Cold Case Files – "I SURVIVED: I Didn't Know If I Was Going To Go Home Or Be With Him Forever"

Podcast: Cold Case Files
Host: Paula Barros (A&E / PodcastOne)
Date: January 17, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode of Cold Case Files explores three harrowing survival stories as told by the women who lived through them. Hosted by Paula Barros, "I SURVIVED: I Didn't Know If I Was Going To Go Home Or Be With Him Forever" features first-person accounts from Mitzi, Tammy, and Leona. Each woman recounts their trauma—abduction, rape, and attempted murder—and their courageous fight to survive. The episode illuminates both the darkness of human cruelty and the resilience of the human spirit, culminating in justice for each survivor.

Segment 1: Mitzi's Story – Abducted on Her 8th Birthday

Timestamps: 01:06 – 13:58

Key Points & Insights

• Mitzi’s Abduction (01:06 – 05:11)

  • On her 8th birthday in Vallejo, CA (August 2000), Mitzi is abducted walking home from school.
  • A man fakes needing help with his car and overpowers her.
  • “He threw me into the car...if you try to get out or run, I'm gonna shoot you. I have a gun in my trunk.” (Mitzi, 02:11)
  • She’s chained up in the car, forced into used clothes, given a cup for the restroom, made to drink alcohol, and is photographed.

• Captivity and Survival (06:02 – 10:55)

  • Mitzi spends over 48 hours chained in the car, enduring starvation and sexual assault.
  • She observes police cars driving by at a rest area but is not discovered.
  • “He had actually walked into our home asking for flyers so he could help pass them out...” (Mitzi, 07:32)—a chilling act by her kidnapper.
  • Her abductor watches news reports about her case, chained next to her, and regularly leaves her alone.
  • Mitzi prays for forgiveness and survival: “I just, you know, wanted him to let my family know that I loved him.” (Mitzi, 09:57)

• Escape and Aftermath (10:55 – 13:58)

  • By luck, the abductor drops a ring of keys. Mitzi manages to unlock herself, escape through a window, and runs into traffic, eventually rescued by a truck driver.
  • Her kidnapper, Curtis Dean Anderson, is quickly arrested. In court, Mitzi finds closure: “I knew I was already safe, and I just had to get up on that stand and do what I had to do to be able to put him away.” (Mitzi, 12:39)
  • Anderson is sentenced to 251 years, later confessing to two murders; he dies in prison in 2007.
  • “I survived because I wanted to go home and I wanted to see my family again. I had the desire to live.” (Mitzi, 13:17)

Notable Quotes

• “Just has to be something so wrong with this person for him to be able to do something like that to a child.” (Mitzi, 00:34 & 08:42)
• “I didn't know if I was gonna go home or, you know, be with him forever. I didn't know if he was gonna kill me. I just – I didn't know.” (Mitzi, 08:42)

Segment 2: Tammy’s Story – Abducted and Attacked in Georgia

Timestamps: 15:58 – 28:06

Key Points & Insights

• The Crime (15:58 – 23:29)

  • In March 1987, Tammy is abducted in a grocery store parking lot after a man asks for help with jumper cables.
  • In broad daylight and a busy setting, she agrees to help—a decision she rationalizes due to the public environment.
  • The man threatens her with a knife, claims to be on the run from dangerous men, and takes her to a secluded gravel pit.
  • Tammy is raped and brutally attacked after trying to resist and escape.
  • “I managed to get the knife away from him and he went absolutely bat crazy.” (Tammy, 21:44)

• Fight for Survival (23:29 – 26:45)

  • Despite multiple stab wounds and strangulation, Tammy’s survival instinct is fierce.
  • She plays dead to deter further attack, then, realizing he’s temporarily gone, begins to treat her wounds herself: “My clothes were gone and I thought, okay, well, start walking.” (Tammy, 24:43)
  • Climbing a steep hill, despite a punctured lung and massive blood loss, she finds two men who call 911.

• Justice and Healing (27:11 – 28:06)

  • A handprint on her car leads to the arrest, conviction, and life sentences plus 20 years for David James Etherly.
  • Tammy’s statement of resolve: “I refused to die. I refused to lay there and be a victim...Every day that I live a normal life and I sleep with the lights off is another day that I beat him.” (Tammy, 27:28)

Notable Quotes

• “Because I'm sick, lady.” (Tammy, quoting her attacker, 21:03)
• “I will move forward. He will rot in prison for that two and a half hours. Every day that I live a normal life...is another day that I beat him.” (Tammy, 27:28)
• “I have to get up. I have to get out of these woods. I refuse to rot in the woods like an animal.” (Tammy, 25:25)

Segment 3: Leona’s Story – Ambushed on a Hiking Trail

Timestamps: 29:11 – 38:50

Key Points & Insights

• The Attack (29:11 – 33:35)

  • July 13, 1984: Leona and her husband Robin, newlyweds, encounter a silent, armed man on a hiking trail in California’s Trinity Alps.
  • Later, the man ambushes them, shooting Robin fatally and wounding Leona.
  • “I heard a shot. I looked up the trail and saw a man with a gun pointed at us...and boom, boom, two more shots.” (Leona, 30:27)
  • The shooter approaches Leona, asks odd questions, and leaves without harming her further.

• Leona’s Escape (33:35 – 36:25)

  • Realizing she must get help for herself and possibly Robin, Leona leaves him behind and hikes three miles, evading the gunman.
  • “I closed his eyes and told him I loved him. And then I walked down the trail.” (Leona, 33:27)
  • Bleeding heavily, she drives 13 miles to the nearest house to call for help.
  • At the hospital, she learns Robin could not have survived.

• Shooter & Aftermath (36:56 – 38:50)

  • The gunman, Glenn Walter Spuler, is apprehended in town.
  • His motive: a delusion that Robin had contaminated his distilled water as they passed on the trail.
  • Spuler is found not guilty by reason of insanity and spends decades in secure hospitals.
  • Leona reflects on Robin’s memory and her continued drive to survive: “I survived because Robin would have wanted me to.” (Leona, 38:11)

Notable Quotes

• “I knew from that moment he was crazy. And it was like a vacuous look. There's nothing, nothing. No emotion behind it.” (Leona, 31:31)
• “I had no protection, so I was stuck. I knew I would do something if I would run and attack him, if I would hit him with a rock...But death was not going to be an option.” (Leona, 31:45)
• “I survived because Robin would have wanted me to.” (Leona, 38:11)

Memorable Moments & Themes

• Resilience and Will to Live: Each survivor describes a pivotal internal moment of determination.
• Perpetrator Motives: From predatory planning to delusional paranoia, the episode shows the disturbing variety of cold case perpetrators.
• Justice and Aftermath: Legal consequences are swift and severe, but survivors grapple with complex emotions—not always relief—following conviction or death of their attacker.
• Survivors’ Reflections: Speaking their stories aloud is both healing and difficult, as Mitzi notes: “I've never gone over my story like this, ever, other than at court. So this is, like...kind of hard for me, but it kind of feels good to let it out.” (Mitzi, 13:17)

Important Timestamps

• Mitzi’s abduction and escape: 01:06–13:58
• Tammy’s survival and rescue: 15:58–28:06
• Leona’s attack and escape: 29:11–38:50

Conclusion

This episode of Cold Case Files provides powerful, firsthand testimonials of survival amidst unimaginable violence. The storytelling centers the victims’ experiences, resilience, and road to justice, shining a light on rare cases where victims not only survive, but help bring their attackers to justice.

For those impacted by the themes discussed, listener discretion is advised. Support and resources for survivors of violence are recommended.