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Worst.Ex.Ever.S02E04.540p.X265.AAC [Full Movie] [Trending Drama]Full EP - Full
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00:17My name is Karen Cummerer, I've been kidnapped, I've been abducted, and I have been kidnapped,
00:23I've had been kidnapped.
00:26Kidnapping cases in the FBI usually do not end well, the statistics will show most victims
00:33do not survive after a certain amount of time.
00:37She was scared, it was terror on her face.
00:43Somebody please help me.
00:46On a case like this, time is not our friend.
00:50I was scared for her, scared for her.
01:13In 2006, I had just separated from my husband of 17 years.
01:20And I was starting to date again.
01:23I was the finance director for Burt Fish Medical Center.
01:28I owned my own house.
01:30I just bought a brand new 2006 GT Mustang.
01:34I was feeling very independent.
01:36And I was feeling really good.
01:43Karen is my aunt on my mother's side.
01:46We have been really close ever since I was little.
01:49Karen's personality is very independent, fun, goofy.
01:57She will speak her mind when she has something to say.
02:04I was living with her in 2006.
02:09I was 18.
02:11Karen and I were having a great time together.
02:13I think it helped having me around after she had gotten a divorce.
02:19I kind of had the shoulder to lean on on those rough days.
02:23She had been in a marriage for so long, and now she's single.
02:29Single and dating.
02:32One night, my sister and I went out to the ocean deck.
02:37It was just a good place to meet people.
02:41Scott approached me and asked me to dance.
02:44He was very beefy, and he had blonde hair, blue eyes.
02:48He told me he was starting to be a personal trainer.
02:51And I found that very interesting because I was also into working out at the time.
02:57When I met Scott, I felt a little bit of a spark.
03:02I called her the next morning to find out how you doing and everything else.
03:05She said, oh, it went great.
03:06I really like him.
03:08I met him the end of January, and Valentine's Day was a real eye-opener.
03:14He gave me flowers, he gave me weights.
03:17He spent a lot of money on me, actually.
03:20We used to go dancing together at some of the clubs in Daytona Beach.
03:25We would go out to dinner together.
03:29I really enjoyed Scott.
03:32Karen was, like, head over heels.
03:35She was like, oh, there's this guy.
03:37He's handsome.
03:38They looked good together.
03:40They were having fun, and they laughed.
03:43And I think Karen had missed that for so long from her marriage before.
03:50So I think she was really happy when she started to get that feeling again.
04:02I worked with a woman that was into tarot cards and crystals.
04:08She had this tarot card reader in Connecticut that you could have the tarot card read over
04:12the phone.
04:14So she gave me the number.
04:16She says, Karen, you want to try it?
04:18I was really curious about it.
04:23So that's what I did.
04:27She was reading my cards.
04:31All of a sudden, she said, you've met this person.
04:36He's crazy, and you need to get the heck out of there as soon as possible.
04:40I'm like, oh, well, she doesn't know.
04:43How would she know?
04:46Little did I know she was actually very truthful.
04:55I noticed that Scott started to be around, like, all the time.
05:00Like, he just kind of started, like, leaving stuff there, and the next thing I know, he
05:04was there all the time.
05:08He actually lived with his mom and dad.
05:11They were right down the road from me.
05:14I was not really looking for a committed relationship, maybe a dating type relationship, but nothing
05:21more than that.
05:24And then one day, I came home, and all of a sudden, Scott had moved into my house.
05:30And he goes, yeah, I moved in.
05:33And when I said, well, maybe you need to leave, that's when he said, well, I've been getting
05:37mail here for almost a month that you didn't realize because he would check my mailbox for
05:41his mail before I get home from work.
05:45I was not really happy about it, but I didn't really think how important it was that he had
05:50been getting the mail there and whatnot at that time.
05:55Scott started to become more possessive.
05:59Like, if I wanted to go to the store with Karen or go shopping together, it was like, no, you
06:05guys don't need to be doing that.
06:07He scrutinized everything she did.
06:11Karen came out wearing something that, like, he didn't like.
06:15He would tell her, like, you need to go change.
06:17People are going to think you're trash.
