Serial killer's sole survivor tells story after 19 years

Daun, This is beautiful. God bless you and keep it up because you are the help certain people are looking for!!

You are a brave woman to have come through this, no matter how long it took. None of us are able to look back on our lives in a constructive way until we get a certain wisdom of years behind us...I guess this is your time, and you have had so much more to contend with than most of us. You should write your own book!

Kudos to her for being strong enough to share her story.

I am in the process of writing a book that should be completed by next spring. Writing has been the most healing of all... as well as the time that has passed.

I was very disappointed to see that the message i tried to get across to women out there was left out of the article. The problems I faced were because of a lack of coping skills at the time. Moving through the cycle of grief is absolutely vital to healing. If one gets stuck along the way the results can be devastating. If you have experienced Trauma in your life, get help, dont isolate...you may end up hurting yourself worse. Find a way to work through the entirety of the stages of grief...and never give up. I just want other to know surviving trauma is possible. I will take the critisim, the ridicule and the judgment of those who can not understand...but if i have helped one person than it is all worth it...... Daun Slagle

You can also follow me on Facebook, to read more about my experiences. Ty for all of your support.. Facebook/DaunsGT/Daun Slagle

My daughter escaped from a truck driver who picked her up in 1996, when she was 17 and hitchhiking from Sonoma County down to Santa Maria to try to see her mother. He kept talking about his wife and kids and how much he missed them. He stopped in Salinas at a motel and told her to wait while he picked up something they had for him there. It was daytime. When he returned, he grabbed her by the wrist and warned her not to try to escape or he would hurt her and led her towards a room. While his attention was distracted while putting the key in the door, she pulled her arm away from his grip and ran as fast as she could. He started to follow her but she was too fast, so he climbed into his truck. She ran down the street and into a store, where she hid. She said she saw him drive by a couple of times but he didn't come in, and she stayed inside until nightfall, then called home for a ride back to Sonoma County. She had been warned not to hitchike before, but had not taken the warnings seriously.

Unfortunately she died a couple of years ago, so I can't find out if Jesperson matches her kidnapper's description. I don't recall her saying how big he was, but she did say he was strong and had a tight grip on her wrist, and he was sort of slow and unable to catch her when she ran. I distinctly recall her saying he went on about how much he missed his family quite a bit during the drive, and that he gave no clue about his intentions until he was ready. She also thinks he called someone on the way from a pay phone, she thought it was his wife. Needless to say, that was the last time she hitchiked.

After reading Daun's tale, I can't help but wonder if the man was Jesperson.

Jesperson was arrested in March of 1995. He has not been out since then. So it your story happened in 1996 it could not have been him. DS

Daun: I'm so glad about your book! I have lost most of my family, my health and job within the last few years, and now my house is about to go. I wrote and self-published a poetry book this year and am well into a second book. Really does help to get this stuff off your mind and on to the 'virtual page', although I doubt many copies will be sold. It has been one of my 'stages of grief' and from the comments I've received, I have been able to help a few people along the way!

Daun Slagle wrote:

Jesperson was arrested in March of 1995. He has not been out since then. So it your story happened in 1996 it could not have been him. DS

I read up on him, and you are right. My memory of when it happened might be wrong, but I think more than likely it wasn't him. I think I would have recalled if she had said he was "very tall." From her description of him he was older and heavier than pics of Jesperson.

Unfortunately we all know there are plenty of pervs out there, so it was probably another truck driving one. I have to say I thank God she got away and it cured her of running off and hitching rides. I think we all know how foolish and dangerous it is for teenage girls (or anyone) to be hitching rides with strangers, unfortunately teen girls don't always realize how easily they can be fooled.

Thank you for sharing your story Daun, and I'm thankful you also managed to get away. Besides your amazing personal story of coping with several crises and perservering, I think that a lesson many young women should take away is that they do not know what plans a stranger may have for them. No matter how smart they think they are, they can be fooled, and it's a mistake that can cause them great pain or even cost them their lives.

omg he almost killed me thats all i can say

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