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Transcript

What is your Uber horror story · Martin Animations

0:00
Speaker 2: What is your Uber horror story?
0:01
Speaker 1: I was finishing up grocery shopping when my phone buzzed
0:03
Speaker 1: with a text from my 14-year-old daughter, Chloe. Soccer practice
0:06
Speaker 1: running late. Can you order me an Uber home?
0:08
Speaker 2: I'm exhausted.
0:09
Speaker 1: I hesitated for a second because I usually picked her
0:12
Speaker 1: up myself, but I was still 20 minutes from the
0:14
Speaker 1: store checkout and another 30 from her school. She had
0:16
Speaker 1: a big math test tomorrow and needed to study. I
0:18
Speaker 1: opened the Uber app and requested a ride to our house,
0:21
Speaker 1: watching as it matched with a driver named Dennis Kowalski.
0:23
Speaker 1: Five-star rating, over 2,000 rides completed. Silver Toyota Camry. The
0:27
Speaker 1: app showed his face clearly in the profile photo. a
0:29
Speaker 1: middle-aged man with glasses and a friendly smile. I screenshotted
0:32
Speaker 1: his information and texted it to Chloe along with the
0:34
Speaker 1: license plate number. Check his face when he arrives. Make
0:36
Speaker 1: sure it matches. Text me when you get in the car.
0:39
Speaker 1: She sent back a thumbs-up emoji. The app showed Dennis
0:41
Speaker 1: was eight minutes away from the soccer field. I went
0:43
Speaker 1: through the checkout line watching my phone the whole time,
0:45
Speaker 1: tracking the little car icon on the map as it
0:47
Speaker 1: moved through traffic toward Chloe's location. The app showed he'd
0:50
Speaker 1: arrived right on schedule at 6.23 p.m. Three minutes later,
0:53
Speaker 1: Chloe texted.
0:54
Speaker 2: In the car. He knew my name and everything. See
0:57
Speaker 2: you in 15 minutes.
0:58
Speaker 1: I felt relieved and went back to loading groceries into
1:00
Speaker 1: my trunk. My phone showed the route taking Chloe home,
1:03
Speaker 1: the little car moving along the familiar streets. I got
1:05
Speaker 1: in my car and started driving, planning to beat her
1:07
Speaker 1: home by a few minutes so I could start dinner.
1:09
Speaker 1: About 10 minutes into my drive, my phone buzzed with
1:11
Speaker 1: a new text from Chloe. My stomach dropped when I
1:13
Speaker 1: read it. Mom, this isn't the right driver. I checked
1:16
Speaker 1: his face.
1:17
Speaker 2: Different person. He's driving the wrong way. I'm scared.
1:19
Speaker 1: My hands started shaking so badly I had to pull
1:21
Speaker 1: over into a gas station parking lot. I opened the
1:23
Speaker 1: Uber app and looked at the route. The car was
1:25
Speaker 1: heading east on Highway 94, away from our neighborhood. We
1:28
Speaker 1: lived west. I called Chloe immediately, but it went straight
1:31
Speaker 1: to voicemail. I tried again and again, but every call
1:33
Speaker 1: went to voicemail like her phone was off or had
1:35
Speaker 1: no signal.
1:36
Speaker 2: I texted her. Can you talk? Are you safe?
1:38
Speaker 1: The message showed as delivered, but she didn't respond. I
1:41
Speaker 1: watched the app and the car was still moving east,
1:43
Speaker 1: now passing exits that were nowhere near our house. I
1:46
Speaker 1: called the Uber support line and got an automated menu
1:48
Speaker 1: that made me want to scream. I pressed buttons frantically
1:50
Speaker 1: until I finally got a human voice. My daughter is
1:52
Speaker 1: in an Uber with the wrong driver. I gave them
1:54
Speaker 1: the ride details and the support person said she'd contact
1:56
Speaker 1: the driver immediately. She put me on hold and I
1:58
Speaker 1: sat there in my car watching the little car icon
2:00
Speaker 1: move farther and farther from where.
2:02
Speaker 2: It should be going.
2:03
Speaker 1: After what felt like forever, the support person came back
2:05
Speaker 1: on the line. Ma'am, we're unable to reach the driver
2:08
Speaker 1: at this number. Can you try contacting your daughter directly?
2:11
Speaker 1: I told her I already tried and couldn't reach Chloe either.
2:13
Speaker 1: The support person's voice changed slightly. I'm going to escalate
2:16
Speaker 1: this to our safety team immediately. Can you confirm your
2:18
Speaker 1: daughter's age? She's 14 years old. I was crying now,
2:21
Speaker 1: watching the car icon continue moving. It was already 15
2:24
Speaker 1: miles from the school and heading toward industrial areas on
2:26
Speaker 1: the outskirts of the city. The support person said someone
2:29
Speaker 1: from the safety team would call me within 10 minutes
2:30
Speaker 1: and I should also contact the police. I hung up
2:33
Speaker 1: and immediately dialed 911. The operator who answered asked about
2:35
Speaker 1: my emergency and I tried to explain everything coherently, but
2:38
Speaker 1: the words came out in a rush. My daughter got
2:40
Speaker 1: into an Uber, but it's not the right driver and
2:42
Speaker 1: he's taking her the wrong way and I can't reach
2:44
Speaker 1: her phone and the app shows they're heading east on
2:45
Speaker 1: Highway 94. The operator asked for Chloe's full name, description,
2:49
Speaker 1: what she was wearing, and the car details from the
2:51
Speaker 1: Uber app. I gave her everything I had, including Dennis
2:54
Speaker 1: Kowalski's information and license plate. The operator said she was
2:56
Speaker 1: dispatching officers immediately and asked me to stay on the line.
2:59
Speaker 1: She wanted to know exactly where the car was right
3:01
Speaker 1: now according to my app. I watched the screen. They
3:03
Speaker 1: just passed Exit 34 heading toward Riverside Industrial Park, still
3:06
Speaker 1: going east. The operator relayed this information to someone else,
3:09
Speaker 1: and I could hear radio chatter in the background. She
3:12
Speaker 1: told me police units were en route and asked if
3:13
Speaker 1: I could continue tracking the vehicle location. I said yes
3:16
Speaker 1: and kept watching the map while sitting in my parked
3:18
Speaker 1: car at the gas station. The car icon moved off
3:20
Speaker 1: the highway at Exit 37 and started taking back roads
3:22
Speaker 1: through an area I didn't recognize. My phone buzzed with
3:25
Speaker 1: a call from an unknown number and I switched over.
3:27
Speaker 1: A man identified himself as Gregory from Uber's safety team.