06:21Karen definitely changed after Scott moved in.
06:29My boyfriend and I, we went over for dinner one night.
06:33And I was putting something in the fridge.
06:35And that's when I saw the syringes.
06:39And that's when my ex looked over me.
06:42And he goes, why are there steroids?
06:44Do you know that's illegal?
06:47There was no prescription for those.
06:49And that's when I went in and I pulled Karen aside and I said, what's that?
06:53Why do you have those in the fridge?
06:55And that's when she told me that Scott used them for working out.
07:01And I'm like, Karen, that's not good.
07:04I said, working out and doing that.
07:06Void rage is a really bad thing.
07:10So that's kind of threw red flags up.
07:17March of 2006, Scott and I had been dating a couple months.
07:21Scott would say, well, why doesn't Brenna go out and find a place of her own?
07:24And she's old enough to go and live with her friends or whatever.
07:30I definitely got the feeling that Scott did not like me.
07:34I think I was a obstacle in his way of the control that he had with Karen.
07:42Karen and I were at such a good place before she met Scott.
07:45And then all of a sudden, he's living there and you're asking me to move out.
07:50It wasn't her talking.
07:56When Scott suggested Brenna move out, that's when the real domestic violence started.
08:04He would hold me down and scream at me all night.
08:08He was a very big person.
08:10He weighed about 220 pounds.
08:14I would have my phone and he would rip it out of my hand and break it so I couldn't
08:18call
08:19the police.
08:35If I ever spoke to Karen after I moved out, it was usually when she was at work because
08:42that's the only time I really could talk to her.
08:45I'm like, what's going on?
08:47Like, tell me what's going on.
08:49No, I can't talk about it.
08:50I can't talk about it.
08:51I can't talk about it.
08:53Had I known how bad it was going to be, I would have never left.
09:00Karen really withdrew and didn't see her that much.
09:05Didn't want to go out anymore.
09:07I was always doing something with Scott.
09:10Scott was able to control Karen because of her lack of self-confidence at the time.
09:15Coming out of that divorce was demoralizing.
09:20I myself had been a victim of domestic abuse in the past, so I knew the signs.
09:29Everybody handles these situations differently, but the fear paralyzed her.
09:37Scott told me because he moved in with me, I could evict him, but it had to go through
09:42the courts.
09:44I thought, you know, how can this be happening to me, to be honest with you?
09:51I was embarrassed that I managed to get myself in this kind of relationship because, you know,
09:56here I was independent, financially successful.
09:59Then I realized that I was in over my head at that point.
10:03I started to fear for my safety, but I also had had enough.
10:08I was going to try to do anything to get him out of there, even if I had to get
10:12an eviction
10:13notice.
10:20The tipping point for me was when he held me down all night screaming at me.
10:26He was just screaming and screaming and screaming.
10:29So that morning, after he let me up, I got dressed and I went to work.
10:35In the meantime, he had started calling me on my cell phone.
10:41And as I walked into the office that day, I had him on speaker phone.
10:45I said to one of my coworkers, you need to hear this.
10:49He was yelling at me, if you don't come back, I'm going to kill you.
10:53At that point, I had witnesses.
10:56I said, you need to leave.
10:59And a friend of mine from work took me back home, got my dog.
11:06They got some stuff.
11:07He pulled up behind the car.
11:10My friend was kind of a big woman.
11:12And she got out and she said to him, she goes, you need to leave.
11:16I get in the car with Rocky and some clothes.
11:20I stayed at her apartment for the weekend until he moved out.
11:30After Scott left, he still thought he had possession of me.
11:36He would threaten to kill my dog if I didn't spend time with him.
11:40And he parked his car right behind my car so I couldn't get out.
11:48It progressively got worse.
11:51He started stalking.
11:54I didn't feel safe anymore by myself.
11:56So in beginning of October, I asked Brenna to move in with me again for my safety.
12:05I turned 19 in October of 2006, and I started living with Karen again.
12:14I didn't like when Brenna really moved back in with Karen.
12:19Brenna, being a kid, thought she could protect Karen,
12:25which, like, no.
12:28You're a kid.
