Cold Case Files - I SURVIVED: If I Die, Nobody Will Know Who Did This

Episode Date: March 22, 2025

Terry and his family are attacked in their beds by his daughter’s boyfriend and an accomplice. Anne and her friend Debi are mountain biking when Anne is attacked by a mountain lion. Earleen is attacked at work by a man posing as a guest in the hotel.Apartments.com - To find whatever you’re searching for and more visit apartments.com the place to find a place.Progressive: Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hi, iSurvive listeners. I'm Marisa Pinson. And before we get into this week's episode, I just want to remind you that episodes of iSurvived, as well as the A&E Classic podcast Cold Case Files, City Confidential, and American Justice are all available ad free on the new A&E Crime and Investigation channel on Apple Podcasts and Apple Plus for just $4.99 a month

or $39.99 a year. And now onto the show. This episode contains stories involving violence against children. Listener discretion is advised. I've got blood coming out of my ears, my eyes, my nose. I can't feel my jaw. I can't feel the right side of my body. Real people.

I was aware of the fact that as he closed down his grip, he just ripped my face off. Who faced death. He takes that piece of glass and he's trying to cut my throat. And lived to tell how. At that point I knew if I die right here, nobody's going to know who did this. This is I Survived. It's 2008 in Emory, Texas. Terry's 16-year-old daughter has just met her first boyfriend. Well, Erin was a pretty typical child.

You know, she was very well-mannered, very respectful to her elders, very quiet-spoken. But she was also very energetic. She always had a smile on her face. We never had any trouble out of her until she started dating Charlie. The very first time I met Charlie, I wasn't too enthused. My wife and Aaron had invited him over for supper one evening. So as I come in the door, there's Charlie sitting in my recliner. And since I walk in the door, I walk in and say, hello, are you Charlie?

And he looked at me and said, yeah, and you are. And I said, I happen to be Aaron's dad. Could you stand up and greet me? So he stood up and began to greet me. And he stuck out his hand and he shook my hand. I asked him, I said, do you always sit in a chair like that? He goes, yeah. And I said, well, it's yes, I said, do you always sit in a chair like that? He goes, yeah. And I said, well, it's yes, sir, but not in my chair.

You need to stand up and greet someone when they walk in the door. There was just something not quite right about him. While visiting her aunt, Erin accessed Charlie's internet page. Her aunt saw the contents and alerted her parents. It was very shocking to see. There was comments on there about drinking, a picture of him holding a Jack Daniels ball, I do believe. There was language in there about one of his friends

that he texted him and said, why don't you bring that girlfriend of yours talking about Aaron over this weekend. We'll get wasted and have sex and just have a great time. And that was pretty much it when we decided we need to put a stop to this. We sat her down on the couch. Aaron began to cry and she told me, she said, Daddy, I've been thinking about breaking up with him and been wanting to, but just didn't know how to. Aaron broke up with Charlie that evening.

The next few days just seemed greatest. We felt like we had our house back. Aaron seemed to be getting back to her old self. Things just seemed to be getting back to what they were prior to Aaron and Charlie dating. On Friday night, Terry had a pillow fight with his two boys, aged 8 and 13. Aaron was in the living room with the boys as well, and they had just popped some popcorn,

and she had gotten in on a pillow fight as well. She just joined right in, and we wrestled off to the ground and just played and just laughed and just had a great time. Terry joined his wife in bed. I get up woken around midnight, I hear Max, our black lab we have, out parking. He barks for about five minutes and then he hushes, he hushes his barking.

So I roll over and I never hear another sound till I wake up to gunshots. I throw my arm up to try to shield some of the bullets and I take several rounds up the arm, shoulder, then finally a blast in the face and that's what threw me out of bed. I'm just gurgling with blood. I've got blood coming out of my ears, my eyes, my nose.

I can't feel my jaw. I can't feel the right side of my body. Terry has been shot 11 times. I had been going in and out of consciousness and I had been thinking the children upstairs, got to get check on the children. Terry's daughter and two young sons sleep upstairs. Before I went out completely, somebody had walked over on my side of the bed and kicked me in the foot. I was face down. All I heard was heavy breathing, and I heard the reloading of the gun. I was just waiting for them to go ahead and shoot me in the back of the head.

