I SURVIVED: I Had To Do Things That Would Make Somebody's Skin Crawl

Summary

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Cold Case Files – "I SURVIVED: I Had To Do Things That Would Make Somebody's Skin Crawl"

Podcast: Cold Case Files
Host: Paula Barros
Date: November 8, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode of Cold Case Files (in collaboration with I Survived) shares the first-person stories of three individuals—Tanya Cash, Andy, and Denise—each of whom encountered life-threatening violence or terror and survived against the odds. Their candid, visceral narratives recount not just the facts but the long-term emotional scars and the slow journey from victimhood to survival. The episode weaves themes of isolation, psychological control, resilience, and the crucial role others played in their eventual survival.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Tanya Cash: A Decade in Captivity

Background & Grooming ([02:54])

• After her parents' divorce at age 13, Tanya finds herself isolated and vulnerable in her new living situation.
• School security guard Tom Hose begins grooming her. At first, she feels flattered by his attention:

  "I had a huge crush on him... him having, you know, was paying all this attention to me and me being vulnerable and young and going through such a very hard time at home. I felt very loved. I felt like somebody cared." ([04:09])

Abduction and Captivity ([04:53])

• At 14, Tom convinces Tanya to run away and live in secret in his room at his parents' house.
• Tanya describes being locked in and forced to hide from Tom's parents, often confined for hours—using a bucket as a toilet, eating Tom’s leftovers, and rarely allowed to bathe.
• Tom enforces total psychological domination:

  "When you hear day in and day out, you know that nobody cares that he's my everything, that he saved my life, that I'm stupid, that I'm only a pretty face, that I need to be taken care of. When you hear that, day in and day out, every day, you believe it." ([06:14])

Abuse and Control Tactics ([06:14])

• Tom exerts relentless abuse—physically, sexually, and emotionally—turning Tanya into what she calls his “slave” and “Barbie doll.”

  "He would threaten to kill me. He would smother me in my sleep. He said, you know, throw my body in the river, that he has connections." ([06:14]) "I had to do things to him, and he did things to me that would make somebody's skin crawl that I will never in my life ever do again." ([01:59])

Near Rescue and Further Alienation ([09:03])

• Police search the house, but Tom artfully hides Tanya in the basement inside a box.
• Tanya’s sense of brainwashing is so complete she feels compelled to leave a will under the carpet for when he eventually kills her.

Gradual Re-entry to Society ([11:17])

• After four years, Tom allows Tanya, now 18, limited trips outside, closely monitored.
• Six more years pass before Tanya develops tentative contact with the outside world via a store owner, Joe.

Escape and Rescue ([13:22])

• Breaking down emotionally, Tanya reveals her real identity to Joe, who calls the police and finally ends her decade-long captivity.

  “He looked at me, and he said, ‘Are you Tanya Nicole Cash?’ And I said, ‘Yes.’ And he went, ‘Oh, my gosh. ... We’ve been looking for you for 10 years.’” ([14:05])

Aftermath and Reflection ([15:28])

• In court, Tanya faces Tom for the first time, firmly reclaiming her voice.

  "He kept leaning over, saying, 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry.' And I said to him, 'Shut up, because I'm talking now.'" ([15:30])

• Tom Hose is convicted, serves his sentence, and is released in 2022.
• Tanya rebuilds her life: college, marriage, owning a house, and faith in God fueling her recovery.

  "I survived because God got me through it. God was my strength. And because of that, I'm a strong person now." ([16:26])

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2. Andy: Mountain Lion Attack Survivor

Backstory & The Attack ([18:25])

• Andy, seeking a new start and adventure in Colorado, regularly hikes alone.
• One day, he encounters a mountain lion up close.

  “The power that came through these eyes that locked onto you... was so intense, so incredible and powerful... we stood there and stared at each other for about seven, seven plus minutes.” ([21:27])

The Struggle for Life ([22:09])

• Andy is mauled by the mountain lion, suffering deep wounds and fearing for his life.

  "You could see the tooth right in front of your eye. The smell from the breath was just horrid, like just rotten flesh. Just death. ... I realized that this is the most real moment of my life." ([22:09])

• He manages to gouge the lion's eye with his thumb, causing it to release him.
• Even after severe injury, Andy is stalked again by the lion until a sense of calm—interpreted as a vision of Jesus—gives him the strength to continue.

