I SURVIVED: I Closed My Eyes and He Popped A Round Off

Summary

Cold Case Files

Episode: I SURVIVED: I Closed My Eyes and He Popped A Round Off
Release Date: May 17, 2025
Host: Paula Barros

Cold Case Files, hosted by Paula Barros, delves into some of America's most chilling and unresolved murder cases. In this episode, "I Survived: I Closed My Eyes and He Popped A Round Off," listeners are taken on a harrowing journey through two extraordinary survival stories that highlight resilience, determination, and the relentless pursuit of justice.

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Barbara and Nancy's Tragic Encounter (1977)

Setting: September 1977, Spring Lake, North Carolina

Barbara, a 16-year-old high school student, and her best friend Nancy find themselves on the second day of high school. Eager to avoid the usual post-school crowds, the two girls decide to take a shortcut through the woods, leading them to a deserted clearing that would soon become the scene of a nightmare.

The Attack: As Barbara and Nancy relax by the bank, enjoying cigarettes and chatting about typical teenage subjects like boys and school, Nancy suddenly senses they're being watched. "Somebody's spying on us," Nancy remarks ([00:50]). Barbara initially dismisses the thought, assuming it's her younger sister, but her suspicions grow when they spot a man dressed in army fatigues approaching them.

Paula Barros narrates the terrifying encounter:
"He let his AK47 dangle around his neck and he pulled out a 9 millimeter and chambered, pointed at my face and lived to tell how" ([02:07]).

The attacker ties Barbara and Nancy to the ground using his bootlaces, forcibly dragging them deeper into the woods. Barbara describes the man's unsettling calmness despite wielding a deadly weapon:
"His voice was just kind of flat and matter of fact. I really didn't hear any anger in his voice" ([05:12]).

Nancy's Fate: Tragically, Nancy does not survive the assault. Barbara recounts the moment she realizes Nancy is grievously injured:
"I saw Nancy laying there. She was nude from the waist down. There was blood all over her back" ([08:03]).

Surviving Against the Odds: Despite the brutal attack, Barbara manages to survive. She details the horrifying physical trauma she endured:
"He sawed across my throat three times... and then he let my head drop back down to the ground" ([09:28]). Believing she was near death, Barbara clings to life by breathing through her throat wound, eventually stumbling to safety to seek help.

Justice Served: Barbara's unwavering determination led to the identification of her attacker, Sergeant Stephen Silen from Fort Bragg.
"I knew that he was him once I got to picture number five" ([15:41]).

Silen was initially sentenced to death in 1979, a verdict that was later overturned. In a subsequent trial, he was sentenced to life in prison in 1981. Barbara's pursuit of justice didn't end there; she tirelessly attended parole hearings to ensure Silen remained incarcerated. Her experience fueled her passion for law enforcement, leading her to a distinguished career as a sheriff's detective.
"I've spent these last 33 years trying to make sure he never gets out" ([16:35]).

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Glenn's Harrowing Captivity in Colombia (2001)

Setting: November 2001, Colombia, South America

Glenn, a seasoned judo master and motorcycle enthusiast, embarks on a solo expedition to ride his motorcycle to the tip of South America. However, his adventure takes a life-threatening turn when he encounters guerrilla rebels in a remote Colombian jungle.

The Capture: Approaching a quiet, winding road near Bogota, Glenn is abruptly stopped by armed men clad in black sweatpants and long-sleeve shirts, brandishing AK47s.
"I'm not gonna eat anymore... I'm going out of here one way or another" ([34:58]).

Despite his attempts to communicate and keep his family details private to avoid ransom demands, Glenn is subjected to weeks of brutal treatment, including forced marches, starvation, and severe physical abuse.

Surviving the Ordeal: Driven by sheer willpower and his training in martial arts, Glenn devises a plan to fake illness to manipulate his captors.
"I will survive, I will survive" ([30:41]).