I knew at this time it was over. I just squinted my eyes real tight, and I said, God, just make it go quick. For a few minutes, he sat there and just breathed heavily and then he just walked off. We had a little light illuminating from the kitchen in through the bathroom to our bedroom and between that and the gunshots I seen his face but at that time I did not realize who it was. When I was shot before I went out I was thinking who is this? Is this a home invasion? A robbery? That's what I'm thinking. About that time, I hear footsteps going up the stairs.

And I said, oh no, the children. And I hear Bubba, Matthew, we called him Bubba, Matthew's crying out, he says, Charlie, no Charlie, why are you doing this, Charlie? Then I knew immediately that's who I'd just seen. Terry's attacker was his teenage daughter's former boyfriend, Charlie. Charlie had an accomplice with him. Then it just finally clicked with me.

I'd been in shock. I didn't realize who that was. But I just remembered that's just who I just saw standing over a bed shooting at us. And it's just as Bubba was crying out, no Charlie, no, the gunfire went out, started going off again. And at this time, my eyes just rolled back in the back of my head and I just collapsed and fell face down. While Terry was unconscious, the men set fire to the house. I woke up, I look back and I see the far walls on fire and there's one door leading out our

bedroom and that's where most of the fire is and there's that's the door you'd go to go upstairs. I saw panic I managed to finally get up I couldn't go out that door because the flames were pushing me back and when I crawled over the other side of the mat the bed is when I found Penny and she was already gone there was just there was no hope for her it was just a horrific scene so much blood there was even no need even check her pulse it was just a horrific scene, so much blood. There was no need to even check her pulse. It was just a horrific, horrific scene. They had just butchered her just so awfully. Charlie had cut Penny's throat with a sword.

I knew then I had to get a check on the children. So I went through our bathroom, which I know the door would let out into the kitchen, but the flames were just so heavy right there. I could hear part of the ceiling caving in there in the kitchen, the living room area. I could hear windows exploding out. I knew at this time I wasn't going to be able to get to them that way. I've got to get out. Smoke was already coming into the bathroom.

I began to get choked. I couldn't...even in my own bathroom, I got lost. I knew there was one window, but I couldn't find it in my own bathroom I got lost. I knew there was one window, but I couldn't find it. I began to feel my way, I couldn't see from the smoke and I remember it being so hot and I'm panicking and I'm bleeding and I can't see. I find the window, I'm trying to unlatch it, it won't open, so I'm beating on the window hoping to just break the glass but it won't break. I'm beating on it, but it won't break. Finally, the window shoots up.

I manage to push the screen off from the window. And I stuck my head out. And I remember that first gasp of air felt so good in my lungs, because I'd been choking on blood and smoke. The house was literally just caving in on me. So I crawl out the window and it's about a four or five foot drop and just the drop just takes my breath away. The jolt just takes my breath.

Terry's children are still upstairs. I think I've got to get to them. I go around by the side and the flames are just shooting out all windows. Again, the house is just coming down. I've got to get to my neighbors, Tommy and Helen's. Their house is about 400 yards away. It's pitch dark. Can't see the hand in front of your face. I'd crawl a few steps and I'd stand up, walk two or three steps and fall down and clap.

I'd crawl on my belly, crawl on my hands and knees, just pushing it, pushing it. I'm getting cut by thorns and tree roots and things. Finally, I make it about the halfway point, and I just lean up against a tree there. I look back at the house, and it's just totally on fire. At this point, I realized that they're gone. There was no chance of hope. There was no chance of rescue.

I told God, I said, just take me. I'm ready to go. I don't want to live. As I sat there and watched the house go up in flames, I began to get angry. And just so many emotions began to well up in me. At that point, I knew if I die right here, nobody's going to know who did this. Each step I'd make and I'd fall down, I'd just get right back up. I'd crawl a few steps, get a little breath in me, stand up. Sometimes I wouldn't even be able to make a step. Just the sheer trauma of the gunshot wounds

and all the blood loss. I came up to another obstacle. There was another barbed wire fence. and this was a heavily wired fence. It wasn't easily able to get through it. I'm ripping what little bit of clothes I have left on me and my flesh. That 20 to 30 feet walk up the concrete drive seemed to be harder than that 400 yard I had crawled. I finally make it up to the porch.

