I SURVIVED A SERIAL KILLER: The House of Horrors

Summary

Cold Case Files – "I SURVIVED A SERIAL KILLER: The House of Horrors"

Original air date: June 6, 2026 | Host: Marisa Pinson

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Overview

This harrowing episode of Cold Case Files tells the true survival story of Josefina Rivera, the key survivor of serial killer Gary Heidnik’s Philadelphia "house of horrors." Through detailed first-person narration and expert commentary, the podcast relives the months Rivera and others were held captive, tortured, and deprived of hope—until Rivera's own ingenuity and bravery led to both her escape and the rescue of other victims. The episode exposes the depths of Heidnik’s depravity, the failures and breakthroughs in the investigation, and the resilience it takes to survive unthinkable evil.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Josefina Rivera’s Background and Abduction

• Josefina reflects on her upbringing in Philadelphia—a happy childhood that eventually drifted towards substance abuse and prostitution after college. ([02:48])

• Night of November 25, 1986: Josefina, age 25, is approached by Gary Heidnik, who initially appears "normal." Once inside his home, he quickly restrains and chains her in his basement pit. ([03:24 – 04:47])

  Quote:
  “He came up behind me and started choking me. Things were flashing from my life like a broken film projector.”
  – Josefina Rivera (03:24)

2. Heidnik’s Methods and Motive

• Heidnik kept his victims in a crude pit in the basement, physically and psychologically abusing them. Music was blared to cover their screams. ([04:47])

• Heidnik shared his bizarre plan to kidnap women, impregnate them, and create his own ‘perfect’ race for a supposed peaceful world. ([05:26])

  Quote:
  “He believed there should only be one race… So he was going to raise these children on his own and create his perfect race.”
  – Expert, Psychologist (05:26)

3. Multiple Victims and Escalating Cruelty

• Sandra Lindsay, the second victim, was lured as she already knew Heidnik through his self-made church for the disabled. ([05:41 – 06:03])

• Josefina describes her efforts to understand and manipulate Heidnik for survival, gathering information from Sandra. ([08:27 – 08:51])

• Over the next month, Heidnik kidnapped more women: Lisa Thomas, Deborah Dudley, and Jackie. The group was kept chained and abused, food-starved, and subjected to horrifying violence. ([09:01 – 10:05])

  Quote:
  “It was a step by step, day by day thing. But every day something is happening that's worse than the day before.”
  – Josefina Rivera (10:05)

4. Acts of Violence and Murder

• Heidnik resorted to cruel tactics like puncturing victims’ eardrums to prevent cries for help. ([10:18])

• Sandra Lindsay eventually died from neglect and torture. Heidnik dismembered her body, causing a stench neighbors reported to the police—who believed his story about a “burnt roast.” ([11:21 – 12:07])

• Later, Heidnik developed his plan of “conditioning” the women by administering severe electric shocks, forcing Josefina to participate under duress. Deborah Dudley died during one such episode. ([13:01 – 14:00])

  Quote:
  “He filled this hole with some water… Then he applied electric wires to the chains.”
  – Josefina Rivera (13:03)

  Quote:
  "Now, all of a sudden, she wasn't screaming any longer… Jackie lifts the board and says, Deborah's dead."
  – Josefina Rivera (14:00)

5. Josefina’s Escape and Rescue

• Josefina gained Heidnik’s trust by feigning compliance. He rewarded her, mistaking her for a "girlfriend." Eventually, she persuaded Heidnik to let her help lure another victim, on the condition she could visit her family afterward. ([14:34 – 15:59])

• When Heidnik stopped at a gas station, Josefina called police from a phone booth. She convinced them to act quickly to prevent further killings. ([16:12 – 19:05])

  Quote:
  "I keep looking back to see if he's got out his car. I went to the phone booth, I called the police and they said, all right, stay on that corner, we'll send a cop."
  – Josefina Rivera (19:05)

