Unseen - The Girl In The Ice Box | The Disturbing Case of Teri Jendusa-Nicolai | UNSEEN

Episode Date: March 12, 2024

“I can't die – I have to save my girls” -- At 11:05 AM, on the 31st of January 2004, a 911 operator answered the phone to a woman breathing heavily, but not saying anything. Another call comes through, and this time an address is given, but when the police arrive at the scene, they only find an empty handgun case, sweatpants, and a large red stain on the carpet. With time running out, and just a few clues, the police need to catch who did this and find Teri Jendusa-Nicolai and her 2 daughters before it’s too late. Teri Jendusa-Nicolai is an advocate for Marsy’s Law for Wisconsin, which passed in 2020, giving equal rights to victims of serious crimes. You can read more about Teri’s work here: https://equalrightsforwi.com/icymi-victimsdeserverights https://www.jsonline.com/story/opinion/contributors/2017/06/01/jendusa-nicolai-victims-crime-deserve-equal-rights/363354001/ External Footage from: "I Survived (S2 E11)", "Mother Left For Dead In Trashcan By Husband", "Teri, Angela, Ed", "NHNZ", "A&E", "Surviving Evil (S1 E9, Out Of Control)", "Cineflix Productions", "Investigation Discovery", "Three Days To Live (SE E1, Teri Jendusa Nicolai)", "Oxygen", "Newsmakers", "The Case For Marsy's Law", "Wisconsineye", " Judge Dismisses David Larsen's Request To See His Children", "Wisn 12 news", "Left To Die", "Woman Beaten And Stuffed In Garbage Can Lives", "WGN News", "Man In Prison For Nearly Killing EX Wife Wants Their Children to Visit Him", "WSN 12 NEWS", "Teri Jendusa-Nicolai Shares Her Story Of Domestic Violence", "TMJ4 NEWS", "Teri Jendusa Nicolai Talks To 12 News On EX Husband's Attempted Prison Escape", "WISN 12 News", "Teri Jendusa Nicolai V4", "Olson Entertaiment Group", "Getty Images", "Motion Array", "Audio Network". Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This 911 operator isn't taking the caller seriously. They think it might be a prank, but the woman on the other end can barely breathe, and she's in grave danger. Even though the caller is running out of air, she's able to get crucial information to the operator, desperate for them to believe her. When the police show up at the address she gave, there's no one inside, but they find a large bloodstain on the carpet and an empty handgun case. Then another call comes in, this time from a man. saying his wife Terry is missing, but she's not the only one. Her two daughters also vanished without a trace. It hit me like nothing ever before in my career.

He is a very dangerous, cold-blooded monster. Vehicle should be occupied by David Larson, his wife, and two small children. There's some slim chance that she could still be alive. And we weren't going to rest until we found her and her children safely. USAA knows dynamic duos can save the day, like superheroes and sidekicks, or auto and home insurance. With USAA, you can bundle your auto and home and save up to 10%. Tap the banner to learn more and get a quote at usaa.com slash bundle.

Restrictions apply. The year is 1996. Terry Jandusa is celebrating her new marriage to David Larson. They seem to have a happy life together. Over the next few years, their family grows, and a couple welcomes two daughters, Amanda and Holly. But Terry soon learns that the real David isn't the kind, charming man she thought he was.

He's controlling over his wife, and he picks fights with her often. He has a violent side, and he's even hit Terry's head against the door. Whenever he has an outburst, he tries to convince her that it's all her fault. She's the one who needs to do better, and then he won't be angry. Terry's scared of what he might do, and she tries as hard as she can to keep him happy, but even the smallest thing can set him off. One day, Terry's making dinner like usual, but when David sees a box of pasta on the counter, for some reason, it infuriates him, and he yells at her.

to put it away. It's almost like evil overcame him. He actually pushed me. My little one started crying. I'm holding this infant. It's like two months old. And I cannot look at these children and think that this is the life that they're going to have.

It was at that point where I knew we were out of here. Terry has been enduring David's abuse, blaming herself for how he treats her. But as soon as he shows that he's a danger to the kids, she fully realizes that he is the problem, determined to protect her girls. She knows she has to end the marriage. Their divorce is finalized on January 31st, 2001,

but it comes with bad news for Terry. The judge grants her and David joined custody. Even though he was abusive to Terry and she did all she could to get away, she still has to let him see Amanda and Holly. On the day that the divorce was actually final, we walked out of the courtroom, he looked at me and he said, you're going to regret this.