By this time, I've collapsed. I just fall down. I'm laying on my side. I still can't feel my right side. So I use my left arm and hand. And I begin to beep on their storm window, the storm door there. And I'm hitting on it.

But nobody's coming. I'm thinking, why isn't someone coming? Finally the porch light comes on and then Tommy opens the door and he looks down and he sees me and he says, oh my gosh what's happened? So I said, Charlie's came in and he's murdered the family. I had lost everything, even the clothes off my back. Family, house burnt down. And that's when the despair hit me that I had lost it all. Terry believed his teenage daughter Erin had perished in the flames. I'd been at the trauma center for about two hours when my sister came to me and said they

had found Erin and she was alive. And then she came over to my side closer and she said, well, the doctors and nurses and everyone said they didn't want you to know this. And they told me not to tell you, but you're asking, you're my brother, I'm not gonna lie to you anymore. You have a right to know. They arrested Erin for involvement.

Erin had slipped out of the house and waited in a nearby car during the entire attack. Police charged her with capital murder, believing she was the mastermind. Went to go see her two weeks later, went with her grandparents, and they bring her in. She's got that orange jumpsuit on, and that's just not a, you're just not used to seeing one of your kids like that. Aaron's lawyer instructed her not to discuss the incident when her father visited. I was trying to talk to her as much as I could, but on the inside I had so many questions I wanted to ask her, but I couldn't, and that was eating me up.

But as soon as we got outside, I just lost it right then and there out in the parking lot. And I remember Penny's mama, Aaron's grandmother, just grabbed me and holding me, and we just cried together. Terry's daughter Erin was charged with capital murder. The authorities were saying, and of course to this day we'll say that she was the main mastermind in all of it, and I refuse to believe that. You get to know your kids after a while. You know definitely that they're not perfect. They're not innocent. But I knew that daughter

wasn't a murderer either. She was always a good kid. It wasn't until Charlie came into the picture that we began to have problems. Charlie Wilkinson was given a life sentence without parole. Terry confronted him in prison. And I asked him, why did you do this? And he said, I don't have no good reason. And I asked him, I said, did you think you were going to be able to murder us and just live with my daughter forever? And he said, I can't answer that. I don't know. Charlie's accomplice, Charles Wade, was also given a life sentence. Charlie's accomplice, Charles Wade, was also given a life sentence. Charles Wade was a friend of his. He addressed him and asked him,

would you be willing to help me do this? Charles Wade had been hard up for money like he was, agreed to go along and help for $2,000. I said, what did you need the $2,000 for? He said, I was trying to get custody of my child. I said, so you are willing to kill children to get custody of your children. And I told him, I said, you will have to live with this for the rest of your life.

Erin Caffey was convicted of murdering her family. She was given two life sentences plus 25 years. I was feeling guilty. I felt, well, maybe I did something wrong. I felt guilty because I wasn't able to prevent it, stop it. After Erin's sentencing, Terry was able to question her about the incident. Probably one of my first questions that I asked her that was eating me up is, did we go wrong as parents?

She said, no, that you and mama were great parents. You did a good job raising us. So we're gradually getting there, trying to get to the bottom of things and of what went wrong. Basically, her answer is that she was just, she got hooked up in the wrong crowd and doing things that she knew she shouldn't be doing. And she said, I just got rebellious. After the trial, Terry became suicidal. I went and bought a used RV and I set it on the very spot where our house once stood,

where I raised a family, where I lost my family. And for four months, I stayed pretty much shut up in the RV in a deep depressed state, drugged up on antidepressants, pain killers, whatever I could take to numb myself. I would crawl up in a ball in the bed and lay there sometimes for hours, 12, 14 hours at a time just sleeping. After four months of that, I realized that

this is no way to live, that I've got to return back to the living. I realized that to go through something this horrific, there's got to be more for me to do in this life. That I made it this far, I survived this far. There's got to be something. I've been asked the question so many times, how could you forgive your daughter?

