I SURVIVED: If I Don't Pretend To Be Dead They're Really Going To Kill Me

Summary

Cold Case Files: "I SURVIVED: If I Don't Pretend To Be Dead They're Really Going To Kill Me"

A&E / PodcastOne | Narrated by Marisa Pinson | February 7, 2026

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Episode Overview

This emotionally intensive episode of Cold Case Files explores the theme of survival against overwhelming odds. Three harrowing true stories are recounted by survivors who escaped seemingly certain death: a devastating chemical disaster, a brutal random abduction, and an attack by a notorious serial killer. Through their voices and the details of investigation and rescue, the episode investigates not only the mechanics of surviving but the psychological resilience of those who, when confronted with death, found a way to endure.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The San Antonio Chlorine Gas Disaster (00:52 – 17:59)

Summary

• In June 2004, Wayne and Mary’s peaceful life is shattered when a train derailment near their home releases a massive cloud of lethal chlorine gas.
• With escape by road blocked and rescue complicated by the hazardous conditions, the family’s attempts to survive become a tense ordeal filled with failed rescue efforts, desperate improvisation, and tragic outcomes.

Critical Events & Insights

• Chlorine gas exposure: The family describes the immediate, burning effects of chlorine gas as it seeps into their home. Wayne recognizes the smell instantly; Mary describes the sensation as "burning, stinging," unable to find air ([01:42]).
• Failed escape attempts: Multiple escape routes are considered — through muddy fields, a sealed office, and direct road — each thwarted by the aftermath of the disaster ([03:04–05:07]).
• Emergency response breakdowns: 911 operators struggle to offer effective instructions, complicated by shifting advice ("Stay in the house" → "Get away from the train" → "Go back to your home") and jurisdictional confusion hampering volunteer rescuers ([04:01], [07:24], [11:12]).
• Physical toll: As time drags on, Mary and Robbie grow weaker; Mary’s beloved dogs become gravely ill, underlining the environmental devastation ([09:55]).
• Desperation and makeshift choices: Instructed to shower for decontamination, Wayne realizes too late that this creates hydrochloric acid, worsening their injuries:

  "In sheer desperation, I knew better...I did it anyway. Big mistake...all the pale areas of my skin were all burned." – Wayne ([14:44])

• Tragic outcome: Rescue arrives nearly seven hours after the initial derailment. Wayne’s stepmother and stepsister are found dead; his brother-in-law dies months later.

  "My wife and myself and that one dog are the only living things that survived in that area." – Wayne ([17:13])

Notable Quotes

• "I survived because I was too angry to die. Here I'm watching my loved ones die off and there's nothing I can do." – Wayne ([17:37])
• "Thanks to God that I had my husband with me and if it wasn't for him, I don't think any of us would be here." – Mary ([17:21])

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2. The Survival of Linda: Random Abduction and Assault (20:10 – 33:07)

Summary

• In June 2000, Linda’s solo drive across rural Idaho becomes a nightmare when she’s targeted, abducted, and brutally assaulted by four meth-fueled attackers.
• The account illustrates the unpredictability and savagery of the assault, Linda’s almost preternatural composure and resourcefulness throughout, and the miraculous circumstances of her rescue.

Critical Events & Insights

• Initial Assault: Stalked on a deserted highway, Linda is forced off the road, attacked, stabbed, and driven to a remote beet field ([20:27–23:00]).
• The violence escalates: After being stabbed, beaten with a baseball bat, and her throat cut, Linda realizes her only hope is to feign death:

  "That was the first moment where I really thought, if I don't pretend to be dead, they're going to really kill me." – Linda ([23:36])

• Resilience under trauma: Despite catastrophic injuries (22 stab wounds, fractured skull, severed throat, punctured lungs), Linda maintains focus and rationality, describing a near-death "white light" experience and feeling at peace ([30:39]).
• Unexpected rescue: Two teenage boys spot the car fire, leading to Linda’s rescue just in time, although her shoulders are dislocated in their desperate efforts ([31:11]).
• Justice: It takes two years, but all four of Linda’s attackers are eventually caught and sentenced — three to life, one to 10 years ([32:31]).

Notable Quotes

• "They were just like wild animals...their anger and their wildness was something I had never, ever encountered before. It was like having a pack of wolves attacking me." – Linda ([22:33])
• "The attackers setting the car on fire was what saved my life because if I'd just been out in the beet field, I would have just bled to death and died and nobody would have ever known what happened and those people would have never been found." – Linda ([32:46])

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3. Holly’s Encounter with the Railroad Serial Killer (35:32 – 44:16)

Summary

• In August 1997, Holly and her boyfriend Chris are ambushed while walking along railroad tracks in Lexington, Kentucky, by Angel Maturino Resendez, a serial killer later convicted of multiple murders.
• Holly recounts the calculated brutality of the attack, her attempts to reason with the attacker, coping mechanisms in the face of sexual assault and violence, the murder of her boyfriend, and her own remarkable survival.

