“Girl in a box” was kept as a sex slave for seven years in a coffin-like crate under the bed.
A new series will look into the case of Colleen Stan, who was kept as a sex slave for seven years. There are violent images.
A sick kidnapper kept a 20-year-old woman as a sex slave in a coffin-like box under a bed for seven years.
Colleen Stan’s years in captivity were so horrible that they have been turned into a scary true crime show that will air in the UK this month.
The Sun said that the Paramount + show “The Girl in the Box” goes into detail about how Cameron and Janice Hooker tortured the young girl.
Colleen took a ride from the young couple on May 19, 1977, when she was hitchhiking to a friend’s birthday party in Oregon. That night, tragedy struck.
With their smiles and the baby in the back seat, she thought she had hit it big with the two people who seemed to be willing to help.
But her first guesses were quickly shown to be wrong, making the 20-year-old wish she had gone with her gut.
She remembered that when they stopped at a gas station to use the bathroom, “a voice told her to run, jump out a window, and never look back.”
Still, she shook off her worries and kept going until she saw something strange on the seat next to her.
On the seat next to her was a heavy wooden box with a hole in one side. Colleen had no idea what it was for.
“I didn’t know what it was,” she said. But I found out later that it was a “head” box.
Just 30 minutes later, Cameron Hooker, who worked at a lumber mill, drove his passenger down a dirt road and threatened him with a knife.
He tied the hitchhiker up and put a gag on her mouth before putting her head in the 20-pound box with a hinge. The box was made for her by a skilled carpenter and was lined with soundproofing material to keep her quiet.
The couple then took her to their family home about 30 miles away in Red Bluff, California.
Colleen was taken to the basement, where she was stripped and tied to the rafters with chains.
Hooker raped and beat her while she was still blindfolded. He then “celebrated” catching her by having sex with Janice on a table below her.
Colleen was raped and tortured on a regular basis for the next seven years, following the same cruel routine.
She was locked in a wooden box that was three feet by six feet for 23 hours a day. When she was let out, she was raped and beat.
Colleen’s captors messed with her mind.
Later, the Hookers moved to a remote mobile home, where they just changed the layout of their torture room to fit the new space.
Colleen was put in a wooden box that looked like a coffin and was hidden under their bed. She was told not to make a sound while she was in there.
She could barely move and was stuck in the dark. When she had to go to the bathroom, she had to use a bed pan and move it with her feet.
Janice even had her second child on the bed while their hostage wriggled under it.
Colleen was slowly brainwashed by the monster couple. Hooker told her that he was a member of a mysterious group called “The Company.”
He said that if she tried to get away, they would “nail her to a cross” or shoot her.
Colleen was forced to sign a “slave” contract because she was becoming more and more submissive and wanted to get away from his cruel attacks.
The brainwashed prisoner was given the name “K,” and he or she was told to call Cameron “Master” and Cameron’s wife “Ma’am.”
Three years into her ordeal, in 1981, she was allowed to go visit her family alone. This was a test of how well the couple was able to control her mind.
Colleen told her family that she was happy and in a relationship with Hooker when she got back from her trip.
After she won their trust, they let her out of the box for longer periods and she became a glorified babysitter for their two kids.
Hooker’s dirty trick didn’t get found out until 1984, when Janice got jealous of his plans to make Colleen his second wife.
She told the woman she was holding hostage that The Company didn’t exist and that she had been through the same hell as Colleen since she met Hooker when she was 15 years old.
Janice helped her get away from her controlling husband by driving her to a bus station and letting her leave with her two kids.
But it’s crazy that the woman, who was 27 at the time, didn’t call the police and instead kept in touch with Hooker, hoping he would “change.”
Janice was the one who finally told the police about the bad side of the lumber mill worker after another young woman was taken and killed in 1976.
In 1985, she was given immunity in exchange for telling the truth about her husband.
Colleen was taken from her home, tortured, and raped by Hooker, who is now 68 years old. He was given a 104-year sentence.
Colleen may have had Stockholm syndrome, which is when a person starts to love their captor because they have been under so much stress.
She said that she started to care about Hooker when he did something small for her, like let her celebrate her birthday and give her a bible.
She said later that she was able to deal with what happened by putting it in different boxes.
Colleen, who is now 62, went to school to get a degree in accounting and later got married and had a daughter.
She said, “When you’re in prison, your life is just in limbo.”
Once you get your freedom back and can choose again, it’s like the floodgates have opened… And you just go after it. Because it did happen, I have to accept that it did. Now that it’s over, I don’t let it affect my life.”
Several plays, books, and movies have been made about the amazing story of “The Girl in the Box.”
On September 19, the film and a two-part documentary about Colleen will be shown again at Paramount + theaters.