She was the easiest one to forgive. There's just something about the love that a parent has for a child. It's basically what I call unconditional love. And no matter what, and I've told her this to this day, that I love her, forgive her, anything she's done. I love her and always will. It's a very tremendous sacrifice to lose a wife and

two children. But on the other hand, I've seen so many people help through this. I've been able to reach out and I go out and speak weekly. I speak to young people at churches and schools and warn them of the dangers of running with the wrong crowd and staying off drugs and alcohol. I believe that there's been a reason for me to survive and that's to be able to help others. Apartments.com has more rental listings than anywhere else. So finding the perfect place is easier than ever. And so is finally moving in together, just the two of you.

It's a big step, lots of new responsibilities, lots of adjustments. Most likely, they'll wake you up at odd hours to go to the bathroom, and you'll most definitely find yourself in trouble coming home late for dinner. They might even unroll all your toilet paper next time. It's just what happens when you two find a new place together.

But you're not doing it because you feel like it. No, you're doing it because you love them, because they're family. And that's why Apartments.com has the most pet friendly rental listings on the internet so that you and your furry family can find the perfect new place together. Apartments.com, the place to find a pet friendly place. It's January 2004 in Mission Viejo, California. Ann and Debbie are avid mountain bikers.

Debbie and I rode together pretty often, usually a couple of times a week. Part of it is that we have similar personalities and we also tend to be focused on riding when we're out there. The areas we would pick were a little bit more rugged, kind of off the beaten path. They decided to ride a trail called Cactus Hill. So we started off, I was ahead of Debbie, as we made that left-hand turn onto Cactus. We came up on a guy that had his cell phone in his hand, slowed down and saw a bike next to him. As I slowed down and was passing him, I asked him if everything was okay.

He said, I found this abandoned bike. It was kind of an unusual spot for somebody to leave their bike. He had his phone in his hand, so we thought everything was fine. Ann was in front of me, so she continued on. I said, okay, cool and you didn't think much of it. It was about a minute and a half later when I kind of came around another corner and there's a little bit of a plateau and I just caught a flash of movement over my right shoulder in my peripheral vision. All I

could see was that it was fur and I could tell that it was kind of a reddish brown color. Right away there was just an unbelievable impact. It's something I can't even describe. I've never been hit by a car but that's how I would imagine it to feel. The force was so powerful that I came completely off my bike. At that point, I was face down, and I could feel that this animal had a hold of me. And I realized there really is only one thing out here that is going to grab a hold of me like that. And I knew at that point it was a mountain lion.

Anne's friend Debbie was close behind. You know, as I came around the corner and hearing Anne screaming, realizing that was coming from her, I just couldn't even believe that this mountain lion was on top of her and that he was just ready to take her away. And I didn't know how much time I had, so I just threw my bike immediately thinking that was going to, you know, something large was going to freak him out. And he didn't even, I don't recall him even being bothered by it.

He just gripped in to her helmet, and then he moved over to the side of her face. And so I just lunged forward, grabbing her leg and dropping to the ground, and just started immediately pulling back and thinking, I'm looking right at this mountain lion's face. He's two feet, maybe a foot and a half from me, and the smell, you know, of just his wild game smell, and thinking, my God, this animal

is so incredibly huge. The thing that is most clear to me is just the overwhelming power, like nothing I've ever felt before in my life. He seemed the length of her body, the length, you know, so the relatively the size of, you know, Ann and I. And his tail, I just remember his tail batting the ground. The only thing I could think to do was to try to punch the lion.

At this point, he still did have me by the back of the neck. And I thought maybe if I could hit him in the face, maybe he would let go. So that was what I did. I took my right fist and tried to swing over my left shoulder. It had absolutely no effect. I realized that I was basically in a fight for my life right now. He was actually readjusting and pulling me down into the ravine, readjusting again and pulling.