Rescue and Recovery ([25:54])

• Andy manages to find four women he passed earlier, who help him get to safety.

  "Two of those ladies that I couldn't even say hi, how's your day—were now dragging me... that last half mile." ([25:58])

New Purpose ([26:44])

• The traumatic experience reorders his life priorities, strengthening his faith and commitment to helping others.

  “I survived this mountain lion attack simply because of the grace of God and I have learned now to live for him.” ([26:44])

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3. Denise: Subway Stalker and Assault

Escalating Danger ([28:11])

• Denise, a Brooklyn night shift worker, is stalked on the subway by a man for several nights.
• On the third night, he follows her home and confronts her in her building’s vestibule.

Assault and Threats ([29:32])

• The attacker brandishes a large knife and forces Denise to comply with a sexual assault.

  "The feeling of loss of control is just indescribable... that I had to consent to this stranger violating me in the most brutal way." ([29:32])

Hope for Survival ([33:40])

• Denise tries to delay, hoping for someone to enter; eventually, her neighbor and his daughter do, interrupting the assault and causing the attacker to flee.

Justice and Reflection ([35:43])

• The police apprehend her attacker after he assaults another victim nearby.
• Denise reflects on survival and attributes her rescue to divine intervention.

  "I survived because God intervened and he sent someone to upset the attack because there was nothing else I could have done to save myself." ([36:20])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Tanya Cash

• "He did things to me that would make somebody's skin crawl that I will never in my life ever do again." ([01:59])
• "You're not missing a father... I'm your everything now. You have no father. You have no mother. You have no family. You only have me." ([05:08])
• “He kept leaning over, saying, ‘I'm sorry. I'm sorry.’ And I said to him, ‘Shut up, because I'm talking now.’” ([15:30])
• “I survived because God got me through it. God was my strength. And because of that, I'm a strong person now.” ([16:26])

Andy

• “...the power that came through these eyes that locked onto you were so intense, was so incredible and powerful...” ([21:27])
• “I realized that this is the most real moment of my life. There's nobody around. I gotta do something to get out of here or this is real, this is it. I don't want to die.” ([22:09])
• “I survived this mountain lion attack simply because of the grace of God and I have learned now to live for him.” ([26:44])

Denise

• “The feeling of loss of control, it's just indescribable that I had to consent to this stranger violating me in the most brutal way.” ([29:32])
• “I survived because God intervened and he sent someone to upset the attack because there was nothing else I could have done to save myself.” ([36:20])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:59] Tanya Cash begins recounting captivity

• [04:53] Abduction and beginning of concealed captivity

• [06:14] Details of abuse, psychological manipulation

• [11:17] Tanya's gradual reentry to limited freedom

• [13:22] Tanya reveals her identity, Joe calls police

• [15:30] Tanya’s confrontation in court

• [16:26] Tanya reflects on survival and faith

• [18:25] Andy’s story: Mountain lion attack begins

• [22:09] The fight for survival

• [25:54] Andy meets rescuers, is rushed for help

• [26:44] Andy reflects on new life and faith

• [28:11] Denise’s narrative: initial subway encounters

• [29:32] Assault in the vestibule; compliance to survive

• [35:43] Attacker is apprehended; Denise’s reflection

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Episode Tone & Style

The episode’s tone is deeply empathetic, raw, and survivor-focused. The narrators (and survivors themselves) speak directly and truthfully about trauma, carefully balancing the darkness of the events with reflections on inner strength, faith, and eventual healing. Quotes are delivered with emotional weight, not sensationalism, faithfully conveying the survivors’ pain, resilience, and hope.

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Summary Takeaway

This Cold Case Files episode does more than recount extraordinary, harrowing events; it captures the psychological complexity of surviving trauma and the decades-long scars it leaves behind. The stories are a testament to endurance, breaking the silence of abduction, assault, and animal attack—not just through escape, but by reclaiming identity, seeking justice, and finding meaning and faith in life after survival.

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Transcript

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[Tanya Cash]

He did things to me that would make somebody's skin crawl that I will never in my life ever do again.

