On September 6, 2006, a 14-year-old girl named Elizabeth Shoaf was kidnapped by a man posing
as police officer named Vinson Filyaw. The dark events in Elizabeth's life were later
adapted into a film.
At the start of the film, Elizabeth is in the middle of class session with her classmates.
Shortly after, a man shows up at her classroom.
He is seen having a serious conversation with their teacher, who then calls one of her
female friends, Lucy Jennings, to come pick up her belongings and follows the man out of the classroom.
On their way home from school, Elizabeth discusses about Lucy's incident with Amanda,
her best friend. Amanda doesn't understand what is going on either, she claims that Lucy's
mother is pretty weird too. Plus, she heard the police came to their house a few days earlier.
When Elizabeth returns home, she will call her mother, Madeline, to let her know that
she and her younger brother, Bobby, are already home. In the middle of the night,
Elizabeth's entire family will spends their free time together. But not far from their house,
there is a mysterious man digging in the ground. The following morning, Elizabeth's family
is busy with their daily routines. It all begins with Don, his father, leaving the house,
and is picked up by a friend to go hunting. Following that, Elizabeth are sent by Madeline
to the bus stop where she will catch her school bus and Bobby directly to his school.
Elizabeth who is in a hurry doesn't notice that her mascara has fallen from her bag.
While on their way, Elizabeth asks Madeline's permission to stay at Amanda's house on Saturday.
Her mother allows it as long as Elizabeth also has asked permission from Amanda's mother.
Elizabeth then realizes that she has forgotten her mascara in the room and asks Madeline to take
her back to the house. But her mother doesn't want to because she is already late for work.
Elizabeth and her mother then have an argument that makes her mother angry
and tells Elizabeth that she should not return home if she is unable to change her attitude.
Elizabeth is offended by her mother's word, and she simply agrees with her mother's advice.
During class, Elizabeth’s boyfriend, Case gives her a letter asking about their plans to meet
on Saturday. After school, Case follows Elizabeth and Amanda to go home together.
After getting off the school bus, Case takes out his marijuana,
and lights it on fire before smoking it. He offers it to Elizabeth, but Elizabeth refuses,
while Amanda also joins him in smoking it. Not long after, Case is picked up by a car.
He is afraid that his parents will find out so he put the illicit item in Elizabeth's bag,
with the excuse of leaving it until Saturday. Before Case leaves Elizabeth, he offers her a
ride, but Elizabeth refuses because she prefers to walk to her house which is not too far away.
As she gets close to her house, a man with glasses appears out of the yard and calls her out.
He claims to be a police officer in the area, and has arrested her younger brother. Elizabeth then
approaches him, although she is a little hesitant at first. After Elizabeth approaches him, the man
immediately handcuffs her hands, and accuses her of having marijuana plants in her backyard.
Elizabeth tries to explain that they have nothing to do with this,
but he instead places a bomb around her neck, and warns her that it will explode if she
tries to escape or open it. After that, he pulls her away from there to meet her younger brother.
In order for Elizabeth to be safe, she has to just follow the police's orders. Meanwhile at her home,
Bobby picks up the phone from Madeline. He then informs Madeline that his sister still
hasn't come home yet, leading his mother to believe Elizabeth is running late that day.
Not long after, Madeline calls Bobby again for an update. After knowing that her daughter has not
yet came home, Madeline tells her son to look for his sister at the end of the road, where her bus
dropped her off. In the meantime, Madeline tries to call Amanda to inquire about Elizabeth's whereabouts.
Meanwhile in the woods, Elizabeth keeps asking why she is being taken so far away.
The man eventually admits that he kidnapped her and threatens to shoot her if she dares to escape.
Elizabeth is taken aback and cries out in fear because the man is not a police officer either.
After walking far enough, the kidnapper orders her to enter his underground hiding bunker.
Inside the bunker, she is getting more and more scared, and she begs the kidnapper not to kill
her. As it is getting late, Madeline begins to panic and keeps looking for
her daughter along the road to her house. She meets with Amanda and her mother who
advises her to report it to the police as soon as possible. Madeline then calls the police in the
hopes that they will help her in tracking down her daughter. An hour later, Don returns home from his
hunting activity. Madeline is getting more worries and and she informs Don that Elizabeth has not
returned home yet. But Don tries to calm his wife by telling her that Elizabeth would be home soon.