So he went from the back of my neck and clamped down over my ear. As he clamped down, my ear was basically separated from my skull. One of the fangs went through my upper lip. The other fang went through the bridge of my nose and broke my nose. And the lower fang went through the bridge of my nose and broke my nose, and the lower fangs entered at my cheek. I was aware of the fact that as he closed down his

grip, he just ripped my face off. Honestly, for that split second, I thought I would rather die. Because I knew even if I did survive this and came out of it alive, I didn't know if I could handle the damage to my face and what that meant for me. That moment changed completely when I thought of my husband, James. He's my best friend. I met him mountain biking, and I just thought he would want me to fight

as hard as I could. So I kind of switched gears and thought, you know, what can we do to get out of this situation? Anne's friend Debbie was trying to pull her out of the animal's grip. Debbie was dealing with not only trying to keep a hold of my leg with this extremely strong animal actually pulling in the other direction, but very loose terrain, very, very

steep hillside, lots of scrubbo cactus, things that she is being dragged through as she's trying to keep a hold of my leg. I'm screaming, I'm not going gonna let go of you, Ann. She's screaming, get him off of me. I remember my hands sweating, thinking, am I gonna be able to hold on to her? My hands are slipping. You know, just holding so tight to her

that every muscle in my body was just tense. As we were being dragged down into the ravine, I felt like a rag doll. I felt as though there was nothing we could do to stop this animal. In the middle of it, I knew Debbie is all I've got. I mean, I knew that once I had done what I could, it's in Debbie's hands really, what's going

to happen from here on out. The mountain lion's intent was to get to her neck as soon as possible to break it and to get his prey. He would pull us a couple of inches and I would pull back and then he was kind of butted up against his back, was against a tree and I'm pull back and then he was kind of butted up against his back was you know against a tree and I'm pulling back he seemed you know frustrated in a way he never snarled at me I don't remember any sounds really I just remember the smells and the blood. My mind was just going a hundred miles an hour and thinking all sorts of different things, just random things like

hearing Debbie use the F word and thinking I've never heard her say that before. I just felt like my my mind was just kind of going crazy. At that point I kind of had a realization thinking that he probably was going to try to go for the front of my throat. In martial arts class, what they teach you is to close your chin to your shoulder to kind of close that gap. So that was what I tried to do to make an effort to turn towards the ground to my right and to kind of turn my head as much as I could.

All of the instincts that she had, you know, to protect her neck were really instinctive and mine were just to, you know, hold on to her, you know, and how dare he would take this friend of mine, you know? But he did release from my face and grabbed onto my neck and as he clamped down, it felt like a vice. I mean, instantly things started to go black. I started realizing that, you know,

he's cut off my air supply, and really, this is it for me. And I felt like I needed to say goodbye to Debbie. And I said to her, I'm gonna die, you know, kind of coming to that realization. And she just told me, I'm going to die, you know, kind of coming to that realization. And she just told me, I'm never going to let you go. And that was that was the last I remembered. At that point, everything went black. Other cyclists arrive and phone for help.

And I'm going, you know, you got to get down here and help me. I can't hold on to her much longer. And eventually just said, you've got to start throwing rocks. And I remember them saying, we're going to hit you. I go, I don't freaking care. You know, just throw the rocks. He's not going to let go. And eventually, one did hit him on the back of his neck.

And he released and took off. I came to a minute or two later and the first thing I thought was I was just shocked that I was still alive you know and then I started realizing I was getting no air whatsoever I felt almost as though if you kind of gulp water in a swimming pool, accidentally inhale water, that's how I felt. I felt as though I was drowning and I realized I'm basically drowning in my own blood. My only focus was get control of my breathing. Focus on trying to get a little bit more breath each time and

just trying not to panic, you know, trying to keep control of my heart rate, thinking if I can't do that, I'm not going to make it. I'm looking at the left side of her face and she's got, you know, this cut that goes clear to the bone around her eye and the side of her flesh from about here all the way down to her cheekbone is completely open and debris in it and rocks. And it can flap clear to her mid-face. Paramedics arrived by helicopter 20 minutes later.

