May 13, 2003 (Tennessee, USA)

My name is Liza Peters; I am 23 years old now. I was kidnapped by strangers when I was 7. 

It was a Saturday morning, and I was playing outside with my friend Laney. We were playing hopscotch on the sidewalk. It was before lunch time so I guess around 10:30 in the morning. 

I was wearing pink shorts and a yellow t-shirt. We were playing on Derryberry St in front of Laney’s house. We played there all the time. I had just thrown a rock, and it landed at the 8, so I was hopping to the 8 and Laney was standing behind me waiting her turn. 

I stood on the 8 and turned to tell Laney it was her turn. That’s when I noticed a silver car pull up to the curb by the sidewalk. A woman got out of the car. She was about my mom's age, 35 I guess. She had long dark hair and was wearing dark clothing. 

She picked me up, and I started screaming. I saw Laney start crying. The woman put me in the backseat of the car and got in next to me. I tried to fight her, to bite her and to get away but I couldn’t. 

There was a man driving the car. He had a checkered shirt and short blond hair. He wore dark sunglasses. 

The woman was holding me tight, and she used duct tape to tie my hands together. Then she did the same for my feet. It was hard to say where we were or which way we were going, but after I guess a half hour in the car, the driver stopped. 

The man got out of the car; I remember thinking how big he was. He was a giant to me. He picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. The woman got out of the car and followed us. I could see she was about a foot shorter than the man.

I looked around, and I could see we were in the new subdivision being built out on Natchez Trace. The houses were all empty. There wasn’t anyone around, and there were no neighbors. The man walked up to the door of one of the houses. It was a beige house with a white porch. 

We went inside, and they put me in one of the bedrooms on the floor. My hands and feet were bound so I couldn’t fight, but I was crying a lot, and my kidnappers weren't very nice to me. They just ignored me and left the room.

As soon as I was alone, I started chewing on the duct tape on my wrists. The woman had wrapped it in about three times around. I don’t know how long it took me to chew through it, but I finally managed. I was scared they were going to come back and see. 

Once my hands were free, I ripped the duct tape from my ankles. I hadn’t noticed the room yet so as soon as my feet were free, I looked up. I saw a window and ran right to it. First I tried to open it, but it was locked.  So then I just broke the glass and climbed through the window. I didn’t even feel the broken glass. All I knew was I had to get out of there. 

I just ran, I didn’t look back to see if they were following me. I just ran as fast as I could and to the first thing I could find. I ran into the Fast Stop on Natchez Trace Dr covered in blood and crying. Andy Walters was working the counter that day, I ran up to him and grabbed hold of him begging him to protect me and call the police. 

We are still friends today.

Sincerely,

Liza Peters