Kidnapping is scary - its that simple.
Its something everyone fears in one way or another - and for good reason.
Some kidnappers are mentally unstable, others have sadistic minds, some could be family
members and others might be strangers who are looking for a large ransom for the victims
safe return.
I found a number of threads on Reddit with people discussing their personal experiences
with kidnapping.
Theyre shocking, theyre disturbing - but their stories are definitely worth hearing.
My name is Danny Burke and this is the Top 10 Scary Kidnapping Stories …
Starting off at number 10 we have the Loan Sharks[a].
This one is crazy, it sounds like some kind of movie plot - I feel so bad for the family
involved.
Reddit user Rin Takahashi said -This happened to me when I was a kid.
My parents were involved with the loan sharks in the area and I was kept as insurance that
they'll pay the money they owe.
They picked me up from our front yard.
At the time, I didn't know I was kidnapped.
I only knew that I went to stay with an uncle who had like 4 girlfriends (crack whores)
and a lot of roommates who swore a lot.
They didn't touch me.
On the contrary, they kept me well-fed and some of them gave me a barbie to keep my occupied
while they did their business in the other rooms.
I kept demanding where my mom is and they kept assuring me that mommy will come and
pick me up.
That they just need to finish something first.
In the end, I stayed with them for like a week before my dad got me out.
I remember my mom and dad crying a lot as we went home.
That was one of my earliest memories and I can never forget it-
Moving on now to number 9 we have The Barn[b].
This one comes from Reddit user The Dreamer.
This is a strange one because the story is both resolved and unresolved.
Youll see what I mean.
They said -Not my own abduction but my cousin was abducted.
She lives in Mexico.
One day as she was she was walking home after being dropped off by the school bus; she was
pulled into a van by men wearing bandanas over their face.
They tied her up and placed a hood over her head.
They drove for a long time according to her.
She was taken to a barn and was left there.
Inside the barn were other young women tied up.
She would ask what was going? on and where are they? but the women wouldn't answer her.
She somehow got loose from her rope and started to look for an escape.
She found a window and saw that the sun was setting.
She broke the window with a chair.
She urged the other girls to come with but they were too scared to leave.
My cousin left them and she ran nonstop to the nearest town.
She stayed off the roads in case they were looking for her.
Luckily she found a phone in the town and called her family.
She's safe now but she could never remember where the location of the barn was.
She still feels guilty about it all.
Next up at the number 8 spot now we have Someone To Talk To[c].
Kidnapping is, by its very definition, a bad thing to talk to.
But with this next story, it seems like the victim may have seen past that for a moment,
and shown more empathy than most people ever could.
Reddit user I Gotta Share said -I got pushed into a car in London and held for 14 hours
in a car that had been stripped of much of its internal paneling with a door that could
only be opened from outside.
I don't really know what his intentions were, but he was going through a pretty serious
crisis.
He told me how his wife had left him after revealing how neither of his two children
were his.
He was unemployed and evidently addicted to crack cocaine.
For 14 hours, he shared many of his fears and problems along with a desire to ''end
it''.
As the time passed, I became a little impatient as I had a plane to catch, but soon abandoned
such hope after he started shouting and stabbing the dashboard with a 10'' screwdriver because
I wasn't listening.
Through all of this, I recognized a man at the end of his rope that needed someone to
talk to.
Although terrified at some points, I calmed myself by believing that I could get through
it if I could keep him calm and see me as a friend, albeit one that needed to go home.
Eventually, the sun rose, the drugs ran out and wore off, and he had shared all he could.
I encouraged him to speak with his family and try to seek legal advice.
I gave him my email address and he opened the door and I found my way to the Tube station.
I don't know how things turned out for him.
He never contacted me-
Moving on to number 7 now we have The Attempt[d].
As you can probably tell from the title I gave this one, it was just an attempt - but
its a really strange one that I just had to include on the list.
Im interested to hear your theories on it.
Reddit user Hdslvo said -When I was 12 years old, I sat next to a woman on a plane to Las
Vegas.
When my mother fell asleep on the plane, a lady in her mid-30s started talking to me.
She was saying things like " your parents are con artists" and "I have a mansion you
can come live in" and "I will give you lots of money if you leave your parents and come
live with me" and things along those lines.
After the plane landed and everyone was walking to get off the plane, the lady grabbed my
wrist and pulled me and began ushering me in front of her...My mom LOST her mind and
caused a huge scene...I am not sure how the conversation went among everyone, I was very
distraught.
But, they made me wait on the plane while police escorted the lady off the plane to
question her elsewhere.
To this day, I cannot believe she attempted to do this while my parents were right there
and on a plane no less.
I will never know the ladies true intentions, but the older I got the more sinister the
situations became in my head-
At the number 6 spot now we have Level Headed[e].
Im sure that staying calm during a kidnapping situation is the best way to handle it - but
thats easier said than done.
This Reddit user managed it though.
They said -Last summer, I went to Walmart around 1 am on a Sunday night.
I work night shift so I was fairly comfortable but still aware of my surroundings.
I bought an HDMI cable and a bag of chips and was walking out to my car when a car pulled
up to mine.
When the guy got out, I just assumed he was going into the store.
I unlocked my car and he came around the side.
At that point I was a little anxious but just thought he was gonna ask for money or a cigarette.
Then I saw his gun.
He told me not to say anything and to get in the back seat of his car.
He said if I did what he said, he wouldn't hurt me.
I got in his car, and he gave the gun to a kid (probably 13 or so) in the passenger seat.
The kid held the gun on me while the man took my wallet, phone, and keys.