[Andy]

Real people, there's nobody around. I got to do something to get out of here or this is. This is real. This is it. I. I don't want to die. I'm 24 years old. I didn't want to die.

[Narrator]

Who faced death?

[Denise]

The feeling of loss of control, it's just indescribable that I had to consent to this stranger violating me in the most brutal way.

[Narrator]

And live to tell how I looked up to God.

[Tanya Cash]

And I said, God, don't let me wake up because I can serve you better in your kingdom than here.

[Narrator]

This is. I survived. It's February 1996 in McKeesport, Pennsylvania. Tanya's parents have recently divorced.

[Tanya Cash]

When I was 13, my dad had met this woman, Joanne, and we moved in with her four months after he met her. My relationship with Joanne was at first good, and then after a couple of weeks it just turned horrible. She treated me like dirt and my dad just forgot he even had a daughter anymore.

[Narrator]

Tanya started at a new school. 38 year old security guard Tom Hose took an immediate interest in Tanya.

[Tanya Cash]

I had seen him walking the halls and he would stop, you know, in what classroom I was in and he would stop and he would look directly at me. You know, in a classroom full of kids, he, he would wink at me and then keep on going. I was in school about a month until I initially first met him. I was walking up the halls and then all of a sudden he had turned the corner right when I was going to my locker and it scared the crap out of me. I didn't hear him coming or anything. He looked at me very sternly and he's like, well, where's your hall pass? You know. And I showed him and I told him what I was doing and he made small talk with me. He was very nice and he was joking around and everything and he made me laugh.

[Narrator]

Tom arranged to meet Tanya in private.

[Tanya Cash]

Almost every day he would come and take me out of class and we walk around the halls and him getting to know me more. And then that happened for oh, a good month, month and a half. And then he showed me special spot which was underneath the gym stairs and that was the first place where we kissed. At the time I had a huge crush on him. I did. And the feelings at the time, you know, him having, you know, was paying all this attention to me and me being vulnerable and young and going through such a very hard time at home. I felt very loved. I felt like somebody cared.

[Narrator]

Tom convinced Tanya, now 14 years old, to run away from home and live with him in his parents house. He convinced Tanya to have sex with him and hid Tanya in his bedroom so his parents wouldn't know she was in the house.

[Tanya Cash]

Every time his parents came up and knocked on the door, I had to go into the closet. I remember sitting there in the closet and I thought about my dad and I started to cry and Tom was Not sympathetic at all. He jumped all over me. He was just very nasty to me that I was crying, missing my father. He said, you're not missing a father. He's not a father, you know, so why would you even have those feelings? I'm your everything now. You have no father. You have no mother. You have no family. You only have me.

[Narrator]

Tanya is reported missing, and the police are searching for her.

[Tanya Cash]

As far as I knew, nobody was looking for me and nobody had cared. That is what Tom was telling me, because he worked with police officers, too, because they had to come up to the school for other unruly kids. And he told me, there is no mention of you at all, that you're gone. There is no mention of you. Nobody cares. I care. That's it.

[Narrator]

Tom kept Tanya locked in his room every day.

[Tanya Cash]

He was gone all day. And I was stuck in a room by myself all day, lonely. Most of my days were just sitting there. And it got to the point where I was just so lonely that I would sit by the furnace vent and I would listen to what his parents were talking about downstairs because I was just so lonely. And then as time went on, the more lonelier I got. I ended up carrying on conversations with myself. There was no place to go to the bathroom except for a bucket that Tom supplied for me. And that is what I went to the bathroom in. And every day, whenever he got home from work, he dumped it. Whatever he told his mom to make for dinner that night, you know, he would bring up a plate, and then I ate what he couldn't finish. I only bathed once, maybe twice a week. He would take me down in the middle of the night when his parents were fast asleep. I'd say about 2, 3 in the morning. And I would get a shower in a very cold cellar. When you hear day in and day out, you know that nobody cares that he's my everything, that he saved my life, that I'm stupid, that I'm only a pretty face, that I need to be taken care of. When you hear that, day in and day out, every day, you believe it. As the months went on, he just turned into this domineering person, you know, I own you. You're mine. You know, I'm your God. Is literally what he would say to me if I complained about the life, you know, up in the bedroom, you know, he would threaten to kill me. He would smother me in my sleep. He said, you know, throw my body in the river, that he has connections. And, you know, there was a lot of Nights I didn't sleep thinking that he would truly do that to me. He had me dye my hair bleach blonde. He would bring home the box dyes. I was his Barbie doll, you know, I had the perfect body, the perfect hair for him. Not for me, for him. I became his slave, you know, not only his slave with him, but his sex slave. I had to do things to him, and he did things to me that would make somebody's skin crawl that I will never in my life ever do again. And I hope that nobody would ever have to do that because it was horrendous. There were times when I was sitting there and I would, you know, alone, while Tom was at work. And I would sit there and think, should I go downstairs and tell his parents? Should I? But I was too scared, because if I would have done that, then he for sure would have killed me.

