On September 16th, 1995, 13-year-old Jessyca Mullenberg woke up in the back of a car, bound and disoriented. Over the next 104 days, her mother tirelessly searched for her while Jessyca's captor tried to erase her identity. However, a turning point came when an episode of America's Most Wanted aired, reshaping the trajectory of the case.
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00 "This is not a normal Christmas morning.
00:03 Don't pay attention to the decorations on the tree or the presents all over the floor.
00:08 Instead, look at the woman's face.
00:10 She isn't smiling at all.
00:12 Now look closer at her shirt.
00:14 It says 'Find Jessica.'
00:17 This is Monica Lucasavage, and her 13-year-old daughter Jessica has been missing for over
00:22 three months."
00:23 September 15, 1995.
00:26 Monica's dad picks her up for a scheduled weekend visit, but two days later, she disappears.
00:31 Her family gets a letter from her saying she ran away and she's in a safe place, but her
00:36 mom knows right away that something is very wrong.
00:39 "I know how my child speaks.
00:41 I know how my child writes.
00:43 It was her writing, but it sounded like it was dictated to her."
00:49 Monica's ex-husband tells her Jessica was supposed to be going on a trip that weekend
00:53 with a teacher's aide to meet with the publisher about her writing.
00:56 There's no sign of him or Jessica, but her family won't give up their desperate search
01:01 across the country that will last for over a hundred days.
01:04 "It was horrifying to know that she could be anywhere."
01:07 "We found a bunch of receipts.
01:09 We had a knife, rope, things that could be used to restrain somebody."
01:13 "The worst nightmare you'd ever want to imagine."
01:16 "I don't care if it's ten years.
01:18 I would still be looking for her."
01:19 "I will not let any negative thoughts come in at all.
01:23 She will be back home."
01:24 It's 1995.
01:28 Thirteen-year-old Jessica lives with her family in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
01:33 Her parents are divorced, and she spends most of her time with her mom.
01:37 Especially while dealing with her parents' divorce, Jessica finds comfort in expressing
01:40 her feelings through art and writing.
01:43 She even joins a writing club led by a teacher's aide at school.
01:46 September 15, 1995.
01:49 Jessica goes to her dad's house for a scheduled weekend visit.
01:52 But two days later, Jessica's mom gets a call from her ex-husband.
01:56 He says Jessica's missing, and he thinks she ran away.
01:59 Her mom knows immediately that something isn't right, and she demands answers.
02:03 "He goes, 'I think Jessica might have ran away from home.'
02:06 I knew that was nonsense.
02:07 And I said, 'Who is she with?'
02:09 He didn't want to say right at first.
02:11 And I yelled at him, 'Who is she with?'
02:14 He said, 'Steven Oliver.'"
02:15 1991.
02:19 Four years earlier, new neighbors moved in next door to Jessica, a man named Steven Oliver
02:25 and his son, Ryan.
02:26 Ryan and Jessica played together, and Ryan's dad got a job at the elementary school as
02:31 a teacher's aide.
02:32 He quickly recognized Jessica's talent and passion for writing, and she joined a writing
02:36 club that he led.
02:38 But as he spent more time with her, often separating her from her classmates, her mom
02:42 quickly started to worry about the man's true intentions.
02:45 "I called Steven Oliver and I said, 'You're a nice person, but we just don't feel comfortable
02:50 with this relationship, and so we're just gonna stop seeing you.'
02:56 He was very apologetic and wished us well."
03:00 Shortly after Monica told him she didn't want him spending time with her daughter,
03:03 the Oliver suddenly moved out of the house next door.
03:07 Jessica and her mom both felt a sense of relief, but it was immediately replaced with fear
03:11 when they found out where his new home was.
03:14 Right across from Jessica's dad's place.
03:16 "Chills went up and down my spine and I thought, 'Oh my God, there's something wrong with this
03:21 guy.
03:22 He had my daughter in his sights.'
03:24 I felt very afraid that he was going to do something."