12:32One day, Brenna was at the house, and my nieces were over it,
12:36and they were sitting in the living room.
12:38Scott just came in, opened the door like he owned the place,
12:43said, shh, to the nieces.
12:45He walked by them.
12:47He came into my bedroom.
12:49I screamed, Brenna, he's here.
12:52I heard Karen telling him, you need to leave.
12:54You need to get out of my house.
12:56I don't want you here.
12:57I told you I'm done with this.
12:59And he's not listening to Karen.
13:03Brenna comes running out of the room.
13:04I said, call the police.
13:06She was dialing on her phone.
13:08When he runs out, he gets in his car and takes off.
13:16I wanted Karen to call the police.
13:19But I also understood that Karen was very scared.
13:24Like, I remember her telling me, like, you don't understand.
13:27Like, he's crazy.
13:31Like, he will kill me if I do the wrong thing.
13:37He left 27 voicemails on my phone that day.
13:41Where are you?
13:42How come you are not answering your phone?
13:44It was all the time like this.
13:48Monday, November 13th, I get in my car.
13:53I was going to work.
13:56I got to the stop sign, and I looked one way.
14:02And then all of a sudden, my front passenger door was yanked open.
14:07He was in a bush waiting for her,
14:11because she takes the same way to work every day.
14:14Scott jumped out of the bushes, unlocked the car from the key fob,
14:19jumped in the car, had a knife, told her to drive.
14:25He was screaming like a crazy man.
14:27He said, I'm going to cut you right here.
14:29You can't hide.
14:31I've got your social security number.
14:33And I need to see you.
14:36This was the first time that Scott had ever held a knife or a weapon to me.
14:43And my actions before, when Scott got into a explosive attitude
14:48of a violent situation, was if I stayed calm and submissive,
14:53it would make the situation better.
14:57I finally calmed him down enough by saying,
15:00OK, well, I will still see you.
15:02I promise I'll see you tonight.
15:05He allowed me to drop him off where his Jeep was parked down my street.
15:10I told a friend of mine that she said, I'll meet you at the Daytona Beach Police Department.
15:15We filed for a emergency restraining order.
15:19They said, once it's reviewed, we will serve it tonight.
15:26In the meantime, Lisa brought me home.
15:30I left my car at work.
15:32I didn't want Scott to know I was even at my house
15:35in case he was served with a temporary restraining order that night.
15:39Brenner and I spent the night in the dark.
15:42We did not want anybody to know we were there.
15:45We were afraid he was going to come in and kill both of us.
15:49I remember her just being, like, terrified.
15:54Like, how did he get my key fob?
15:58Because that's the only way he could have gotten the car.
16:03She's like, this man is capable of doing so many more things than what we thought.
16:11I changed my phone number immediately.
16:14And then the next day, I also had my car re-keyed.
16:19I did not have them change the trunk.
16:22Between myself and the dealership, we didn't think that was necessary.
16:31Monday morning, I went to work.
16:42I get probably 150 feet down my road,
16:46and the trunk of jaw light comes on.
16:49I probably left it open from shopping.
16:52Didn't shut it tight.
16:55Got out of the car.
16:59I went to shut it.
17:03And...
17:06Scott jumps out of the trunk, dressed in black.
17:12Grabs me.
17:13Puts the knife to my throat.
17:14I start to scream.
17:15He goes, if you do that again, I'm going to cut you right here.
17:18Throws me into the passenger seat.
17:23He takes off in the car.
17:29Brings me to where his Jeep was parked.
17:33And he goes, if you're going to behave yourself, you can sit up front.
17:36We get into his Jeep.
17:38And he takes off.
17:44His comment to me was, you're making me do this because you got a restraining order.
17:48It's all your fault.
17:50He had gloves in the center console.
17:54And I said, what are those for?
17:56He said, so I don't get blood on my hands.
18:03I said to him, what are you doing with me?
18:08And he goes, I'm just driving.
18:12Then he says, you better call in sick to work.
18:15And that's when I called in sick to work.
18:20I think I was in a state of shock.
18:27I remember I needed to call her for something.
18:31And she didn't answer.