Critical Events & Insights

• Ambush and control:

  "He knew how to control us. He knew he needed to tie us up. He knew that he needed to disable Chris. You could tell he had done it before." – Holly ([38:23])

• Murder of Chris: The attacker smashes Chris's head with a 52-pound rock. Holly, thinking quickly, asks him to turn Chris's head to prevent choking ([37:35]).
• Sexual assault and resistance: Holly is raped, stabbed in the neck, and threatened with death. She tries to humanize herself to the attacker, hoping for mercy:

  "I was just trying to make him know that I was a person. I was, you know, trying to get to it. If he had an emotional side, I was trying to get to it." – Holly ([40:55])

• Survival mindset:

  "I survived because I was supposed to. I think that, you know, I. I just wasn't finished." – Holly ([43:22])

• Aftermath: Holly is the only known survivor of Resendez, who was executed in 2006. She channels her experience into advocacy for victims of sexual assault.

Notable Quotes

• "If I don't pretend to be dead, they're going to really kill me." – Holly, echoing Linda’s survival mechanism ([36:36])
• "I survived to dedicate my life to assisting victims of rape and sexual assault and tragedy." – Holly ([44:15])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | Content | |-----------|---------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------| | 00:52–17:59 | San Antonio Chlorine Gas Disaster | Wayne & Mary's struggle for survival | | 20:10–33:07 | Linda’s Abduction & Assault | Survival, rescue, aftermath | | 35:32–44:16 | Holly & the Railroad Serial Killer | Assault, survival, impact |

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Memorable Moments & Quotes

• Wayne’s Resilience:
  "I survived because I was too angry to die." ([17:37])
• Linda’s Resourcefulness:
  "That was the first moment where I really thought, if I don't pretend to be dead, they're going to really kill me." ([23:36])
• Holly’s Calm Amid Chaos:
  "I was just trying to make him know that I was a person." ([40:55])
• Linda on Fate:
  "The attackers setting the car on fire was what saved my life because if I'd just been out in the beet field, I would have just bled to death and died and nobody would have ever known what happened and those people would have never been found." ([32:46])
• Holly’s New Purpose:
  "I survived to dedicate my life to assisting victims of rape and sexual assault and tragedy." ([44:15])

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Reflections & Tone

The narration is steady, methodical, and compassionate, frequently giving the survivors time to expand on their memories in their own words. The survivors' testimonies are raw and descriptive; there is no shying away from the physical horror, but neither is there any loss of dignity or strength.

The episode stands as a testament to endurance, the failure (and eventual success) of human systems, and the ways trauma can be reshaped into purpose. Each survivor finds agency in their own way: Wayne in stubbornness, Linda in calculated rationality, and Holly in the transformative drive to help others.

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This episode is both harrowing and deeply inspiring—an indelible reminder that survival is not just a matter of luck or timing, but of spirit, ingenuity, and the will to live.

Transcript

[Narrator]

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

[Linda]

The man who was sitting behind me grabbed my hair and pulled my head back and cut my throat.

[Wayne]

Real people at this time I thought I'm probably dying, but I'm not going to. No way I'm going to die.

[Narrator]

Who faced death?

[Holly]

I basically was screaming and trying to hit him and he stabbed me in my neck and said, look how easily.

[Narrator]

I could kill you and live to tell how.

[Linda]

I'd been stabbed 17 times in my back and that was the first moment where I really thought if I don't pretend to be dead, they're going to really kill me.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

This is.

[Narrator]

I survived. It's June 2004 in San Antonio, Texas. Wayne and Mary live close to a railroad track that runs by their property.

[Wayne]

I was sound asleep in my own bed and all of a sudden I woke up choking. I couldn't catch my breath and it took me just a few seconds to realized that it was. That the air was contaminated. I recognized the smell as chlorine. Strongest I had ever smelled in my life.

[Narrator]

At 5:05am a train derailment ruptured a tank of chlorine gas. Lethal chlorine fumes began leaking into the atmosphere. Chlorine burns the moist tissue in the lungs and eyes.

[Mary]

It was a very sickening smell. The smell just seemed like it took over your breath. It. It didn't give you a chance to really breathe because every time you try to breathe it was just like something going in there and just taking your insides. Burning, stinging.

[Narrator]

Wayne's brother in law Robbie was also staying in the house.