03:29 Monica brought her concerns to her ex-husband, Dale, but he dismissed them, saying Oliver
03:34 seemed nice and there's no need to worry.
03:37 Monica even called an attorney to see if she could stop her ex-husband from letting the
03:40 man visit their daughter, but it wasn't in her rights.
03:43 In September of 1995, her worst nightmare comes true.
03:48 Dale says Stephen Oliver was taking Jessica to get her writing published, and they needed
03:52 to meet with the publisher in Madison, Wisconsin, but they didn't come back.
03:56 He hadn't told Monica anything about letting Oliver take her on a trip alone, and she never
04:01 would have let her daughter go with him if she knew.
04:04 They go to the police to report Jessica missing, and just days later, they get a letter from
04:09 her.
04:10 "And it said, 'Don't come look for me.
04:12 I'm in a safe place.
04:14 I know how my child speaks.
04:16 I know how my child writes.'
04:18 It sounded like it was dictated to her."
04:22 The letter makes it sound like Jessica did run away, but her mom has already been worried
04:26 about Stephen Oliver, and she has a feeling there's more to the story.
04:30 However, even she didn't know how much pain was really behind her daughter's writing.
04:35 Jessica met Stephen Oliver when she was only in the third grade, and no one else knew that
04:40 what he did to her was much worse than just spending more time with her than the other
04:44 kids.
04:45 "Nobody knew Oliver would pull me aside, follow me into his house, and then he would
04:51 lock me up in one of the rooms, and then he would set me on his lap.
04:57 I always went home feeling dirty and that I did something wrong."
05:03 Oliver would criticize Jessica and take her to a different room to punish her.
05:07 He manipulated her, saying she wasn't pretty or smart and that no one would ever love her.
05:12 He sexually abused her, and he hit her if she didn't do what he told her to.
05:17 "He repeatedly told me that if I told anybody that he would kill my family members and then
05:24 kill me.
05:25 And I was terrified for that because I didn't want my parents to suffer."
05:30 Jessica was lost.
05:31 At such a young age, she was already dealing with what no child should ever have to go
05:36 through and she didn't know what to do.
05:39 Because of Oliver's threats, Jessica didn't tell anyone that he was abusing her.
05:43 All she could do to get through it was think of her family.
05:46 She desperately wanted to keep them safe.
05:49 The abuse went on for years, until Oliver decided to take her away from her family too.
05:54 September 16, 1995.
05:57 Jessica's dad sends her off on a trip with Oliver, alone.
06:00 Her family didn't know what was really going on, and her dad thought he was helping her
06:04 with her schoolwork and writing.
06:06 "My dad set me aside, Oliver was there, and they said that, you know, you're going to
06:11 go with him to get your book laid out and published.
06:14 And I had asked, you know, did my mom say it was okay?
06:18 And they said yes, and I'm like, well, I don't think my mom would be okay with this, but
06:22 I was a kid.
06:23 I trusted what they said, so I did what they told me to do."
06:29 Jessica obeys her dad, and she leaves with Oliver early in the morning.
06:33 She doses off in the car, holding onto the hope that he's telling the truth about taking
06:37 her to meet with the publisher.
06:39 But when Jessica wakes up, her worst fears are confirmed.
06:43 "He had my feet tied to the bottom of the car, and my arms were tied behind my back.
06:49 He told me, 'You piece of s***.
06:52 Nobody wants you, nobody loves you.
06:54 You're never going home, and no one's going to be looking for you.'
06:57 So, a really scary feeling to know that you'll be seeing your family again."
07:03 Jessica has no idea where they are, or what he's planning to do.
07:06 He tells her she has to call him "Dad" now, and that her name is Cindy Johnson, and he's
07:11 Dave Johnson.
07:12 "My mind's racing, I was smiling, you know, 'Why is this happening to me?
07:16 What is he going to do to me?
07:18 Is he going to kill me?'"
07:21 While Jessica is desperately trying to figure out what to do, they pull up to the parking
07:25 lot of an airport.