[Narrator]

Tanya had now been reported missing for almost a year.

[Tanya Cash]

One night, the cops came. He grabbed me and woke me up, and he literally grabbed my arm and took me all the way downstairs and then down into the basement. There was this box downstairs. It was about the size of a TV box. He says, you will go in this box and you will sit in there. The police officer came in. I heard them walking around. And then the police officer left. That was it. And I'm sitting down there behind the furnace in the hot water tank, just shaking like a leaf. The one thing that he said to them to make the cop leave was, you know, please don't wake my elderly parents. That's all I ask. And at that point, the cop felt sympathetic because Tom made it look like he didn't live with his parents, that his parents lived with. There were times when he. He was sweet and he was nice and come home with, you know, a rose for me or a necklace or, you know, it just. It in my mind, you know, it was like, he's not a bad guy. And then there were times he was just absolutely evil up in my face, threatening my life. I felt compelled to write a will. I wrote down who I was, what, where I was born, who my parents were, what I'd like done with my body and where I wanted to get buried at. And I put it under the carpet in the closet and I left it there for many years. I was just so brainwashed that, you know, I was just under his spell, under his control. Tom made me change my name. He said, we're going to use your middle name, but you're not going to be Nicole. It's going to Be Nikki. He said, well, it's time for you to meet my parents. So that way you don't live in this room anymore. You can live around the house. He made up the story that I lived, you know, in another town and that I was a babysitter and that I lost my job and I couldn't afford my rent and that I was moving in with them for a little while. And he had mentioned all this to his mom, and of course, she couldn't say no to him. Nobody said no to this man.

[Narrator]

Tanya was now 18, and Tom finally started letting her out of the house.

[Tanya Cash]

The first time he let me out was to go buy some clothes for myself. The clothes that I had brought with me were long gone. He gave me $120, and he told me what bus to catch, what bus to catch back. I hadn't been outside in four years. I hadn't been in society four years. So it was a deer in the headlights. I had to call him constantly from the pay phone When I got to the bus station to call him, you know, when I got to the store to call him, when I was done shopping, to call him, telling him I was getting on the bus. On the way back to the bus station. When I got to the bus station, I had to call him, telling him I. Telling him I was walking back up the hill. I felt like a magnet, Like, I had to get back to him. Like, don't anger him. You know, get this and get this and get this and get out of here and get back to him. Do not anger him. I was just very much under his control, very brainwashed. I didn't, you know, think about, you know, getting away or anything like that. I just thought about. I got to get him what he told me to get, and I need to. To get back in that house, you know, Otherwise, I'm dead, you know, that he will kill me.

[Narrator]

Six more years passed. Tanya was now 24 and had been held captive by Tom for 10 years.

[Tanya Cash]

Tom had me start going up to this convenience store to get the newspaper, and up there, I met the owner, Joe. This time went on, we became closer, you know, and then Joe started to notice something that just wasn't right about me and my life and how I was. He asked me questions like, where are your parents? And I would just tell him, I don't know. You know, I don't talk to him. He would say to me, you know, there's a place down the street that's hiring and this and that, or there. This place is hiring. And why don't you go apply? And, you know. And I just. I couldn't because of Tom.

[Narrator]

The next day, Tanya went back to Joe's store.