6. Aftermath, Trial, and Legacy

• The police found and arrested Heidnik, rescued the other surviving women, and confirmed Josefina’s account with the horrific evidence inside the house. ([19:55 – 20:13])

• Heidnik was charged with murder, rape, and kidnapping; Josefina testified at the trial, which resulted in his conviction and eventual execution. ([21:28 – 22:13])

  Quote:
  "I testified he didn't look at anybody. He kept his head down. I’d stand up against him again if I had to."
  – Josefina Rivera (21:43)

• Josefina reflects on survival, loss, guilt, and faith, noting the ongoing impact on her and the other survivors. ([22:22 – 22:43])

  Quote:
  "It's good that I survived, good that I saved other people. My faith in God gets me through every day and keeps me sane."
  – Josefina Rivera (22:43)

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Memorable Quotes & Timestamps

• “He comes up behind me and starts choking me. Then he puts me in this hole. I'm like, oh God, God’s going to bury me here.”
  – Josefina Rivera (01:39)

• “He was a monster… Nothing is going to stop Gary adding more victims. His diabolical plan.”
  – Commentator/Expert (01:29 – 01:34)

• “It doesn't sound believable because it's so crazy.”
  – Psychologist/Expert (02:04; [19:29])

• “Every day it was getting worse than the day before. And it was just like, yeah, anything is possible now.”
  – Josefina Rivera (12:18)

• “She found a way to escape from Heidnik and rescue the lives of her fellow victims.”
  – Commentator/Expert (21:56)

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Important Segments & Timestamps

• [01:23] – First mention of Heidnik’s crimes and arrest
• [02:48] – Josefina Rivera shares her origins
• [03:24] – Details of the abduction
• [05:26] – Heidnik states motives for creating a ‘perfect’ race
• [09:01] – Arrival of additional victims
• [11:07] – Sandra Lindsay’s death
• [13:01] – The use of electric shocks
• [14:34] – Josefina earns Heidnik’s trust
• [16:23] – The planned escape
• [19:05] – Josefina contacts the police
• [20:13] – Arrest and rescue
• [21:28] – Court proceedings and sentencing
• [22:22] – Josefina’s reflections on survival and faith

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Tone and Final Notes

The episode is somber yet ultimately uplifting, channeling Josefina Rivera’s unbreakable resolve and the importance of survivor agency in even the most desperate situations. Expert commentary contextualizes the severity and rarity of Rivera’s accomplishment, while Rivera’s own voice remains central, honest, and direct. The story does not sensationalize the cruelty, focusing instead on the truth-telling essential to the Cold Case Files ethos.

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For Listeners

This is a gripping but extremely challenging episode, with graphic descriptions of violence and psychological trauma. It stands as a testament to the power of survival and the tenacity it can require to end cycles of violence—even when the odds seem insurmountable.

Transcript

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[Narrator/Host]

This program contains subject matter that may be disturbing to some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

Police have arrested 43 year old Gary

[Narrator/Host]

Heidnik, charging him with numerous counts of kidnapping and rape.

[Commentator/Expert]

He was a monster.

[Narrator/Host]

Human body parts were discovered in his house.

[Commentator/Expert]

Nothing is going to stop Gary adding more victims. His diabolical plan.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

He comes up behind me and starts choking me. Then he puts me in this hole. I'm like, oh God, Scott's going to bury me here.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Authorities say three women were rescued from Heidnik's basement. They were found chained, semi nude and starving.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

He's raping us. He's beating us.

[Commentator/Expert]

He would administer severe electric shocks.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

Her whole body just bam, hit the floor.

[Psychologist/Expert]

It doesn't sound believable because it's so crazy.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

I said I'm walking out of here the way I walked in here.

[Psychologist/Expert]

She's going to do what she has to do. It's about survival.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

My heart was pounding. It was just a one shot deal.

[Narrator/Announcer]

I'm sitting there, you know, trying to figure out what the hell to do. You know, I started chopping up the body. I dismembered the body and I, you know, started burning it on the stove.