[Wayne]

The windows that were open would not close. So I aroused my brother in law. We stuffed them full of sofa cushions, dirty clothes, whatever we could find and still didn't do much good. But we tried.

[Narrator]

Wayne's stepsister and stepmother lived close by.

[Wayne]

At that instant, my stepsister called and told us there had been a train wreck. So then we knew. This was a little before daylight, but I could see a white liquid, well, more of a stream arcing way over the trees and over Nelson Road and landing about 100ft north of our house. All of the vegetation as far down as our house was simply burned away.

[Narrator]

The derailed train was blocking the only road into their property. The only way out was across farmland.

[Wayne]

It had been raining for a week. We had no option of driving out through the fields. It was so muddy that it would at least take a four wheel drive vehicle to traverse that plowed ground. We could. We didn't have one. I have a little office building not far from the house that is completely sealed. I thought if we could make that building, we would have a few hours. Another option. I had a tank of oxygen in the garage that could also sustain us for a few hours. I reached my pocket and got my keys and they were just a glob of green corrosion. There's no chance of opening the door.

[Narrator]

Chlorine gas corrodes metal.

[Wayne]

My next shot was to get that oxygen out of the shop. Same thing. No key would fit any lock.

[Narrator]

Wayne was partially deaf, so Mary had to make all the phone calls. Mary called 911 from her cell phone.

[911 Operator]

Hello? Hello? Yes.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Yes, ma'.

[Wayne]

Am.

[Charles (Wayne's son)]

Nelson Road.

[911 Operator]

What's going on over there, ma'?

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Am?

[911 Operator]

I don't know. I think the train derailed. We can't breathe. Oh, we have someone en route to you, ma'. Am. Are you in the house? Yes. You need to get out of the house, ma'.

[Charles (Wayne's son)]

Am.

[911 Operator]

If you can't breathe, I can't breathe. You need to get out of the house, ma'. Am.

[Wayne]

Our next option was to go down and see what the situation looked like down at the road crossing. Well, we drove down all the way up to the tracks. What was left of the tracks. Still couldn't see. There was this terrific fog. I go up, walk up as far as I can. I see a locomotive laying on its side right across the middle of the street.

[Mary]

There was two cars of the train. One was standing straight up on top of the other one and it was just horrible. There was no way that we could get through the road because of the train.

[911 Operator]

Jason, this is April at the sheriff's office. You got a lady on the line stuck in the middle of the chlorine spill.

[Charles (Wayne's son)]

Right.

[911 Operator]

There's three of them. She's on the phone having a hard time breathing. Is there any type of pre arrival instructions you can give her to try to help her? We have an officer trying to get to them, but due to the chlorine.

[Charles (Wayne's son)]

Everybody. We're not sending anybody in there right now. Ma', am, can you get away from the train? We have people in the area that are trying to help you, but you just need to try to get away from that train as far as you can.

[Wayne]

I don't know what's wrong. Something's bad wrong. I had all kind of confidence in the volunteers, but I don't understand what's wrong. Why don't they do something? We drove down by the river to see if we could find a way out. There was a Steel gate across the street. A tall gate, 8 or 10ft high. Heavy steel, couldn't get through. We went back and went down a neighbor's long driveway as far as we could. We encountered another gate. So I turned the Suburban around backwards so as not to set off the airbags, and I ran that gate, I mean, pedal to the metal. I hit it hard and I didn't think anything happened. I got out of the Suburban to look. Nothing did happen to the gate. Suburban folded up like a beer can. And it wouldn't have helped anyway because there was a truckload of logs directly behind the gate, stuck in the mud. We couldn't have got through anyway.

[Narrator]

Three hours had passed since the train crash. Emergency services were still unsure about the size and spread of the gas cloud. The 911 operator called Mary in the car.

[911 Operator]

Yes, ma', am, EMS is on their way. They are going to get to you and they will take you safely to the hospital, okay? I can't wait much longer. It's been over two or three hours. We got to get out of here. Okay? Don't go back to the home. Okay? Don't go back to your home. We're trying to get to you, ma', am.

[Talkspace Sponsor Voice]

Hold on.

[Narrator]

Eight minutes later, the 911 operator reversed her advice.

[911 Operator]

Ma'?

[Charles (Wayne's son)]

Am?

[Talkspace Sponsor Voice]

What?

[911 Operator]

If you want to go back to your home, go ahead.