18:33So I call again.
18:36No answer.
18:36I'm like, okay.
18:38Now I'm starting to get a little concerned.
18:40Because at this point,
18:42Karen and I had an understanding.
18:44One of us calls each other.
18:46You know, try to get back to each other as soon as possible.
18:50When Brenna tried calling me,
18:53I said to him, I said, well, I'm going to have to answer it.
18:56And he said, you need to tell this story that I'm going to commit suicide
18:59and you're trying to get me to stop.
19:02So when I talked to Brenna, I said, I'm with Scott.
19:05And he's threatening to commit suicide.
19:09She's telling me on the phone, don't call the police.
19:12And in my mind, I'm like, he's like sitting right next to her.
19:15I know he is because I can hear in her voice.
19:19And I said to her, I said, if you want me to call the police, say, don't call the police
19:26again.
19:28And then she said, Brenna, don't call the police.
19:33That's when I called the police.
19:35And I told them, I believe my aunt Karen's been abducted.
19:44There's going to be nothing else of a higher priority than working a kidnapping.
19:50So it's pretty much going to be all hands on deck.
19:53Let's do our best to locate the victim before this turns into a homicide.
19:59I was a detective at the Daytona Beach Police Department of Criminal Investigations Division.
20:08We put out a bolo, you know, to be on the lookout.
20:12We gave the description of Scott, of Karen, description of his vehicle.
20:18And they let him know that there is a warrant for his arrest.
20:20So if you come into contact with him, hold on to him and that Karen Comer is a victim.
20:27Now what we're trying to do is find a trail.
20:31What direction? Where are they going?
20:34We flag Karen and Scott's credit cards and bank cards,
20:38which means let us know if there's any activity on those cards
20:42and they'll let you know where it happened.
20:46Now we're standing, we're waiting for activity.
20:53One thing you have to keep in mind as we're sitting here today,
20:57in 2006, the technology that we had is not what the technology is today.
21:03In today's world, you know, every move, there's videos, there's surveillance,
21:09there's red light cameras, there's cameras in every crosswalk.
21:13That wasn't the situation in 2006.
21:18I was scared for sure.
21:21I don't know where she is at this point.
21:24And then I'm wondering if Karen's alive.
21:29When Scott took me, I don't think he had a plan.
21:33I just think he thought he could take me anywhere and no one would do anything.
21:39The first night we stayed at the Sunrise Inn in St. Augustine.
21:45I had to wait out the car.
21:47I no longer had my cell phone.
21:50He took the keys with him.
21:51He kept an eye on the car the whole time while he was checking in.
21:57He called his mother and he told her we were on vacation together.
22:04When we got in the room, he gave me sleeping pills.
22:12I was forced to have sex with him.
22:17I knew that complacency and submission was the way I was going to try to survive.
22:23So if I thought about yelling or screaming or whatever, he had a knife.
22:28If someone didn't act quick enough, I was dead.
22:30I was trying to survive the way I thought I could.
22:41The next day, Scott didn't have any money, so he wanted to stop at a bank
22:46so I could take some money out of my checking account.
22:50We stopped at Wachovia Bank.
22:52He had me withdraw my check, $500.
22:56He was right there beside me with the knife in his pocket.
23:00I didn't think I had a choice.
23:02Even if I said, hey, he's kidnapped me.
23:04What do you think is going to happen to me?
23:06He's going to slip my throat right then and there.
23:08Banks have security people.
23:09I realize that.
23:10But by the time someone's going to react, I'm going to be dead.
23:16We receive a notification that Karen had withdrew $500 from a bank in St. Augustine.
23:23Once we got the hit on the bank account, now we know that they're northbound.
23:29Law enforcement responded to the bank where they learned that it was Scott and Karen together.
23:36In reviewing the table, it looked like she was terrified.
23:41Scott has a violent history and we had also come across the fact that he had been using drugs.
23:46So now he has money in his pocket.
23:48Now we're really concerned, okay, which way do you go?
23:52So we're going through his history, looking through his paperwork, see who he knows, who can we contact, who could
23:58tell us something about him.
