You may have heard of the movies The Girl In The Basement, or Room, but you may not be familiar with the actual story that these movies were based off of. Elisabeth Fritzl was only 18 years old when her abusive father, Josef Fritzl, lured her into the basement of their family home and locked her in a hidden cellar for years. Telling family and friends that Elisabeth had run away to join a religious cult coupled with a letter Josef forced her to write corroborating that story, sealed Elisabeth's fate. It wasn't until 24 years later that Elisabeth would finally see the light of day once again.

This week we delve into the story of Mary Vincent, which  pushes the limits of how low a rock bottom can be. While trying to hitchhike to Southern California at the age of only 15, Mary was abducted, sexually assaulted, attacked with a hatchet, and left to die at the bottom of a ravine. She found the will to survive because she didn’t want her attacker to be able to hurt anyone else. Mary was able to overcome so much and her story eventually led to the passing of a very important law! She is an inspiration beyond words. 

As one of the world’s best endurance runners, Danelle Ballengee was always up for a challenge. But when she got severely injured and stranded in the desert for days, she prepared to give up. Thanks to her mental and physical toughness, and her dog Taz, Danelle lived to see another day!

This week a living personification of all that is evil, Robert Berchtold, meticulously destroys an entire family. He infiltrated by gaining the trust of both Mary Ann and Bob Broberg before having separate affairs with each of them. Yes you read that correctly. Robert then moved to preying on the Broberg’s oldest daughter Jan, who was 12 at the time. The abuse went unnoticed, or denied, for years because of the relationship Berchtold had built with the Brobergs and the elaborate lie constructed to keep Jan within his grasp. She is an incredibly inspiring survivor who endured an intricately complex hell.

In this episode we discuss the unbelievably tragic events that occurred in Norway in 2011, the incredibly brave people who survived, and those who risked their lives to help others. 77 people lost their lives that day due to the twisted hatred of one man. We love Norway, but we despise Anders Breivik.

In 2006, Susan Walters was a 51-year-old emergency room nurse in Portland, Oregon. One evening Susan came home from her shift to find a man in her home wearing yellow rubber gloves and wielding a claw hammer. It became clear very quickly why that man was there,  and that Susan would have to do everything she could to stay alive. Thank goodness for self defense training and being a badass!!

A crew of 4 experienced sailors, and one girl friend along for the ride, is haphazardly assembled to deliver a yacht from Maine, down to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. After one successful day at sea, the crew is met by an unforgiving storm that only intensifies, causing the boat to go down fast. The 5 of them find themselves floating in the middle of the ocean in a rubber dinghy with only the clothes on their backs; exposed to the elements and surrounded by sharks. Their situation quickly went from bad, to worse, to nightmarish.

Lisa McVey is the epitome of a survivor. She endured abuse starting from the age of two, bouncing from bad situation to bad situation; and at the age of 17 she decided she no longer wanted to live. But on the same day she planned on taking her life, Lisa was kidnapped off her bicycle on her way home from work and was put in the position where she had to fight to stay alive. Lisa's incredible bravery and insanely savvy survival instincts led to a huge break in a high profile case Lisa had no idea she was a part of.

Woohoo part 2! The incredible story of Colton Harris Moore comes to a close this episode as we talk about his inevitable downfall. Colton flew a little too close to the sun, but it was quite a ride while it lasted!

Alex embarks on his first two part story as we dive into the mind-boggling tale of Colton Harris Moore! Colton escaped from a halfway house at the age of 17 while serving a 3 year sentence for theft. After making a break for it, Colton survives on the run from authorities for over 2 years! During this time he manages to steal just about anything he can get his hands on, including PLANES!? Listen in to find out exactly how a teenager was able to avoid capture from not only local police, but the FBI.