[Narrator/Host]

Real people who faced death and lived to tell how this is. I survived a serial killer.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

My name is Josefina Rivera, and I survived a serial killer. I was raised in Philadelphia. I had an amazing childhood. I went to temple for a couple years, got an associate degree in accounting. I had everything I could possibly wanted. So the direction I turned in. Who knows why you try different things that are not always good for you, you know, drugs. It just kind of took me down a different path that I really shouldn't have been going in prostitution. November 25th of 1986. I was 25. It was around 8 or 9 o'.

[Commentator/Expert]

Clock.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

Pretty much everybody was home preparing for Thanksgiving. I ended up walking down Dryden Avenue. A car went past me a couple times. He finally pulled over. I went over and talked to him. He looked like he was in his 40s. He had a beard. He wore glasses. He was kind of heavy. He was white. I didn't get the impression that he was a nut. He just said, hi, I'm Gary. We were discussing whether I wanted to go to his house because he was six foot tall. So you really couldn't do anything in the car. So, you know, we worked it out. We go into the house, we went upstairs, we went to his bedroom. And he came up behind me and started choking me. Things were flashing from my life like a broken film projector. He loosened up some. I started going like this. He already had a handcuff on one hand. He kept saying, stop, stop, stop. I don't want to hurt you. Just put your other hand behind your back. There was nothing, a whole lot I could do. It was just too big for me. I put my other arm behind my back and he handcuffed it. He proceeded to take me downstairs to the basement. He took chains and muffler clamps and put the muffler clamps around my ankles. And then he puts me in this hole that I.

[Narrator/Host]

Charles Peruto Jr. Is Gary Heidnik's attorney.

[Psychologist/Expert]

It's just a hole right through the concrete in the basement. So it's just this pit, a crude pit.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

I'm like, oh, gosh, God's going to bury me here. I was just screaming and hollering because I was like suffocating in there. He picks me up by my hair and starts beating me with this stick, telling me to shut up. And he puts me back in this hole. Then he put the board on top of it and put some bags of dirt. I couldn't get out, couldn't lift the board. There was music Blaring throughout the whole basement. Nobody would be able to know that anybody was screaming or hollering. It was hours. I was in there for a long time. He finally took me out and then he started telling me he wanted to kidnap women, get everybody pregnant and have a bunch of kids.

[Psychologist/Expert]

He believed there should only be one race and that if everyone mixed in the end there would be peace in the world. So he was going to raise these children on his own and create his perfect race.

[Narrator/Host]

Jerry Jennings is a clinical psychologist.

[Commentator/Expert]

It's a truly crazy plan. But within a week, he kidnapped his second victim. Sandra Lindsay was 24 years old. She was intellectually disabled. She knew Gary Heidnik pretty well at the time. He's 43 years old and he came up with this church for the disabled.

[Psychologist/Expert]

He's a self ordained bishop in the United Church of the ministers of God that he created. He has real church services showing everybody else that he's a respected member of the community. This Bishop Heidnik.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

I remember being in a hole. I remember hearing these footsteps and I heard this girl crying and I remember him keep saying to her, sandra, why are you crying? You know you know me. You know you know I'm not going to hurt you. He took me out of the hole, introduces me to Sandra and says, well, y' all need to get along and get to know each other because y' all gonna be here together for a while.

[Narrator/Host]

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[Narrator/Host]

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[Narrator/Announcer]

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[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

After he boards Andrew downstairs, he puts on the chains and the muffler clamps. Me and Sandra spent the whole next month together.

[Narrator/Host]

This is the voice of Gary Heidnik.

[Narrator/Announcer]

They go down in the hole in the morning board goes over the top of the hole with the sandbags, and then they stay down there till roughly about eight at night.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

He's raping us, he's beating us. We didn't take baths, we didn't comb our hair. He gave us water and bread, but there was nothing else. Sandra knew Gary really well, so I spent a lot of time talking to her about Gary Heinrich because I wanted to know how to deal with Gary. I was just kind of doing a little bit of homework for the future,

[Commentator/Expert]

asking Sandra all the information she could. Josephina was already hard at work trying to find a way to get out of this nightmare.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

He was continuously digging a hole to set more people. And December to January, he kidnapped three more women. Lisa Thomas, Deborah Dudley and Jackie. It was one after another.