24:03My brother was a Daytona Beach police officer and he called me up one day out of the blue and
24:12said, you're not going to believe this.
24:16Scott Freeman kidnapped a woman.
24:25Early 1990s, my girlfriend had worked at a bowling alley that had a bar that everyone would go to.
24:33And that's where I met Scott Freeman.
24:39My first impression was he was handsome.
24:43He said he was a firefighter.
24:46I thought he had good potential.
24:49I feel like Scott love bombed me.
24:56Now, mind you, I was a young girl of 22.
25:00He was six years older.
25:04Scott came on really strong and was crazy about me.
25:12Scott was very charming and we did begin seeing each other.
25:18When I first met Scott, he was a Ocala firefighter.
25:25But that did not last long.
25:28Soon after we started dating, Scott told me he got fired from the fire department.
25:36Scott had still lived at home with his mother and father.
25:40And it became apparent to me that Scott's mother paid for everything because Scott did not have a job for
25:53a long time.
25:55Scott definitely had control over me emotionally.
26:00And he liked me to wear certain things, did not like me to wear certain things.
26:07He was very controlling and manipulative.
26:13My father had passed away and I had gone to a medium hoping I would hear something from my dad.
26:24The woman had tarot cards and the first card she turned over was a devil card.
26:32And she told me, I see a very disturbed person around you.
26:37This person is on drugs and she sees jail.
26:47Scott would have these bouts where he would disappear for days on end with no explanation.
26:56I definitely know that Scott was addicted to crack cocaine and that would contribute to his binges and disappearances.
27:10Two years into the relationship, a friend of his and his girlfriend had come down from North Carolina to visit.
27:22And the four of us went out for the night to the clubs and drinking and having a good time.
27:31And then upon coming back to the house that evening, we were talking about ordering pizza and Scott just freaked
27:42out and pinned me against the wall with his hands around my neck.
27:47I was so scared. I was like, what the heck got into him?
27:55The police came. And at that point, I said, I did not want to press charges.
28:04Being the young girl I was, I said, well, he didn't mean it. And he drank too much and made
28:13excuses.
28:15My head was saying, no, get out. This is not good.
28:21But my 20 something year old heart was saying, but I love him.
28:33I had come home from work and Scott was there intoxicated and wanted me to go out with him to
28:42a bar.
28:43And I said, no, you're drunk.
28:47His behavior was erratic.
28:51He was filled with rage.
28:54I got suspicious of what was going on and what he was doing.
28:59So I went in the closet and I started looking through duffel bags and whatnot.
29:06And I had picked up a box that you would keep checks in.
29:10And when I picked it up, it rattled.
29:14So I opened it and they were syringes.
29:18And I thought, oh boy, he was shooting up steroids.
29:23And that was leading to his crazy, erratic behavior.
29:29I approached him about what I found in the closet.
29:33And that's when he got really pissed.
29:39Scott smacked me in the face and attempted to take all my stuff.
29:46And he put his hands around my neck and had me up against the wall and tried to choke me.
29:52I was so scared.
29:56The police came and they had asked me if everything was okay.
30:01And then with that, Scott had come down the hall just,
30:05what the F are you doing here?
30:08And get the F out of here.
30:10Everything's fine.
30:12Just really, really being belligerent.
30:15And he resisted arrest.
30:18And it took pepper spray to finally get him handcuffed.
30:26That was my breaking point.
30:28And I knew I couldn't stay in a situation like that.
30:39As soon as my brother got wind of Scott, he called me.
30:44And he was freaking out like, you're not going to believe this.
30:48Scott kidnapped a woman.
30:50I seriously thought, holy shit, that could have been me.
30:55And he said, he's on the run.
30:57They're heading north.
30:58Do you have any ideas where he might be heading?
31:01And I said, yeah.
31:04My brother asked if I would meet with Detective Hawkins.
31:11And I agreed to it.
31:13I shared with Janet Hawkins places that I had been to with Scott.
31:20That maybe I thought he would bring Karen back to.
31:24I know Scott had a very good friend that lived up in North Carolina.
31:30And I thought, well, for sure, he's probably going to go there.