They drove to an ATM and withdrew all the money from my bank account (only about $200
because I'm a broke college kid).
They kept talking about whether or not they should kill me or let me go.
I convinced them to drop me off as long as I promised not to say anything to the cops.
They kept my phone but gave me my wallet and keys back and dropped me off in the ghetto.
I walked to a gas station and the cashier called the cops for me.
I think they had a hard time believing me because I seemed so calm, but it was the worst
night of my life-
Moving on to number 5 we The Brave Escape[f].
This one comes from Reddit user Polly Sockem who showed great courage in a terrifying situation.
They said -I was 24 and coming home around 3am one night from being the designated driver.
I parked outside my apartment and a man with a gun approaches as I am getting out of the
car.
He forces me back in and yells at me to climb over into the passenger seat.
I am a blubbering mess at this point and just know I am going to die.
He drives me to an atm and wants me to get him some cash.
I had $4 in my bank account, so he was pretty pissed.
He starts driving around and I start trying to figure out how to get myself out of the
situation.
I turn in my seat toward him and start trying to talk to him, even touching him on the arm
so he might start seeing me as another human.
While I am doing this, I reach up behind and unlock the door.
Eventually he comes to a stop a red light.
I notice a car has pulled up behind us and I throw open the door and jump out.
He grabs me and my clothes rip, but I get out.
He takes off and the people in the car behind me call the cops.
A couple months later I have to go to the police station and pick him out of a lineup.
I meet two other women he did this too and realize I was extremely lucky compared to
what they went through.
Another year later and I go to trial since my incident had the most evidence.
He gets 99 years in prison and won't be eligible for parole until he is 64-
Next up at number 4 we have The Drop Off[g].
Many of the kidnappings weve talked about can be for personal or abuse reasons - but
for some criminals, kidnapping is simply a business.
All they want is ransom money.
Thats what happened to one Reddit user who said -I come from a rich family and was kidnapped
while I was fixing my motocross bike in my garage.....
My garage, let that sink in.
Pretty sure it was an inside job because the TWO armed guards at the gate had to "suddenly"
go to the toilet and "forgot" to lock the auto gate system, but anyway.
The kidnappers were actually pretty nice to me and didn't really hurt me other then bag
over the head and handcuffs, they kept me fed and I had plenty of water.
I was with them for a total of 5 days while my parents got together the ransom (I shit
you not it was like the movies in terms of the drop off) and that was the end of that,
got home safe and sound with no injuries.
They were never caught as I suspect they were part of a crime ring as they were very professional
in terms of what they did and how they did it-
Moving on to number 3 now we have Different States[h].
Coming from the UK, I always found it interesting that the US has vastly different laws from
state to state - and that plays a key part in this story.
Reddit user Smile Now Girl said -My biological mother kidnapped me from my adoptive mother
when I was 11 and my sister was 12.
She had my uncle come to our door and pretend he had a "surprise" for us in his car.
Turns out it was my mother and her abusive boyfriend.
I tried to run but my uncle grabbed me and stuffed me in the backseat along with my sister.
We hid out at his place for a while and then drove to Florida from Louisiana.
Because of differing laws between states, I ended up staying with my alcoholic mother
until I graduated high school and got into college.
I told her to never contact me again once I was safely away in another city.
She still has no idea what she's done wrong- … the story doesnt end there though, another
Redditor asked how were they not sent back to their adoptive mother to which they replied
-I'm back in contact with my adoptive mother now and she explained it pretty bad but said
that she hadn't "officially" adopted us and only had some kind of soft custody.
This would have held in California where we were born but apparently not in LA or FL-
Moving onto number 2 we have SWAT.
I was nine when this happened.
My brother was getting drunk w/ some friends and some sketchy characters started to show
up at the party.
I was in my room when a dude smashed the door and drug me to his car.
My brother, drunk and high, tried to stop him.
My brother got shot by a .38 and I was kidnapped.
The guy drugged me (I found out years after) and took me to a warehouse where his buddies
were.
They kept me there for a few days when SWAT burst through the skylight and windows.
Turns out there were 20ish kids there and that they were being sold as (be creative).
The SWAT got a tip from my brother's friend who trailed the dude who took me.
And finally at number 1 we have The Turnaround[i].
After hearing all of these kidnapping stories, I bet you guys would like to finish with one
where the kidnapper gets what they deserve.
Well, this storm from Reddit user ChronosHorse is the perfect one I think.
They said -Wow ok here's what happened to me.
I was fixing a friend's computer late night after work and I finished so I went to the
gas station on my way home.
After filling up this guy jumps in my car.
He tells me to drive.
So I do.
I drove towards a police station thinking I will be safer if I could get close to it.
So while I'm driving I notice that he only had a percussion screwdriver, Like the one
you might fix your glasses with.
So I pull over get out of the car and I pull his ass out of my car.
He gets up and throws a punch.
I grab his wrist, kick the ball of his knee, and put my knee in his sternum.
I got him once more and yell "IF YOU GET UP BEFORE THE COPS GET HERE I'LL FUCKING KILL
YOU!"
I pulled my phone or called the cops.
He lay there cradling his arm until the cops get there.
The cops couldn't believe the story and as it turned out he was transported to the hospital
because I broke his arm and zyphoid process.
He then went to jail for kidnapping and attempted robbery-
And there we go guys, a long video I know but I think those stories deserved a little
bit more time than normal.
Which one impacted you the most?
Im interested to continue the discussion in the comments section below.
Thanks as always for watching guys, my name is Danny Burke and Ill see you all in the
next video!