Terry has escaped after years of abuse, but the danger is far from over. She worries for her kids every time she has to drop them off for visits with their father. David's threats are constantly in her mind, and it's hard for her to trust again. She finds comfort and support when she meets Nick Nikolai, and she begins to open up again. They start dating, and Nick shows her the love she deserves. I loved her for how she related to the girls and who she was in the whole package. They were very happy family, and Nick embraced those children like they were his own.

Everything was how it should be. In 2003, Terry and Nick get married. It should be a time full of joy and celebration, but she soon finds that her ex-husband isn't ready to let her go. Dave had said she was going to regret the day that she married Nick. He had told her one time that in his eyes and in the eyes of God, they were still married. So by her dating and remarrying, she was going against God's will.

He thought, I can't control her anymore. her anymore. And I think that's when he was really plotting to kill me. On January 31st, 2004, the anniversary of Terry and David's divorce, Terry doesn't know that her worst fear will soon come true. She's going to pick up her kids, the now four-year-old Holly and six-year-old Amanda. After a visit at their dad's house, her husband Nick offers to go with her, but she decides to go alone, fearing that bringing Nick might make things worse. David has a short temper, and Terry wants to do what she can to keep him from getting angry in front of the girls. Even though she has to see her abusive ex-husband, Terry is in good spirits, excited to see her daughters again, and tell them the big news about their family.

It was a very happy morning. We learned the night before that Terry was pregnant, so we were on cloud nine. Terry can't wait to tell her daughters that they're going to get another sibling. It's 10 a.m. when she walks up to David's house. and knocks on the door. He answers, and it seems like he's in a better mood than usual, too. He tells Terry the girls are playing inside. She steps in to go get them, but she doesn't see them anywhere. It feels like something is wrong. Suddenly, before Terry has a chance to move, everything goes dark. I remember the feeling of being smashed in the head. The next thing I knew,

I was face down on his living room floor. My whole body just felt like I was paralyzed. Before she can process what's happening, David is wrapping duct tape around her, and Terry's instincts kick in. My first thought was, where are the girls? I can't die. I have to help my girls. He was trying to suffocate me, and he had his hand over me. I remembered something that I saw in a movie, and it said, turn your head away, turn your head to the side, and I kept doing that, and he was losing his grip. And he was getting frustrated that I wasn't going down as easy as he wanted me to. She fights as hard as she can, but she's losing blood quickly, and she can't escape. To her horror, David throws her inside a garbage can, and he starts packing snow and ice all around her. Then, she hears him wrapping the tape around the lid to trap her inside.

He picks up the garbage can, puts it in the back of his truck, and covers it with a tarp. I didn't know if he was going to dump me in a wood somewhere. I don't know why he didn't just shoot me by now unless he just really wanted me to suffer. Terry's mind is racing. If he kills her and gets away with it, he might get sole custody of the girls. He could hurt them too once she's out of the picture. Terry quickly tries to figure out if there's anything she can do.

She realizes David made a huge mistake. He didn't notice she still had her phone with her. I've got my phone in my jacket packet, and I reached down and I could feel the numbers, and I called 911. The 911 operator is skeptical, thinking it might be a prank call, But it's a life or death situation, and Terry gives them crucial information, like her ex-husband's name and address. However, she doesn't know where he's going to take her. She's able to make one more phone call, this time to her husband, Nick.

Not knowing how much battery she had left on her phone, I didn't want to talk to her too much, in case that might be a tool that they could use to eventually find her. I told her I loved her and said goodbye, wondering if that would be the last time I would talk to her alive. Panicked, Nick calls the police. He tells him that his wife is missing, but she's not the only one. Nick reveals that David had the children over for a scheduled visit. Terry went to pick them up afterwards, but now they've vanished, and it's a race against time to find the missing mother and her two daughters.

We already know that Terry's being held against her will. God only knows where those two children are at. While police are heading to David Larson's address, Terry is trapped in a garbage can in the bed of his truck. If he drives off into the nearby woods, police might never find her. She pushes as hard as she can, and she's able to stick her hand outside. She waves frantically, hoping there's someone passing by who might see her. But before anyone else notices, David sees what she's doing in his rearview mirror,

and the truck quickly comes to a stop. He gets out and walks back to Terry, warning her to quit fighting. After he threatens her, he turns around to get back in the truck, but Terry's phone suddenly starts ringing, and her heart sinks. He hears it and immediately grabs it from her. Somebody called my phone. That was my only way of trying to save myself. I have a baby inside of me and I have two children to take care of.