31:34And then it was on the TV and in the newspaper.
31:39I was scared for her.
31:42I was.
31:43I was scared for her.
31:50We left St. Augustine.
31:52We're driving north.
31:54And we stayed at the Days Inn in North Carolina.
31:58It was the same situation as in St. Augustine.
32:03He gave me pills.
32:11He kept the knife with him.
32:20When I got up the next morning, we were getting ready to leave.
32:24And I looked down and I saw the notepad.
32:28I grabbed it and stuffed it in my pocket.
32:31I don't know why I did that.
32:33I don't know.
32:33I have no idea why I did it.
32:35To this day, I don't know.
32:41From Charlotte, we went to Brayson City.
32:44We stopped to eat.
32:48I worked at the barbecue wagon in Brayson City as a head chef for 11 years.
32:55It was a typical day at the barbecue wagon.
32:58Me being the main cook, I had a little break after the lunch rush.
33:03And so I walked outside at the back door, which is against the parking lot,
33:09to take me a quick smoke break.
33:12And that's where I was when I saw a vehicle pull in.
33:21It was a dark black Jeep.
33:26There was a lady who got out the passenger side and just kind of stood there.
33:31And so, you know, I gave her a friendly smile.
33:35And well, she didn't give me a friendly smile back.
33:41And honestly, I thought, what's wrong with her?
33:46She had this, I don't know, this blank look.
33:51The gentleman got out and took her by the arm.
33:56They went in the front door and I just went back to work, just like I normally would.
34:06I went in to use the bathroom.
34:09I looked in my purse and I took the pen.
34:12I wrote out the note and it said,
34:15My name is Karen Kamra.
34:16I've been adopted.
34:18Please call the Daytona Beach Police Department.
34:21This is not a joke and please be quiet.
34:25I was hoping that no one would say anything while we were in there eating.
34:32I was afraid that I was going to die if he found out.
34:37We left the barbecue place.
34:39We stepped at a gas station and I went in to use the bathroom.
34:43I was terrified at this point.
34:46Because he would stand outside the bathroom door while I was in there.
34:50And he would make sure that no one else was coming or going.
34:56But I left another note.
35:04I don't know, it must have been 20 minutes or so.
35:08And I needed to go to the restaurant.
35:11When I turned around to flush the toilet,
35:15there was something sticking out.
35:19It wasn't supposed to be there, so I was going to clean it up.
35:24The moment I touched that paper,
35:28I had chills immediately go all over me.
35:32And I started reading it and knew at that moment exactly who wrote that note.
35:41I went straight out of that bathroom.
35:44And straight as fast as I could to that phone.
35:48And I called 911.
35:51They asked if they were still there.
35:55But I told the police that they were already gone.
35:58When I think back to when they pulled into the parking lot,
36:03I realized she wasn't being a, you know, bee.
36:07She was scared.
36:09She was terrified.
36:12It was terror on her face.
36:16Like, somebody please help me.
36:25We received a call that a note had been found that was left by Karen in a restaurant in North
36:31Carolina.
36:32So at this point, we're elated because Karen is still alive.
36:35And she has enough presence of mind to leave us a note.
36:40This is where I am.
36:41Here's a brick room.
36:43When we got that first note, I was relieved.
36:46She's still alive.
36:48So there's some hope there.
36:50Once this note was found in North Carolina, we now realize that he's crossed several state lines, which is way
36:57out of our jurisdiction.
36:58So we needed to bring in the FBI.
37:03Kidnapping cases in the FBI usually do not end well.
37:07The statistics will show most victims do not survive after a certain amount of time.
37:14I thought that Karen's decision to leave behind notes was extremely smart.
37:23I don't know that a lot of people would have thought of that because you are so instilled with a
37:29fear of being harmed that you would not do anything to jeopardize taking another breath.
37:37She figured out at some point that I've got to do something.
37:40They're never going to find me.
37:43I believe that Scott Freeman was a very dangerous individual and that he was a ticking time bomb.
37:52The hotels we were staying at did not require an ID and they only took cash because, of course, he
37:58didn't want to show an ID at that point.