07:27 Suddenly, Oliver takes out a knife.
07:29 At the time, airport security was nothing like it is today, and he's able to bring
07:34 a weapon in easily, threatening Jessica at every moment.
07:37 "You know, there was no security, there's no surveillance cameras, there's no metal
07:42 detectors.
07:43 So, he had a knife to the back of me the whole entire time."
07:47 No one even knows about Jessica's disappearance yet, but at such a public place, she's still
07:52 hoping someone might notice her and question what's going on.
07:55 Even if just one person steps in, it could make all the difference, but her hope quickly
08:00 fades as they walk through the airport.
08:02 "And we got through the airplane, I had to take my seat, you know, nobody questioning
08:07 no 'Where are you guys going?
08:09 Where are you from?
08:10 Is this your daughter?'
08:11 Nothing."
08:12 None of the strangers around have any clue how much danger she's in, and as the flight
08:17 takes off, the only thing Jessica can do is think of her family, wondering if they'll
08:22 be able to find her.
08:24 Back in Eau Claire, police rush to Stephen Oliver's house.
08:27 There, they find his ex-wife and his son.
08:30 "Stephen Oliver had his ex-wife reunite with their son, who Stephen Oliver had custody
08:37 of at the time.
08:38 He even had his ex-wife move into the home with the son.
08:42 This wasn't a spur of the moment thing.
08:44 Stephen Oliver did a lot of preparation for this trip."
08:49 They search the house, finding a series of disturbing receipts that make Oliver's plan
08:54 more clear.
08:55 "He had made several purchases that we were able to find, some duct tape I believe it
09:00 was, rope, he had a knife, things that could be used to restrain somebody.
09:05 He was clearly setting this whole thing up to abduct her."
09:10 Investigators interview Stephen Oliver's neighbors, co-workers, anyone connected to
09:14 him to get as much insight as possible.
09:16 The search for Jessica grows quickly.
09:18 Her family works to spread her name and face everywhere, putting up posters, doing TV interviews,
09:24 and more.
09:25 As days go by with no more letters or communication from Jessica, they refuse to give up.
09:30 "I will not let any negative thoughts come in at all.
09:34 She will be back home."
09:37 As news spreads, new leads come in.
09:39 Police get tips about possible sightings, but nothing pans out.
09:43 Months go by without any news about Jessica.
09:46 With winter approaching, her family is terrified he might be hiding her somewhere without any
09:50 heat.
09:51 But in November 1995, there's a breakthrough.
09:55 Police find Oliver's car at the Kansas City airport.
09:58 After the discovery of the car, there's renewed hope that they could trace Oliver and Jessica,
10:02 but it's short-lived.
10:03 "You could get on an airplane by just saying you're Joe Smith.
10:07 So checking the rosters of those flights didn't come up with anything of any consequence."
10:12 "It was horrifying to know that she could be anywhere because it's a big world out there."
10:19 While her family is searching all over, Jessica is far from home.
10:23 After their flight, Stephen Oliver gets supplies to disguise the two of them.
10:27 He even cuts Jessica's hair and dyes it a dark color so people won't recognize her.
10:32 Then, he takes her to a nearby hotel.
10:34 And when they go up to the front desk, he makes up a story using their fake identities
10:38 of father and daughter, Dave and Cindy Johnson.
10:41 "Oliver was great at telling stories.
10:44 He gave them a sad story, 'Well, we're moving on south to start a new life, and Cindy's
10:50 really sad and has been having a hard time dealing with the death of her mom and her
10:55 twin brother in the car accident.'"
10:58 They believe his story, and they give them a room.
11:00 But Oliver quickly grows paranoid of being found, and he often looks outside, scanning
11:05 the parking lot for any Midwestern license plates.
11:08 He gets nervous, and they move to another hotel.
11:11 He tells them the same story, and he says he's going to be homeschooling his daughter
11:14 so she won't be leaving the hotel room much.
11:17 To Jessica's horror, part of the hotel needs renovations, and they give them a room in
11:21 the back in a section that's not open to the public.
