15 Hostage Survivors Share Terrifying Stories

Redditor /u/turkeybastermcmuffin

A girl invited me back to her place after a party. I felt uneasy walking with her. I told her I was leaving because I was too drunk. She persuaded me, and we laughed. We arrived at her place; it was nice but messy, with packaging everywhere. She showed me her room; a guy was in her bed in his underwear. I immediately turned and ran for the door. The door had a keyed interior lock. He demanded, "You took my coke. Where is my f*ckin' coke." I turned; he held a wild-looking tool toward me. I told him to leave, but the girl asked him to calm down. He ordered me back to the bedroom. I thought I was set up for theft. I gave him my wallet. He took it, laughed, threw the cash back at me, and yelled, "Where is my f*cking coke!" I trembled. I admitted I knew nothing about coke or its location. The girl searched the room frantically while he pointed the tool at me. He aimed the tool at my head, telling the girl if he did not get his coke, I was dead. I was shocked. Taking anything from him was impossible. He was completely unhinged, rambling about his coke. He made me sit on a chair, pointed his AR at me, and questioned me for an hour. The girl searched the whole house. She returned to the room and found his coke under the bed pillows. He laughed, "My bad, I forgot I put that there. Want a bump?" I stood up, said, "The door," and left the bedroom. He talked small talk to someone, unlocked the door, and said, "Goodbye!" Walking home, I felt like I was watching myself from outside. I felt like I was on autopilot. At home, I closed the door, collapsed on the couch, and shivered hard. I cried silently for a moment before going to bed.

This messed me up for a while. I could not go to parties or talk to new people. I did not socialize for over a year until I moved away.

Redditor /u/vzsax

I was almost taken a few years ago. An Uber driver who did not match his picture picked me up. I confirmed his name, got in the car, and watched him drive off without starting the ride. He acted like he did not know how, then asked repeatedly to see my phone. Then he just told me he would take me where I was going for free, bypassing the app. No. I told him to pull into a parking lot and saw he had a child locked in the back seat.

I screamed enough that he let me out. I went into the store lot and watched him wait, staring at the store door for fifteen minutes. I felt the most terrified I have ever been.

Redditor /u/happyscatteredreader

I reported someone. He took off with me and held me hostage for about seven hours. He tied me in his car; we drove around.

Thinking you will perish on a sunny day while others live their lives feels lonely. You are stuck with a psycho. Later, he became more erratic, and the threats grew darker.

Midnight arrived. He hit a wall. He saw his situation. He faced two choices: let me go and get caught, or keep me and drive to the mountains for the weekend while he 'thought things through'. I knew if he chose option two, I would be dead.

I used my best acting skills. I manipulated him until he called a mutual friend. That friend berated me about being toxic and offered help because he had depression. My mutual friend was my ex, who was on a date (he still won't let me forget that part). He convinced the psycho to admit he held me prisoner and untie me to go to the hospital. Then he called the guards, who got me safe.

The man saved my life.

From Redditor /u/sump_____erson

I keep this vague for good reasons. A coworker faced a ransom from MS13. At the firm I worked for, we often served Mexican companies. Teams sent there usually had armed guards in a caravan. Luckily, I never went there.

This coworker left the hotel without a guard. He got swiped, taken to a shack in the middle of nowhere. MS13 took his things, found his boss's contact, and demanded a ransom. Somehow, the guy escaped, ran to a gas station (I think), and the attendant hid him. The attendant contacted the Federales, who brought the guy to a station and waited for the guard team to bring him back across the border.

From Redditor /u/Moreyz

My father held me hostage without me or my siblings knowing. I was five then. I had brothers aged seven and nine, and two younger sisters who were not school age. My father had just been kicked out by my mother for mistreatment. So, my father came to our primary school and took us for a walk by the river. It was fun as a child; I kept that memory. Turns out, he took us to the river that day to drown us for revenge. Finding out as an adult shook me. My mother and years of mistreatment convinced him not to.

From Redditor /u/analognewb

Someone held up a bank and held a tool to my head when the teller did not give them the money right away. I only recall feeling nothing then. My only thought was that I would be okay being dead because it would be fast. Hours later, my emotions hit, and I cried.

I had panic attacks for months after. They stopped. I have no other PTSD symptoms now. I feel fine about it today. I use it as an icebreaker if it fits.

Redditor /u/itsdjc

My parents divorced when I was six. A couple of years later, my dad moved to California. When I was twelve, they agreed he would fly to Michigan, and my sister (13) and I would fly to California with him for a week; then he would fly back with us.