And I remember pulling off blood clots off of her eye, off of her nose, off of her nose area and trying to reassure she's starting to wake up and help's coming you know we're gonna make it you know we're gonna get out of here. Ann was rushed to the hospital leaving Debbie with the paramedics. I remember saying to one of them you know there was a bike up the trail. You may want to check, you know, check out if there's anything to do with, you know, this situation. And as we were leaving at that moment, they said that they had just found, you know, a male that looked like he had been, you know, attacked by a

mountain lion. The man had been partially eaten and buried. Anne herself had more than 40 deep puncture wounds to the neck alone. To have been bitten that many times that deeply and have no real life threatening injuries to me is a miracle. I just don't know honestly how else you could explain it. Anne and Debbie still go mountain biking together. You know, I think Anne survived because she has an incredible faith, she has an incredible love for her husband, and those two things can pull you through. I survived because I have a friend like Debbie.

I survived because I chose to battle. And I survived because I knew that life was worth living. I Survived is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Fiscally responsible, financial geniuses, monetary magicians. These are things people say about drivers who switch their car insurance to Progressive and save hundreds. Because Progressive offers discounts for paying in full, owning a home, and more. Plus, you can count on their great customer service to help you when you need it. So your dollar goes a long way. Visit progressive.com to see if you could save on car insurance. Progressive Casualty

Insurance Company and Affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states or situations. It's January 2009 in Columbus, Mississippi. Earlene has a new job as a hotel receptionist. She has just arrived to start her night shift. When I walked into the lobby, I noticed that there was this guy sitting at a computer. I just got this weird feeling when I saw him, but I didn't pay any attention to it. Earline's manager went home, leaving her alone with the man. I don't question him, mainly because I didn't want to offend him. And I didn't want to get in trouble, you know, by, well, you know,

you questioned a guest and you shouldn't have done that. I didn't want to get in trouble. Two hours later, the man was still there. A guest comes in and asks for a direction to a steel mill in this particular area. Well, I don't know. I'm not sure where that mill is located. The stranger was standing right behind Earline. And then he says, oh, I know where it is.

He tells the guest where the steel mill is. And then I think to myself, how does he know where steel mill is here in Columbus if he's from out of town? And I said, what room did you say you were in? He says, I'm in room 105, just like that. When I checked the room, I noticed that there was only one person in that room. And I'm thinking to myself, why is he in this, why has he been in this lobby? By now I'm starting to feel weird

and he's starting to seem more menacing to me. The man disappeared from sight. So I hear a noise towards the back, but the kitchen is. And I'm gonna lock this door because I don't know what he has in mind. I don't even know now if he's a guest. So I go to lock the door. And to my horror, there's no lock on the door.

So I throw my hands up in the air, and I said, God, I'm in your hands, because I know now. I can't lock this door. I can't keep him from coming back here. I hear a door slam and I look up and he's coming toward me. He has a look on his face as if I am the worst person that he's ever seen. He looks so mean.

He looks evil. He has on gloves now. He has on a white jacket. And I feel like I know he's coming to do some harm to me. I know he's going to hurt me. And I know in my heart that he's here to kill me. I knew that. And then I get mad at my, I mean so many emotions are going through

me. I'm mad at myself, you fool. You should have known. You should have followed your first feelings. So he chokes me, he strangles me. And he strangles me until I black out. And when I blacked out, I'm thinking to myself, just let it happen. Just let it, just go ahead and let it happen. That way if he's going to do anything else to you, you already, it'll already be over. But then something wells up in me.

No, I will not die tonight. I'll come back with a jerk, as if something says, wake up, it's not your time to die. And I start to fight him back. I start to fight him back. And I feel around, and I feel the telephone, the handle of the telephone. And I get that telephone, and I draw back,

and I hit as hard as I can and I could feel it hit. I could feel it when it landed. I hit him in his forehead. I could feel it and I heard him grunt and I'm thinking to myself, God please let me have knocked him out. But this only makes it matter. He knocks me to the floor and he's beating me as if he hates me. And I'm thinking to myself, my God, my God, this man is, is, is, is intending to kill me. He doesn't even know me. What have I, what have I done to him? I don't even know you. And I'm asking, what do you want? What do you want?

