Unseen - The Girl in the Bunker: The Disturbing Case of Elizabeth Shoaf | UNSEEN

Episode Date: November 22, 2022

“It was like a vacation for her”  -- On September 6, 2006, 14 year old Elizabeth Shoaf was kidnapped by a man who claimed to be a police officer. Handcuffed, and “arrested”, she is taken deep into the woods where she discovers a secret underground bunker. For ten days, investigators look everywhere for the missing teen, without any clues, until Elizabeth is able to outsmart her captor, and her mom receives a shocking text message from Elizabeth herself. Footage from: Surviving Evil (Cineflix - Investigation Discovery), Dateline (Peacock Productions), Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN), Elizabeth Shoaf: The Girl in the Bunker (Lifetime, LLC), Text Me When You Get Home (A&E, LLC), The Girl in the Bunker (Cineflix Productions & Rare Fish Films)  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elizabeth, she's, I don't know how to say it, she's pretty much a wild person. This man is accused of holding a 14-year-old girl captive. In this interview filmed just hours before his trial, you're about to see him try to convince the host that the girl is an accomplice. I mean, it was like she was on TV every time. It was exciting. It was like a vacation for her. I mean, we were having a good time. I mean, no more school for her, you know, just hanging out.

The first question he asked her was whether or not she was a virgin. There are certain images, Your Honor. She told me she will never forget. She could have went home any time she wanted to. He took this chain, put it around her neck, wrapped it around her neck. Are you saying that she was a willing participant the whole time? Yeah. 14-year-old Elizabeth Shove, kidnapped, assaulted, trapped for 10 days.

But she escaped, outsmarting the man who took her. When she got out, she made sure Vincent Filial would never terrorize anyone else ever again. We didn't save her. She saved herself. In the small town of Lugov, South Carolina, 14-year-old Elizabeth Schof lives with her family. She's excited about starting high school and a boy she began dating. It's September 6, 2006, 4.30 p.m. Madeline Schof is at work, worried because her daughter Elizabeth didn't call her.

after school. Donnie answered the phone and I was like, where's your sister at? And he said she's not home yet. And I was like, well, she should have been home by now. Madeline leaves work right away and rushes home. She calls her daughter's friends to see if they know anything. Her husband, Dawn gets home too, and they search around the house for clues as to where Elizabeth might have gone. All her favorite clothes were there, her music, everything. Nothing missing out of the house. Yeah, nothing was missing. Night is falling. Madeline calls friends and family to come help search for Elizabeth, knocking on every door, fanning out across the neighborhood. But still, no trace of Elizabeth is found. I knew it's something that happened to her. So at that point, I called 911 one.

At 7.30, the police show up at the house. They begin their investigation. You know, anytime a young person is missing, a lot of times they just run away. You know, they just get mad about something. We both know that she's not going to run away. That's uncharacteristic of her. She was not that type of child. The police don't take any chances. They interrogate kids who were on the bus home from school. Everyone recalls seeing her get off, even walking with her up the road. She was really happy because her aunt was coming down. We walked about halfway up the road and a friend of mine's brother comes with his car and picks us up. She didn't want to ride. At that point, nobody knows anything. She's just like she just disappeared. September 7th, a full-scale search

launched, tracking dogs, air support, ATVs, local TV stations pick up the story, broadcasting Elizabeth's picture. Elizabeth Schof walked off her school bus and vanished into thin air. She went to Lugoth Elgin High School Wednesday wearing the clothes you see here. I just want that made you home. Does anybody see us through? Please. Volunteers start pouring in to help with ground search and handing out flyers.

Days pass. and no new leads have been found. You just get that policeman feeling, that gut feeling, that, you know, this, gosh, this really looks like it's going to turn out bad. September 13th, it's been seven days since Elizabeth disappeared. The search is dying out. Less and less people show up to help out. Fewer helicopters in the sky.

A friend of the family is holding a vigil for Elizabeth, and Madeline is getting ready to go there. As she checks her phone for any new messages, she sees a text message from an unknown number. the message will change the course of the entire investigation. Hey, Mom, it's Lizzie. I'm going to hold in the ground near Charm Hill. It's near that dirt road where those big trucks go.

Get the police. They'll be careful. He has bombs hidden. This message gives hope to the mother, but she still doesn't know what happened to Elizabeth, or what she had to go through to send that message. September 6th, the day of the abduction, Elizabeth is walking home from the bus stop with her friends. Bus ride home was typical as any other day. I continued, well, I can call him by myself and got up into the driveway.