What am I going to do now? They continued to drive and Terry has one last hope. She hears police sirens coming right towards them. I heard the squad sirens and I thought, this is over. They're going to find me. But we kept going and the sirens faded away into the distance. We passed each other up. They weren't looking for the truck that I was on. They were going to his house.

At that point, I felt totally helpless. Terry doesn't know what David plans to do with her or her daughters, and he's taken away her phone, the one connection she had to people who might be able to help. In that moment, beaten, kidnapped, and hearing the sirens fade, Terry can't help but feel like she's about to lose everything. Meanwhile, the squad cars pull up to the house. They have no idea that they just drove past the woman who called 911. trapped in a garbage can. When they enter the house, they don't see anyone inside. But as they search

for anything that could help, they notice the house is filled with pictures of her and David from their wedding. They also find an empty handgun case. They think David has the gun with him. During the course of our search, we found women's sweatpants. They had duct tape wrapped around the ankles. The duct tape had a red substance consistent with blood. I knew we had maybe just a few hours. If he was going to keep around those elements, probably substantially less, and we weren't going to rest until we found her and her children safely. There's more blood in the house, and investigators know Terry and her kids are in grave danger. They try to ping David and Terry's cell phones. They're able to ping David's phone in Milwaukee,

about half an hour away from his home in Wind Lake, but then the signal disappears. They also find paperwork at the house that says David owns property in Milwaukee. There are three different addresses and police look at each one. Investigators find Terry's car near one of the properties, and they think they might be getting close. Maybe David was trying to get rid of the car, but left evidence inside that could point them in the right direction. However, when they check inside the car, there's no sign of her or the kids. None of his properties in Milwaukee have any clues either, and they're getting desperate. I didn't know what David Larson would do. Just feared that he might do something bad to all three of them. There was a complete,

sense of helplessness. Back in David's truck, all Terry can think about is what her ex-husband is going to do to the girls. Suddenly, the truck comes to a stop, and she hears her daughters outside. And the next thing I knew, I could feel the garbage can being picked up. I could hear the girls running and laughing, and I didn't want to call it to the girls because I knew, number one, they were so little, they wouldn't be able to do anything anyway. And number two, I didn't want to traumatize them. Even nearing death, Terry wants to do all she can to protect her daughters, and in that moment,

she makes a heartbreaking decision not to say a word. Hearing them laughing and playing, she knows they haven't been hurt, but if they find out their dad attacked their mom, it would only put them more at risk. David might turn his anger on them. She has no idea where David has taken her, but then he sets the garbage can down and starts stacking things on top of it. I was silent all this time because I wanted him to think that I was dead so he wouldn't shoot me. It was then I thought, I'm in this frozen tomb. I'm going to die.

Terry's losing hope, wondering if David is going to beat her more or just leave her to die. Then, she hears a door close and everything goes quiet. He took the girls with him. She's now completely isolated, away from everyone she cares about. After waiting a few minutes to make sure he's gone, she starts yelling for help as loud as she can, and she tries to make her escape. I was clawing and scraping and pushing. I got the lid off enough where I was getting some errand and I was breathing. I was praying. Please get me out of here.

Please keep my girl safe. Terry is finally able to breathe a little more, but with her injuries in the frigid temperatures, she's fading fast. At the same time, police are searching everywhere they can for any leads. An Amber Alert is issued. They're shocked to hear that David showed up to work like usual in Wheeling, Illinois, driving the same green truck from the Amber Alert that cops have been looking for. It struck me as odd that he would just show up to work as if nothing happened.

They bring David in for questioning right away. He tells police he's shocked to hear about Terry's disappearance, and he wants to do anything he can to help find her. Investigators play along, letting him think they believe his act. As David claims that Terry never showed up to pick up the girls, his lies pile up. He says he was home all morning, but detectives know from pinging his phone and finding Terry's car near one of his properties

that he was half an hour away in Milwaukee. I was armed with lots of information that he didn't know that I knew about. And I said, David, you could not have been at your house at 1130 this morning. I had squads there at 1103 and you weren't there. We kicked down the door looking for Terry because you know why? She called 911. I said, remember when you told me that Terry never showed up? I know that's a lie, David, because we found Terry's bloody clothing in your home.

Now, David's getting nervous, fidgeting in his seat. He started rubbing his pants. I looked because I didn't see this at first. He had dark stains. So as I'm calling him on his lies, and I said, in fact, you even have Terry's blood on your jeans. David's act starts to falter. Suddenly, he changes his story. He admits that Terry did show up at his house that morning.