3:29
Speaker 1: He said they'd been trying to reach the driver's phone,
3:31
Speaker 1: but it was going straight to a disconnect message. He
3:33
Speaker 1: asked if I'd heard from Chloe and I said no.
3:35
Speaker 2: Gregory's voice got very serious.
3:37
Speaker 1: Ma'am, we need to inform you that the registered driver,
3:39
Speaker 1: Dennis Kowalski, contacted us 45 minutes ago to report that
3:42
Speaker 1: he was assaulted and his phone was stolen. We immediately
3:44
Speaker 1: deactivated his account, but it appears someone reactivated it using
3:47
Speaker 1: stolen credentials and accepted your ride request. My whole body
3:50
Speaker 1: went cold. You're telling me my daughter is with someone
3:52
Speaker 1: who stole a driver's account? Gregory said that appeared to
3:54
Speaker 1: be what happened, and they were working with law enforcement
3:56
Speaker 1: to locate the vehicle. He said the car's GPS should
3:59
Speaker 1: still be transmitting location data through the app. I switched
4:01
Speaker 1: back to the 911 operator and told her what Uber
4:03
Speaker 1: had just told me. She said officers were closing in
4:06
Speaker 1: on the area where the car was last tracked. The
4:08
Speaker 1: car icon on my app had stopped moving. It was
4:10
Speaker 1: showing a location on an unmarked road near some warehouses.
4:12
Speaker 1: The operator asked me to confirm the location, and I
4:14
Speaker 1: read her the GPS coordinates from the app. She relayed
4:17
Speaker 1: them and said units were approximately eight minutes away. I
4:19
Speaker 1: couldn't just sit in a gas station parking lot while
4:21
Speaker 1: my daughter was in danger. I put the car in
4:23
Speaker 1: drive and started heading toward the last known location, staying
4:25
Speaker 1: on the line with the operator. She told me not
4:27
Speaker 1: to approach the situation myself, but I couldn't help it.
4:30
Speaker 1: The drive to that area took 25 minutes, even though
4:32
Speaker 1: I was going 80 miles per hour on the highway.
4:34
Speaker 1: The operator stayed on the line the whole time, updating
4:36
Speaker 1: me that police were on scene. When I finally reached
4:38
Speaker 1: the industrial park, I saw at least six police cars
4:40
Speaker 1: with lights flashing near a warehouse. I parked and ran
4:43
Speaker 1: toward the scene, and an officer immediately stopped me. I
4:46
Speaker 1: told him I was Chloe's mother, and he radioed someone.
4:48
Speaker 1: A female officer came over and guided me to a
4:50
Speaker 1: police SUV, where Chloe was sitting in the backseat wrapped
4:53
Speaker 1: in a blanket. She was crying and shaking, but she
4:55
Speaker 1: was alive. I climbed into the SUV and held her
4:57
Speaker 1: while she sobbed. She kept saying she was so scared
4:59
Speaker 1: and thought she was going to die. The female officer,
5:01
Speaker 1: who introduced herself as Lieutenant Rashida Coleman, crouched down next
5:04
Speaker 1: to the open door and explained what had happened. Officers
5:07
Speaker 1: had arrived to find the silver Camry parked behind an
5:09
Speaker 1: abandoned warehouse. The driver had fled on foot when he
5:11
Speaker 1: saw the police approaching, but they'd already set up a perimeter.
5:14
Speaker 1: Chloe had been locked in the car but unharmed. They
5:16
Speaker 1: were currently searching the warehouse complex for the suspect. I
5:19
Speaker 1: asked Chloe if he'd heard her and she shook her head.
5:21
Speaker 1: He didn't touch me. He just kept driving and wouldn't
5:23
Speaker 1: answer when I asked where we were going. Lieutenant Coleman
5:25
Speaker 1: asked if Chloe felt up to answering some questions and
5:27
Speaker 1: Chloe nodded. The lieutenant pulled out a notepad and asked
5:30
Speaker 1: Chloe to describe exactly what happened from the beginning. Chloe's
5:33
Speaker 1: voice was shaky, but she walked through getting into the
5:35
Speaker 1: car at the soccer field. She said the man knew
5:37
Speaker 1: her name and knew the destination address. so she thought
5:39
Speaker 1: everything was fine at first. But after a few minutes,
5:42
Speaker 1: she checked the driver's face against the app photo and
5:44
Speaker 1: realized they didn't match. The man in the car was younger,
5:46
Speaker 1: maybe 30s instead of 50s, and didn't have glasses. When
5:49
Speaker 1: she noticed they were going the wrong direction, she pretended
5:52
Speaker 1: to be texting friends but actually texted me the warning.
5:54
Speaker 1: She said the man noticed her looking at her phone
5:56
Speaker 1: too much and told her to put it away. When
5:57
Speaker 1: she refused, he reached back and grabbed it from her hand.
6:00
Speaker 1: That's when her phone went offline and I couldn't reach
6:02
Speaker 1: her anymore. The man had thrown her phone out the
6:03
Speaker 1: window somewhere on the highway. Chloe started crying harder remembering
6:06
Speaker 1: that part. Lieutenant Coleman asked if the man said anything
6:09
Speaker 1: to her during the drive. Chloe nodded and said he
6:11
Speaker 1: kept talking on his own phone in a language she
6:13
Speaker 1: didn't recognize. Not Spanish, maybe Russian or something Eastern European.
6:17
Speaker 1: She heard him say numbers and street names. At one point,
6:19
Speaker 1: he looked at her in the rearview mirror and smiled
6:21
Speaker 1: in a way that made her feel sick. He said
6:22
Speaker 1: something in English about her being exactly what they ordered.
6:25
Speaker 1: Perfect age, perfect size. Chloe started hyperventilating and I held
6:28
Speaker 1: her tighter. Lieutenant Coleman's face got very grim. She said
6:32
Speaker 1: they needed to find this man immediately because it sounded
6:34
Speaker 1: like this wasn't a random crime but something more organized.
6:36
Speaker 1: She asked Chloe to describe the man in detail. Chloe
6:39
Speaker 1: said he was white, maybe 30 to 35 years old,
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Speaker 1: dark hair, no glasses, medium build, wearing a black jacket
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Speaker 1: and jeans. He had an accent, possibly Eastern European like
6:48
Speaker 1: his phone conversation. No visible tattoos or scars that she noticed.