[Wayne]

Well, once we got back at the house, neither Mary nor my brother in law could walk. I had to help them both to get back into the house. All of our clocks quit running, all the watches, all the timepieces, everything just died. We had a stainless stove, stainless refrigerator. You know, all the trappings in the kitchen were stainless steel. The stainless steel would melt. It would flow down, down the walls, onto the countertops, off onto the floor. I thought all of my life that stainless steel was impervious to anything wrong. It will not stand that strength of chlorine.

[Narrator]

Jean and Lois lived 200 yards away.

[Wayne]

I told Mary, I'm going to get Jean and Lois, my stepmom and stepsister. I'm going to get them. And she had 911 on the phone. And I told them that I was going to attempt to rescue my stepmom and my stepsister Ann. They told me they had. Oh, we already got them. They're okay. I was terrifically relieved when I was told that they were rescued because I'd been worried about them all along.

[Narrator]

Gene and Lois had not been rescued.

[Mary]

I kept calling 911, trying to get them to come tell me to do something. All they would tell me is turn off your air condition, stay in the room, stay in the house.

[Wayne]

Mary and my brother in law were both in bad, bad shape. We had no chance of walking out because they couldn't walk. I couldn't carry. Both of them had an old work truck that we'd been using there. And I started up, moved it around to the other side of the house and I climbed on top of it. And my head was out of the fog. I could actually. Debris I could see over to the southeast. There was no, no gas at all, no burned vegetation.

[Narrator]

Wayne could also see the emergency services at the train wreck.

[Wayne]

But I was getting mighty, mighty nervous because I'm watching those guys try to come right through the middle of that wreck where the gas is the worst. There's twisted metal everywhere. So they could come 150, 50 yards either way and come through with no obstructions.

[Mary]

I knew my dogs were getting sicker and sicker. And the one, she just dearly loved me. She would not leave me for a second.

[Wayne]

The one dog that would not leave Mary's side is lying in the bedroom dying. She's coughing up stuff just like I've been coughing. It just looked like bloody hamburger or something.

[Narrator]

Chlorine gas breaks down lung tissue.

[Wayne]

I told the other dogs to go outside. I'm going to open the gate. I told them, you guys run to the southeast as far as you can. Well, Mary was coughing so bad she couldn't talk, but she grabbed my sleeve and kept pulling it. Well, finally, when she could talk, she says a dog doesn't know southeast from.

[Narrator]

A member of a volunteer rescue team phoned Wayne.

[Wayne]

We received a phone call from some group of volunteers and he told me, there's no gas to the southeast. We'll be coming in that way. We'll have four ATVs and four hours of oxygen. Said it'll be 25, 20 minutes. And so that really gave me some hope.

[Narrator]

One hour later, a call comes in.

[Wayne]

And finally the phone rang and it was one of these guys. And he told me, he says the deputies turned us back. They threatened to arrest us or fire on us. And they won't look at our credentials. They won't let us talk to who's in charge. They don't even know who's in charge.

[Narrator]

The sheriff's office had cordoned off the entire area.

[Wayne]

Yeah, I was out of options. Everything I had tried did not work. At this time, I thought, I'm probably dying, but I'm not going to. No way I'm going to die. And I'm starting to cough up nasty looking bloody stuff. Mary was pretty bad off at this time and barely breathing.

[Charles (Wayne's son)]

Are we going to get any help here or not?

[911 Operator]

Yes. Yes, sir.

[Mary]

Yeah.

[911 Operator]

Did you close your windows and shut off the air?

[Charles (Wayne's son)]

Yes, we've done all that. I've been waiting over four hours.

[911 Operator]

Yes, sir.

[Charles (Wayne's son)]

Are you coming or not?

[911 Operator]

Yes, just that the train is in the way and that's the reason why it's taking long.

[Narrator]

Wayne decided to call a private rescue company.

[Wayne]

In fact, I looked in the yellow pages and I found there are such things as professional rescuers. I did talk to two of the potential rescuers and one of them told me, he said, it'll take us two hours to get there. Are you sure you have two hours? Said, no, I'm not. I'm not sure that I have two hours. Can't you do it faster? He said, no, we have to go in by helicopter. And I said, well, the sheriff's department won't let anybody in. He says, we don't care about that. Says if we come to rescue you, we'll rescue you. But if you're going to be dead, who's going to pay us? I said, well, let me call you back. And I'm still running around left and right trying to come up with just one more option, just some way to get us out of there. And I could go in the kitchen and watch the appliances melt down, or go outside and hold my breath, or stay in the bedroom and hold my breath. I did all those things. One of our sons who was a volunteer fireman in another county was en route somewhere and just happened by and heard this on the radio.

[Narrator]

Wayne's son Charles called emergency services.

[Charles (Wayne's son)]

This is Charles Hill.

[911 Operator]

Yes, sir.