11:24 Now, instead of being close to other guests who might be able to help, there's no one
11:28 around, and nobody can hear her from the room.
11:31 "The first time I went into the hotel room, it was really dark.
11:36 Scary, it was dusty.
11:37 There's cockroaches everywhere.
11:39 It's just really gross.
11:41 In the middle of the night, after I knew that Oliver was asleep, I would cry.
11:46 I knew it was serious and that I wasn't going to be returning home to my family."
11:51 Jessica is terrified.
11:52 As soon as Oliver leaves the room, she tries to escape, but she quickly discovers she can't
11:57 get out, because the room is locked from the outside.
12:00 "I couldn't get out.
12:01 I couldn't run away.
12:02 The key, he always had that with him.
12:05 He's like, 'I will kill you, and I will stab you.'
12:08 And there was no doubt in my mind that he wouldn't do that, because he had stabbed me
12:12 before."
12:15 Oliver has already hurt Jessica in the past, but even with his threats, she won't give
12:19 up.
12:20 She notices the rotary phone in their room, and when he steps out again, she runs over
12:24 to it.
12:25 He might walk back in the room at any minute and punish her if he sees what she's doing,
12:30 but she's willing to risk it for the chance to call for help.
12:32 "I'm trying to dial my phone number, and it just didn't work.
12:36 I'm like, 'I know what my phone number is.'
12:38 I found out that Oliver was able to rewire it, so then if you were to dial a 5, it could
12:43 be a 6, dial a 7, it could be a 4.
12:46 So there was no way that I was going to be making a phone call to anybody."
12:52 Jessica can't call anyone, and she can't get out of the room either.
12:55 She's running out of options, and there's no escape.
12:58 All she can do is try to picture herself back with her family.
13:01 She desperately hopes they'll be able to find her, but the longer she spends in the hotel
13:05 room, the harder it is.
13:07 "All I would think about was that he was right, that I was stupid, because I couldn't even
13:11 figure out how to call my mom on my phone.
13:13 I didn't think that I would ever see my family again."
13:18 As days turn to weeks, and weeks turn to months, Jessica's hope starts to crumble.
13:23 Oliver is constantly abusing her, sexually, physically, and emotionally.
13:28 "I was never allowed to leave the room.
13:30 I spent most of the days tied up to the bed in the hotel room.
13:34 I wasn't allowed to eat whenever I wanted to, because I was fat and ugly.
13:38 So the only time I was allowed to eat was if he gave me food, and if I deserved food
13:44 then I could eat."
13:45 "I was beaten really hard in the stomach by his fist that I could barely even walk.
13:51 And it hurt the worst when he said that my parents and my family and friends didn't love
13:56 me or didn't want me anymore.
13:57 And it was really hard."
14:00 She continues to call her Cindy Johnson, and after all the pain she's been through, Cindy
14:05 is starting to become her identity.
14:08 Every time she tries to remember her past, Oliver hurts her more, and the loving, happy
14:13 young Jessica is fading away.
14:15 She's not only losing hope that she'll escape alive, but she's also losing her true self.
14:20 "Every day you're listening to, 'you're worthless, you're damaged good.'
14:26 You begin to believe it.
14:27 I didn't know that my name was Jessica.
14:30 I knew that my parents and my friends were looking for me, but the images of them, it's
14:36 kind of faded."
14:37 While Jessica is being brainwashed by her captor, her family refuses to give up.
14:43 The thought that they might see Jessica again someday keeps them going, and every day they
14:47 try to think of more ways they can help in the search.
14:50 They're able to get Jessica's picture on billboards and posters on the back of semi-trucks,
14:55 spreading her story across the country.
14:57 Various TV shows and publications pick up on the story, too, including the massively
15:01 popular America's Most Wanted series, hosted by John Walsh, who lost his own son after
15:07 an abduction.
15:08 The show seeks help from the public to find criminals, and the manhunt for Stephen Oliver
15:13 grows.