Soon after, two police officers arrives at their house, and conduct a search in the woods around
Elizabeth's house. But the dark surrounding prevents them from finding any evidence.
After that, they ask Madeline some questions about their behavior, or events that occured
prior to Elizabeth disappearance. Madeline informs them that she had an argument with Elizabeth
earlier in the morning. Therefore, the police believe that Elizabeth intentionally does not
return home because of their previous argument, and is instead staying at her friend's house.
But Madeline insists that her daughter will not go that far. The police officers are
still not convinced by what Elizabeth's mother's assertion, and advice her to contact him
if she has not returned home after a few days. Meanwhile, Elizabeth who has
been held captive underground experiences sexual crimes from the kidnapper. Elizabeth
can only cry in fear at this point without being able to put up a fight. The kidnapper
begins to feel annoyed by Elizabeth's cries, and threatens to kill her if she wants to escape.
He tells that the hideout has been filled with traps so it is impossible for her to escape.
Elizabeth is then knows that this insane guy name is Vinson. While watching TV, Vinson reassures her
that no one is looking for her because there hasn't been any news about her disappearance.
Meanwhile at her house, the two policemen who had previously visited them,
return to see Elizabeth's parents once more. At this point, Madeline continues to insist
that her daughter will not simply leave while mentioning a number of reasons, including the fact
that her important belongings are still in her room. She begs the authorities to act immediately
to find her daughter. The two police officers then report the case of Elizabeth's disappearance to
Sheriff Thompson. Thompson, who heard it asserts that the first 48 hours following the loss are the
most crucial time and rebukes their slow actions. The third day, Elizabeth, who is constantly forced
to satisfy Vinson's lust, tries to overcome her fears by imagining her happy days at school with
Case. Not long after, they hear the voices of Don and his friends who are looking for
Elizabeth's whereabouts. But they find no hint that his daughter is directly beneath them.
Vinson put his gun to Elizabeth's head so she doesn't make a sound.
Elizabeth is forced to hold back tears, thinking about how close she is to her father at that time,
but she can't do anything about it. After a few days have passed, the media starts reporting
about Elizabeth's disappearance. Her
feelings are mixed between sadness and emotion, especially when her mother speaks and expresses
how much they love her and wish her well, as well as the hope that she will return home soon.
It's already the fourth day, where Elizabeth begins to think about running away from there.
But she knows that she cannot too quick and has to be careful as her life will be at stake.
She then begins to try to get closer to Vinson, by talking to him and responding to all his words.
She pretends as if she agrees with everything the kidnapper said.
It is at this moment that Elizabeth knows the reason Vinson built the hideout and kidnapped her.
Actually, Vinson was planning to live there with his wife, whom he named Peanut.
According to Vinson, he was betrayed by Peanut, who accused him of raping her and then reported
it to the police, forcing him to hide alone in that place. Vinson then canceled his plan to
bring Peanut to live with him there because the authorities had taken her away from the area. In
the end, he plans to replace Peanut with someone else, and unfortunately, Elizabeth happened to be
in the wrong place at the wrong time on the day she was kidnapped. The fourth day has passed.
While Vinson is sleeping, Elizabeth tries to reach for his gun but can't do so because her neck has
been cuffed. Not long after, Vinson awakens and they can hear the sound of helicopters being sent
to look for Elizabeth. Vinson uses aluminum foil to block heat detection from infrared sensors.
Elizabeth then uses this opportunity to tries to get closer to Vinson again.
She hopes that Vinson would believe her charade of pretending to love him.
As a result, she is slowly able to find a weakness in Vinson, and use it in order to escape. Vinson
finally believes in her ruse, and releases the cuffs that has been shackled to her neck.
Elizabeth is now getting closer to Vinson, she is even allowed to try to shoot with his gun.
In fact, this gun is not like a real gun but it still can kill in short distance.
Vinson is impressed to see that Elizabeth can use the gun well and learn it quickly. Later that
night, Vinson handcuffs Elizabeth's hands and then brings her to pick up a food that has been left in
an old car by someone. They then fill the jerry can with river water.
After that, Vinson suddenly hears the sound of a helicopter and then immediately takes
Elizabeth to runs back to his hiding place. On their flee, Elizabeth purposely leaves one
of her shoes, in the hopes that anyone searching for her will come across traces of her presence.