6:51
Speaker 1: She'd only been in the car about 25 minutes total
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Speaker 1: before police arrived and he ran. Another officer approached and
6:56
Speaker 1: spoke quietly to Lieutenant Coleman. I heard him say they'd
6:59
Speaker 1: found the stolen phone in a dumpster about three blocks
7:01
Speaker 1: from where the real Dennis Kowalski had been assaulted. They
7:03
Speaker 1: had officers with Mr. Kowalski at the hospital now taking
7:06
Speaker 1: his statement. The officer also said something about the suspect's
7:08
Speaker 1: phone being left in the car, and their tech team
7:10
Speaker 1: was working on accessing it. Lieutenant Coleman thanked him and
7:13
Speaker 1: turned back to us. She said we'd need to go
7:15
Speaker 1: to the station to give formal statements, but first she
7:17
Speaker 1: wanted to get Chloe checked out by paramedics. An ambulance
7:19
Speaker 1: was already on scene, and the EMTS examined Chloe carefully.
7:22
Speaker 1: They checked her vitals and looked for any signs of
7:24
Speaker 1: injury or drugging. Everything came back normal, and they said
7:27
Speaker 1: she was physically okay. just understandably traumatized they offered to
7:30
Speaker 1: transport her to the hospital for a full examination but
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Speaker 1: chloe shook her head violently and grabbed my arm i'm
7:35
Speaker 1: not leaving you please don't make me go anywhere without
7:37
Speaker 1: you i told the emts we'd go to the hospital
7:39
Speaker 1: together after we finished at the police station my husband
7:42
Speaker 1: nathaniel arrived at the scene about 15 minutes later having
7:44
Speaker 1: driven from his office downtown after i called him he'd
7:47
Speaker 1: broken every speed limit getting there he rushed over to
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Speaker 1: the police suv and i saw his face crumple when
7:51
Speaker 1: he saw chloe wrapped in the blanket He climbed in
7:53
Speaker 1: and we both held her while she cried again. Nathaniel
7:55
Speaker 1: kept asking if she was okay and if anyone hurt her,
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Speaker 1: and she kept saying no one touched her but she
8:00
Speaker 1: was so scared. We stayed like that for a while
8:02
Speaker 1: until Lieutenant Coleman came back and said we needed to
8:04
Speaker 1: head to the station. She offered to drive us in
8:05
Speaker 1: her vehicle since my car was still at the gas
8:07
Speaker 1: station across town. Nathaniel rode with us while another officer
8:10
Speaker 1: followed in Nathaniel's car. At the police station, they took
8:12
Speaker 1: us to a quiet room with comfortable chairs and brought
8:15
Speaker 1: Chloe some water and snacks. A victim advocate named Patricia
8:18
Speaker 1: Whitmore introduced herself and explained she'd be with us through
8:20
Speaker 1: the whole process. She had kind eyes and a calm
8:22
Speaker 1: voice that seemed to help Chloe relax a tiny bit.
8:24
Speaker 1: Detective Lawrence Kinsley came in holding a tablet and introduced himself.
8:28
Speaker 1: He said he was the lead investigator on the case.
8:30
Speaker 1: He asked Chloe if she felt ready to give a
8:32
Speaker 1: formal statement, and she nodded. He explained he'd be recording
8:34
Speaker 1: the conversation and had some questions that might seem repetitive
8:37
Speaker 1: but were important for the investigation. Chloe went through the
8:39
Speaker 1: whole story again, and Detective Kinsley asked very specific questions
8:42
Speaker 1: about timing, the route the car took, what the man
8:45
Speaker 1: said on the phone, and any details she remembered about
8:47
Speaker 1: the vehicle's interior. Chloe mentioned there was a strange smell
8:49
Speaker 1: in the car— Kind of chemical-like cleaning products, but stronger.
8:52
Speaker 1: She also said there were zip ties in the center
8:54
Speaker 1: console that she saw when the man reached for something.
8:56
Speaker 1: Detective Kinsley made careful notes about everything. He showed Chloe
8:59
Speaker 1: some photos on his tablet and asked if any of
9:01
Speaker 1: the men looked like the driver. She looked through about
9:03
Speaker 1: 20 photos and stopped on one, saying that man looked similar,
9:06
Speaker 1: but she wasn't completely sure. Detective Kinsley thanked her and
9:09
Speaker 1: said that was very helpful. After Chloe's statement, Detective Kinsley
9:12
Speaker 1: asked to speak with Nathaniel and me separately. Patricia stayed
9:15
Speaker 1: with Chloe in the room while we went to the
9:16
Speaker 1: detective's office. He closed the door and his expression got
9:18
Speaker 1: even more serious. He said they'd been able to access
9:21
Speaker 1: the suspect's phone that was left in the car, and
9:23
Speaker 1: what they found was deeply disturbing. The phone contained messages
9:26
Speaker 1: in Russian coordinating the pickup of a girl matching Chloe's
9:28
Speaker 1: age and description from the soccer field location. The messages
9:31
Speaker 1: referenced a payment of $ 15, 000 for the delivery. There were
9:33
Speaker 1: also messages from earlier in the day showing the assault
9:36
Speaker 1: on Dennis Kowalski had been planned specifically to steal his
9:38
Speaker 1: Uber credentials. Detective Kinsley explained this appeared to be part
9:41
Speaker 1: of a trafficking operation that had been using stolen rideshare
9:43
Speaker 1: accounts to target and abduct young girls. My legs felt
9:46
Speaker 1: weak and I had to sit down. Nathaniel's face went
9:48
Speaker 1: white and he asked how many other girls had been
9:50
Speaker 1: taken this way. Detective Kinsley said they were investigating at
9:52
Speaker 1: least four similar cases in the region over the past
9:54
Speaker 1: six months where girls had gone missing after getting into
9:56
Speaker 1: rideshare vehicles. The detective said we were incredibly lucky that
9:59
Speaker 1: Chloe had the awareness to check the driver's face and
10:01
Speaker 1: send me that warning text immediately. Most of the previous
10:04
Speaker 1: victims hadn't realized anything was wrong until it was too late,
10:06
Speaker 1: and by then their phones had been taken and they
10:08
Speaker 1: couldn't call for help. He said Chloe's quick thinking and
10:10
Speaker 1: my immediate response had saved her life. The FBI was
10:13
Speaker 1: now involved because this crossed state lines and and they
10:15
Speaker 1: were working to identify everyone involved in the trafficking network.
10:18
Speaker 1: He said the phone they recovered had contacts and messages
10:20
Speaker 1: that could help break up a major operation. He warned
10:22
Speaker 1: us that this would become a very big case and
10:24
Speaker 1: we'd probably be contacted by federal agents, prosecutors, and eventually
10:27
Speaker 1: the media. He gave us his card and said to
10:29
Speaker 1: call him directly if we had any concerns or if
10:31
Speaker 1: anyone suspicious contacted us.
10:33
Speaker 2: He also said they'd have patrol cars.
10:34
Speaker 1: Doing extra drive-bys at our house for the next several
10:36
Speaker 1: weeks as a precaution in case the suspect or his
10:38
Speaker 1: associates tried to retaliate. That thought made me feel sick
10:41
Speaker 1: to my stomach. We left the police station around 11 p.m.