15:14 Monica leans on her brother for support, and he gives his all to find Jessica, too.
15:18 "My brother Steve was phenomenal, isn't even the word for it.
15:24 Steve worked tirelessly on trying to find Jessica."
15:29 "We did a lot of praying and hoping, everybody poured their hearts into it.
15:34 I wouldn't have given up, I don't care if it's ten years, I would still be looking
15:39 for her."
15:40 "I always felt she was alive, and I was trying to send my strength prayerfully to
15:44 her."
15:45 "I prayed all the time, had the courage and strength and hope that my family would
15:50 find me and bring me home."
15:52 Even though Jessica's identity is fading, when she prays, she can feel the connection
15:56 to her family.
15:58 Jessica also remembers something her mom used to tell her that gives her strength to keep
16:02 going.
16:03 "I knew that I found my back in Wisconsin would be looking for me, because my mom had
16:07 mentioned that if anything bad were to happen to myself and my brothers, that she would
16:10 find us.
16:11 Thinking about home and being back with my family was enough to keep me alive."
16:17 Christmas Day, 1995.
16:20 Monica is trying to hold it together and celebrate Christmas with her other kids.
16:24 But after more than three months of searching for her daughter, the emotional toll is weighing
16:28 heavily on her family.
16:30 "It was heartbreaking waking up on Christmas morning and she wasn't there.
16:34 There was no joy, there was no smiles, there was no happiness.
16:38 To think of your innocent baby in that kind of predicament where she's helpless and
16:44 it's really hard for a mother to live with that."
16:50 Jessica's mom is heartbroken.
16:51 She knows that the more time passes, the less likely it is that they'll find her alive.
16:56 But even over the holidays, she's still thinking of anything else she could do to find her.
17:01 December 28, 1995.
17:03 One hundred and four days after Jessica went missing, FBI investigator Jerry Southworth
17:08 gets a call that changes everything.
17:10 "I got a call about 11 o'clock at night from America's Most Wanted and they said,
17:16 'You know, we think we got something here.
17:18 There's a lady who says that she thinks she knows where they're at.'
17:21 She said, 'They're staying at that hotel.
17:23 I know them under different names.
17:26 Father and daughter, Dave Johnson and Cindy Johnson.'
17:29 I called the Houston office of the FBI.
17:32 I told them, I said, 'I'm sure this woman's got it right.
17:34 You're going to find her there.'"
17:37 Back at the hotel, it's in the middle of the night.
17:40 Jessica wakes up, confused and scared when she hears someone banging on the door.
17:44 "Albert said, 'Don't you dare do anything.
17:46 Don't you say anything.'
17:47 They knocked again and they said, 'This is the FBI.'
17:51 I did not know that I was being rescued by the FBI.
17:54 I just knew that some strangers were coming into the room."
17:57 "They flashed their badges.
18:00 I was freaking out because I was like, 'OK, is this fake?
18:03 Is this real?
18:04 Am I actually going home?'"
18:07 "I was talking to my sister on the telephone and we were planning on what to do next in
18:13 our search.
18:14 And my call waiting came in and it was the FBI agent."
18:18 "We got Jessica and we got Steve."
18:21 "She's in one squad car and he's in the other.
18:24 Those few words changed our lives completely."
18:31 Jessica is finally safe, but after being manipulated by Oliver for so long, it's hard for her
18:36 to understand that she's truly being rescued.
18:39 She's still terrified, and when they ask her for her name, she says it's Cindy Johnson.
18:44 She doesn't even respond to Jessica anymore.
18:47 They take her to the FBI field office and they show her pictures of herself.
18:52 She's still lost in the nightmare of Cindy Johnson, but everything changes when they
18:56 let her call her mom.
18:58 When she hears her voice on the other end of the phone, after three and a half long
19:02 months without knowing if she would ever hear her again, it finally clicks.
19:07 This is why she had the strength to keep going, the hope of seeing her family again.
19:12 They didn't give up their search, and because of that, Cindy Johnson is no more.
