Life isn't an action thriller movie. Liam Neeson won't come to save you if bad guys kidnap you, that's for sure. Statistics aren't an exact science when it comes to abductions, but according to the latest data from the United Nations, there were 52,441 total kidnappings in the U.S. in 2022.
Then there are parental child abductions when one parent takes the child without the other's knowledge. It's estimated that 200,000 to 260,000 children are taken by a parent or other family member each year.
All this might sound like an unsettling statistic from an action movie, but it's real life. People get kidnapped in real life, too, and some survive to tell their tales. In one online thread, survivors shared their stories after one netizen asked: "People who've been kidnapped, how did you survive?"
Some stories might make your blood curdle, others might leave you impressed by the survivors' strong will. Others, unfortunately, didn't have a happy ending, so we warn you, Pandas: this one's for those who can look at human tragedy with eyes wide open.
#21
I was almost kidnapped at around the age of 5. A small family moved into the neighborhood and the dad would often be out at the playground playing with all of the neighbor kids. I actually remember him. He used to take turns spinning us around and I loved that, not a lot of adults would spin us around in the air for that amount of time.
I was good friends with a little girl who lived in the neighborhood up the street from me, and she happened to look quite a lot like me. The resemblance was so uncanny that we used to switch our names and pretend to be each other.
One day she's walking down to my neighborhood (it was the early 90's and a super tight knit community) and this dad that I knew called out to her, calling her by my name. Because we used to pretend we were each other, she responded at first. But then he asked her if she wanted to go with him in his car to get stickers at the post office so she ran back home and told her mom. She didn't know who the guy was and her mom did well in teaching her not to go with strangers. Her mom responded by tracking the guy down and calling the cops. Turns out he had been wanted for kidnapping and we found out that he had been sexually abusing his own daughter and beating his wife.
I was a pretty dumb and naive kid, who totally trusted and loved hanging out with this man, so I think I would have gone with him if it had been me and not my friend. My parents told this story to me when I was older, but I still remember waking up one morning and being told that I couldn't go outside. My brothers could go though, and I remember thinking how unfair that was. I remember my mom getting very serious with me and having to softly explain that some men out there want to hurt little girls like me. I found out later of course that this was during the investigation, before they officially arrested him.
TLDR: My doppelganger best friend saved me from being r***d by confusing my would-be kidnapper and having better sense than I would have.
I was good friends with a little girl who lived in the neighborhood up the street from me, and she happened to look quite a lot like me. The resemblance was so uncanny that we used to switch our names and pretend to be each other.
One day she's walking down to my neighborhood (it was the early 90's and a super tight knit community) and this dad that I knew called out to her, calling her by my name. Because we used to pretend we were each other, she responded at first. But then he asked her if she wanted to go with him in his car to get stickers at the post office so she ran back home and told her mom. She didn't know who the guy was and her mom did well in teaching her not to go with strangers. Her mom responded by tracking the guy down and calling the cops. Turns out he had been wanted for kidnapping and we found out that he had been sexually abusing his own daughter and beating his wife.
I was a pretty dumb and naive kid, who totally trusted and loved hanging out with this man, so I think I would have gone with him if it had been me and not my friend. My parents told this story to me when I was older, but I still remember waking up one morning and being told that I couldn't go outside. My brothers could go though, and I remember thinking how unfair that was. I remember my mom getting very serious with me and having to softly explain that some men out there want to hurt little girls like me. I found out later of course that this was during the investigation, before they officially arrested him.
TLDR: My doppelganger best friend saved me from being r***d by confusing my would-be kidnapper and having better sense than I would have.
7points
#22
When I was about 7 I rode my bike to a burger place for my family dinner, I was super excited because I never was allowed to do it before. When I came out the bag was kind of big and I was having trouble riding the bike, a man leaned out of a pickup truck and said hey little girl I can give you a ride we can throw your bike in the back, there was another man with him and I remember they had big grins on their faces, for a second I thought, hmm that would be nice, and then I could hear my moms voice in my head saying don’t ever get in a car with a stranger, I got really scared and jumped on my bike and took off, I always wonder what would have happened to me.
7points
#23
I was grabbed in a parking lot and pulled into the back seat of a car. I started kicking and screaming and flailing around. The passenger had a gun pointed at me and I was trying to hit it out of his hand while the person in the back seat was trying to restrain me. I fought for my life. There was no thinking or anything I just went straight to fight mode.
They ended up stopping in a dark neighborhood and threw me out into the street. During all this they were calling me names and saying other s**t but I don't really remember those details. I just remember fighting for my life and screaming.