10:44
Speaker 1: and went straight to the hospital emergency room like the
10:46
Speaker 1: EMTS had recommended. The doctors did a full examination of Chloe,
10:49
Speaker 1: including blood work, to check for any drugs in her system.
10:52
Speaker 1: Everything came back clean. The ER doctor said Chloe was
10:54
Speaker 1: physically fine but strongly recommended follow-up counseling for the psychological trauma.
10:58
Speaker 1: She gave us referrals for therapists who specialized in trauma
11:00
Speaker 1: and trafficking survivors. Chloe fell asleep in the hospital bed
11:03
Speaker 1: during the examination from pure exhaustion. and we let her
11:05
Speaker 1: sleep for about an hour before waking her to go home.
11:08
Speaker 1: It was almost 2 o'clock in the morning when we
11:09
Speaker 1: finally walked through our front door. Chloe wouldn't sleep in
11:12
Speaker 1: her own room and insisted on sleeping between Nathaniel and
11:14
Speaker 1: me in our bed.
11:15
Speaker 2: We didn't argue. She held on to both of us
11:17
Speaker 2: and cried herself to sleep.
11:18
Speaker 1: Nathaniel and I lay awake most of the night watching
11:20
Speaker 1: her breathe and trying to process what had almost happened.
11:22
Speaker 1: Every time I closed my eyes, I saw that little
11:24
Speaker 1: car icon on my phone moving farther and farther away.
11:27
Speaker 1: I kept thinking about what Detective Kinsley said about the
11:29
Speaker 1: other girls who hadn't gotten away. The next morning, my
11:31
Speaker 1: phone started ringing at 7 a.m. It was Lieutenant Coleman
11:34
Speaker 1: saying they'd arrested the suspect overnight. A patrol officer had
11:37
Speaker 1: spotted him at a bus station trying to buy a
11:38
Speaker 1: ticket to Chicago using a fake ID.
11:40
Speaker 2: His real name was Victor.
11:41
Speaker 1: Antonov, 34 years old, with an expired visa and a
11:44
Speaker 1: criminal record in two other states for assault and identity theft.
11:47
Speaker 1: He was being held without bail on kidnapping and human
11:49
Speaker 1: trafficking charges. She said the FBI was executing search warrants
11:52
Speaker 1: at multiple locations connected to him, and they'd found evidence
11:55
Speaker 1: of at least eight other girls who'd been trafficked through
11:57
Speaker 1: this operation. Some of them had been recovered alive, but
11:59
Speaker 1: others were still missing. The lieutenant said we'd probably be
12:02
Speaker 1: getting calls from federal prosecutors soon about Chloe testifying if
12:05
Speaker 1: the case went to trial. I thanked her for the
12:06
Speaker 1: update and hung up. Chloe was sitting at the kitchen
12:08
Speaker 1: table with a glass of orange juice she hadn't touched.
12:11
Speaker 1: She'd heard the whole conversation and her face was pale.
12:13
Speaker 1: I have to testify? Her voice was small and scared.
12:16
Speaker 1: I sat down next to her and held her hand.
12:18
Speaker 1: Nathaniel came in from getting the newspaper off the front
12:20
Speaker 1: porch and stopped in the doorway. His face went white
12:22
Speaker 1: and he held up the paper. The headline read, Teen
12:25
Speaker 1: Girl Narrowly Escapes Uber Kidnapping.
12:27
Speaker 2: Trafficking Ring Exposed.
12:28
Speaker 1: There was a photo of the warehouse where Chloe had
12:30
Speaker 1: been found, and another of Victor Antonoff being led into
12:33
Speaker 1: the police station in handcuffs. The article detailed how quick
12:35
Speaker 1: thinking by a local mother and daughter had helped police
12:37
Speaker 1: break up a trafficking operation that had been operating for
12:40
Speaker 1: over a year. It mentioned Dennis Kowalski's assault and the
12:42
Speaker 1: theft of his credentials. It talked about the other missing
12:44
Speaker 1: girls and the ongoing FBI investigation. My hands were shaking
12:47
Speaker 1: as I read it. Within an hour, our phone started
12:50
Speaker 1: ringing constantly. News stations wanting interviews. Reporters leaving voicemails. the
12:54
Speaker 1: school district calling to check on Chloe and offer support services.
12:57
Speaker 1: Uber's corporate office called with an executive who apologized profusely
13:00
Speaker 1: and offered to cover all of our therapy costs and
13:02
Speaker 1: any other expenses. Detective Kinsley called to warn us the
13:04
Speaker 1: media attention would get more intense and suggested we consider
13:07
Speaker 1: hiring a lawyer to help manage it. Nathaniel's brother knew
13:09
Speaker 1: a lawyer who specialized in victim advocacy, and she came
13:11
Speaker 1: to our house that afternoon. Her name was Justine Mallory,
13:14
Speaker 1: and she'd worked on several high-profile trafficking cases. She explained
13:18
Speaker 1: our rights regarding media requests and helped us draft a
13:20
Speaker 1: statement asking for privacy while Chloe recovered. She also started
13:23
Speaker 1: looking into what legal recourse we had against Uber for
13:25
Speaker 1: their security failure that allowed someone to reactivate a stolen account.
13:28
Speaker 1: Justine explained that while Uber had policies in place, the
13:31
Speaker 1: execution had clearly failed in this case. She suggested we
13:33
Speaker 1: might be able to pursue both criminal restitution from Viktor
13:35
Speaker 1: Antonov and his associates and civil action against Uber for negligence.
13:39
Speaker 1: She said other families of trafficking victims would probably join
13:41
Speaker 1: us in a class action suit. Over the next week,
13:44
Speaker 1: the case exploded in the news. The FBI announced they'd
13:46
Speaker 1: arrested six more people connected to the trafficking ring operating
13:49
Speaker 1: in four states. They'd rescued three girls who were being
13:51
Speaker 1: held in various locations and were working to identify and
13:54
Speaker 1: locate five more who were still missing. Special Agent Francesca
13:57
Speaker 1: Diaz from the FBI's Human Trafficking Task Force came to
13:59
Speaker 1: our house to interview Chloe again. She was gentle but thorough,
14:02
Speaker 1: asking questions about every detail Chloe could remember. She explained
14:06
Speaker 1: that the phone they'd recovered from Victor had been a
14:07
Speaker 1: goldmine of information leading them to the other suspects. She
14:10
Speaker 1: thanked Chloe for being so brave and observant. Agent Diaz
14:13
Speaker 1: also warned us that Victor's defense attorney would probably try
14:15
Speaker 1: to paint this as a misunderstanding or claim Victor was
14:17
Speaker 1: just a driver who didn't know what he was involved in,
14:20
Speaker 1: She said the prosecution's case was strong, but we should
14:22
Speaker 1: be prepared for the defense to be aggressive if this
14:24
Speaker 1: went to trial. Chloe asked if she'd have to see
14:26
Speaker 1: Victor again, and Agent Diaz said possibly, if she had
14:28
Speaker 1: to testify. But they'd do everything to make her comfortable,
14:31
Speaker 1: including using screens or video testimony if needed. Chloe started
14:34
Speaker 1: having nightmares every night after that conversation. She'd wake up
14:37
Speaker 1: screaming about being locked in a car or being chased
14:39
Speaker 1: through warehouses. Nathaniel and I took turns staying up with her.