He had told me he's a good dad. He was putting the children's homework into their backpacks. So while his back was turned towards the front door, Terry was now in his home unbeknownst to him. He said, I turned around and Terry was standing behind me with a hammer raised over her head with her pants down around her ankles. But it's like, really? With the pressure building, David's lies are becoming more outlandish by the minute. He tells police he was surprised that his ex-wife would sneak in and attack him out of nowhere, and he had to do what was necessary to defend himself. Fearful for his life, he indicated. He reached next to a blue trash can,

Grabbed a baseball bat which happened to be there, and he swung it for dear life, striking Terry in the face. He indicated he grabbed duct tape, but he doesn't know why. He's going to sit there and tell us that he can't remember that it's all blur. This is the mother of his kids. He knows what he did to her. The detectives don't believe a word of David's story of self-defense, but they have to keep him talking, hoping he'll slip up more. They question him for hours, but he won't reveal anything that will help them in their search.

He is a very dangerous individual, and in my view, a monster. Cold, blooded, doesn't give a care about anyone but himself. Meanwhile, Terry's situation has gone from bad to worse. There's no heat, and she's still packed in with snow, trapped in the duct taped garbage can. Her body temperature is dropping rapidly. My hands hurt really bad. My feet were literally freezing. I kept trying to get my hand down there to cup my feet, and I couldn't.

Terry feels her eyelids start to drop. She desperately wants to rest, but she knows that would be a death sentence. My head was still bleeding. There were a couple times when I was just so drained. I thought, I need to rest a little bit. Then right away I thought, I know I can't, because I know if I rest, that's going to be it. And I just remember doing anything and everything I could to keep myself awake and to try to get out. Terry has lost too much energy to escape from the garbage can. She's losing hope that anyone will be able to find her. She doesn't even know where David left her, but there's one thing that keeps her going. What about my kids? I'm here and I can't protect them, but that is the adrenaline that kept me

going. That is what kept me alive. Terry is barely hanging on, but she finds the will to fight through the thoughts of her daughters. At the same time, police are racing to find them. They're pushing David for answers about his ex-wife and children. And finally, with the help of the detect, calling him out on his lies, he starts to crack. He tells him that he dropped the kids off with the babysitter. They finally have a lead on the location of the girls, but with all of his lies already,

they don't know what they'll find at the address he gives them. Following up on their only lead, police approach the house with caution. They find that, for once, David told the truth. We found the girls safe at that address, so we knew the kids would be okay. And I'm just happy it worked out the way it did. It's a huge breakthrough. Not only are the girls both safe, but they might know something about what happened to their

mom, but Amanda and Holly both say they didn't even see her that day. And even though David revealed where the kids were, he still has no interest in helping save their mom. Investigators confiscate his personal items, like his wallet and clothes. He has business cards in his wallet, and police start calling every phone number they can find. They're not having any luck, until they see one card that stops them in their tracks. One of the investigators saw a card for a storage unit in Wheeling, Illinois.

And when we called them, we asked the guy working the counter, hey, does David Larson have a storage unit here? Yes, he does. When was the last time he was there? Well, he was here yesterday. Finally, police think they know where he took Terry. They raised the storage unit, knowing she's enduring frigid temperatures and serious untreated injuries, and there's not a second to waste. I remember that when we first walked in, it was really, really dark and really cold. We started to call out, ma'am, are you there?

It's the police, we're here to help you. At first, there's no response. They use a pry bar to get inside the storage unit. There's boxes and plastic containers on the floor. But then, they see a garbage can with the lid duct taped closed. I noticed a two-tone like a black and like wood-colored baseball bat on the side. I could see what appeared to be dried blood on the bat. And I just remember getting chills.

Meanwhile, Terry is drifting in and out of consciousness. She doesn't know how much longer she can hold on, but suddenly she hears a sound. She's terrified, wondering if David is back to kill her. I remember hearing some noise like somebody was coming back in. I panicked because I thought, oh my gosh, he's coming back. I don't know what he's going to do. Is he going to shoot me now? Because I'm still alive.

What's he going to do, dump the garbage can in the lake? I don't know. Terry tries to stay calm, not making a sound in the hopes that he'll still think she's dead and leave her alone. But then she hears a voice that doesn't belong. to her captor. I heard somebody say, we're the paramedics, and I just felt such a sense of relief that I'm still alive and somebody's actually here.

