Trapped Underground at Age Three: Lori Poland

Three-year-old Lori Poland is playing outside her Colorado home when a stranger lures her into his car. He drives her into the mountains and abandons her 15 feet underground in an abandoned outhouse. As police launch a desperate search, Lori's abductor refuses to reveal her location. For four terri…

Your Burning Questions: Lisa Mae, Eduardo Valseca, and Alisa Mathewson

Elizabeth Smart is back with three extraordinary survivors — Lisa Mae, Eduardo Valseca and Alisa Mathewson — to answer more of your burning questions. They revisit some of the most harrowing moments of their stories, share new details about their experiences, and reveal how surviving unimaginable v…

Amy Acton Ad: The Survivors’ Take with Deondra Brown and Michelle Denault

Everyone is talking about Amy Acton after her estranged mother appeared in a political ad calling the Ohio gubernatorial candidate “a liar.” Acton has also spoken openly about surviving childhood sexual abuse. Elizabeth Smart, Deondra Brown and Michelle Denault — all survivors themselves — talk abo…

My Attacker Cross-Examined Me: Alisa Mathewson Part 2

After a desperate escape attempt fails, Alisa Matthewson is recaptured, bound, and taken even farther from safety. When her 55-hour ordeal finally ends, she expects to be reunited with her children — instead, she finds herself fighting a new battle to get them back. In the finale of her story, Alis…

He Came Back to Kill Me: Alisa Mathewson Part 1

Alisa Mathewson wakes at 3:00 a.m. with the terrifying certainty that someone is standing in her bedroom. It is her estranged husband — the man she has spent months trying to escape. In Part One of her story, Alisa reveals how her desperate attempts to break free from his control culminate in a mid…

Torture Box: Eduardo Valseca

Eduardo Valseca is locked inside a tiny box, its coarse walls tearing at his skin whenever he moves. He doesn’t know where he is, what has happened to his wife, or why the men holding him refuse to speak. Then the message comes: his captors want millions of dollars in ransom — and when his family c…

Cornell Case: The Survivors' Take with Kimberly Corban and JoDee Neil

As the sexual assault allegations at Cornell University dominate the headlines, Elizabeth and fellow survivors Kimberly Corban and JoDee Neil engage in a challenging conversation about consent, reporting, bystanders, and what people still getting wrong about trauma. Plus the "Three D" rules for pro…

Taking Down the Serial Killer: Lisa Mae Part 2

After surviving more than 26 hours in captivity, Lisa Mae reaches the police expecting them to help her — only to find herself fighting to convince investigators that her story is true. Then a news report about another murdered woman leads Lisa to a chilling realization: the man who abducted her is…

I Made a Serial Killer Trust Me: Lisa Mae Part 1

Seventeen-year-old Lisa Mae has already decided she doesn’t want to live. Then, riding her bike home through the darkness after a late shift, she notices a car sitting strangely in an empty church parking lot. Seconds later, a man lunges from the shadows, presses a gun to her head, and drags her in…

Listener Q&A: Kara Robinson Chamberlain, Chris Cander and Kimberly Corban

For the first time, Elizabeth sits down with three fellow survivors — Kara Robinson Chamberlain, Chris Cander and Kimberly Corban — to answer questions directly from listeners. They share new details from their remarkable stories, talk about facing dangerous situations after their attacks, and reve…