14:42
Speaker 1: The therapist we found, Dr. Keisha Washington, specialized in childhood
14:45
Speaker 1: trauma and had worked with trafficking survivors before. She started
14:48
Speaker 1: seeing Chloe twice a week using techniques to help her
14:50
Speaker 1: process what happened without being re-traumatized by talking about it constantly.
14:54
Speaker 2: Dr.
14:54
Speaker 1: Washington explained that Chloe was showing clear signs of PTSD,
14:57
Speaker 1: including hypervigilance, nightmares, and avoidance behaviors. Chloe refused to get
15:01
Speaker 1: in any car that wasn't driven by Nathaniel or me.
15:03
Speaker 1: She wouldn't even sit in the backseat anymore, only the
15:05
Speaker 1: front where she could see everything. She checked and rechecked
15:08
Speaker 1: door locks constantly. She wouldn't go anywhere alone, not even
15:10
Speaker 1: to the bathroom at restaurants. The school was very accommodating
15:13
Speaker 1: and let her make up the work she missed. They
15:15
Speaker 1: also assigned a counselor to check in with her daily.
15:17
Speaker 1: but Chloe's grades started dropping because she couldn't concentrate. She'd
15:20
Speaker 1: sit in class and zone out, staring at nothing. Her
15:22
Speaker 1: friends tried to support her but didn't know what to say.
15:24
Speaker 1: Some kids at the school started treating her differently, like
15:26
Speaker 1: she was fragile or broken. Others whispered and pointed when
15:29
Speaker 1: she walked by. Two weeks after the incident, a girl
15:31
Speaker 1: named Vanessa Kim approached Chloe in the cafeteria. Vanessa's hands
15:34
Speaker 1: were shaking and she asked if they could talk privately.
15:36
Speaker 1: They went to an empty classroom and Vanessa broke down crying.
15:39
Speaker 1: She said she'd been one of the girls who went
15:41
Speaker 1: missing last year. She'd gotten into an Uber after a
15:43
Speaker 1: movie and the driver had taken her to a house
15:44
Speaker 1: where she was held for three days before managing to escape.
15:47
Speaker 1: She'd never told anyone except her parents and therapist because
15:49
Speaker 1: she was so ashamed and scared. But seeing Chloe's story
15:51
Speaker 1: in the news had made her realize she needed to
15:53
Speaker 1: come forward to help the investigation. Chloe called me from
15:55
Speaker 1: the school nurse's office and I picked both girls up.
15:57
Speaker 1: We drove Vanessa straight to the FBI office where Agent
16:00
Speaker 1: Diaz interviewed her for four hours. Vanessa's information helped identify
16:03
Speaker 1: two more locations where girls had been held. The FBI
16:05
Speaker 1: raided one of them that night and found a 16-year-old
16:07
Speaker 1: girl who'd been missing for six weeks. Vanessa's parents called
16:10
Speaker 1: us later that week thanking us because their daughter had
16:12
Speaker 1: been carrying this trauma alone for so long. The prosecutor's
16:15
Speaker 1: office contacted us about a month after the incident. They
16:17
Speaker 1: wanted Chloe to testify before a grand jury to help
16:19
Speaker 1: get indictments against all the suspects they'd arrested. The grand
16:22
Speaker 1: jury proceeding would be private and less formal than a trial,
16:25
Speaker 1: but Chloe would still have to answer questions about what happened.
16:27
Speaker 1: Justine went with us to the courthouse and sat with
16:29
Speaker 1: Chloe during the whole proceeding. Chloe did amazingly well, speaking
16:32
Speaker 1: clearly and answering every question even though her hands shook
16:35
Speaker 1: the whole time. The grand jury returned indictments on all
16:37
Speaker 1: counts for all suspects, including Victor. The prosecutor, a stern
16:40
Speaker 1: woman named Diana Okonkwo, thanked Chloe afterward and said her
16:43
Speaker 1: testimony had been crucial. She explained the trial would probably
16:45
Speaker 1: be six months to a year away, because of how
16:47
Speaker 1: complex the case was with multiple defendants. She warned us
16:50
Speaker 1: that Victor's attorney had already filed motions trying to get
16:52
Speaker 1: evidence suppressed and would probably try to delay the trial
16:54
Speaker 1: as long as possible. That meant we'd be living with
16:56
Speaker 1: this hanging over us for a long time. Uber settled
16:59
Speaker 1: with us out of court about eight weeks later, after
17:01
Speaker 1: Justine threatened to go public with details about their security failures.
17:04
Speaker 1: They paid for all of Chloe's therapy indefinitely and agreed
17:07
Speaker 1: to implement new verification systems to prevent stolen credentials from
17:09
Speaker 1: being used. They also contributed to a victim's fund that
17:12
Speaker 1: would help other families affected by trafficking through their platform.
17:15
Speaker 1: Justine negotiated a substantial additional settlement that would go into
17:17
Speaker 1: a trust for Chloe's future education and therapy needs. The
17:20
Speaker 1: amount was confidential, but it was enough that Nathaniel and
17:22
Speaker 1: I wouldn't have to worry about paying for the years
17:24
Speaker 1: of treatment Chloe would probably need. Victor's attorney tried every
17:27
Speaker 1: trick to get the case dismissed. He filed motions claiming
17:29
Speaker 1: the phone evidence was obtained illegally, that Victor's rights had
17:32
Speaker 1: been violated during his arrest, that he was just a
17:34
Speaker 1: low-level participant who didn't know about the trafficking operation.
17:37
Speaker 2: Every motion was denied.
17:38
Speaker 1: He also tried to get Chloe's testimony excluded, claiming she
17:41
Speaker 1: was an unreliable witness because of her age and trauma.
17:43
Speaker 1: The judge shut that down immediately. About four months after
17:46
Speaker 1: everything happened, Chloe had a breakthrough in therapy. Dr. Washington
17:49
Speaker 1: had been working with her on something called EMDR, a
17:52
Speaker 1: technique that helps process traumatic memories. After one particularly intense session,
17:56
Speaker 1: Chloe came out of Dr. Washington's office looking lighter somehow.