38:02Multiple times during this whole experience, I told Scott, I said, just let me out here.
38:07Just leave me on the side of the road.
38:10Just let me go.
38:11And he refused to do that.
38:20On Friday, we left Pigeon Forge.
38:24We went to Trenton, Georgia, where I left another note in a gas station.
38:29The same note as before.
38:31My name is Karen Comra.
38:33I've been kidnapped.
38:34Please call Daytona Beach Police Department.
38:36This is not a joke.
38:40So after that, we continued on 100 miles to Sneed, Alabama, where I left another note in a gas station.
38:48We stayed at a hotel, which was right across the street from a Withcovia bank.
38:52And at this point, we were getting low on cash.
38:55And I said, why don't we go over and take cash out of the bank?
38:58And he got really upset.
39:03He took the knife.
39:04He slammed it down.
39:06And he said, don't forget, I always have this.
39:13Getting the notes was confirmation that she's still alive.
39:19But it was a little frustrating because it seems like we were still consistently one step behind.
39:26Time is not our friend.
39:28So the more time passes, the more concerned we are that we're not going to find Karen in time to
39:34save her life.
39:40At this point in time, I did not know that they were seeing the notes.
39:44When we were in a hotel room, I tried to make sure the TV didn't turn on to the news
39:48because I was afraid it would be on the news.
39:50And I was afraid of what he'd do at that point.
39:58One Monday, we drove from New Albany, Mississippi to Greenville, Mississippi.
40:04Cash was getting very low.
40:07We stopped at a gas station.
40:09And as we got ready to leave, he said, I got to make a phone call.
40:16He went to the back of the car and I could hear him yelling.
40:20Couldn't understand what he was saying.
40:23I wasn't sure who he was talking to.
40:26He was really angry.
40:32Law enforcement was monitoring Scott's parents' phone and they were able to intercept a phone call from Scott to his
40:42mom demanding money.
40:46Honey, all I have is about $150.
40:49Do I just fill out that deposit thing to put in?
40:51Just go to the bank and put it fucking in.
40:53I can't believe you haven't done anything.
40:54Well...
40:55$150 ain't going to do nothing.
40:56$150 is going to make me fucking hurt somebody to get money, okay?
40:59I really appreciate it.
41:03The way Scott was speaking to his mother, it was more than just angry.
41:08The vitriol was palpable.
41:11It was awful.
41:13You can't believe that's all the fuck that you have.
41:15You better get some more. I can't do it.
41:17I'm going to have to do something to get money, okay?
41:19I'm going to have to fucking...
41:21Why make things? Why make things more, Scott?
41:23Don't you know that?
41:24I have no other choice. Shut up. Just do that.
41:26Yes, you do. Your choice, honey, is the time.
41:28Calm down, Scott. You've got to calm down.
41:30Don't do that. Bye.
41:31I love you.
41:32When he called, he was on there long enough for the FBI to get a trace on the call
41:37to pinpoint where he was calling from.
41:40He's in Greenville, Mississippi.
41:44We knew that we had to get the money in the bank.
41:49We went to an ATM.
41:52We got $150.
41:55He attempts to withdraw the money.
41:58Law enforcement's monitoring it.
42:01They immediately send the FBI and local law enforcement to the location of the ATM.
42:12We left the ATM.
42:15He went over to a neighborhood and bought some crack.
42:19Then we took off down the highway.
42:24Then we took off down the highway.
42:26I had driven home for lunch, which I sometimes did, and was sitting at the kitchen table eating a sandwich
42:35when my phone rang.
42:38And it was my supervisor.
42:40He asked that I stop whatever I was doing and to immediately get on the road and head towards a
42:48small town called Leland, Mississippi.
42:54I am on the telephone with Mississippi Highway Patrol, Washington County Sheriff's Office, Cleveland PD as well.
43:03And within five minutes of being on Highway 61, I knew the description of the vehicle.
43:09I knew exactly what Karen looked like.
43:13I knew exactly what Scott Freeman looked like.
43:16And literally two minutes later, I recognize a vehicle that matches the description.
43:23And I slowly catch up.
43:27It was obvious to me it was Karen in the vehicle.