[Psychologist/Expert]

This is Philadelphia 30, 35 years ago. These areas of the city were undermanned when it came to police, so Gary was able to get away with this.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

Jackie came right before my birthday in January, and apparently when she got in the car, he had this cake that he was bringing back to the house for this birthday party he was planning on having for me. He bought me a birthday present and everything. Slippers.

[Psychologist/Expert]

Josephina felt that her only way out was to not complain and be happy. And Gary started to build trust with Josephina and he really thought that Josephina was on board. He wanted to reward her because of her behavior and wanted the others to see, here's what happens when you behave.

[Commentator/Expert]

In his mind, he was treating her very special.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

I just went with it. My main focus was trying to get out of there. It was a step by step, day by day thing. But every day something is happening that's worse than the day before.

[Commentator/Expert]

At one of his most vicious periods, he actually took a screwdriver and jammed it into the ears to puncture the eardrums of all the women so that they couldn't hear when he would leave the house or anyone would visit the house so they could cry out for help.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

He hurt and abused us. It wasn't pleasant at all on February

[Psychologist/Expert]

7th, Sandra Lindsey was just plain sick. So she wasn't eating. And don't forget, all of this was about getting her pregnant. So if she's not eating, she's not able to carry a baby. And that's what he wanted.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

He kept trying to make her eat and she couldn't. And he had decided to punish her by hanging her from a rafter with one arm. And he kept beating her and beating her, trying to get her to eat.

[Commentator/Expert]

And he left her handcuffed, hanging from that beam until she became so weak that she was barely conscious. Ultimately, the act of hanging that position for so long puts a strain on her heart and her body.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

She was just like, hanging. And he put the key in the handcuff, and her whole body just fell and she was gone. When she died, I was really heartbroken. Me and Sandra had spent so much time there together, alone, that we had, like, really got close.

[Psychologist/Expert]

The other girls were very upset. They were screaming. And Gary is now in a state of panic what to do with Sandra and Lindsey now. So he takes Sandra upstairs and literally cuts her body up.

[Commentator/Expert]

The following day, there's a horrible smell emanating from the house.

[Psychologist/Expert]

There is neighbors that call the police about the stench coming from Gary Heidnik's house. So the police come to his door and ask him, what was the smell? He said, I burnt the roast.

[Commentator/Expert]

Unfortunately, the officer believed his story and left the house. It's really unimaginable what the other women must have felt.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

I say, he's gotta be cooking this girl's body. Like I said, every day it was getting worse than the day before. And it was just like, yeah, anything is possible now.

[Commentator/Expert]

All of them must have known our very lives are at stake here. Then another six weeks go by where four of them are still surviving in this horrible prison basement. And they couldn't help but start not being as subservient as Heidnik would like. At this point, he came up with his latest idea. He would use electrical shocks to train them into being subservient and obeying his will without question.

[Narrator/Announcer]

I was trying to find something that would make him behave.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

He filled this hole with some water, and Lisa, Jackie and Debbie were together in a pool of water. Then he applied electric wires to the chains.

[Commentator/Expert]

He would administer these severe, severe electric shocks.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

And he had me do it because he wanted a partner. He wanted somebody else to blame. I would never hurt anybody, but I didn't have a choice. I'm still chained, too. At no time did I ever do Anything to these girls that Gary didn't make me do. It was either that or now I'm gonna get punished. So it's not like a choice.

[Psychologist/Expert]

He wanted to see if she would do it. Every day was a different test, to see if he could trust Josephina.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

So he's making me do it and he's doing it, and then I'm doing it and he's doing it.