His strategy involves self-inflicted injuries to appear weaker, leading the rebels to underestimate him. This tactic culminates in a dramatic escape attempt, where Glenn's desperate actions force the rebels to release him, resulting in his rescue by the International Red Cross and an FBI hostage rescue team.

Aftermath and Reflection: Weighing only 170 pounds after entering the jungle at 220, Glenn reflects on his survival:
"I survived this ordeal because I set out with a goal... as long as we stay focused on our goals, we're going to prevail" ([40:38]).

Despite the traumatic experience, Glenn completes his 20,000-mile motorcycle journey, embodying resilience and the unyielding human spirit.

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Concluding Insights

This episode of Cold Case Files not only highlights the brutal realities of violent crimes but also showcases the extraordinary strength individuals can muster to survive and seek justice. Barbara's relentless pursuit of her attacker's conviction and Glenn's survival against seemingly insurmountable odds serve as powerful testaments to human endurance and the will to overcome adversity.

Paula Barros expertly weaves these narratives, offering listeners a profound understanding of the emotional and psychological landscapes navigated by survivors. Through detailed storytelling and firsthand accounts, Cold Case Files continues to shed light on the darkest corners of criminal history, ensuring that these stories of survival and justice are remembered and honored.

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Notable Quotes:

• "He let his AK47 dangle around his neck and he pulled out a 9 millimeter and chambered, pointed at my face and lived to tell how" — Barbara ([02:07])

• "I will survive, I will survive" — Glenn ([30:41])

• "I've spent these last 33 years trying to make sure he never gets out" — Barbara ([16:35])

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This comprehensive summary captures the essence of the episode, providing a detailed and engaging overview for those who haven't listened while highlighting key moments and personal testimonies from the survivors.

Transcript

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[Marissa Pinson]

Hi I survived listeners. I'm Marissa Pinson and if you're enjoying this show, I just want to remind you that episodes of I Survived as well as the A and E classic podcast, Cold Case Files, City Confidential and American justice are all available ad free on the new A and E Crime and Investigation channel on Apple Podcasts and Apple plus for just $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year. And now onto the show. This episode contains subject matter that may be disturbing to some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.

[Barbara]

The voice in my head said he's going to kill you. He's gonna kill us both real people.

[Nancy]

There's a man sized pit dug which at this point I'm I'm assuming is.

[Marissa Pinson]

My grave who faced death.

[Nancy]

He let his AK47 dangle around his neck and he pulled out a 9 millimeter and chambered around and pointed at.

[Marissa Pinson]

My face and lived to tell how.

[Barbara]

He saw it across my throat three times and I laid there and I waited to die. I figured, you know, once somebody cuts your throat, you're not going to survive that.

[Marissa Pinson]

This is I survived. It's September 1977 in Spring Lake, North Carolina. For 16 year old Barbara and her best friend Nancy, it is the second day of high school. After school, the two girls take a shortcut home through the woods. The shortcut leads to a small deserted clearing.

[Barbara]

Nancy and I sat there on the bank to talk for a little while, smoke a couple of cigarettes. She was telling me about her classes and she was just, oh God, she was in high spirits. She loved being in high school. She just thought it was so cool.

[Marissa Pinson]

Nancy, a freshman, would be 15 in two weeks time.

[Barbara]

Nancy was a typical teenage girl. She was boy crazy. She was just fun to hang with. You know, we talked about boys, we talked about, oh gosh, Sean Cassidy is so cute. You know, just typical teenage stuff. All of a sudden Nancy says, somebody's spying on us. And she points toward the path. My first thought was, it's my little sister, she's come to snitch on us. So I got up from the embankment and I walked over to where I saw the person standing. The closer I got, I realized it's not my sister, it's some man. He was wearing army fatigues. He was wearing a fatigue hat and he was wearing sunglasses. And when I got about halfway toward where he was, he turned around and started walking back the way he had come. So I walked back over to the embankment and I sat down beside Nancy and I said, it was just a man. And we start back toward the path. We're about halfway down the path when I see this same man approaching us again. When he passed me, he kind of nodded hello and I nodded back. And then I heard a noise behind me. I stopped and I turned around and he had Nancy on the ground and he was kneeling behind her and he had this huge knife up to her throat. And this was the biggest knife I had ever seen. The blade was at least a foot long. I mean, it went all the way across her throat and then some. So I'm standing there kind of in shock and I'm asking him, what are you doing? Why are you doing this? And he kept saying, just do what I say or I'm going to kill her. He said, I want you to lay face down on the path.

