USA At the age of 20, Colleen Stan thought it was normal to ride a stranger and felt lucky when a young couple smiled and welcomed her.

Cameron Hooker, 23, and his wife Janice gave Colleen a lift on May 19, 1977. However, in the middle of the trip, she suddenly had an inexplicable bad feeling about this couple. After traveling a few kilometers, Cameron stopped at a service station for Colleen to defecate.

"A voice in my head urges me to jump out of the toilet window to run and never turn around," Colleen said in an interview with People magazine in 2016. However, she told herself. just a silly feeling and back to the Hooker's car, then discovered a strange wooden box with a hole in the side placed on the seat next to him.

30 minutes later, Cameron stopped the car on a deserted road and then suddenly controlled, tied and covered Colleen, stuffed her head into a 9 kg wooden box with hinges, lined with soundproof material so that she could not call for help. . The car continues to move to the couple's home in the city of Red Bluff, California, USA, Colleen pick up point in Eugene, Oregon to 480 km.

After arriving, Cameron removed the box from Colleen's head, hung her with a chain on the basement beam, then raped and beat him. "I was terrified. Janice watched Cameron torture me, then they had sex right in front of me. I believed they were going to kill me," Colleen said.

That night, Colleen was tied and locked in a small wooden crate, not long enough to stretch her legs, causing her to hold a squatting position. The couple soon moved to a mobile home in the outback. Cameron built a coffin-shaped wooden box to lock Colleen 23 hours a day and put it under the bed.

Because he could barely move and was trapped in the dark, Colleen had to use a bedpan to defecate and move his position with his feet. A fan is placed next to the small hole in the box to prevent heat. Colleen was not allowed to make noise, starved and lacked water. Cameron took her out at night to torture and coerce.

Colleen was also "brainwashed" when he believed that Cameron was a member of a mysterious organization called "The Company", who would "pin her to a pole" or shoot if she tried to run away, even harming her. her family. With great despair and increasingly obedient mentality, Colleen agreed to sign the "slave" contract. Her name is changed to "K", Cameron must be called "Boss" and Janice is "Lady".

After three years of capturing Colleen, Cameron took her to visit his family. The strange thing is that in a private conversation with his parents, Colleen insists Cameron is his boyfriend and she feels happy. Colleen's parents suspected she had joined a cult, but still complied and took pictures of the "happy couple," then bid her son goodbye.

As time went on, Colleen was allowed out of the box longer to take care of Cameron and Janice's two daughters, while also taking care of some household chores. However, due to the fear of "The Company", she still did not run away.

Cameron then turned Colleen into his second wife, much to Janice's sadness, to the point of deciding to clarify things by telling Colleen that "The Company" doesn't exist.

In August 1984, Janice drove Colleen to a bus stop, then left with her two children. Colleen phoned Cameron to inform her that she was about to leave him, causing the man to cry.

For many months, Colleen still failed to notify the police of the abduction and abuse, occasionally calling Cameron to persuade him to "pay back". However, it was Janice who denounced her husband, accusing him of kidnapping, torturing and murdering another girl named Marie Elizabeth Spannhake, who disappeared in January 1976.

Janice testified against her husband and was acquitted, while Cameron was sentenced to 104 years in prison. In hearings, Colleen is believed to have suffered from Stockholm Syndrome, a situation in which a person falls in love with his confinement due to the intense stresses they face.

Colleen said she became interested in Cameron when he showed even the slightest emotional actions, such as allowing her to celebrate her birthday or buy her a Bible.

Now, at the age of 62, Colleen has an accounting degree and has gone through a series of failed marriages due to his past. In an interview with People, Colleen explained that she had faced the challenge by "separating" her mind.

"I have learned that I can walk into any compartment in my mind. You just need to remove yourself from the situation and put your thoughts into something more comfortable, whatever makes you happy. ", Colleen said.

"When you are imprisoned, your life is only behind bars. Regaining freedom is like opening a gate and you just have to run away. I have to accept the fact that it is like that. I don't let it affects the present life because for me everything is over, "she added.