storyline. 417 00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:53,040 Be sure to DM us on Instagram or click on our link tree in the show notes to learn more about our podcast. 418 00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:54,680 There you go. All righty. 419 00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:56,760 What's our teachable moment for today? 420 00:29:56,760 --> 00:30:01,520 Well, Shelbs, I did try to think about a good teachable moment here, but guess what? 421 00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:06,600 I want to turn the tables here a little bit because as I was reflecting on this storyline, 422 00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:10,720 I was thinking, you know what? You have a tween in your house. 423 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:16,400 What would you tell her about paying attention to her surroundings or getting in the car with a stranger? 424 00:30:16,400 --> 00:30:21,640 Oh, we're going to turn this teachable moment around on you. 425 00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:24,280 It is something we have talked about several times. 426 00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:29,200 You know, we live very close to a small gas station. 427 00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:32,800 They serve sandwiches and a little tiny gas station. 428 00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:35,320 It's locally owned little mom and pop shop. 429 00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:39,760 And it's a two minute walk from our house, not on a main road or anything. 430 00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:42,120 And I've explained you've got to be careful. 431 00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:47,880 You might be two minutes away, but if someone picks you up and grabs you and throws you in their car, 432 00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:50,160 you're going to be gone and I'm not going to know where you went. 433 00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:54,640 So I teach them all the time. Be aware of your surroundings. 434 00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:56,400 Notice what's going on around you. 435 00:30:56,400 --> 00:31:02,520 Are there a lot of strange cars because I would consider that is a touristy area. 436 00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:07,120 Yeah. So are there a lot of tourists coming through? 437 00:31:07,120 --> 00:31:12,600 I would say no, it's more so the locals know about the spot, not the tourists. 438 00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:16,640 But even though it's a tiny town, you don't know everybody. 439 00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:21,280 Yeah. So even if it's two minutes away, I mean, anything can happen in a split second. 440 00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:24,440 Fear based communication here. Is that what I'm hearing? 441 00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:26,440 No, I don't want to put the fear into them. 442 00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:32,400 But I mean, these days you can't just pretend like everything's going to be all right all the time. 443 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:36,480 I'm not going to skate around the truth. 444 00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:38,640 Yeah, don't sugarcoat it. Absolutely. 445 00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:41,440 Yeah, that's the perfect word. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. 446 00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:43,640 Like it can happen. I think you get that from me. 447 00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:47,200 No, we talked about that. I got double whammied between you and dad. 448 00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:49,080 Oh, goodness. All right. 449 00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:51,960 Well, that was a good little teachable moment there, Shelby. 450 00:31:51,960 --> 00:31:54,040 Yeah. I appreciate that. 451 00:31:54,040 --> 00:31:56,040 Thanks. I was unexpected. 452 00:31:56,040 --> 00:32:00,360 I know you're good at just on the spot responses. That was pretty good. 453 00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:04,360 All right. Well, I'm excited about getting back into our routine again. 454 00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:08,760 It has been a wild ride, but I think that we are getting back into it again. 455 00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:12,680 So to our listeners, thanks for hanging with us. 456 00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:17,880 And if you have any storylines you want to hear, make sure you give us a shout 457 00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:20,080 and we will talk to you next week. 458 00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:21,280 Bye. 459 00:32:21,280 --> 00:32:23,640 Thanks for listening to Dying to be Found. 460 00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:28,840 Before we go, we would love for you to leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. 461 00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:34,520 Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest at Dying to be Found. 462 00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:39,640 You can access our website, email, social media and storyline request form 463 00:32:39,640 --> 00:32:43,160 by clicking on our Linktree account found in our show notes. 464 00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:47,960 If you like our episodes, consider buying us a coffee at buymeacoffee.com 465 00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:51,880 slash Dying to be Found, spelled just like you see it on our logo. 466 00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:55,480 Feel free to message us on Instagram and let us know how we're doing. 467 00:32:55,480 --> 00:33:00,280 Or if you'd like a sticker with that, be sure to check us out every Thursday. 468 00:33:00,280 --> 00:33:22,680 Wherever you get your podcasts, we will talk to you all next week.