[Marissa Pinson]

Using his bootlaces, the man tied the girl's hands behind their backs.

[Barbara]

When he stood up, he was very tall, he was very slender. And I remember he just. He smelled, he smelled very strongly of body odor. He was obviously young, but definitely older than me. Dark hair, almost black hair. He was wearing sunglasses the whole time. He grabbed me by My elbow. And he grabbed Nancy by her elbow and he pulled us both to our feet. And I'm still asking him, what are you doing? Why are you doing this? Are you gonna rape us? Are you gonna kill us? What are you doing? Why are you doing this? He turns us around. He faces us toward the woods. And as he's taking us toward the woods, he's saying, oh, don't worry. I'm on army maneuvers. This is part of my training. There was a barbed wire fence separating the path from the woods. He stepped down on it so that we could walk over it. And I remember telling him, I'm only 16. I want to live my life. And, you know, he's still saying, oh, I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm not gonna hurt you. Just do what I say. Little voice in my head. Little voice in my head said, he's gonna kill you. He's gonna kill us both. He walks us into the woods a little ways. He laid Nancy down first. Then he walked me a few feet ahead of her and made me lay down again. He went back over to Nancy. I couldn't see what was going on at that point, but I heard Nancy saying no over and over again. And then I heard him say, did you like that? He came over to me. He pulled me to my knees. He was behind me. He reached up under my shirt and he started fondling me. I'm trying to pull away from him, and I'm telling him no. He said, I'm going to have to gag you two. He reached under my shirt. He used the knife to cut my bra off. He stuffed it in my mouth and tied it behind my head. He got us both to our feet again, walked us further into the woods. And at that point, I had worked the gag loose and spit it out. And I remember saying, my sister's gonna be walking by out there on the road any minute. All I have to do is scream and she'll go for help. He comes back over to me, reties the gag, telling me, I told you to keep quiet. His voice was just kind of flat and matter of fact, I really didn't hear any anger in his voice. Then he goes back over to Nancy.

[Marissa Pinson]

Lying face down with her hands tied behind her. Barbara was unable to see Nancy.

[Barbara]

I heard a pair of pants being unzipped. And then I heard. It was like they were being tossed aside. I could hear the change in the pocket when it hit the ground. And then I heard Nancy screaming. Even though she was gagged, I could hear her screaming through her gag. And then when Nancy finally stopped screaming, I heard him say there, I didn't even break you, did I? I had spit my gag out again. And I hollered at him. I said, I thought you weren't gonna rape us. He came back over to me, and this time he was a little bit angrier. He. He shoved my head down to the ground. He tied the gag tighter and he went back over to Nancy. And at that point, I couldn't hear anything except sounds like she was being hit. It sounded like somebody was punching her. There was like a flesh on flesh sound, like somebody was physically punching someone. And every time I heard that flesh on flesh sound, I heard Nancy kind of let out a little grunt. Then he came back over to me and he started pounding me on the back, right between my shoulder blades, right on my spine.

[Marissa Pinson]

Barbara's attacker was attempting to snap her spinal cord.