They ended up stopping in a dark neighborhood and threw me out into the street. During all this they were calling me names and saying other s**t but I don't really remember those details. I just remember fighting for my life and screaming.
7points
#24
I don't know if I was actually kidnapped or just held hostage. It wasn't even a whole day.
But a person pulled a knife out and backed me into laundry room and kept me there.
But a person pulled a knife out and backed me into laundry room and kept me there.
6points
#25
When I was 12 somebody took me from a target parking lot and put me in their trunk. Somebody saw and started driving after us. The guy stopped and ran away when he realized that people saw him he stopped and I got out.
6points
#26
I was almost kidnapped in Jamaica. I was 6 and somehow got separated from my parents in a crowded market. I was yelling out for my dad, and a man approached me saying, “I’ll help you find your daddy.” My mom found me as the guy approached me and snatched me up so fast. Looking back maybe he was genuinely trying to help me find my parents. Who knows.
My parents were kidnapped at gunpoint by two dudes in New Orleans. They went out to dinner for their 1st wedding anniversary and were held up outside of the restaurant. They forced my parents into their car in the backseat, and they drive around for a while. Took everything from my parents; wedding rings, watch, wallets. Apparently some lady saw this take place and called 911 from a pay phone. Luckily the two guys dropped my parents off and drove away. I don’t think they were ever caught though.
My parents were kidnapped at gunpoint by two dudes in New Orleans. They went out to dinner for their 1st wedding anniversary and were held up outside of the restaurant. They forced my parents into their car in the backseat, and they drive around for a while. Took everything from my parents; wedding rings, watch, wallets. Apparently some lady saw this take place and called 911 from a pay phone. Luckily the two guys dropped my parents off and drove away. I don’t think they were ever caught though.
6points
#27
Possibly a totally innocuous story, but we were at the pool, and a man asked my younger boys if they wanted to "see his puppy" he walked over to a van nearby and the boys followed. I was in close earshot as well and took off after them.
He did have a "puppy" (a small dog, but not a young dog) in his van. I gave everyone an earful. My boys for following the man on such a flimsy premise, and the man for such an incredibly trite p*****le/kidnapper setup.
I doubt he was really going to kidnap anyone, I think he was just genuinely clueless, but you never know. Definitely terrifying to witness.
He did have a "puppy" (a small dog, but not a young dog) in his van. I gave everyone an earful. My boys for following the man on such a flimsy premise, and the man for such an incredibly trite p*****le/kidnapper setup.
I doubt he was really going to kidnap anyone, I think he was just genuinely clueless, but you never know. Definitely terrifying to witness.
6points
#28
I wasn't kidnapped, but someone tried to lure me and my mom, who was 48, to his car when I was around 11.
My parents and I were on a vacation and had stopped at a gas station to go to the bathroom and get drinks. My mom and I were at the drink coolers when this Jabba the Hutt hybrid looking m**********r walks up to us. Before he even started speaking I knew he was a disgusting human because of this s**t eating grin he gave us. He looked at my mom and told her he had sports tickets in his car. He didn't even specify, he just said sports tickets and expected us to go with him. My mom is a really polite woman, so even though she knew what he was doing she said "no thank you" very kindly and we walked away. I wish she would have let me do the talking, 11 year old me gave zero f***s.
My parents and I were on a vacation and had stopped at a gas station to go to the bathroom and get drinks. My mom and I were at the drink coolers when this Jabba the Hutt hybrid looking m**********r walks up to us. Before he even started speaking I knew he was a disgusting human because of this s**t eating grin he gave us. He looked at my mom and told her he had sports tickets in his car. He didn't even specify, he just said sports tickets and expected us to go with him. My mom is a really polite woman, so even though she knew what he was doing she said "no thank you" very kindly and we walked away. I wish she would have let me do the talking, 11 year old me gave zero f***s.
6points
#29
I wasn't exactly kidnapped but rather lured under false pretences into this guys house where he locked me in and held me against my will for around 10 hours, not only was there a substantial amount of blood all over a sliding half open wardrobe door upstairs and all over a bed which was a scary sight but also this guy had bad schizophrenia and kept switching from one personality to the other, one was sad, upset lonely and depressed, another was full of rage and wanting to control.. I survived by gaining his trust and telling him exactly what I thought he wanted to hear, I told him that I needed to go home to get a change of clothes and a few other bits and then I was coming straight back as I'd fallen in love with him and wanted to make plans with him, I even asked him what alcohol he wanted me to bring back for him and eventually he let me go, needless to say I never returned, I flagged down the nearest car which happened to be a taxi and after making sure I was ok he took me safely home thank goodness.