[Charles (Wayne's son)]

Mom and dad. Are they okay or we are having.

[911 Operator]

A hard time getting to them.

[Charles (Wayne's son)]

Well, can't they just land a helicopter in the backyard?

[911 Operator]

No, sir, due to the chemicals that are involved.

[Charles (Wayne's son)]

Well, can't they just put a gas mask on and go in there like a fire?

[911 Operator]

Our officers, our fire department and our EMS personnel are aware of your parents. And as soon as we can extricate them from the situation, we'll get them out.

[Charles (Wayne's son)]

Well, if I go over there, can I just get a gas mask and I'll go for myself?

[911 Operator]

No, sir, you will be thrown off the scene. And if you fight with the officers, you will most likely be arrested.

[Wayne]

He told the deputy, I'm going in anyway. And the deputy says, if you do, we'll arrest you. Arrest all you want to. I'm going in he said, we'll shoot you. He just gave up the sheriff's department. We had some nice lady on the telephone. She told us, get in the shower and decontaminate yourselves. The rescuers will be there just within a minute or two.

[911 Operator]

Can you do me a favor? Can you go into the shower? What am I supposed to do? Run the water on your body. That's the best thing, so you can decontaminate yourself.

[Narrator]

Water mixed with chlorine gas turns into burning hydrochloric acid.

[Wayne]

So in sheer desperation, I knew better than to get in the shower. I knew better than that. I knew better than to turn off the air conditioner. I was so desperate, I did it anyway. Big mistake, big time mistake. I drugged Mary to the shower. Just turned the water on and got her soaked and climbed right in behind her and soaked myself. My brother in law didn't even disturb him because I'm thinking, this is the stupidest thing I've ever done. I can't believe I'm stupid enough to do it. Because with the introduction of that moisture to that room and no AC to pull it out, within one or two minutes, all the mirrors, all the windows start getting a green haze on them and a different odor. Hydrochloric acid. Oh, boy. This is really the end. You know, all the pale areas of my skin were all burned. In some cases, the skin came off.

[Mary]

I know my husband, he was trying to keep me away and I was real sick.

[Wayne]

Well, Mary stopped breathing. Just gave up with. Couldn't breathe anymore. I had to force her to breathe to give her CPR. This must have gone on for maybe 45 minutes. I'm not sure.

[Narrator]

Help arrived almost seven hours after the train crash.

[Wayne]

And all of a sudden, here's a city fireman in his spacesuit. He walks in the bedroom and he says, it's turned hydrochloric. Everybody out. They drug us all outside and hosed us down again and called in a helicopter and finally got us out of there.

[Narrator]

Wayne hadn't heard from his stepmother and stepsister since early that morning.

[Wayne]

One of the firemen asked me, does anybody live in this house down the road here? And I said, they've already been rescued. She said, nobody's been rescued from that house. At that point, I knew they had to be dead.

[Mary]

Well, see, they pronounced me dead twice and I didn't even know it. When I got to the hospital, they said I was dead. And then they revived me.

[Narrator]

Wayne's stepmother and stepsister died at the scene. His brother in law, Robbie, died four months later. Two of their three dogs also died.

[Wayne]

My wife and myself and that one dog are the only living things that survived. And that area.

[Mary]

I'm sorry I get upset, but thanks to God that I had my husband with me and if it wasn't for him, I don't think any of us would be here.

[Wayne]

I survived because I was too angry to die. Here I'm watching my loved ones die off and there's nothing I can do.

[Narrator]

Wayne and Mary have since reached an out of court settlement with Union Pacific Railroad, who were responsible for the tragedy.

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[Narrator]

It's June 2000 in Canyon County, Idaho. Linda is driving alone at night across rural Idaho. She is on her way to her family cabin in Utah for an annual retreat away from her husband and large extended family.

[Linda]

I'd been driving probably for an hour and a half, and there weren't many cars on the road. It was a very isolated road. I was just driving on the freeway, just having a marvelous time, singing and being happy that I was on vacation. And I looked to my left and there was a car with four young people in it. And I had an idea. They're gonna mess with me. I'm not gonna make eye contact. And I speeded up and they speeded up and I slowed down and they slowed down. So they started pacing me. And then on the passenger side of their car, two people leaned out. They had these large, like almost tree branches, very 2, 3 inches in diameter. And they moved their car sideways into mine.

[911 Operator]

And.

[Linda]

And they started beating on my car. And I was just terrified. And I tried to slow down and pull around behind them. And they turned their car perpendicular across both lanes of the freeway. There was no one else on the road. It was 2:30 in the morning. I could see all the trucks way far in the distance. And I thought, if I could just get up there with them, I'll be okay. And I was trying to get the windows rolled up. And apparently I didn't roll up the window on the passenger side because they pushed me off of the freeway, basically. And I stopped because I was terrified and I didn't know what to do.