17:59
Speaker 1: She told me she'd finally stopped blaming herself for getting
18:01
Speaker 1: into that car. She'd been carrying guilt about not checking
18:04
Speaker 1: the driver's face more carefully or not refusing to get in. Dr.
18:07
Speaker 1: Washington had helped her understand that she'd done everything right,
18:10
Speaker 1: and the only people to blame were the criminals who
18:11
Speaker 1: planned and executed the kidnapping. That realization seemed to lift
18:14
Speaker 1: a weight off her shoulders. Her nightmares became less frequent,
18:17
Speaker 1: and she started sleeping in her own room again, though
18:19
Speaker 1: she kept a nightlight on and insisted we leave her
18:20
Speaker 1: door open. She started participating more in class, and her
18:23
Speaker 1: grades slowly improved. She even went to a friend's birthday party,
18:26
Speaker 1: though Nathaniel and I had to stay at the venue.
18:27
Speaker 2: The whole time.
18:28
Speaker 1: Progress was slow, but it was happening. The trial date
18:31
Speaker 1: was set for ten months after the initial incident. Victor
18:33
Speaker 1: and his co-defendants were being tried together, which meant it
18:36
Speaker 1: would be a long, complicated trial with dozens of witnesses—
18:39
Speaker 1: Prosecutor Okonkwo met with us several times to prepare Chloe
18:41
Speaker 1: for testifying. She explained what questions would be asked and
18:44
Speaker 1: what Victor's attorney might try to do to discredit her testimony.
18:47
Speaker 1: She did practice sessions where she played the defense attorney
18:49
Speaker 1: asking hostile questions so Chloe could get used to it.
18:51
Speaker 1: Chloe handled it better than I expected, staying calm and
18:54
Speaker 1: sticking to the facts even when the practice got aggressive.
18:56
Speaker 1: Justine would be there with us every day of the trial,
18:58
Speaker 1: and Dr. Washington offered to be on call if Chloe
19:00
Speaker 1: needed immediate support. The trial started on a Monday morning
19:03
Speaker 1: with jury selection. We weren't required to be there for
19:05
Speaker 1: that part, but we went anyway because we wanted to
19:07
Speaker 1: see the jury that would decide Victor's fate The courtroom
19:09
Speaker 1: was packed with other victims' families and media. Victor sat
19:12
Speaker 1: at the defense table in a suit, looking nothing like
19:14
Speaker 1: the dangerous criminal he was. He looked ordinary, even boring.
19:17
Speaker 1: Opening statements lasted all day. Prosecutor Okonkwo laid out the
19:21
Speaker 1: entire trafficking operation in devastating detail, explaining how Victor and
19:24
Speaker 1: his associates had been using stolen rideshare credentials to target
19:27
Speaker 1: vulnerable young girls for months. She showed the jury photos
19:30
Speaker 1: of the victims, including Chloe, and explained what had happened
19:33
Speaker 1: to each of them. She talked about the girls who
19:35
Speaker 1: were rescued and the ones still missing. She showed them
19:37
Speaker 1: the financial records proving Victor had been paid thousands of
19:39
Speaker 1: dollars for delivering girls to traffickers. Victor's attorney, a slick-looking
19:43
Speaker 1: man named Gregory Fine, tried to paint his client as
19:45
Speaker 1: a desperate immigrant who got mixed up with the wrong
19:47
Speaker 1: people and didn't understand what he was really doing. He
19:49
Speaker 1: claimed Victor thought he was just giving people rides and
19:51
Speaker 1: had no idea they were trafficking victims. The jury looked skeptical.
19:54
Speaker 1: Over the next two weeks, the prosecution called witness after witness.
19:57
Speaker 1: Police officers who responded to the scene, the FBI agents
20:00
Speaker 1: who investigated the trafficking ring, Dennis Kowalski, who testified about
20:03
Speaker 1: being assaulted and having his phone stolen. His testimony was
20:06
Speaker 1: heartbreaking because he blamed himself for not being more careful.
20:08
Speaker 1: Other victims testified. including Vanessa and two girls who'd been
20:11
Speaker 1: held for weeks before being rescued. Their testimonies were gut-wrenching.
20:15
Speaker 1: One girl described being locked in a basement and assaulted
20:17
Speaker 1: repeatedly while her captors negotiated her sale.
20:19
Speaker 2: Another talked about being moved from state to state and
20:21
Speaker 2: forced to work in various illegal operations.
20:23
Speaker 1: The defense attorney tried to suggest these girls were runaways
20:25
Speaker 1: who'd left voluntarily, but the evidence was overwhelming that they'd
20:28
Speaker 1: been kidnapped and trafficked. Chloe's testimony was scheduled for the
20:31
Speaker 1: third week of trial. We arrived at the courthouse early
20:33
Speaker 1: and were taken to a private waiting room. Chloe was
20:35
Speaker 1: pale and quiet but determined. Justine stayed with her while
20:38
Speaker 1: Nathaniel and I sat in the courtroom watching other witnesses.
20:41
Speaker 1: When Chloe was called, she walked to the witness stand
20:43
Speaker 1: with her head up. She wore a simple dress and
20:45
Speaker 1: had her hair pulled back. She looked so young and
20:47
Speaker 1: vulnerable up there. Prosecutor Okonkwo started with easy questions about
20:50
Speaker 1: Chloe's age, school, and soccer practice. Then she walked Chloe
20:53
Speaker 1: through the events of that day step by step. Chloe's
20:55
Speaker 1: voice was quiet but steady as she described getting into
20:57
Speaker 1: the car and checking the driver's face, realizing something was wrong.
21:01
Speaker 1: When Chloe described texting me the warning message, several jury
21:04
Speaker 1: members leaned forward. She explained how Victor had taken her
21:06
Speaker 1: phone and thrown it out the window, how he'd driven
21:08
Speaker 1: to the warehouse while talking in Russian on his phone,
21:11
Speaker 1: how terrified she'd been. Prosecutor Okonkwo asked Chloe to identify
21:14
Speaker 1: the man who'd driven her that day. Chloe looked directly
21:16
Speaker 1: at Victor and said, that's him.
21:18
Speaker 2: Victor stared back at her with no expression.