[Tanya Cash]

I went back in a back room, and I sat down, and I started breaking down crying. And Joe's like, why are you crying? And I said, joe, there's something I need to tell you. I says, I'm not who you think I am. And he just kind of looked at me like, what? And I said, my name isn't Nikki Allen. My name is Daniel Nicole Cash. I said, I've been with Tom since I was 14. He was just in shock. He's like, don't do anything out of the ordinary. I will take care of everything. Just go do what you gotta do and then go back to the house. He says, I will take care of everything.

[Narrator]

Immediately after Tanya went back to Tom's house, Joe called the police.

[Tanya Cash]

I'm sitting there in the living room, and I'm waiting, and I'm waiting, and I'm here, and it felt like a lifetime sitting there. The next. Next thing I know, all of a sudden, somebody went in front of the front window, and they were peeking in. And I get up, and I open up the door, and it was actually a detective. And he looked at me, and he said, are you Tanya Nicole Cash? And I said, yes. And he went, oh, my gosh. And at that moment, he gave me a hug. He goes, we've been looking for you for 10 years. And I'm like, really? And he said, yes. Your picture's hanging in my office. It was three officers with their guns drawn that went upstairs and grabbed Tom. And they bring him downstairs. Tom looked at me, and he said, well, what's going on, Kitty? You know my nickname, thinking that I was gonna defend him. And I looked at him, and I said, it's over. Tom's mom is standing there, and she's saying to the officer, all I want to know is, why are you in my house? Why are you here? And he. And the police officer standing next to me, pointed at me, says, do you see this young lady? Your son has held her captive for 10 years. And all she went was, okay. And she just went and sat in the kitchen and stared out the window. Then his dad comes downstairs, says, what's going on? And they tell him. And he just stood in the corner in the dining room.

[Narrator]

Tanya faced Tom in court.

[Tanya Cash]

He was literally three feet away from me. And as I was reading my victim impact statement, he kept leaning over, saying, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. And I said to him, shut up, because I'm talking now.

[Narrator]

Tom Hose pleaded guilty to involuntary deviant sexual intercourse. As part of a plea bargain, he was sentenced to five to 15 years in prison. Tom served the full sentence and was released in 2022.

[Tanya Cash]

I truly feel that he had this sick, sadistic love for me. That's why he. I truly think that's why he never killed me. But I think the reason why he let me out after all those years was I was getting too old for him. I think he was truly trying to find somebody else who was young again, 13, 14. Because he's a pedophile. He's a monster.

[Narrator]

Tonya now attends college, has bought a house and married in 2018.

[Tanya Cash]

I don't really look back on it. I just look forward now, you know, because, you know, it's something that I survived, that I only lived. I live for today, now and for the future now. I survived because God got me through it. God was my strength. And because of that, I'm a strong person now.

[Denise]

Today Foreign.

[Narrator]

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[Andy]

I went out to Colorado pretty much to find out who I am and what I was going to do and was going to get into computers and realized that was too boring and wanted to do something a little more adventurous.

[Narrator]

Andy got a job as a park ranger. On a day off, he went for a hike in Roxboro State Park.

[Andy]

Once a week, I would always take this hike. This would be kind of my little getaway, if you will. When I'm walking up the trail, I passed four ladies on the weird down. And I passed them, couldn't even look them in the eye and give them a sincere hello, if you will. I just kind of like, hey, this is my. My mountain. Get off my mountain. You know, this is my trail. This is my hike. I take every week. When I got to the top, you know, found my little rock that I could sit on, and, you know, they were gone. Nobody was around. And I thought, oh, yes, this is great. This is great. You know, this is what I wanted just by myself.

[Narrator]

Andy began walking back down the trail.