[Psychologist/Expert]

Everything she did was to gain Gary's trust. Deborah Dudley had been screaming from being electrocuted. And now, all of a sudden, she wasn't screaming any longer.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

Jackie lifts the board and says, deborah's dead.

[Psychologist/Expert]

She just plopped in the water straight down. Gary went over and pulled her head up, and then he pulled her out. The girls are screaming because somebody in this tiny tub next to them just died, and they're all chained together. It's. It's horrifying.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

I said, something's got to give. I'm walking out of here the way I walked in here. Then he took off the muffler clamps, and even though he took them chains off, I still thought it was a trick.

[Psychologist/Expert]

After that, Gary believed that Josefina was his girlfriend. She was able to use his bathroom shower. He bought her soap, shampoo, clean clothes. She stayed upstairs. She was starting to live like a human being, which she hadn't for months, and she didn't try to escape. I don't think she wanted to take the chance unless she made that one chance a good one.

[Commentator/Expert]

Now Heidnik's faced with he's got to dispose of a second body. He gets Josephina to join him in the car. They put the body in the car, and they drive to the Pine Barrens in New Jersey. It's hundreds of acres of sort of flat pinelands, quite remote.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

He pulled into the Pine Barrens. I could hear him taking Deborah's body out. I could hear her body hitting the back of the trunk. I could hear him walking away on the leaves. And now I'm sitting there saying to myself, oh, my God, is he going to dump me out here, too?

[Commentator/Expert]

He takes the body into the wilderness and buries the body in a shallow grave.

[Psychologist/Expert]

Two girls were dead at this point, so he asked Josephine if she would help him get another girl.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

I'm looking at it as, yeah, okay, let's try to wheel and deal here.

[Psychologist/Expert]

It's about survival. It's about convincing Gary that she's all in. And it was part of her game plan.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

I said to him, look, here's the deal. I'll go out with you to pick up another girl. But afterwards I want to go see my family. He says, ok, that's fine. I was surprised that he had agreed to let me go and see my family.

[Psychologist/Expert]

March 24, they get in the car and go down the front street, which is an area for high traffic of prostitutes, and they pick up Agnes Adams.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

She was a prostitute and she knew Gary from prostituting. She had been with him before. She went right over to the car. They started talking and then he brought her back to the house. I could have ran, you know, but there were still other girls there. If I disappear, of course he's going to get rid of them. I was just focused on trying to get everybody out alive. And then I said, okay, good, now we can go see my family. So we started driving. I said, there's a gas station at the corner. You can go there and get a cup of coffee. You know, I'll be like 15, 20 minutes. He went for it. We get to the gas station around 9 or 10. I knew that there was a phone booth close to the gas station because I was from that neighborhood. I knew the area really well. It was a one block walk, seemed like a mile walk. You know, I keep looking back to see if he's watching to see where I'm going, because as soon as he thinks I'm not coming back, the girls are done. My heart was pounding. It was a one shot deal.

[Narrator/Host]

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[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

I keep looking back to see if he got out his car. I went to the phone booth, I called the police and they said, all right, stay on that corner, we'll send a cop. When they got there, I said, look, I've been changing shackles for four months. I said, the guy's in the gas station. If you don't go pick him up, he's going to go back and kill these other girls. And they're like, really?

[Psychologist/Expert]

At this point she's telling the police what she's endured. It doesn't sound believable because it's so crazy.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

They're like, oh, lift up your pants legs. And they could see the marks from the shackles around my ankles.

[Psychologist/Expert]

The marks and the scars on her ankles were so severe and so nasty that when she showed the police those wounds, they're like, wow.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

They decided to go into the gas station and pick him up.

[Commentator/Expert]

The police detained Gary Heidnik at the gas station.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

They took me up there to the gas station to identify him and when I seen him in the paddy wagon, he looked like somebody do a curve in his plan.

