JESSICA: Shanell's meeting me.
I got a frantic call from Melanie.
And her family is onto her.
I left Melanie.
The plan was we were going to try and break her out tomorrow.
But Melanie said they backed her into a corner.
And she had to admit that she was leaving.
We have to get her out tonight.
She's not safe.
I'm so glad you could make it.
So it's Melanie.
And she has to get out tonight because they're onto her.
And Andrea can't even make it.
This is so last minute.
So I don't know.
But right now at her house, everyone's there.
She has some friends from the gym.
I don't really know them.
But they're personal trainers.
But they're supposed to help.
OK.
Let's wait in my car.
And they'll be here any second.
I wanted to sit down anyway just because it's freezing.
In the car, so I don't know.
I wonder if that's them.
I don't know how much they know about the order.
But I don't think that they really
know what they're in for.
Are you Cody?
Yes.
- Hi, I am Jessica. - Jessica.
I'm Melanie's sister.
- Jessica and-- - I'm Shanell.
Shanell.
Do you know what you're breaking her out of?
- Yes. - Polygamy.
Exactly.
Do you know who her biological father is?
Yes.
You know this could be dangerous?
- Yes. - You know her dad can show up?
Yes.
Let's just go because we don't have much time.
All right.
JESSICA: Call Andrea.
ANDREA [on the phone]: Hello.
JESSICA: Andrea, we're on our way to go get her.
If Dao shows up, does she have the right to get her stuff?
We're here. I got to go.
I got to go.
Bye.
She-- she's talking to somebody.
JESSICA: Cody, which house is it?
She was like yelling and arguing?
JESSICA: Is it this house? Go.
Go.
[arguing]
Go! Go!
Go!
Get out. [arguing]
Come back with a police officer and get your stuff.
Melanie.
JESSICA: She can come back tomorrow.
WOMAN 1: Right now.
JESSICA: She can come back tomorrow.
[arguing]
CODY: This is kidnapping.
[arguing]
WOMAN 1: You guys broke into our house.
WOMAN 2: Get out. Get out.
CODY: You let them in.
JESSICA: She wants to go.
Stephanie, you can't come in our house.
JESSICA: I was invited by Melanie.
SHANELL: Get out.
WOMAN 2: Get out.
Oh my god.
Shanell's still in there.
We heard yelling.
And we heard screaming.
And so it sounded like she wasn't safe.
And so we just opened the door.
And we just ran in.
And we just ran to the noise.
And then they all just saw us.
And they started yelling.
And she's trying to get out.
They're holding her down and holding on to her.
JESSICA: Melanie they don't need to come in for you to leave.
WOMAN 2: Clearly, your mom was holding her in here.
WOMAN 1: It's never too late.
MELANIE: Get out.
SHANELL: I don't want to leave her here with you.
WOMAN 1: If
SHANELL: We didn't push our way through your house.
WOMAN 1: Get out, Shanell.
Get out right now.
Oh my gosh.
OK, what the hell happened?
Where are the police?
Give me a phone. - No.
Look. They're here.
They're here.
[sirens]
We are at a house that belongs to a polygamist family.
There's an 18-year-old girl in there, trying to get out.
And her family is--
SHANELL: And there's like seven ladies
in there keeping her in and--
Physically holding her down.
Letting-- can somebody go get her?
Really?
JESSICA: She really--
She wants help.
They're the Kingstons.
Yeah, how about you make sure you see her
and that she's fine.
Sorry.
SHANELL: I just can't believe she had to do this to get out.
JESSICA: Melanie wants out.
Let her go.
SHANELL: We are emotional.
We're distraught because every time we help somebody leave,
we're going to have our flashbacks.
That order, that life was our home for so many years.
And it was a hurtful, disgusting home.
SHANELL: Thank you.
[arguing]
Where do I go?
[arguing]
Oh my god.
[arguing]
Oh my gosh.
[arguing]
JESSICA: That was an order house.
SHANELL: All the way.
They have a smell of rotten produce
because they eat rotten food because that's
all they can get.
SHANELL: That's the only food they can afford.
The guys don't do anything.
And it was unfinished, did you notice?
JESSICA: Yeah.
SHANELL: We were stepping on just the--
JESSICA: She was not even living--
SHANELL: --the wood floors. JESSICA: --in a room.
No wonder it was all boarded up.
It was unfinished. It was--
WOMAN 1: Wait, Melanie.
JESSICA: She just living in a box.
Yeah.
JESSICA: Leaving The Order is a huge betrayal in their eyes.
When you leave, you lose your family.
They disown you as if you never existed.
JESSICA: Melanie is not just saying goodbye to polygamy.
She is saying goodbye to her brothers
and sisters, her whole family, and a huge portion
of her identity.
Hey, guys.
Let's just go.
I love you.
Wait.
Melanie, come here.
[crying]
It's just sad that I have to say my goodbyes because I don't
believe the same thing as them.
I know that the whole family is hurting.
And I know it's because I picked the outside world
instead of them.
It's OK.
MELANIE: I want both in my life, but I can't.
But I hope one day they will want to talk to me
because I still love them.
And I still want to be in their lives.
[music playing] We give ourselves a shining star.
MELANIE: When I escaped, I moved into my friend's house.
I wanted to feel independent.
I wanted to feel like I could do something with my life.
But I do miss my siblings.
When I see their faces that night,
I just remember everything.
It all just plays back in my head.
[arguing]
WOMAN 1: Get out.
Get out of our house.
MELANIE: I'm going to go talk to my older brother, Elic,
because I miss him a lot.
We were really close growing up.
We were friends.
I feel like he was mad at me for leaving.
We haven't talked or text or saw each other in weeks.
So I got in contact.
And he said he could meet me tonight.
It just feels so weird coming back here.
I was just concerned about you.
Well, I only agreed to come talk to you
tonight because we haven't seen each other in weeks.
So what's life like now?
Life is--
I love it a lot better.
It makes me wonder why I was ever in there.
But the only concern and the thing that I miss
is the family.
What's one thing that you feel like you
are able to do now that you feel like you
couldn't do in The Order?
MELANIE: I just feel like I feel so free.
I don't want to go back at all.
You realize this might be the last time
that we see each other if you decide not to come home?
It just sucks how it has to be that way
and that you guys can't just love me for who I am.
Would you ever consider leaving?
Do you want to be there?
Where do you think you're going to be in 10 years,
like, still doing the exact same thing
that Daniel wants you to do?
[crying]
I think you should go back before anything happens.
I love you guys.
I hate it.
I love it out here.
I just wish I could see my family, the people I grew
up with my whole entire life.
And going back to the house just reminds you that you can't.
That's not what I chose.
I chose something else.
So I can't see them.