We went over to the garbage can, took everything off the top of it, took the tape off of it, opened the lid, and that's when we looked down inside. I couldn't believe what I saw. It hit me like nothing ever before in my career. We saw this poor woman inside the garbage can in a fetal position. I remember seeing a very large gash on her head. Her eyes were swollen shut. Her face was swollen, black and blue.

It was horrific. Beaten, tied up, and left for dead in the freezing trash can. Miraculously, Terry is still clinging to life. Just the fact that she's breathing and she's speaking and she's alive. I was just overwhelmed with happiness, but at the same time she may not be out of the woods. When he relayed the information they had found her, it was the best news. Best phone call that I've ever received. But there was concern because it was a very cold winter night and being over a day that we didn't know what condition she was in.

Terry is rushed to the hospital. David hit her dozens of times with a baseball bat and she's been trapped in snow and ice for nearly 27 hours. Her body temperature dropped below 84 degrees Fahrenheit. Still fighting for her own life, there's one thing she cares about much more. The first thing I asked when I came to was where are my kids? When Terry is told her kids are safe and sound, and David Larson is in jail, she's hit with a wave of relief. Now, she knows the fight was worth it to make sure her daughters were safe. Despite the good news, Terry is faced with a tragic loss.

Because of what she suffered, she had a miscarriage, losing the baby that she was supposed to be celebrating with her family. It was devastating. When my eyes were open and I first saw Nick, it was just, I can't believe I'm here. And it was sadness of what we had to go through after just being married, sadness after losing our baby together. Terry does all she can to focus on the positives. She's still alive, and so are her two daughters. Because of frostbite, they have to amputate Terry's toes. But even that is almost a relief for her to hear.

The doctors thought at the time that they might have to amputate my legs and my arms below my elbows. I remember my dad saying to the doctor, do you really have to take her toes? I remember saying, Dad, what's most important is that I'm here, and my kids are safe, and my kids are here. It was a great relief. It was very emotional when they found her. The doctors estimated that she maybe had one hour before she would have died. After a long recovery, Terry has to go to court to face David again, reliving the trauma of not only what she went through in the garbage can, but also of losing her unborn child. They questioned Terry on if she's had a miscarriage before, thinking it can.

could have happened naturally, not because of what her ex-husband did. He had a plea. I was very upset about that because I was told there were 100 pieces of physical evidence. There was so much overwhelming evidence that there was no reason to do that, but because the child I was carrying died, they wanted to look back into any record I ever had in my lifetime if I ever had a miscarriage, you know, anything like that. I just felt, I didn't feel very well served at the county level. Terry still has to keep fighting to make sure she brings her abuser to justice. At the federal level, David Larson is sentenced to life in prison, and Terry and her family are finally safe. At the sentencing, he was glaring at me. I didn't let it

get to me because, again, it's, you know what, I'm out here, I'm living my life, and you're going away. You can't hurt me anymore. Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is California's number one entertainment destination for today's superstars. Catch the Jonas Brothers' return. turn to the Yamava Theater stage on April 30th, the powerful vocals of Demi Lovato on May 17th, and the signature Southern Country Rock of Eric Church on July 19th. Tickets on sale now at Yamavah Theater.com, only at Yamava Resort and Casino, celebrating its 40th anniversary. You in? Must be 21 to enter. Even behind bars, he still tries to scare Terry. He demands visits with his daughters,

and he even attempts to escape. But Terry doesn't let his antics get to her, refusing to let him control her anymore. I am not a victim. I'm a survivor. He is his own victim because he tried taking my life away and he just took his own life away from himself. Terry also works to protect other survivors of domestic abuse. She tours colleges and gives talks to young students about red flags in an abusive partner,

how to get out, and how to get help. Even though Terry left David after he started abusing her, the laws didn't give her enough protection. So today, she's fighting to give more rights to victim. Terry became a public face of the campaign to pass Marcy's Law in Wisconsin, which gives crime victims more protection at the state and county level, and in 2020, the bill passed. She's also enjoying life with her own family, and she even welcomed a baby boy with her husband, Nick. She's still very close with her daughters, who are both married themselves now.

She fought to live so she could protect her family and give them a better future, and because of that, they know there's a life worth living. determined a survivor fighting against all odds and not giving up I admire her for that it was staring death right in the face when you go through something like that puts everything in a whole new perspective I can still do most of the things that that I did I can still hold my kids I survived to be here for my kids to talk about domestic violence to save other people I believe that my love for my children was a huge part of what kept me going and kept me fighting.

I needed to be there for them and I made it.