A 20-year-old experienced hitchhiker, Colleen Stan, let her guard down one time while seeking a ride from her home in Eugene, Oregon, to Westwood, California. What resulted was years of torture described as “unparalleled” in FBI history.
On May 19, 1977, Stan was preparing to hitchhike to attend a birthday party at a friend’s place in California. After declining two rides, she finally accepted one from a smiling young couple in a blue van. The decision seemed safe, since there was a baby and a 19-year-old woman, named Janice, in the vehicle, along with the 24-year-old driver named Cameron Hooker. However, it turned out to be a decision she’d pay heavily for the next seven years of her life.