[Barbara]

Periodically, he would stop and he would grab both my shoulders and kind of rotate them. And it was like I could feel stuff moving around in my back that wasn't supposed to be moving. And then he would start hitting me again. Finally, he brought his left hand around. He lifted my head off the ground. He brought the knife around. He sawed across my throat three times. He let my head drop back down to the ground. Then I felt the knife go into my back. When I felt the knife go into my back the second time, this voice in my head told me, if you don't play dead, he's going to keep stabbing you until you are dead. And he bought it. He got up to his feet and then he left. And I laid there and I waited to die. I figured, you know, once somebody cuts your throat, you're not going to survive that. I figured I only had a couple of minutes. I started thinking about my mom and dad and my brothers and sisters, all the people I was never going to see again. And I laid there and I waited to die. After a while, I realized I was still breathing through my throat. He had cut my throat so deeply, it had kind of collapsed in on itself. And I was breathing through the wound in my throat. So then I started thinking, okay, maybe I'm not going to die just yet. So I managed to get to my feet and I saw Nancy laying there. She was face down. She was nude from the waist down. There was blood all over her back. I walked over to her and I wound up stumbling against her leg. And when I did that, I heard her groan. So I thought, okay, she's still alive. I gotta take her out with Me. She's still alive. And I stood there and I tried to get my hands apart. I tried to stretch the laces any way I could to get them loose, to get them off. And I couldn't. So when I couldn't get the laces off, I thought, okay, all I can do is go get help. I've got to go get her help. I made it back to where he had brought us into the woods. I started walking to the road. I got to the road and I stood there hoping that a car would come by. And one did. And I remember seeing them slow down. And then I remember the look of horror on the driver's face. And I looked down, and I was absolutely drenched in blood all the way to my knees. I said, please help me, God. Please help me. Only the voice wasn't coming out of my mouth. It was coming out of my throat. It was this teeny, tiny little voice coming out of my throat. And then he floored it.

[Marissa Pinson]

Barbara, having collapsed on the road through blood loss, hears another car approaching.

[Barbara]

When they came around that curve, they saw me at the last possible second. And I remember seeing the tires of their car come within about an inch of my head. And they wound up losing control and crashing into the ditch. Next thing I know, there were people everywhere. I mean, just people everywhere. And I'm trying to tell them, my friend is in the woods. But I'm having to mouth the words and hope that they can read my lips. My friend is in the woods. Next thing I know, there's a helicopter landing in the field next to us, and they're loading me onto a stretcher. And just as they're putting me on the helicopter and we're about to take off, I hear somebody holler out. We found her. And I see everybody running for the woods.

[Marissa Pinson]

Barbara was rushed to the hospital and underwent emergency surgery.

[Barbara]

I was in surgery for, I guess, about six hours. They kind of had to put everything back together. He had cut through my voice box, my vocal cords, my trachea, esophagus. I mean, everything in there. Everything in there had been cut through. I remember waking up in intensive care. They had brought me, like, a notepad and a pen. Anytime somebody came in the room, my first question was, how's Nancy? Where is she? And the response to that question was pretty much always the same. Nancy's fine. She's in good hands. She's being very well taken care of. It wasn't until after I was taken out of intensive care that my mother finally told me. She said, honey, that Wasn't exactly a lie. She is in good hands. She's in God's hands. I remember feeling like I'd been punched in the stomach.

[Marissa Pinson]

14 year old Mary Jo Nancy Coates died from stab wounds to the chest and back.

[Barbara]

I wanted to say goodbye to her, but there was just absolutely no way they were going to let me out of the hospital for that. So I didn't get to go to the funeral. So I never really got to say goodbye to her. I told my mother, go get her a dozen roses and put them on her grave and let her know they're from me and that I miss her. And after I found out she was dead, I think that made my will to live even stronger because I had to make sure the man who did it paid. I wrote down blow by blow what happened, what he said, what he did, what he looked like, what he smelled like. They brought me a photographic lineup. I never even saw picture number six, because once I got to picture number five, I knew it was him.

[Marissa Pinson]

Barbara identified their attacker as Sergeant Stephen Silen, a soldier at nearby Fort Bragg. He was charged with kidnapping, rape, attempted murder, and first degree murder.

[Barbara]

It went to trial. This was all very scary for me. I mean, I was only 16 years old. I didn't understand the court process. I was scared to death to be in the same room with him.

[Marissa Pinson]

In 1979, Stephen Silen was found guilty and sentenced to death. In 1981, the verdict was overturned and after a second trial, Silen was sentenced to life in prison.

