Former kidnapping victims Tanya Kach, Jaycee Dugard, Elizabeth Smart, and Katie Beers offer advice to the three women freed from their kidnappers in Cleveland. INSIDE EDITION has their story.
Passionate words from a brave woman who was also kept captive, like the kidnapped victims in Cleveland.
Tanya Kach was 14 years old when she was kidnapped by a security guard at the school she attended in Pittsburgh. For 10 years, she was his sex slave.
Kach said, "I'm here for them. I know what they went through!"
INSIDE EDITION’s Les Trent asked, "What happens when you see a story like this?"
Kach replied, "I was shocked, chills went through me. I started crying."
Trent asked, "Did you have nightmares afterwords?"
Kach said, "I have them to this day. Nobody knows the demons I live with every day."
She suspects some will wonder why the women in Cleveland weren't able to escape.
Kach said, "You don't understand. When your life is threatened, you go into survival mode. You do what he tells you to do."
Trent asked, "What advice do you have for these three women?"
She said, "They need to stay positive, weed out the negative, keep the positive in your life."
Those sentiments are echoed by Jaycee Dugard, who was kidnapped at age 11 and was miraculously rescued 18 years later. During her captivity, she gave birth to two daughters.
She told INSIDE EDITION in a statement,"The human spirit is incredibly resilient. More then ever this reaffirms we should never give up hope."
Elizabeth Smart was 14 when she was kidnapped in Salt Lake City, the world rejoiced when she was found alive and well, nine months later. On Tuesday morning, she told Good Morning America, it's important to never give up hope.
She said,"Their rescue is proof there are good people out there. We need to have constant vigilance, constantly keep our eyes open, our ears open, because miracles do happen."
Katie Beers was nine when she was kidnapped by a man who kept her prisoner in a tiny underground bunker on Long Island, New York, for 17 days, she was his sole captive, unlike the Cleveland house of horrors.
Beers told INSIDE EDITION, "It brings me back to when I was held captive. You have to hope they were held together so they had some sort of friendship, or kinship."
This doesn’t just happen to girls. 11-year-old Shawn Hornbeck was kidnapped while riding his bike in Richwoods, Missouri. He spent the next four-and-a-half years in captivity before he was rescued.
The lesson is clear, as stated by Kach, "Don't ever give up hope. Look at my story, look at Jaycee Duggard, look at Elizabeth Smart, look at Shawn Hornbeck. We all survived."