21:20
Speaker 1: The prosecutor showed Chloe photos of the car interior and
21:22
Speaker 1: asked if she recognized them. Chloe confirmed they were from
21:25
Speaker 1: the car and pointed out the zip ties she'd seen
21:27
Speaker 1: in the center console. After about 45 minutes of direct examination,
21:30
Speaker 1: it was time for cross-examination. Victor's attorney stood up and
21:33
Speaker 1: his whole demeanor changed. He started asking aggressive questions suggesting
21:36
Speaker 1: Chloe hadn't really checked the driver's face carefully that maybe
21:38
Speaker 1: she was confused or mistaken. Chloe stayed calm and repeated
21:41
Speaker 1: that she'd specifically looked at his face and compared it
21:43
Speaker 1: to the app photo and they didn't match. The attorney
21:45
Speaker 1: suggested maybe the lighting was bad or maybe the app
21:47
Speaker 1: photo was outdated. Chloe said the photos were completely different
21:50
Speaker 1: people and she was certain. The attorney then tried to
21:53
Speaker 1: suggest that maybe Victor was just lost and that's why
21:55
Speaker 1: he went the wrong direction. Chloe said he wasn't lost
21:58
Speaker 1: because he was following GPS directions on his phone and
22:00
Speaker 1: talking to someone about delivering her. The attorney raised his
22:02
Speaker 1: voice asking how she could possibly know what Victor was
22:04
Speaker 1: talking about if the conversation was in Russian. Chloe's voice
22:07
Speaker 1: stayed steady as she explained she heard him say specific
22:09
Speaker 1: words in English, including numbers and the word delivery, and
22:12
Speaker 1: he kept looking at her in the mirror while he talked.
22:14
Speaker 1: The attorney tried several more angles, but Chloe didn't waver.
22:17
Speaker 1: After an hour, the judge called for a break and
22:18
Speaker 1: Chloe came back to our waiting room. She'd done incredible.
22:21
Speaker 1: Justine hugged her and said her testimony had been perfect.
22:24
Speaker 1: The rest of the trial took another week with more
22:25
Speaker 1: evidence and witnesses. The prosecution presented the phone records, financial transactions,
22:30
Speaker 1: and testimony from two of Victor's co-defendants who'd taken plea
22:33
Speaker 1: deals in exchange for testifying against him. They described in
22:35
Speaker 1: detail how the operation worked, how they'd identify targets, steal
22:39
Speaker 1: rideshare credentials, coordinate pickups, and deliver victims to traffickers. They
22:43
Speaker 1: explained Victor had been one of the main drivers and
22:45
Speaker 1: had successfully delivered at least 12 girls over a 14-month
22:48
Speaker 1: period before Chloe's quick thinking got him caught. The defense
22:50
Speaker 1: tried to poke holes in the co-defendant's testimony by suggesting
22:53
Speaker 1: they were lying to save themselves, but the physical evidence
22:55
Speaker 1: backed up everything they said. Closing arguments were powerful. Prosecutor
22:59
Speaker 1: Okonkwo stood in front of the jury and reminded them
23:00
Speaker 1: of Chloe's testimony, of the other victims' testimonies, of the
23:03
Speaker 1: overwhelming evidence showing this was an organized criminal operation that
23:06
Speaker 1: Victor was deeply involved in. She asked them to deliver
23:09
Speaker 1: justice for Chloe and all the other victims. Victor's attorney
23:12
Speaker 1: made one last attempt to paint his client as an
23:13
Speaker 1: unwitting participant who deserved mercy. The jury deliberated for six
23:16
Speaker 1: hours before returning with a verdict. Guilty on all counts
23:19
Speaker 1: including kidnapping, human trafficking, conspiracy, and assault. The courtroom erupted
23:23
Speaker 1: in tears and applause. Victor showed no emotion as the
23:25
Speaker 1: verdict was read. Sentencing was scheduled for two months later.
23:28
Speaker 1: In the meantime, several of Victor's co-defendants took plea deals
23:31
Speaker 1: with long prison sentences. The leaders of the trafficking operation
23:34
Speaker 1: were still being prosecuted federally and faced even harsher penalties.
23:38
Speaker 1: Agent Diaz called to tell us they'd identified and located
23:40
Speaker 1: three more missing girls using information from Victor's seized phones
23:43
Speaker 1: and computers. Two had been found alive in other states,
23:45
Speaker 1: and one had tragically been killed, her body found in
23:47
Speaker 1: a remote location. I had to process that information knowing
23:50
Speaker 1: Chloe could have been any of those girls. At Victor's
23:52
Speaker 1: sentencing hearing, the judge allowed victim impact statements. Vanessa spoke first.
23:56
Speaker 1: describing how being trafficked had destroyed her sense of safety
23:58
Speaker 1: and trust. Another victim talked about the physical and psychological
24:01
Speaker 1: scars she still carried. Then it was Chloe's turn. She'd
24:03
Speaker 1: written a statement and practiced reading it with Dr.
24:05
Speaker 2: Washington.
24:06
Speaker 1: She stood at the podium looking small but strong and
24:08
Speaker 1: read her words clearly. She talked about how that day
24:10
Speaker 1: had changed her life forever, how she still couldn't ride
24:12
Speaker 1: in cars without panic attacks. She described the nightmares and
24:15
Speaker 1: therapy and how hard it was to feel normal again.
24:17
Speaker 1: But she also said she was lucky because she got
24:19
Speaker 1: away and some girls didn't. She said she hoped her
24:21
Speaker 1: testimony helped put Victor away so he couldn't hurt anyone else.
24:24
Speaker 1: She looked at him and said, You tried to destroy
24:26
Speaker 1: my life, but I'm still here. There wasn't a dry
24:28
Speaker 1: eye in the courtroom. The judge thanked Chloe and then
24:31
Speaker 1: turned to Victor. Her voice was hard when she said
24:33
Speaker 1: Victor had shown no remorse and had been part of
24:34
Speaker 1: an operation that destroyed countless lives. She sentenced him to
24:37
Speaker 1: 45 years in federal prison without possibility of parole. Victor
24:40
Speaker 1: would be an old man if he ever got out.
24:42
Speaker 1: The courtroom erupted in applause again. Outside the courthouse, media
24:45
Speaker 1: surrounded us asking for comments. Justine read a brief statement
24:47
Speaker 1: we'd prepared thanking the prosecutors, FBI, and police for their work.
24:51
Speaker 2: We didn't take questions. Chloe just wanted to go home.
24:54
Speaker 1: Life slowly started returning to something resembling normal after the
24:56
Speaker 1: trial ended. Chloe continued therapy, but the sessions became less
24:59
Speaker 1: frequent as she made progress. She went back to soccer
25:01
Speaker 1: and even tried out for the competitive team, making the roster.
25:04
Speaker 1: She started going to social events again, though she was
25:06
Speaker 1: still cautious about cars and always checked drivers carefully if
25:09
Speaker 1: she wasn't riding with family. The school held an assembly
25:12
Speaker 1: about online safety and rideshare awareness after our case became public.