I could see the house. I could hear my dogs barking at me. While she's walking down the driveway, she hears rustling leaves close by. A man walks up to her wearing camouflage pants, a green shirt, and a hand-drawn badge that looked like the Hercshot County Sheriff's. He says he's a policeman that they found a marriage. marijuana on the property, that her little brother is already in custody and that she needs to come with him. Almost immediately when you mentioned my brother, I was concerned if my brother was okay.

So I agreed to approach him. I had a gut feeling that I had made a bad decision. He puts handcuffs on her wrists and a collar around her neck with a box hanging from it. He says it's a bomb and that if she tries anything, it will detonate. Then he takes her far into the woods away from her house. As the crispy chicken sandwich from 7-Eleven, people always call me loud. And I'm like, yeah, I know.

I'm crispy. Did you expect me to whisper? If you want quiet, go eat some soup and reflect. Like, I know I'm a handful. I'm bold, I'm juicy. Throw some pickles and barbecue sauce on me, and baby, I'm a whole meal. And with seven rewards, I'm just $4. Quiet.

No. Krispy, saucy, and $4? Very. Only at 711. Valley through 62326, participating stores only well supplies lastly out for full terms. He was asking me just like the oddest questions if I had a phone and if I was a virgin. When I would continue to ask him where the police were or where my brother was, he had said that I was a smart girl and I probably should have already figured it out.

I'm just crying, you know, asking, you know, don't kill me, don't hurt me. I remember being terrified. Finally, they stop in the middle of the woods. Elizabeth fears the worst. I thought that was where he was going to fuck me and kill me. The man reaches down and pulls up a hatched door from the ground, hidden among the leaves. He had told me to go down the ladder and get into the bunker. He had like a rifle and a belt that had guns and handcuffs, and I saw a taser in it.

So I knew he will equip to do anything if I acted stupid or whatever. He pretty much just rate me. Right away. Pretty much. I had looked off to the side to one of the shelves that were there. There was like a propane tank and dishes and stuff on it. Stared at it and cried. Elizabeth is shattered, alone on the bed.

Her attacker binds her, making sure she can't escape. September 7th, Elizabeth learns the man's name is Vincent Filia. He makes her watch TV while he feeds her. The local news channel shows Elizabeth's mother pleading for help. Does anybody see her? Please. This reminds her of the conversation she had with her mother that morning. She regrets her last words to her.

Because when I left that morning, I was mad. I was rude with her. And then now that you're missing, he wish you could say sorry. You love her and all that. Couldn't. Every day my story was on television. Watching my mom, my sister, my aunts beg for me, I just knew I couldn't give up.

September 9th, Elizabeth and her captor can hear helicopters flying overhead, and soon footsteps. This gives her hope, but Vincent panics. He threatens her that if she screams or tries anything, he will shoot her. I could actually see those shadows walking across. the door above me and I'm just sitting there while there right above me. The footsteps disappear and soon it dawns on her. The only way she'll ever get out alive is by saving herself. He would go to sleep and I would just sit there and ponder as to what I

could possibly do to get out of the situation. As she's sleeping one night, she musters the courage to use Vincent's gun. She grabs the holster and puts it down. As she attempts to remove the Velcro, Every noise she makes threatens to wake Vincent up, but she continues slowly until finally the gun is free. This is her chance. I placed it up to his head and pulled the trigger, and it gotten jammed. She puts the gun back and lays down in bed, crying. The next morning, Elizabeth tries something different. She pretends that she's beginning to like him.

He would start to call me nicknames like baby, and I would call him that. back. He would tell me he loved me. I'd tell him. I loved him. Vinson is beginning to trust her. He even agrees to unbind her. It's September 13th, one week since the abduction. Vince takes Elizabeth out for a walk, where he shows her a few booby traps he's made for intruders. He also takes out his phone, which he uses to text his girlfriend. Elizabeth listens to his nonsense while he talks. But all she can think about is that phone. It's nighttime. Vincent falls a sysm. and Elizabeth quietly gets out of bed.

She opens Vincent's phone and begins writing a text to her mother. For each letter, she has to press multiple times. She hopes Vincent won't wake up before she can send the text. After pressing send, the message says it failed. And I would go up to the door, and I would try to get signal right at the door. I pressed send. I was terrified that he might wake up and see me.

see me if he did, I knew he would have killed me and I would continually press sin and it just failed. Elizabeth tries again and again, even the following night, but her messages never go through. It's September 15th. For the first time in days, they can hear helicopters in the air. Vincent panics wondering why the search has regained momentum and so he turns on the news. They finally put out that my My mom had got a text message for me. I felt my heart dropped. He asked me if it was me.