It’s already the seventh day. As Vinson is sleeping, Elizabeth begins to put her plans
back into action. She tries to send a message to her mother using Vinson's cell phone. But
unfortunately, the message can’t be sent because there is no signal underground. Elizabeth tries
to get the cellphone out of the bunker entrance. Luckily, the message is successfully delivered.
Elizabeth then quickly deletes the message from Vinson's cell phone so she wouldn't be caught.
It doesn’t stop there, while Vinson is still sleeping, Elizabeth tries to grab his gun to shoot Vinson.
But when she pulls the trigger, the gun doesn't fire any bullets at all.
This makes her becomes even more stressed as she realizes her plans are not going as she
has hoped. Meanwhile, Sheriff Thompson informs Elizabeth's parents that the search will soon
be halted as Elizabeth may not be in their area anymore. They've covered nearly 20 square miles
in a week and found no trace or lead of it. On the eighth day, when Madeline checks her
cellphone in the morning, she is suprised as she receives a message from Elizabeth.
Madeline is relieved and so sure that Elizabeth is still alive. Don advises Madeline not to call
the number yet, and they will call the police first. But the two cops believe the
message is just a prank and allow Madeline to call the number. Fortunately, their leader comes at
the right time and stops Madeline from calling the number, because it would be very dangerous
for Elizabeth. On the ninth day, the police are able to track down the owner of the phone from
the phone company. It is discovered that the phone is registered to a woman named Katherine
Heath about three weeks ago, and the police immediately straight up to Katherine's residence.
As they arrive at her house, one of the policemen suddenly remembers that he had been there before.
He handled a sexual harassment case committed a year ago involving Katherine's boyfriend,
Vinson Filyaw, but they never met the suspect. They begin to interrogate Katherine, but she only
admits that she hasn't seen her boyfriend over a year. Not long after, they discover an underground
room both inside and outside Katherine's house. They conclude that their suspect this time is a
tough digger, which explains why they were unable to find him. The police are also suspicious of
Katherine's statement, as she hasn't seen Vinson in over a year. Thompson explains that Elizabeth's
mother received the message from a cell phone registered to Katherine's name. Thompson also
inquires as to how Vinson got hold of Katherine's phone which was just bought 3 weeks ago.
He then starts to warn Katherine if Vinson kills Elizabeth and Katherine mislead them, she would
accomplice to murder. In the end, Katherine points out the location shere she provides food whenever
Vinson asks for it. Thompson then orders his team to return to the forest around the area
since Vinson gotta be in walking distance to take the food. In addition, he intends to use
the media to expose Vinson's identity in order to lure him out of hiding. This method is very risky,
but the Sheriff knows that Vinson is a coward and will run away again, as he did before.
Vinson, on the other hand, begins to panic as he sees his name on the
news, leading him to suspect Elizabeth. Vinson then checks his cellphone,
but he doesn’t find any message from his phone. Elizabeth tries to convince Vinson that she loves
him and wants to stay with him no matter what happens. She also says that if the police find
them together, they will only put Vinson in jail. Elizabeth assures Vinson that he must leave now,
and that she will soon follow him wherever he goes. It is at this point that Elizabeth finally
finds out that Peanut mentioned by Vinson earlier is actually Lucy Jennings, Elizabeth's classmate
at the beginning of the film. Moreover, the woman who delivers the food is Katherine,
his girlfriend and also the mother of Lucy. In fact, Vinson has fallen in love with Katherine’s
daughter a long time ago, and wanted to marry her. After all of his confessions,
Vinson finally agrees with Elizabeth's opinion. He then prepares to leave Elizabeth alone,
after Elizabeth promised him to stay in the bunker. She will wait for Vinson to pick her
up and marry her as soon as it is safe. The tenth day, the day after Vinson left,
Elizabeth who has been waiting in the bunker finally musters the courage to come out.
In fact, she has been lied into believing there are numerous hidden traps and bombs outside.
She hopes that someone will hear her shouts and come to help her. Fortunately, Sheriff Thompson
and his team are walking through the nearby woods at the time. As the sheriff hears her voice,
he immediately rushes over to her. She is then taken to the hospital by the police.
Don, Madeline and Bobby arrive at the hospital, where they are finally reunited with Elizabeth.
At the end of the film, we are told that Vinson Filyaw was found guilty of multiple charges,
and sentenced to prison for 421 years only.