25:15
Speaker 1: Several other students came forward with their own concerning experiences
25:18
Speaker 1: that hadn't risen to the level of what happened to
25:20
Speaker 1: Chloe but were still red flags. the district implemented new
25:22
Speaker 1: policies about student transportation and safety. Nathaniel and I started
25:26
Speaker 1: speaking at parent groups about our experience and what we
25:28
Speaker 1: learned about traffickers' tactics. We wanted other families to understand
25:31
Speaker 1: the dangers and know the warning signs. We talked about
25:33
Speaker 1: teaching kids to trust their instincts, to check driver faces
25:36
Speaker 1: against app photos, to have code words for emergencies. We
25:39
Speaker 1: shared how Chloe's quick thinking about texting me had saved
25:41
Speaker 1: her life. After each presentation, multiple parents would approach us
25:44
Speaker 1: with tears in their eyes saying they'd never thought about
25:46
Speaker 1: these dangers before. Agent Diaz kept us updated on the
25:49
Speaker 1: broader trafficking investigation. The FBI had dismantled the entire operation
25:53
Speaker 1: and arrested 23 people across six states. They'd recovered 11
25:56
Speaker 1: victims alive and identified four who'd been killed. The financial
25:59
Speaker 1: records showed the operation had made over $ 2 million trafficking
26:01
Speaker 1: girls over a two-year period. The remaining defendants were all
26:04
Speaker 1: facing serious prison time. Agent Diaz said our case had
26:06
Speaker 1: been the break they needed to finally bring everyone down.
26:09
Speaker 1: She thanked Chloe again for her bravery and awareness. About
26:11
Speaker 1: a year after the incident, Chloe asked if she could
26:13
Speaker 1: write an article about her experience for the school newspaper.
26:16
Speaker 1: We discussed it with Dr. Washington, who thought it might
26:18
Speaker 1: be therapeutic if Chloe felt ready. The article Chloe wrote
26:20
Speaker 1: was powerful and raw, describing her experience and how she'd healed.
26:24
Speaker 1: She talked about the importance of trusting your instincts and
26:26
Speaker 1: speaking up when something feels wrong. The article got picked
26:28
Speaker 1: up by the local news and then went viral online.
26:31
Speaker 1: Chloe started getting messages from other trafficking survivors thanking her
26:33
Speaker 1: for speaking out. One message came from a girl who
26:35
Speaker 1: said she'd gotten into a suspicious Uber the day before,
26:38
Speaker 1: but remembered Chloe's story, checked the driver's face, and realized
26:41
Speaker 1: it didn't match. She'd refused to get in the car
26:43
Speaker 1: and reported it to police. They investigated and found another
26:46
Speaker 1: stolen account being used by people connected to a different
26:48
Speaker 1: trafficking ring. That girl's quick thinking, inspired by Chloe's story,
26:51
Speaker 1: had potentially saved her own life and helped police stop
26:53
Speaker 1: another operation.
26:55
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me.
27:21
Speaker 1: Two years after the incident, Chloe was a completely different
27:23
Speaker 1: person from the terrified girl who'd been locked in that car.
27:26
Speaker 2: She'd grown taller and stronger.
27:27
Speaker 1: Her confidence had returned, and she'd learned to manage her
27:30
Speaker 1: trauma instead of being controlled by it. She still had
27:32
Speaker 1: moments of anxiety, especially around cars and strangers, but she
27:35
Speaker 1: had tools to handle them. She'd started peer counseling at school,
27:38
Speaker 1: helping other students who'd been through traumatic experiences. Dr. Washington
27:41
Speaker 1: said Chloe's resilience was remarkable, and she'd become an advocate
27:44
Speaker 1: in the process of healing herself. Nathaniel and I were
27:47
Speaker 1: incredibly proud of who she'd become. She'd turned something horrible
27:49
Speaker 1: into something meaningful. One afternoon, Chloe came home from school
27:53
Speaker 1: and said her guidance counselor wanted her to speak at
27:54
Speaker 1: a state education conference about trafficking awareness. She was nervous
27:57
Speaker 1: but wanted to do it. The conference was attended by
27:59
Speaker 1: hundreds of school administrators, counselors, and teachers from across the state.
28:03
Speaker 1: Chloe stood on that stage at 16 years old and
28:05
Speaker 1: told her story to a silent auditorium. She explained the
28:07
Speaker 1: tactics traffickers use, the importance of teaching kids to trust
28:10
Speaker 1: their instincts, and how schools can better protect students. She
28:13
Speaker 1: got a standing ovation. Afterward, dozens of educators asked for
28:16
Speaker 1: materials and resources to implement in their districts. The Chloe
28:19
Speaker 1: Initiative website traffic spiked, and we started getting requests from
28:22
Speaker 1: schools all over the country asking us to help develop
28:24
Speaker 1: safety programs. What started as a nightmare had transformed into
28:26
Speaker 1: a mission. We couldn't change what happened to Chloe or
28:28
Speaker 1: the other victims, but we could try to prevent it
28:30
Speaker 1: from happening to others. Every time we heard about a
28:32
Speaker 1: child who stayed safe because they remembered something from our
28:35
Speaker 1: program or checked a driver's face because of Chloe's story,
28:38
Speaker 1: it felt like we were making a real difference. Victor
28:40
Speaker 1: sits in federal prison where he'll likely die. The other
28:42
Speaker 1: members of the trafficking ring are serving long sentences. Dennis
28:45
Speaker 1: Kowalski recovered from his assault and now speaks at our
28:47
Speaker 1: events about being vigilant as drivers. The survivors we've stayed
28:49
Speaker 1: in touch with are on various paths of healing, some
28:51
Speaker 1: doing better than others. Vanessa graduated high school with honors
28:54
Speaker 1: and started college majoring in social work, so she can
28:57
Speaker 1: help other trafficking survivors. Chloe is now 18 and a
28:59
Speaker 1: senior in high school, looking at colleges with strong psychology programs.
29:03
Speaker 1: She wants to become a therapist specializing in trauma. She
29:05
Speaker 1: says her experience gave her a perspective and empathy that
29:08
Speaker 1: will help her connect with patients who've been through terrible things.
29:10
Speaker 1: She's grown into an incredible young woman with strength and purpose.
29:13
Speaker 1: Sometimes I still think about that moment when I got
29:15
Speaker 1: her text saying the driver was wrong.
29:17
Speaker 2: Thank you.
29:30
Speaker 1: Family safe and aware of the dangers that exist even
29:32
Speaker 1: in everyday situations we think are normal and safe check
29:34
Speaker 1: the face trust your instincts teach your kids to speak
29:37
Speaker 1: up it might save their life if you enjoyed this
29:39
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