[Narrator]

Linda was not carrying a cell phone.

[Linda]

So they jumped out of their car. And the woman ran around to the passenger side of my car and just reached in the window and unlocked the door. Door, because I hadn't rolled the window up. And she reached over me. She had a knife, and she stuck it by my throat. And she unlocked the driver's door.

[Narrator]

The attackers were high on methamphetamine.

[Linda]

And she was yelling and screaming at me. They were screaming obscenities. They were screaming, where's the money? Give us the money. And they were just like wild animals. They, they were totally hyped up. And their anger and their wildness was something I had never, ever encountered before. It was like having A pack of wolves attacking me and trying to defend myself from every side. I couldn't understand why they were doing this. I didn't really feel in danger. Oddly enough, I didn't feel in danger. I felt I could talk my way out of anything. And this very large Native American man with long, greasy hair, who I later called Greasy man because he smelled bad and his face was just totally pockmarked. And he just was wild. And he kept screaming, and he had a knife, and he. He put the knife to my throat, and he grabbed me out of the car. And I had bare feet because I drive barefooted. And he pulled me around the back of the car. And I kept saying, I don't have shoes on. Please slow down. You're hurting my feet. And he pushed me into the passenger side of the car, into the passenger seat in the front. And all this time I kept saying, saying, why are you doing this? Stop, you're hurting me. You're hurting me. And he got in the driver's side behind the wheel of my car. And Greasy man reached up his knife to my throat. And I grabbed his knife with my hand and pushed it away and cut all the fingers of my violin hand. The other man yelled, we've got to get her car off of the freeway. And Greasy man, who was in the driver's side, driver's side of my car, he started my car off, and he followed the other car. And while he was doing that, he was reaching over at me with his knife and stabbing me just randomly in the chest. And he stabbed me five times. And so by. By that time, my hand was bleeding, my chest was bleeding. And they drove to a dark farm road. There was no lights. It was a beet field. And so it was out in the middle of Idaho, in the middle of nowhere. I kept looking at them. And the thing that struck me about the woman is she was so young, and she was beautiful, and these men were old, and they were greasy and dirty, and I couldn't understand why she was with them. And at that point, I turned to the woman in the back. I turned and looked over my left shoulder, and I said to her, please. Please don't kill me. I have a family. I want to live. And at that moment, the man who was sitting behind me grabbed my hair and pulled my head back and cut my throat. And I remember thinking, this is not good. I mean, it was a very rational thought. I was still very, very rational. I still felt that I could talk my way out of this. And the man who was sitting in the driver's seat said, give me your money. Give me your money. And. And he put his greasy hands in my pockets, and he took my wedding ring off of my bloody finger. And I had given him my wallet, and it had my driver's license and $40 in it. And he was furious that I only had $40. And I turned back to the woman and said, please don't kill me. And she says, well, go ahead and beg me for your life. So I opened the passenger side door and I got out, and I got on my knees and I looked into the car at these three people, and I put my hands like this, and I said, please don't kill me. Just take everything. I have children. I have a family. I want to live. And at that moment, the other man who'd driven their car came around from the back of the car, and he had a baseball bat, and it was a metal baseball bat. And he said, okay, we're going to kill her now. And I remember just being so angry at her and saying, you said you weren't going to kill me. And she said, well, we're going to do you a favor. We're going to knock you out first, and then we're going to kill you. And so I put my head on my arms on top of the car, and the third man bashed my head in with the baseball bat. And I fell on the ground face down. And I was face down in the dirt, and I felt like someone was pounding on my back. And I found out later that I'd been stabbed 17 times in my back. And that was the first moment where I really thought, if I don't pretend to be dead, they're going to really kill me. I could tell their car was leaving. I saw lights leaving. And I was left in the dark in the beet field. The moon was full, so I could see that I was in a beet field. And at that point, I sat up and leaned against my car, and I looked into my car to see if the keys were there. I don't remember if I saw them there. I somehow had the thought that I could get in my car and drive away and save myself. At that moment, I saw a car coming. I saw headlights approaching my car, and I waved my hand, come help me, please. And it was these people come back. And the greasy man came up to me and he said, oh, so you think you're strong? Because he was surprised that I was still alive. And he took his knife and he slashed open my shoulder, and they beat me with the metal baseball bat again. And I fell face down on the earth. My body was on the ground. My legs were under the car. And then I heard this whoosh sound. And they had set the car on fire. They'd used some kind of flammable liquid and set the car on fire. And they drove away. And I thought, I may be going to die, but they're not going to burn up my body. And the fireman role that they teach us in school, drop and roll. I rolled out into the beet field. And the thing I remember about that, it was June. The beet field had just been freshly furrowed. The beet shoots were about 3 inches high. And beet shoots are like sticks. And I remember rolling over these sticks and thinking how much that hurt.