The trip was awful. He was a bad father. For instance, he took us to Reno, NV, and left us at a buffet while he and his new wife gambled all night.

The day we were supposed to fly back, he tried to make us stay. We said no; we wanted to go home. He just said, "Too bad," and would not take us to the airport.

I ran a distraction while my sister called home and told my mom the news. An hour later, a cab arrived at my dad's place for my sister and me. My dad tried to tell the cab driver to leave. However, my mom or aunts or uncles made it clear the cab would not leave until we were in the car. I guess they paid with a credit card over the phone? That seems risky in the nineties.

My sister and I finally got into the cab and flew back to Michigan by ourselves, using a connecting flight. Our uncle waited for us at the airport at 5 a.m.

I still can't believe we made it back. I credit the Northwest airlines flight attendants in the mid-90s. One attendant sat with us the whole time on the first flight because the turbulence was severe. Also, when we got lost during the connection, a Northwest employee helped us get on our connecting flight in time.

Redditor /u/scarlet_feather

In preschool, I fought with my babysitter and ran to the apartment building's backyard. Our upstairs neighbor saw me and invited me in. I talked to her while she painted and other things.

Apparently, she was not mentally well. She refused to give me back to my babysitter, who called the police.

She also refused to give me back to the police. I do not know how they got me back. I remember being on the stairs behind her, crying and reaching for the police officers as they tried to calm her down.

Redditor /u/sherryreimer

My aunt and uncle held me hostage when I was eight. They disagreed with my mother's lifestyle. They manipulated their children to keep me locked in their house while my mom called the police to get me back. I felt frustrated. This happened twice.

Redditor /u/HunnyBunnah

I taught early in the morning in the city. My ex-boyfriend suggested I stay at his place. I agreed. There, he became violent. He berated me for breaking up with him and called me awful. He had done horrific things before; this was awful too. I tried to leave. He blocked the door, took my shoes, and hid them. He yelled that no one would take me if I left. I kept trying to leave, but he was too big to pass. I curled on the couch while he screamed and said terrible things. I woke up early. I found my shoes and escaped before he woke up.

Redditor /u/Danmont88

I worked with one of the Iranian Embassy Hostages[...]

He said it was hard because they thought they would be killed anytime.
They took some hostages to a stadium. They took a few off the bus into the stadium. Then they heard shots and cheering. They thought they were next. Soon after, they brought them back and took them to jail.

They just did not know day by day.

Redditor /u/SongbirdofHylia

My biological father held me hostage as a baby. He broke into my mother's apartment and stole me from my crib. He was angry my mother left him (he was a jerk). He planned to take me to his parents' house to hide me. He threatened to kill me if anyone tried to get me back, if my mother followed him, or if the police got involved. The police got involved. His parents actually called the police, snuck into his room while he slept off alcohol to take me back, and took me to the hospital[...]

The house was raided soon after, and he was detained. He spent some time in prison (I do not know how long) before release. He married someone else and then got arrested again for mistreating his new wife's children.

I have no memory of this incident. Sorry if this is not the response you wanted.

Redditor /u/SuperbadCrio

My father drives a truck in São Paulo, Brazil.

Once, as a kid, some people snatched him. They rode with him in a car all day while they stole the cargo (Brazilian candy) from the truck. They took him for coffee and things, so I guess it was not bad. But he was really scared for his life and his truck at that time.

Finally, they gave the truck back to him and let him go peacefully. Months later, the police managed to bring some of them in and asked my dad to recognize them, but he did not want to get involved.

A rival candy company orchestrated everything. Brazil is not for amateurs!

Redditor /u/TheUnblinkingEye1001

At a large gathering in the mid-nineties, he sat near the front of the arena. He noticed an anxious-looking guy dressed strangely among the thousands. The featured speaker stood up, and this guy evaded security to rush the podium. He claimed incendiary devices were in his briefcase. He made wild demands of the speaker, saying nobody left until demands were met. The guy got distracted by the audience's reaction. A foolish audience member sneaked up and maced him. Security and other audience members dogpiled him. They took him away battered and bruised. The speaker finished his remarks and said nothing about the events. I returned to my apartment wondering if that truly happened. Friends and I laughed over the next few days as the news embellished and misrepresented the event in ludicrous ways.

From Redditor /u/Blinds749

I was at the Istanbul airport during the state [strike] in July 2016. I stayed there for 48 hours.