5points
#30
Not kidnapped, but almost. When I was 15 we just moved to a different country 2500km from where I am originally from. I was already fluent in the new language but we had been here for about a month when my parents, my little sister (11 at the time) and I went to town to sort out mobiles, internet, etc... My parents left us at a bar (I had been babysitting my sister since I was 10 and I am actually super responsible, which is what I think saved us) when suddenly this old man came up to us (he was around 60 for sure) and he started asking me questions like where are your parents, when are they coming back, etc… and I would just lie and make things up like o right around the corner, they will be back in no time (knowing it could take an hour) so eventually he started asking more personal questions like how old we were, where we were from, etc… and I kept lying just so he wouldn’t be able to find us after this. Eventually he asked me if I liked cherries (they´re one of my fave fruits) and I said yes, I loved cherries. He told me he had huge trees at home and if we went with him we could have as many as we wanted. I just kept saying no as my parents would need to know where we went and he said that we would come back before they did. After 20 minutes of going back and forth my parents finally came back. We ran out of there and never went back.
5points
#31
I've had a couple almost kidnapping incidents. First one was in Barcelona. I was 2 years old, on vacation with my family. We had gone to the beach for a picnic and my parents were busy unpacking the car when an older man approached us. He immediately went to pick me up off the ground, repeating "angel" over and over again. I had white hair, very pale skin and blue eyes at the time and my parents described him as being tan and dark haired. My parents were quick to grab me before he could pick me up. He kept saying "hold" and for whatever dumb reason my parents thought it would be okay to let him hold me (I'm still mad about this). His english wasn't great but from what we understood, he was asking to take me with him and kept trying to walk off with me (once again, thank you parents for handing me off to a stranger). My mom took me back and we went on our way so not overly eventful.
Second time it happened, we were visiting Lake Louise, near Banff. We had gone with my aunt and uncle and my cousins. I still had my pale features and so did my younger cousin. Now for those of you who don't know, Banff and the surrounding area is a very popular destination for asian tourists and that includes japanese tour buses. There happened to be one at lake louise at the time of our visit. So my mom's off taking pictures and assumes I'm right next to her the whole time until she puts her camera down and realizes I'm gone. She starts to panic because her 3 year old is missing and goes to tell my dad, aunt and uncle. Turns out my cousin is missing too so now everyone's on full alert. Luckily for them it didn't take long to find us. After a few minutes of looking they found us sitting on a rock together in front of the lake, surrounded by japanese tourists taking pictures. I don't remember much from this part of the story but apparently they were very polite and just wanted pictures of the white children so my mom obliged rather than blowing her top. Interesting to know there's people all the way around the world with a picture of me in their house.
Second time it happened, we were visiting Lake Louise, near Banff. We had gone with my aunt and uncle and my cousins. I still had my pale features and so did my younger cousin. Now for those of you who don't know, Banff and the surrounding area is a very popular destination for asian tourists and that includes japanese tour buses. There happened to be one at lake louise at the time of our visit. So my mom's off taking pictures and assumes I'm right next to her the whole time until she puts her camera down and realizes I'm gone. She starts to panic because her 3 year old is missing and goes to tell my dad, aunt and uncle. Turns out my cousin is missing too so now everyone's on full alert. Luckily for them it didn't take long to find us. After a few minutes of looking they found us sitting on a rock together in front of the lake, surrounded by japanese tourists taking pictures. I don't remember much from this part of the story but apparently they were very polite and just wanted pictures of the white children so my mom obliged rather than blowing her top. Interesting to know there's people all the way around the world with a picture of me in their house.
1point
#32
Kind of late to the party on this one but here I go anyway. My story is a potential kidnapping or mugging I do not know which one it would have been. One night me and my girlfriend are heading back to her place (where I left my car). she pulls up to the side of my car I get out and some of the things we bought that day into my trunk as I do this this man had been walking up behind me on the sidewalk but I didn't think much of it when I got out of the car cuz I thought it was just some pedestrian when I was done with putting the things away I made it back to her car and locked the door when I looked back at him he makes a complete u-turn and starts peacefully walking away in other direction. Me and my girlfriend spend the rest of the night trying to make out what could have happened and whether if we should call the police. In the end I'm just thankful that she stayed parked there and had not pulled into her driveway like she usually does.
1point