[Narrator]

The Linda had her throat cut and 22 stab wounds. She also had punctured lungs and a fractured skull.

[Linda]

And I remember smelling the earth and just smelling that rich loam of fresh dirt. And I gathered the dirt under my head and I made a pillow. And I consciously thought, I'm going to prepare to die.

[Narrator]

Linda had lost so much blood. She was at the clinical boundary between life and death.

[Linda]

And at that moment, very bright white light surrounded me. And it felt like I was lifted up in the arms of my heavenly father. It felt like he had raised. Rescued me and lifted me up. And I felt at peace.

[Narrator]

The white light experience is often described by people close to death. One explanation is that it is caused by a lack of oxygen and chemical changes in the brain.

[Linda]

And I wasn't thinking about my family or my children or my husband or anything. I was thinking how peaceful I felt and how ready I was to. To go with him. And I heard voices again. And I had the thought, oh, they've come back again to make sure I'm dead. And something told me, no, these are teenage voices. These aren't the same voices. And these two teenage boys had been driving home from watching videos, and they'd seen the car fire out in the field. And so they'd called the fire department. And then, as teenage boys do, they wanted to come down and see the fire. They thought it was cool. And I heard them and I yelled, help me. Help me. I'm out here. And they came out in the field and found me, and they each grabbed an arm and a leg, and they dragged me probably 50ft away from the car before the gas. Before the fire hit the gas line and the car blew up. And in pulling me away, they. They dislocated my shoulders. But they saved my life.

[Narrator]

It took two years to track down Linda's attackers. Three of the attackers are serving life sentences for kidnapping, robbery and attempted murder. A fourth is serving 10 years for robbery and aggravated assault.

[Linda]

The attackers setting the car on fire was what saved my life because if I'd just been out in the beet field, I would have just bled to death and died and nobody would have ever known what happened and those people would have never been found.

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[Narrator]

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[Narrator]

It's August 1997 in Lexington, Kentucky. Holly and her boyfriend Chris are at a college party.

[Holly]

Party was rather dull, not a whole lot going on. So we decided to leave, Just go take a walk to the railroad tracks that were about two blocks away. And actually two of our other friends came with us. We were planning to go put quarters on the railroad tracks to flatten them.

[Narrator]

It was close to midnight.

[Holly]

Our friends actually decided to go back to the party when after about an hour, no trains had come by. And so Chris and I stayed there for a little while and talked. And then when we got up to aleve, that's when a man approached us. And we were actually walking on the railroad tracks. And the man came from behind an electrical box. Like he had been hiding behind an electrical box. We never saw a gun. He had some kind of ice pick or screwdriver or something, something sharp. That was his weapon. He just automatically was asking for money. When you're confronted with someone that is wanting something from you that you can comply and that you, especially if a weapon is involved, that you just comply and give them what they want and they'll leave you alone.

[Narrator]

The attacker forced Holly and Chris to their knees.

[Holly]

Really the first thing that we said to him was, was, you know, we don't have money. And when he started going through the backpack, we said, you know, would you like us to go get money? You can have our credit card. You can have anything you want here.

[Narrator]

He tied Chris's arms behind his back.

[Holly]

He was only about 5, 6, but Chris was very skinny and, you know, very tall, but very skinny. So they probably weighed close to the same.

[Narrator]

Chris did not fight back.

[Holly]

You know, one thing, if I could describe about Chris is that I don't know if he had ever killed a fly. I don't think he'd ever been in a fight in his life. And, you know, with Chris feeling threatened and complying, that made me feel afraid, really. You know, all the time he was controlling Chris. He wasn't really controlling me. I was just following along because I thought, you know, maybe I can stop, you know, you know, stop something from happening here. I just. There was no way I was going to try to run or, you know, leave Chris there. He tied up Chris's arms first, and he even pulled Chris into the grass beside the railroad tracks. And, you know, I saw that that was painful. And so I just sort of crawled along and did the same thing. We were on our knees at that point, and he had actually taken my belt and tied up my arms with my belt. You could tell that he had done this before. He knew how to control less. He knew he needed to tie us up. He knew that he needed to disable Chris. And so, you know, everything that he did, you could tell he had done it before.