[Barbara]

For the last nine years of my life, I've been going in front of the parole board once a year to fight his parole.

[Marissa Pinson]

After surviving the attack that killed her friend, Barbara graduated and began a career in law enforcement. Barbara is now a retired sheriff's detective.

[Barbara]

I think what happened to me had everything to do with why I became a law enforcement officer. It had to do with me wanting to feel safe. It had to do with me wanting to feel in control. It had to do with me wanting to feel like I didn't have to rely on anybody else to help me if I was in a bad situation. I survived because I come from a very strong, very determined family. Initially, my goal was to save Nancy's life. I couldn't die. I had to save Nancy. Ultimately, my goal became making sure that her killer was brought to justice. And I've spent these last 33 years trying to make sure he never gets out.

[Marissa Pinson]

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[Barbara]

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[Nancy]

And once I stopped there was sort of this big gap and I needed something to fill that. And I decided to organize a trip, a one man expedition to ride a motorcycle to the tip of South America.

[Marissa Pinson]

And back in October, Glenn began the 20,000 mile motorcycle trip. A month after leaving California, he arrived in Columbia.

[Nancy]

It's a steep, steep jungle terrain. I mean, it'll shoot up one side, straight up and then straight down the other. It's like a roller coaster up and down and corkscrewing through the mountains. It's probably some of the most spectacular scenery on the planet. I was probably about 150 miles outside of Bogota and with another 50 miles left to Medellin. And it got quieter and quieter and pretty soon there's almost no traffic and these little hairpin turns so you couldn't get out of first gear. And I had just cleared a hairpin turn. As I came around, I saw a number of armed men standing in the roadway wearing black sweatpants and black long sleeve shirts with automatic weapons and ammunition belts across their chest. And they were screaming and hollering for me to stop and all, aiming these AK47s at me. And I get off the bike and I've got my hams up and there's an old, dilapidated, broken down shack by the side of the road. And they kept pointing to the back of the shack for me to go back there. I don't want to go. I'm pretty well convinced I'm going to get shot back there. And by this time they had stopped a bus, a campesino bus coming through the mountains. And the bus driver wasn't really sure what he was supposed to do. And the guerrillas were yelling and screaming for him to move on and he was afraid. Nobody was really understanding. It was total pandemonium. I look over to people on the bus and they're panic stricken. They don't know what's in store for them. People are screaming and crying. Some people are intentionally looking away as though they don't want to see what's happening. And I can't remember ever being that scared in my life if cottonmouth fear would be a good description. And I thought, well, at least if I'm going to die, these people will see what happened.

[Marissa Pinson]

Glenn, who spoke Spanish, was able to speak with the gang leader.

[Nancy]

I just said, yo, no voyage, you know, I'm not going. And he let his AK47 dangle around his neck and he pulled out a 9 millimeter and pointed at my face and said, vamos. And I was looking down the gun barrel. All I could think of was my daughter and I wouldn't see her again. I cursed him in Spanish and I had to make a decision at that point. And I said, basically after cursing him, if you got something to do, do it. Here. And he chambered around with a 9 millimeter and pointed at my head. I closed my eyes, and he popped around often. I mean, it was like, you know, it's like a slap against my eardrums. And I opened my eyes, and I look around, and I don't really. No. I'm sort of in a state of shock, and I don't know if I'm dead or alive. And then he points his gun at my. At my arm. And I realize at this point he's. He's gonna wound me. And it looks like if I'm gonna get shot in the arm, I assume that at least they want me to walk. If they want me to walk, they want me alive. And I walk toward the jungle. It's like. It's like a robot. I could barely, you know, know, really move. I just had to force myself to. To make my legs. Legs move. I had no idea what was coming. And I got to the edge of the jungle, and it was a straight drop down below. And they came up behind me, a couple guys, and they gave me a push. And there was no alternative but to sprint, literally sprint downhill for about 15 minutes. And then they stopped to do a radio check, I guess, announcing to their commander that they had grabbed an American. And that was the big surprise. Very few people actually traveled at that time in the countryside, the least of all an American on a motorcycle.