[Andy]

I looked down the trail, and right there under one of the ponderosa pine trees, you could see, you know, the brown fur. And then I realized, that's not a dog. That's a mountain lion. You could hear breaking, like breaking a bone. I was sitting there waiting for this thing, this mountain lion, to look at me, and it didn't. It just went back down to chewing whatever it was had killed. And the initial was just pure excitement that I finally got to see. Right here is wildlife. Right here is the real deal. This is a mountain lion. I realized really quickly that all this animal has to do, all this mountain lion has to do, is look at me, and it's game on. I had nowhere to go. I had nothing but a little knife. And the fear absolutely just took over. Just a rush of fear that made you feel extremely vulnerable. That made you feel like, I don't have a chance. So I all the time watching this cat underneath this pine tree, I started folding all the blades down and kind of making a makeshift weapon. You know, all the blades were sticking out. When I folded in the screwdriver part of the blade, it slipped and made, like, a little snap sound. And I looked back down. In a blink of an eye, this cat was gone. I was panning my eyes, trying to look almost in a panic. Where'd the cat go? Where's this mountain lion go? And probably a good 30, 35ft, almost twice the distance. Further down the trail, there was the mountain lion looking right at me. And I stopped cold. We just locked eyes. I don't even remember breathing because the power that came through these eyes that locked onto you were so intense, was so incredible and powerful that we stood there and stared at each other for about seven, seven plus minutes. I realized that this is gonna get real, real quick. As soon as I started backing up, as soon as that scrub oak kind of broke our view, a blink of an eye, that cat was right in front of me. Just in a flash. At this point, I started yelling at this cat, get away, get away, get out of here. But the power of this cat looking at you with the dominant teeth, the intensity coming through almost froze you. The cat gave this vicious growl that just echoed across the mountain. That's when the cat came at me and launched at me. Claws came out, went right at my head. Thankfully, somehow I jumped out, jumped away from the cat, got out of the claws. The cat jumped again, missed. And I'm running backwards as fast as I can, trying not to fall, but still screaming at this mountain lion, trying to get this thing to stop. It almost came at me, almost like a walk, like no effort whatsoever.

[Narrator]

Andy tried in vain to fend off the mountain lion with his pocket knife.

[Andy]

That cat launched with everything it had, just launched at me, slammed up to me. We were thrown off the trail, landed about good 10ft down off the trail. We snapped two 3 inch diameter trees, just snapped them right off. Bottom claws were all in my, like thighs by my knees. The top claws. You could hear the popping sounds, just pop, pop, pop, pop all into the neck. The bottom jaw bit on the top part of my hairline, the top of the jaw bit on the back part of my head. And you could. And the cat bit twice. Just raking. You could hear it raking on your head. The jaws now locked into my head. You could see the tooth right in front of your eye. The smell from the breath was just horrid, like just rotten flesh. Just death. I was 24 years old when this happened. And I realized that this is the most real moment of my life. There's nobody around. I gotta do something to get out of here or this is real, this is it. I don't want to die. I'm 24 years old. I didn't want to die. Started swinging up on the top of the cat's head and I took about 2, 3 swings and it just folded right up. Every time I took a swing, it was going through the bone in my finger, cutting my own hand off. The cat realized that he's got to get another bite at me or another swing at me. So the claws popped out of the neck, took two swings towards my eye. You could hear a really loud pop right in the corner of my eye. And ripped a 4 inch, 3, 4 inch gash right under my eye. Four more bites. It raked on my skull. It was like you had a faucet on your head and all you saw was blood. All you saw was the red. I reached over the cat's head, which was still locked onto mine, undid the knife out of my hand, reached, reached back, felt two bump, soft spots if you will, and as hard as I could, shoved my thumb into what would turn out to be the cat's right eye. He made just this loud squealing chirp and the claws loosened up, threw my head back up on the trail, jumped back up and the cat was down sideways, looking off to my right. The eye was all good, gray and mushy. I saw a volleyball, basketball sized rock halfway in the dirt. So I ripped that out and overhead, threw it, wham. Slammed right into the cat's side. And the cat kind of shuffled a few more steps down and I realized, go, get out of here. I have, hopefully I have enough time. So I'm running down this trail. I have two and a half plus miles to still get down this trail. You would see the blood dropping down on the trail on your chute. And when I turned around, hoping don't come at me, well, right there at the corner was one of the pine trees. And right on the inside of that pine tree, sure enough, there's the mountain lion looking right at me again. There's the cat again, looking right over the tree. And I took about two more steps and realized, you gotta be kidding me. No, I don't. No, no more, no more. I'm done, I'm done. I fought this hard, you know, no more. And I turned back around and instead of seeing the cat, I saw a transparent face of Jesus. The overwhelming calm peace, almost like I got picked up. I got you, son, I got you. And it just an instant chill of just go, go, go, go.