[Narrator]

Unknown to Holly and Chris, the attacker was a serial killer.

[Holly]

He had a bag with him that I saw that he kept going back to, and he actually went back to that bag. And I heard him ripping a shirt, and that's what he tied up our legs with, was with a ripped shirt and that he gagged us with with a ripped shirt. And when he gagged us, I actually stuck my tongue out so that the gag wouldn't work so I could continue talking to him. And I did. I was just asking him questions like why he was there. And he was telling crazy stories like he had just broken out of jail and he was waiting on his friend, and his friend was going to be coming back with some food for him. And I mean, just not. Nothing really made sense. We were sort of on a hill, so we were down kind of at the bottom of the hill, and the railroad tracks were up from where we were laying. So he would go back up to a bag or whatever he had, you know, with him. And so anytime he'd go back up, I would try to. That's when I would try to untie myself. But he never left our side longer than just a few minutes. So anytime, you know, I was trying to strategize on what we were going to do, it was only a few minutes time before he would come back. Well, I'm not really sure how much time passed before he came with a rock to hit Chris. And it was a 52 pound rock, so he was not carrying it easily. But he hit Chris, you know, on his head. I mean, it was just like a dream. It was, you know, I didn't know really what was going to happen to me. I actually heard Chris gurgling after he had hit him. So I asked him to go and turn Chris's head to the side because I didn't want him to choke on his own blood. And he Actually went and did it. And he said, don't worry about him. He's gone. I remember a lot more of talking to him after he had hit Chris, because I think that I went into a survival mode after he had hit Chris. I didn't even think about the fact that he wanted. That he was going to rape me until he actually climbed on top of me and I tried to fight him. I basically was, you know, screaming and trying to hit him, and that's. He stabbed me in my neck and said, look how easily I could kill you. I felt like I was floating above my body. I did not feel anything. He had just stabbed me in my neck, and I didn't. I wasn't feeling pain. I wasn't feeling anything. He took off my pants, but that was all. He didn't completely undress me. Even after he raped me. I asked him to put my pants back on because I thought, if he's going to kill me, I don't want to be found laying here naked. So he even put my pants back on after he attacked me. So, you know, he was. At that point, he was doing things, and I really thought he was gonna let me go at that time. Like, I asked him what his name was, and he asked me what my name was. I was just trying to make him know that I was a person. I was, you know, trying to get to it. If he had an emotional side, I was trying to get to it. And I was saying, you know, I really wanna see my family again. I really wanna see my friends. And, you know, I won't turn you in. I'll just, you know, leave, leave, and I won't tell anybody that you did this. So, you know, my mind was trying to do anything to just make him stop. And I was begging for my life. I was telling him that I wanted to see my friends and family again, that I, you know, did not want to die. You know, the moment before he hit me, I really thought that I had convinced him that he wasn't going to hurt me, that he was going to leave me there. He hit me in my face. And I think what I did was I turned over to stop him from hitting me in the face. And so he hit me about five times in the back of my head. I thought I remembered him covering me up with, you know, like, branches and grass and things. And then I thought, I even remember saying, like, thank you because I knew that I was still alive and that I was saying thank you for leaving me here alive. But, you know, I don't Think he knew that I was still alive. I think he definitely tried to kill me. Really. The next memory that I have was appearing in someone's front yard. You know, I was covered in blood and I didn't knock, I didn't ring a doorbell. I just walked into this person's house. I remember saying, you know, I've been hurt. My friend is still out at the railroad tracks. We need help. And I don't really remember exactly, but I said to call 911. And, you know, that I definitely was going into shock. When they finally told me about Chris, it wasn't. The hospital didn't tell me my parents had arrived and I turned to my dad and I said, I didn't say, is Chris dead? I just said, chris is dead, isn't he? Because I knew it.

[Narrator]

Holly's boyfriend Chris died at the scene.

[Holly]

I survived because I was supposed to. I think that, you know, I. I just wasn't finished.

[Narrator]

Holly is the only known survivor of the railroad serial killer Angel Maturino Resendez, who is suspected of murdering more than nine people. He was executed in 2006 for a murder he committed in Texas.

[Holly]

I believe that there are several ways that, you know, a tragic event like this can change you. I really felt like I had two options. I could crawl in a hole and, you know, be angry and live my life that way the rest of my life. And then my other option was to try to, you know, do the best I could with my second chance at life. And I survived to dedicate my life to assisting victims of rape and sexual assault and tragedy.

[Narrator]

That's.

[Holly]

I think that's my purpose.

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[Wayne]

This is the mindset free.

[Mary]

This is the mantra.

[Wayne]

Free.

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[Wayne]

You're welcome.

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