[Marissa Pinson]

Glenn had been captured by the ELN Marxist rebels fighting to overthrow the Colombian government.

[Nancy]

Off we went, and it was just hours and hours and hours up and down Massa bajo masariba, up and down the mountains and to the point where you just physically can't go anymore. The first night we marched till, I can only estimate, till well past midnight. That's when I was summoned to interrogation with the Comandante. He started out kind of not nice, but very, very calm. Who was I? What was I doing? And then he started asking me about my family. I said, I don't have a family. I live alone.

[Marissa Pinson]

To prevent any ransom demand, Glenn refused to give them details about his family.

[Nancy]

He was getting more and more upset. He goes, well, I know you got kids. And I said, no, I don't have kids, and I don't want him to know about my daughter. I don't want him to know about anybody in my family because I don't want him sending body parts off to them to shake them up.

[Marissa Pinson]

To make himself less valuable as a hostage, Glenn lied that he had a terminal illness.

[Nancy]

I told him that I had prostate cancer and. And That I was actually dying and I needed certain medicines to keep me alive. And the supply is back in my motorcycle, hidden on my motorcycle. So if we could just go back there, we'll get it. And that was the focus of my escape plan all along, was just to get back somehow to get back to the highway. They just laughed, they said, no, no, we won't be going back to the highway. And he escalates the intensity of the interview, of the interrogation. And then he starts screaming at me, I have no idea what's going on. And so they start with the boots and they kicked on me for a while and the commandante kept screaming. In the morning, after the first evening there, we packed up and we were off in the jungle again to another camp. They kept marching me deeper, deeper and deeper and longer marches into the mountains. I was handed off to a new group approximately every two days. We'd march up and down at the end of a day's march, camp out usually on the top of a ridge. Every once in a while we'd do an all night march. And of course it rains every night. So I'd had a fever, I was sick with some kind of bug, I had a fever. And we're marching and marching and it's in the middle of this thunderstorm. And they had kept prodding me along and I was burning with fever and there was really nothing left inside. And I was down and telling myself if I could go 100 steps more, and I was counting 100 steps, I go 100 steps and blam. I'd fall down and his vamos back with the gun barrels and the ribs back dragging me to my feet. And they were getting tired of me doing this. They had plenty of energy, but I was in a weakened physical state with a fever. And I remember when I trained nationally to compete in judo at Tenry, it was one of the toughest programs you could ever imagine training. And that's where you learned about second wind, third wind, fourth wind. And I just put myself back in that, that, that moment when I was training in my old coach, Tony Mojica, screaming in my ear, pick up the pace, eggs dead. When my lungs were on fire and I didn't feel like I could go any further. And I just looked at the rebels at the meanest one and I saw Tony Mojica. And I said, no sweat, coach. And I finally, we're crossing the stream and I fall down on the stream and that's where they come up behind me for fun, for laughs. They holding my head underwater. I have no strength left in me. I don't have the strength to turn my head. And so I'm naturally starting to suck in water. And it's like I'm going into this long tunnel, this long black tunnel and saying, I guess this is where it ends. And then they let me up and I'm gagging and throwing up. They jerked me to my feet. Vamos. This whole time that I'd been marching on this horrible march, I kept chanting to myself, I will survive, I will survive. I will survive. Because we keep marching further and further away. I realized I'm going to be with them for a while. And I began just trying to focus on staying alive. Every morning and every evening I would get un vasito de arroz, a very, very small town teacup of rice. They were just giving me enough to keep me alive. And I realized that on these continuous marches, 18 hours a day with two cups of rice, I wasn't going to last very long. As the days turned into weeks, I could actually see my bones, my hip bones beginning to poke out. I realized that I was losing a tremendous amount of weight. There was nothing to eat, there was nothing, no food. There was no animal life. It was completely devoid other than insects by the billions. I mean, you put your hand down to rest against a tree and the bugs would be up your arm. Every morning I'd wake up and I'd just be covered in insects. Night after night with little or no sleep and long marches and constantly trying to evaluate everything that they say and do. They had threatened to kill me a number of times. They told me that mine was coming in the morning. And of course it scares you. Scares me. Scared me beyond belief. They had one morning come, come to take me, take me off into the jungle by myself. They've got my hands bound behind me and I'm wondering what kind of hell awaits this morning. And there's a man size pit dug, which they ordered me over to the corner of which at this point I'm, I'm assuming is, is my grave.