[Psychologist/Expert]

He was totally hoodwinked by Josefina Rivera. The police go into the house. One police officer described going down the steps and in an instant he sees everything Josephina said and oh my God, everything she just told us in this wild tale. It's the truth.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Authorities say three women were rescued from Heidnik's basement. They were found chained, semi nude and starving. The women are now receiving hospital care.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

I really wanted to be there when they were free because we had been there for all those months together. Police have arrested 43 year old Gary

[Narrator/Host]

Heidnik, charging him with numerous counts of kidnapping and rape. Authorities also believe that Heidnik may have committed murders after discovering human remains in his house.

[Commentator/Expert]

Gary Heidnik stands out as an atypical serial killer. Your classic serial killer is known as being a loner, but he was trying to secure himself some companionship to bolster his really weak ego.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

Everybody was safe. I wish Sandra and Deborah both would have made it too, but it was just not in the cars.

[Narrator/Announcer]

One of the survivors led authorities to a body Heidnik allegedly buried in Pine Barrens of New Jersey.

[Commentator/Expert]

On April 4, 1988, at the age of 40, Gary Heidnik appears in court and is charged with two counts of first degree murder. One count for Sandra Lindsay, one count for Deborah Dudley.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

I testified he didn't look at anybody. He kept his head down. I stand up against him again if I had to.

[Psychologist/Expert]

The jury took a long time to reach a verdict, but once they did, on July 1, 1988, he was found guilty of murder.

[Commentator/Expert]

Josephina was a true victim. No one ever considered charging her with any crime. And to her credit, she found a way to escape from Heidnik and rescue the lives of her fellow victims.

[Psychologist/Expert]

Josephina said that was her mission. Mission accomplished.

[Commentator/Expert]

Ten years later, on July 6, 1999, Gary Heidnik is put to death by lethal injection.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

Personally, I think he should have stayed in jail because now he's resting in peace. And a lot of us are still going through different things, you know. But it's good that I survived, good that I saved other people. My faith in God gets me through every day and keeps me sane.

[Narrator/Host]

Finding the one can feel impossible. And in today's world, it's even harder. False profiles, inaccurate pictures, incompatibilities, ghosting on dates. Is this sounding familiar? But if you're ready to make your move to a new place, it doesn't have to feel like dating. All it takes is a simple search on apartments.com to find your perfect match. Whether you're looking for a three bedroom condo downtown, a two bedroom duplex in a quiet neighborhood, a cozy studio in a walkable city, or even a single family home in a cul de sac, you can find a place that checks all the right boxes. So whichever stage of life you're in, settle down in your perfect home by using apartments.com. no more swiping and awkward first dates. Make it easier to get a place that gets you visit apartments.com, the place to find a place.

[Narrator/Announcer]

At first, I didn't think it was real. I woke up to this blinding light and I was transported to another place. Pluto tv. Then I heard a voice.

[Narrator/Host]

Come with me if you want to live.

[Narrator/Announcer]

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[Progressive Insurance/Talkspace Advertiser]

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[Psychologist/Expert]

Last year I went through many different life changes. I needed to take a pause and examine how I was feeling in the inside to better show up for the ones who need me to be my best version of myself.

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[Psychologist/Expert]

Living a busy life, navigating a long distance relationship, becoming a first stepfather, Talkspace made all of those journeys possible. I could speak with my therapist in the office. I could speak of my therapist in the comfort of my home. I was never alone.

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[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

Mom, can you tell me a story?

[Narrator/Host]

Sure. Once upon a time, a mom needed a new car.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

Was she brave?

[Narrator/Host]

She was tired, mostly for but she went to Carvana.com and found a great

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

car at a great price.

[Narrator/Host]

No secret treasure map required.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

Did you have to fight a dragon? Nope.

[Narrator/Host]

She bought it 100% online from her bed, actually.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

Was it scary?

[Narrator/Host]

Honey, it was as unscary as car buying could be.

[Josefina Rivera (Survivor)]

Did the car have a sunroof?

[Narrator/Host]

It did, actually. Okay, good story. Car buying you'll want to tell stories about Buy your car today on Carvana. Delivery fees may apply.