And I'm just hollering, somebody please, somebody please help me, help me, somebody please help me. And then we fall against the other desk on the other side. And it knocks one of the pictures off the desk. And the glass splatters everywhere on the floor. He takes that piece of glass and he's trying to cut my throat. And I hold my head down because I want to live to see my grandchildren. I want to live to see my children. Because I'm thinking to myself, my children know I'm at work.

How can they, how will they take that? Somebody says your mom got killed at work. I got to go, I got to make it back home. My children need me. He's chopping. He's chopping with that piece of glass. I know that he's trying to kill me. So he's still there stabbing it right, stabbing away, around my neck, trying to cut, trying to cut my neck.

And I'm hollering, I'm still yelling and screaming for help. And then he gets another piece of glass and he draws it up. He says, shut up. Shut up. All of a sudden this calm comes over me and in my ear, calm down, stop screaming. You're gonna be okay. Stop screaming. Talk to him. I say, okay, okay. What do you want? Just tell me what you want. He gets up off of me. He says, I'm sorry that I got to do this to you, but I have a son

and I need money. I say, okay, the cash register is out front and the safe is above the cabinets. And I say, I got $40 in my wallet. I don't care what he gets out of there. I just want him to get what he wants and go. And I think to myself, why he's over there? I could get away. I could get out of here. I could run forward. But then, no. I know it was God. He said, don't. Because if I try to run forward, I know He's going to catch me. By this time, He's just throwing stuff everywhere. He's pulling telephones out of the front desk. He's pulling the wires out. I stand up, and I hold my hands out talking to him.

And as I hold my hand out, I felt something drop it, dripping in my hand. I look down. It's my blood. I'm bleeding very badly. My shirt is, my uniform is blue, is red, the whole front of it is red, where I'm just bleeding, but I'm still composed. Okay, he says, let's go. He takes me to the back and he has a telephone, one of the telephone cords wrapped around his hand. And I tell

him, I said, please don't kill me. Please don't kill my 15 grandchildren. I want to see my grandchildren again. He pushes me in the closet, he closes the door and I hear a snap. He's locked me in the closet. And I'm beginning to feel weak. My adrenaline is going up, out, out and beyond. I'm just drained. I'm tired. I'm scared. Two hours passed. I had the blanket under my neck and I stayed in that position.

I didn't make a sound. I don't know for how long, but after a while, I hear voices. I still don't make a sound, because I don't know if this man is still out there. I don't know if he's standing outside the door, and I'm thinking all kinds of horrible thoughts. I'm thinking, suppose he burnt the place down. So I just stay there, and I don't know how long,

but after maybe about 40 minutes, I hear the crackling of a radio. Guests had seen the damage in the reception area and called the police. And I hear this deep voice, hello, hello, is anybody in here? And my God, I scream, I scream, I'm in here, I'm in here. And my God, I scream, I scream, I'm in here. I'm in here. Get me out of here." Earlene had to wait another 40 minutes for the fire department to cut the lock. They opened the door and I see some of the most handsome men I've ever seen in my life, they picked me up out of there. And in my mind, I'm thinking, he's still, I'm so terrified, paranoid. I'm thinking, suppose he comes back and get me while I'm on the stretcher.

But then all these people around, nobody, he can't hurt you no more. Her attacker is caught the next day working on a roofing job. He pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing. I survived because I was able to calm down and gain composure and take control of that situation. I survived because I had more life I wanted to live with my children. I survived because I wanted to spend more live with my children. I survived because I wanted to spend more time with my grandchildren. I survived because God has other plans for

me. He has something for me to do. Are you looking for your next case? Pluto TV has all your favorite crime dramas streaming for free. You're gonna need some backup. Which means suspense is free. Very cool. Watch CSI New York, Criminal Minds, Blue Bloods, Tracker, FBI and SWAT all for free. You can't outrun this. Someone's gonna pay for all this crime, but it's not gonna be you. Take care of business, fellas. Watch all the cases all for free from all your favorite devices. We got you.