[Marissa Pinson]

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[Nancy]

Turn.

[Marissa Pinson]

Terms and conditions apply. See Cite for details. For weeks now, New Jersey residents have been plagued by unexplained drones flying overhead.

[Nancy]

Is there intelligent alien life? And if so, has the government been covering it up?

[Marissa Pinson]

All right. UFO sightings the military can't explain, Congressional hearings, Pentagon whistleblower.

[Nancy]

What does it all mean?

[Glenn]

What does it all mean? We are here to try and figure it all out with our new Ancient Aliens podcast. There is a doorway in the universe. Beyond it is the promise of truth. It demands we question everything we have ever been taught. The evidence is all around us. The future is right before our eyes. We are not alone. We have never been alone. Listen to the Ancient Aliens podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts.

[Marissa Pinson]

On a solo motorcycle trip through Colombia, Glenn is taken hostage by a rebel army. For three weeks, he endures interrogation, starvation, and daily marches. One day he is marched to a clearing and made to stand in front of an open grave.

[Nancy]

They're standing behind me and there's some sounds that you never forget. And I could hear the bullet being chambered into his AK47. This just clackety clack. I hear this crack, you know, loud explosion, ringing in my ears. And once again, I don't know am I shot or what, but my knees buckled. And then I hear him laughing like it was a big joke. And they came over and helped me up. And then they basically tell me that a decision's been made.

[Marissa Pinson]

The rebels tell Glenn he is being released and that a helicopter is coming to rescue him.

[Nancy]

They said, well, just wait in the clearing and keep your eye out for the helicopter. So I'm running around the clearing and I'm looking in the skies and looking in the skies, you know, and my eyes are sunk back in my head, and I'm staring around like a wild man. And I'm scanning the sky and I'm listening. And I just stay out there till midnight, just standing there, looking up. And of course, there is no helicopter. I looked over and they were mocking me and the look on my face and whatnot and getting a big laugh out of it. And I said, okay, this is coming to a head here. And I could deal with everything. Where they were finally getting me was telling me that I had been freed and jerking that back from me. And I realized that the only way for me to take control of this situation was to sabotage my own health. And at this point, I'm tired of being threatened. I'm tired of ranting about my government, about my country. This is it. We're going to throw down the gauntlet. Put up or shut up. And I told him I. I'm not eating anymore.

[Marissa Pinson]

Weeks earlier, Glenn had lied to the rebels, telling them he was dying of cancer.

[Nancy]

I said, you know what? I can't eat that prostate cancer I was telling you about. I'm dying. Can't eat. So the next morning, same thing. Nope, not eating. And so they're starting to get a little concerned. And I thought, well, I'm going to accelerate this. And the whole time I'd had my motorcycle keys in my pocket, I realized that I need some of my own blood, and if I cut a vein, they'll see it. So the only way I think of to get it is to take this motorcycle key and ram it into my sinuses to cause myself to bleed. I took the key and I rammed it up as far as I could into my sinuses and took my fist, and bam, smacked myself in the face, and blood started to flow. So I took it, and I squirted all around my crotch and my pants and all over this little room that I was in. And then in the morning, I let him see when I got up to relieve myself. And they go, what's the blood from? I said real casually, I said, I told you, can't eat. Now I'm peeing blood, urinating blood. I'm dying. I told you guys that. And by this point, I'd been without food and actually even stopped taking fluids. It'd been over a week, and so I physically could hardly move at all.