[Narrator]

Andy ran another mile down the trail.

[Andy]

The skull from the 8 inch gash was hanging down from running and stuff, like I had a red mask on, you know. The blood was still dripping, blood was all over the shoes and the forehead was hanging, sagging down from the gash so you could see the skull.

[Narrator]

Andy ran into the four women he had ignored on the way up.

[Andy]

I had nothing left. And all of a sudden, one Arm went up over a pair of shoulders and another arm went up over a pair of shoulders. Two of those ladies that I couldn't even say hi, how's your day? Were now dragging me. Feet were practically off the ground dragging me that last half mile.

[Narrator]

After running to safety, he is rushed by helicopter to the hospital.

[Andy]

I had about a 3, 4 inch gash here, right millimeter from my eye. Had to have plastic surgery to clean it up because it was so jagged from the tear. I had about 2ft of bite marks. 70 staples, which set a record. The surgeon mentioned that Swedish medical searchers.

[Narrator]

Never found the mountain lion that attacked Andy. Andy still enjoys hiking in the mountains and is now an inspirational speaker.

[Andy]

That was the changing thing in my life to give me a whole new priority, whole new life. And now I can live to help other people or to even just put a smile like on those four ladies that I passed on that trail that day. I survived this moan line attack simply because of the grace of God and I have learned now to live for him. I gave him my heart, I gave him my trust. And now I have a best friend relationship with Jesus and my savior.

[Denise]

What if the stories of gods, angels and ancient technology weren't myths, but memories of alien contact? On Ancient Aliens, we investigate the evidence, from mysterious ruins to strange celestial alignments, asking bold questions about humanity's origins. Could visitors from the stars have influenced our greatest civilizations? Journey into the unknown and challenge what you think you know about history. In episodes like Secrets of the Sumerians, Mysteries of the Mayo, or the Chosen, we are not alone. Download Ancient Aliens every Thursday, wherever you get your podcasts.

[Narrator]

It's October 1982 in Brooklyn, New York. Denise is living in a Brooklyn apartment building.

[Denise]

I worked at a utility company. It was a night shift, 5pm until 1am in the morning.

[Narrator]

Denise took the subway home after work.

[Denise]

The stop right before mine, Lafayette Street. A man steps into the train. He sat across from me and he didn't say anything, but he just began to just stare at me. He had his hand in his pocket. And then my first thought is, oh my God, does this guy have a gun or something? I got and I moved away. And then just as I moved away, my stop came. I kind of briskly walked away from the subway without trying to seem too frightened by him because I didn't want him to feel. I didn't want to be intimidated by him.

[Narrator]

The next night, Denise finished work at the same time I'm riding home, my.

[Denise]

Normal route on the subway and the same man from the Previous night, steps onto the train at the same stop. And then my heart stopped because then I realized he's doing this on purpose. And it's beginning to escalate. He leaned over and, you know, he sat with his legs open as if to say, yes, I'm sizing you up without saying it.

[Narrator]

Denise got off at her stop and hurried home. The following night, there was no sign of the man on the train.

[Denise]