43:31I'll never forget the look on her face.
43:33I could see fear.
43:35She didn't look my way.
43:36She was staring dead ahead.
43:38There was no talking.
43:40And Mr. Freeman was also staring dead ahead.
43:43At that point, my supervisor had contacted Mississippi Highway Patrol and there were several units in the area.
43:53We're on the highway and all of a sudden he goes,
43:56they're following us.
43:58And I said, what are you talking about?
44:05I looked up and it seemed like a million police were following us.
44:09The lights were going.
44:10And he started yelling instead.
44:12Give me a minute.
44:13Give me a minute.
44:14We were going really fast.
44:15I was screaming.
44:18And he went off the exit to the highway.
44:23As soon as Mr. Freeman saw the highway unit, he knew that they knew who he was.
44:31She knew he had the knife.
44:32She believed at any point he could reach over and just take her out.
44:37She was so close to being saved, but probably in the most danger that she had been in through the
44:42whole trip.
44:46And all of a sudden they boxed us in.
44:49Like 25 police officers got out of their cruises and held guns.
44:53I was like, oh my God, oh my God, I'm going to die.
44:56And then they just grabbed him out of the truck and threw him on the ground.
45:04And then a beautiful deputy came and grabbed me.
45:17And I said to him, do you have a gun?
45:21He said yes.
45:21And I said, don't let me go.
45:25He brought me over to the EMS and I took my blood pressure and it was a 250 over 150.
45:33And I would not go to the hospital.
45:35I said, I'm not leaving.
45:36He's got a gun.
45:37I'm staying with him.
45:39And so then what he did was he calmed me down.
45:42He brought me to Anna Haystruck, the FBI agent.
45:45And he put me in there and he goes, you're going to be safe here.
45:48And that's how it ended.
45:50I remember I got a phone call.
45:53The FBI called and said, we got Karen.
45:56We have her and Scott's in custody.
45:59I was just like, thank God.
46:02It was like a surreal feeling.
46:05When they got him, you know, everybody was so excited.
46:09It was like a relief.
46:11So much so it was very emotional.
46:14There were tears shed.
46:16Law enforcement searched Scott's Jeep after he was in custody.
46:21They found a switchblade knife in the open position that was in the driver's side door pocket.
46:28They found rope.
46:30They found blankets.
46:31They found a can used to smoke crack cocaine that really gave an indication to law enforcement that Scott and
46:44Scott alone planned this.
46:48Once he was arrested, my captain and lieutenant decided that because she had been traumatized so much, they made a
46:55decision to not put her on the airplane.
46:57But for myself and Jakara to drive up to pick her up and bring her back.
47:03Karen appeared to be worn out and tired.
47:06So we just made her comfortable and drove her back to Daytona.
47:12The first moment I saw Karen, I gave her like the biggest hug.
47:15I'm like, I didn't want to let her go.
47:18It's definitely an emotional moment.
47:44Karen was traumatized.
47:47Everything scared her.
47:50Like she would hear sound, it scared her.
47:53You know, you couldn't talk really loud around her.
47:56She wanted people around her all the time.
48:00Karen's had to put up with a lot.
48:02Why didn't you fight back?
48:04She couldn't.
48:05She was paralyzed.
48:05That's what the fear did to her.
48:07And people don't realize that.
48:10For what Karen's been through, I admire how strong she is as a person.
48:18When I was dating Scott and some of the signs that he was exhibiting at the time,
48:23I was not aware of them being signs of potential domestic violence.
48:28It was not as prevalent back then as well as discussed and open as it is currently.
48:36Since that time, I've done work on myself.
48:39So it became quite clear that this was a situation that was going to become violent.
48:45In the very beginning, and I just did not even see the warning signs.
48:53I'm doing great today.
48:56I'm very blessed.
48:58I approach life a lot differently.
49:01I feel so lucky to be alive.
49:03You have no idea.
49:04I tell everybody, I said, life's too short.
49:06Back here, I'm like pretty awkward.
49:06I'm short.
49:06I'm afraid.
49:13I'm scared.
49:21I'm scared.
49:24I'm scared.
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