[Marissa Pinson]

The rebels brought in one of their doctors to treat Glenn.

[Nancy]

He comes in and he's screaming at me, I gotta take this IV or I'm Gonna die. And that's when I looked up at him and I smiled. Which means that's not my problem, that's yours. I'm going out of here one way or another, and I'm either going to starve myself to death and die, or they were letting me out of here once again. I took the key and I rammed it up as far as I could into my nose and smacked myself as hard as I could. This is it. This is going to end one way or another. I'm not going through another day of captivity. And I mean, I had a gusher. Blood was just gushing out of my nose. And I slung it around the room and I slung it all over me. Looked like they'd been slaughtering hogs in this room. And they came in the morning, they looked at that and they just went into a panic. The Commandante that, that hated me the most, he comes in and he's screaming, he's going, get up. And I said, no, no, Puerto, no Puerto. I, I, I can't move. And he had to. And there's a mule outside. And they throw me over the side of this mule. The Comandante's leading the mule. And as we're leaving the camp, I realize it's just me and him. But I'm thinking, well, he's probably taking me out to shoot me. I go, I lost my shot. All for naught. None of this, none of this has worked. It's everything that I've been through for the last couple weeks was fail. They were taking me deeper in the mountains. And then another hour later, we come around the corner. We look down to a clearing. There's a big white four wheel drive, like a 4x4 Toyota wagon with a big, with red cross emblems on the door and a big red cross on the roof. And I looked down and I couldn't believe it. This little Italian woman walks up to me with these little wireframe glasses. She went clutching a clipboard to her chest. And she walks up and holds out her hand. She said, hello, Mr. Hagstead. I'm Anna de Paola. I'm a delegate from the committee of the International Red Cross, and I'm here to take you to a representative of your government. We're going to take you out of here. We're going to take you to the hospital in Medellin. And I just, I, I refused to believe it. It was a long ride back. It was probably another hour or two going back into Medellin. And I still was mumbling the whole time. Nope, nope, nope, nope. I don't believe it. Cannot believe it. And then we pulled up to the Red Cross center, and even the Red Cross center was like a prison. There's steel bars and steel grating around it. And we got inside the Red Cross center, and I realized, okay, maybe. Maybe this is true.

[Marissa Pinson]

Glenn was treated for dehydration and advanced malnutrition. He had endured five weeks in captivity.

[Nancy]

I had gone into that jungle weighing 220 pounds in shape, and I came out at 170.

[Marissa Pinson]

An FBI hostage rescue team collected Glenn from the Columbian Red Cross.

[Nancy]

We're in the airport, and they said, we want to debrief you and show you some photographs, and then we've got a plane to take you back to and put you in the hospital. And I said, okay, I'll go for that, but I'm not going back to California. And they said, really? Where do you think you're going? And I said, well, I'm getting on another motorcycle and heading back for Argentina. And they were going, yeah, that's right. Well, we got news for you. You're going on a plane. And I said, no, I got news for you. I'm going to Argentina. And it's getting combative, you know, and finally I got this big old beard, and I'm scrawny, and I still got this walking stick I'm holding onto. And they said, no, you're going to California. I said, you know what? I'm tired of guys with guns telling me what to do. I'm gonna walk out of here right now. If you don't like it, then you can shoot me in the back. And so I go hobbling out, these four guys in business suits come running up after me. Oh, Mr. Higgstead, we're sorry, we're sorry. We just thought you were crazy and didn't know what you want. I said, I am crazy, but I know what I want to do, and I have to keep going.

[Marissa Pinson]

Glenn completed his 20,000 mile trip around South America before returning home to California.

[Nancy]

I survived this ordeal because I set out with a goal. And being committed to a goal as a martial artist is everything you never turn around. An obstacle is something you see when you lose sight of your goal. And as long as we stay focused on our goals, no matter what the challenge, we're going to prevail. And to me, I had the whole eyes of the world focused on me when I came out of that jungle and was like, what's this guy gonna do now? And I said, keep on going.

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