19:16 "Then after she started talking to me, I started to remember that my name was Jessica
19:20 and that she was my mom.
19:21 I was really excited and I knew I was going to be going home and seeing my family again."
19:27 Jessica's mom gets the first flight she can to Houston.
19:30 At the airport, she's finally reunited with her daughter, after 104 days of not knowing
19:35 if she was even alive.
19:37 "We were led down a hall and opened the door and there she was."
19:41 "I saw my mom coming out of the airport and I started running towards her and I gave her
19:47 a big hug and she's crying, I'm crying."
19:49 "I can still feel it to this day, the elation.
19:54 Everything that we had lived for was standing right in front of me."
19:57 "It was the late Christmas miracle, best day of my life."
20:07 At last, Jessica is free from Stephen Oliver.
20:10 She goes home, sleeping in her own bed for the first time in over three months without
20:15 anyone hurting her.
20:16 However, there's still a long healing process ahead.
20:20 Things are hard for Jessica, and while enduring all the emotional trauma, she also has to
20:24 deal with the physical damage from Oliver beating her.
20:28 She has to get multiple surgeries, and even at school, Jessica gets bullied for what she
20:32 went through.
20:33 People criticize her for not being able to escape on her own, and they even say she's
20:37 lucky for getting kidnapped because of all the attention it brought.
20:41 "I got ridiculed from junior high to high school to college.
20:45 Why didn't you run?
20:46 Why didn't you get away?
20:47 I felt guilt.
20:48 It's awful.
20:49 I don't know what it's like to be in our shoes and to be kidnapped and chauntized."
20:55 Jessica has a lot of bad memories associated with school.
20:58 Not only is she bullied after her return home, but it's also where Stephen Oliver abused
21:03 his position as a teacher's aide, using that as an excuse to get her alone.
21:07 But with the support of her family and her other teachers at school, she's able to be
21:11 stronger than her bullies.
21:13 She learns that there are other trustworthy adults who truly want the best for her, and
21:17 they help her to move on, refusing to let Oliver take over her future like he did with
21:22 her childhood.
21:23 In June of 1996, Stephen Oliver goes on trial.
21:27 Jessica's testimony is crucial for getting him convicted.
21:31 Oliver's lawyers try to argue that she went with him willingly and lured him to Texas.
21:35 She has to relive what she went through, testifying for hours, but she bravely tells her story
21:40 to make sure he can't hurt anyone else.
21:43 He's sentenced to 40 years in prison without the possibility of parole.
21:47 Before her kidnapping, Jessica loved doing art and writing.
21:51 Afterwards, she finds herself again through working on art projects.
21:54 She gets good grades at school and graduates college with honors, with a major in psychology
21:59 and minors in sociology and criminal justice law enforcement.
22:04 Because of all the abuse and trauma, doctors thought it was unlikely she would be able
22:08 to have children, but she got married, and miraculously, she was able to have kids of
22:13 her own.
22:14 She still has times where she's reminded of the horrors she went through as a child,
22:18 but she's surrounded by loved ones who helped her get back to being her true self.
22:22 And today, she's an advocate for other survivors, doing all she can to prevent others from going
22:28 through the same thing.
22:29 "It's very hard to relive the memories of what happened to my daughter, but it's
22:35 better to talk about it, to release some of that, and mainly to help other people learn
22:42 to prevent these things from happening again."
22:44 "I survived so that I could continue living a life and being a part of the community and
22:50 with my family.
22:51 I'm a symbol of hope to a lot of the parents out there that still have missing kids out
22:57 there.
22:58 And for the kids that have returned home, it's not a lot.
23:02 So talking to them gives them hope, makes them stronger."
23:05 "Today, I'll go and do speeches to the grade schools and middle schools and high
23:08 schools about physical abuse, sexual abuse, and if I can have one person or 50 people
23:13 come forward, all the pain and all the nightmares and stuff that I had to deal with just to
23:17 do it, I think it's worth it."
23:19 [music]