I went home. I'm feeling pretty comfortable, and I. It's over. Whatever that issue was, it's resolved, it's gone. It's over. I push the door, and I'm standing in the vestibule. I hear footsteps behind me, and I turn around. Fear just. Just washed over me when I realized it's him. It's the man from the subway from the two nights prior. And I realize he's followed me home. We're not even two feet apart, maybe inches apart, and he's looking down at me because he's six one and I'm five two and I'm wearing flat shoes. So I literally have to look up at this man. I backed into the corner. I tried to back into the corner that was furthest from him, but it's a very small vestibule. I'm trying to decide, do I show fear? Do I fight? What do I do? He reaches inside the coat and he brandishes this knife. It's the kind of knife you use when you're carving a turkey at Thanksgiving. It's a huge knife. He pushes it up under my chin so his elbow is propped up under my chin. And then he takes the knife and he has it under there. I'm looking around, trying to get near the mailbox, because underneath the mailbox there were buzzers for each apartment. He tells me to stand away from the mailbox, still not yelling at me, not raising his voice. He's trying to be very quiet, but he has that controlled, monotone type voice where it gave me the impression that this man has done this many times before. I didn't know what he wanted, but I knew at some point my life would be in danger. I knew at some point that he was there to harm me or even kill me. He lifted my head almost up, and that gave him the room to put the knife immediately under there. And then he asked me for money. And I'm like, this is all to mug me? I'm thinking, okay, this is over. All he wants is some money. He's been following around to see if I had any money. He's rifling through the purse. And he pulls out my wallet. I'm thinking, okay, this is life in New York. You're gonna get mugged. And I could get through this. I could get through this if I just let him have what he wants and he'll go away. But that's not what happened. He says to me, who's upstairs? And I'm like, if this guy thinks he's getting in my house, he's out of his mind. So obviously, I lied. And I said, well, my family's waiting for me upstairs. There's people upstairs. So he was trying to figure out if I was lying or. Or if I was telling the truth. I knew enough to know that I should not allow him to get me to a more secluded location. We're still very close. I mean, so close we could feel each other's breath on each other. Because now he's pushed up against me against this wall. And then he tells me to get down on the floor of the vestibule. And still it doesn't register in my mind. What. What else do you want? I gave you my money. You've intimidated me. You've controlled the situation. You had everything you wanted. And then he tells me to remove my skirt. It was like a Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde moment where his. Whatever switch he had, it was. It was. It was flipped. And now he's more evil. He's yelling at me. He's. He's. He's growling at me. He's pulling me down by my. By my clothing, and he's ripping my blouse. I'm whimpering. I'm crying. I know exactly what he's trying to do now. I had on a light jacket, and I was wearing a skirt. And, you know, you have on pantyhose and all these things that you have to take off to get undressed. So I'm trying to go as slowly as possible with the hope that someone from the building might come in or someone might walk by and see that there's a man on the floor and investigate. But that wasn't to be. I would feel the blade more closely under my neck. I was able to feel my skin separating, and you could feel the open wound starting to develop. So I didn't want to agitate him any further. And I realized at that moment that I had to comply with this, or he would just slit my throat right there. And the feeling of loss of control is. It's just indescribable that I had to consent to this stranger violating me in the most brutal way. All of my things are scattered around me and I'm on this floor. And this is when I realized that for surety he's done this before. Because when he exposes himself, he's not wearing any underwear. He's not, he is ready to do this attack. At this point, he's attacking me. He's actually penetrated me and I'm thinking to myself, I'm crying audibly, loud. And every now and then he's telling me to shut up and he's calling me a B and he's saying if I make any more noise he's gonna effing kill me. He's gonna take this knife and he's, you know, he's explaining, explaining how gory he's going to go through this motion of killing me. And I'm laying there and I'm like, what is the better route? Do I want to die on the floor as a victim or do I want to live with the stigma of actually being raped? In the middle of being raped, I feel the door hitting me, the outside door, and the person is pushing against the door and I look up and I see my neighbor.

[Narrator]

The attacker jumped off Denise.

[Denise]

He pushes his way. He keeps pushing the door and pushing the door until he pushed his way out. My Neighbor had his 10 year old daughter with him. He pushes her behind him. That's when he runs away. He never really talks to the neighbor. He just ran away.

[Narrator]

The neighbor called 911 and did not. Niece was taken to the hospital. She had to take time off work to recover.

[Denise]

About four days into the week that I stayed home from work, I got a call from the police and they wanted me to come and identify, to see if I could identify this person in a lineup. So I went there and lo and behold, he was there and I identified him and I asked them how did they catch him and they went into how. The next night he attacked a 13 year old in another building.

[Narrator]

Denise's attacker, Thomas Babbitt, was sentenced to 18 years in prison and died behind bars.

[Denise]

I survived because God intervened and he sent someone to upset the attack because there was nothing else I could have done to save myself. Foreign.

[Andy]

Fear is free on Pluto tv with horror movie collections from Paranormal Activity, the ring.

[Tanya Cash]

You will die in seven days Scream.

[Andy]

And from dusk till dawn this is my kind of place. And don't miss the man made nightmares in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or the world ending chaos in 2018 days later there's.

[Denise]

Something in the blood.

[Andy]

All the scares, all for free. Pluto TV stream now pay never.