I began crying, told him I loved him. I wouldn't do that to him. You could tell he was trying to gather his thoughts, figure out what he needed to do next to save himself. And then, Vincent actually asks her what she thinks he should do. He was just asking me, like, if he should pack stuff up and go ahead and start leaving, or if he should stay and wait it. off and I just told him that he needed to pack his stuff and leave all he could because

if so the police were going to get him and I didn't want him in jail and I acted like I wanted to be safe. His last steps out the lighter and out of the door I remember telling him I loved him and shut it and tied it up right there behind him. Elizabeth is finally alone. She's not sure if it's really happening. doesn't risk leaving right away because he might be waiting outside. Instead, she waits until morning.

September 16th, Elizabeth wakes up to find she's still alone. She doesn't waste another second and goes up the ladder. Once outside, the thought of stepping onto one of his bombs stops her from running off. I just looked around like, it was the first time I saw the outside in daytime, so it was just beautiful to see the trees and feel the fresh air. again, but I couldn't hear anybody around me. So I decided to yell. Somebody finally yelled my name back.

I instantly just fell to the ground and started crying. The captain ended up giving me a hug. I was in tears. I didn't know what to do. He told me I was okay and, you know, I was safe now. I didn't have to worry about anything. One of our guys actually carried her up up the hill to the command folks where we had the ambulance standing by When she got just about almost there she's like she said I'm all right and she gets down and

And she's walking and she's basically saying I'm walking out of here About 7.30 That's seen the white truck come up the road I was like oh my god Captain told him was very excited He um he was just so ecstatic you can tell he was crying was the day I felt her. You know, I was just like, oh, God. I was just so happy, you know, just like, I mean, I just could have quit crying.

The best feeling ever to hug my parents again, to just feel my mom holding me. Just to know that I was with her again and she didn't have to worry about me. In South Carolina, a 14-year-old girl was back home this evening after a horrific ordeal. Authorities say she was kidnapped by a man who sexually assaulted. and locked her inside an underground bunker. Elizabeth is safe, but Vincent Filia is still on the run. A few hours later, police get a tip from a woman saying she encountered Vincent as he tried to steal her car. I mean, a long knife hanging off his belt.

Pretty much all saw his face. I recognized him from the internet. I was kind of cursing him out for doing this in front of my child, for putting my child through this. He's already hurt one little girl. He knew he wasn't getting my keys and he said, okay, never mind. And he started running down a sidewalk. Police act quickly and locate him a few hours later.

I think it took Vincent about a minute to deny everything, and that this was all made up, that the truth would come out in the end. Vincent agreed to an interview with Dateline's Keith Morrison, hours before his trial. It's all going to come out in court anyway. Elizabeth, she's, I don't know how to say it, she's pretty much a wild person. Are you saying that she was a willing participant the whole time?

Yeah. Elizabeth has barely time to recover from the traumatic 10 days she spent in the bunker with Vincent Filia that she already has to face him in court. But like she said, I wanted to go. It was weird to look at Vincent because I kind of felt happy just because I knew that he was locked up and I'm sitting there in the courtroom. All she asked, Your Honor, is sentence him. so that this can never happen to anyone else. I can think of no crimes, short of murder, more repulsive than these 17 different indictments and charges that have been brought against you.

All sentences to run consecutive. Good luck, you, sir. This episode is brought to you by Ultima Replenisher. Health is all about balance, like a salad with fries. So why not have balance in your hydration? With six essential electrolytes and no junk, Ultima provides balanced hydration you can enjoy every day. That means no sugar, calories, or carbs,

and it's not loaded with sodium. Just delicious plant-based flavors you'll actually look forward to drinking. Shop Ultima on Amazon or in store at Target and Whole Foods Market. 421 years in prison without the possibility of parole. I remember Elizabeth saying, I beat him. I'm like, yes, you did. You did be him.

I think of it because I don't want to forget it because that's something I accomplished that a lot of people might not have. It makes me feel good to know that I got to get through something like that. How do you go through hell like that for 10 days and just come out on the other side as strong as she did? There's no playbook to tell her what she should have done down there. There may be one now because she made all the right moves. I don't think you could ever really move past something like that happening to you. It's always going to be there, but as the years go on, things do get easier. Today, she's a loving mother, grateful for a new, beautiful life.

Really just trying to live life to the fullest. Now that I have a child, I'm of course wanting to give him his best life possible as well. Elizabeth understands that the healing journey will take time, but she also sees the extent of her own strength. Elizabeth Schof looked terror in the face and saved herself.