Original subtitles

Trapped on a property in rural Oklahoma...

Up in there, we have a lot of gravel roads,

a lot of roads that don't go all the way through.

We have dead sections, dead ends.

Face-to-face with a sinister madman...

We had never heard his name,

hadn't blipped on our radar screen at all.

Stop! Hey!

And no one can hear you scream.

He had done it before, and he had kept getting away with it,

and so he felt bulletproof.

I am not going to just die.

And if I am, I'm going to die trying.

I'm going to fight.

An hour's drive east of Oklahoma city,

Prague was founded by Czech immigrants who named the city

for the capital of their homeland.

It's a small agricultural town with just over 2,300 residents,

most of whom have lived there for generations.

I can't imagine more than about 3,000 people, very quaint.

Everybody's been there for years and years and years.

Up in the panhandle, houses are far and few between.

It's more of an open area up there.

In the fall of 2010,

Ethan walton and his girlfriend, Amanda burney,

are enjoying breakfast with Amanda's sister, Alicia.

My gosh, these pancakes are delicious, Alicia.

Would you like some more?

Well, yeah, maybe just a couple more.

I think I've already had about 50, though, so...

My son, first born, goofball,

6-foot-2-plus at the age of,

like, I don't know, 13, 14.

Big feet, 13 1/2 when he was in track and field.

He was a practical joker.

He liked to be happy and make people happy.

What?

Ethan and Amanda

have been together since senior year,

and today they are taking a big step towards their future.

Hey, Alicia, I can't tell you how much I appreciate

you letting US borrow your car.

It's the least I can do for you two lovebirds.

We were like best friends from the get-go.

We were really giving people,

and I could tell that in his nature somehow.

I don't know quite what else led me to, you know, be like, ""

just for the simple fact that we got along,

we meshed really well together,

and it was always just a good time.

Ethan, if this goes the way

I think it will, you need to promise me

that you're going to take good care of my baby sister.

Me take care of her?

Yeah, more like the other way around.

Hey, it's 8:30. We better get going.

Today is the day that

Ethan is selling some family land

to a man named Glen gouker.

My dad and... How do you know this Glen?

I don't really know him at all.

I know my dad sold him an old backhoe a couple months ago.

Yeah, and his check bounced.

Yeah but he made good on it eventually.

Where does his live?

Prague, out on moccasin trail, near highway 3350.

Okay. You guys better get going.

But I have to run some errands this afternoon,

so I need the car back.

Yeah. We'll have it back by noon.

I'll have lunch ready. Thank you for the pancakes, too.

You're welcome. Delicious.

Bye. Bye.

See you.

In a couple short hours,

we exchange this piece of paper for $30,000.

I mean, damn, that's a lot of money,

enough to start our new life in style.

Ethan was advancing.

He was finishing his high school diploma.

He was doing the steps that would bring him

a next step in his life.

You know, engaged to Amanda,

theoretically of course, they were going to be married.

They're going to have children.

They're going to get jobs, et cetera.

They were going forward, and that's a good thing.

Yet, despite the exciting occasion,

a heavy feeling hangs over Amanda.

That night, I had had this dream

about the world ending,

and I woke up crying.

And I had never had that experience before.

And Ethan kind of came over there and was like,

"what's wrong?"

You know, and I just told him, "I had this crazy dream,

you know, that this world was ending."

I still had that lingering, you know, bad feeling

that just kind of followed me there.

After a 45-minute drive,

Ethan and Amanda passed through Prague

and onto the dusty moccasin trail road

towards Glen gouker's property.

The place looks deserted.

That's odd.

It doesn't look like anyone's home.

He did say 9. Didn't he?

Yeah.

Here, I'll go knock.

Okay. Here you go.

When we first got there, Glen was not there.

And, you know, I had called and texted,

and said, "hey, we're on our way."

And he was like, "okay."

The general area itself is pretty vast and pretty rural.

Everybody's got at least a couple acres.

Glen's house is on the left, then there's Ethan's property.

And after that, it's a dead end.

Hey, Glen?

Okay.

What?

Hey, Glen, you in here?

You scared me.

Can I help you?

Um...

Yeah, my boyfriend's looking for Glen.

That's my husband,

and he ain't here right now.

Well, we were supposed to meet him here today

to sell him some land.

Might just...

Hi.

This is Glen's wife.

This is my boyfriend, Ethan. Hi.

Hi. Yeah.

Is he around? No.

Maybe he just ran to the bank or something.

That's great.

Well, we don't want to impose,

so we'll go wait in the car for him.

Thanks. Appreciate it. All right.

You know, I've never done any sort of

business deal like this, besides selling my car.

Like, that's literally the only business I've ever done.

I still was so naive.

I didn't think, you know, anything at all was wrong.

Come on, where is he?

We have to get the car back to Alicia.

It's after 11. Don't worry.

We'll buy her, like, a big bottle of wine or something.

I'm gonna see --

hey, Glen. Hey, I didn't see you drive up.

Parked around back. Did you bring the deed?

Right here.

Brought your girlfriend?

Yeah. This is Amanda.

Her and I are getting pretty serious.

Is that so? Yep.

Good for you two. Let's make this official.

Let's go around back and sign this thing.

Yeah.

Hey, you want to wait in here?

It shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes.

Here's the deed.

Yeah.

Be right back.

All right. Let's do it.

He seemed like a really friendly, personable,

kind of, I guess, guy.

He was a really rough-looking fellow,

but nothing seemed off.

But "a couple of of minutes"

stretches to much longer.

And the next time Glen comes out, Ethan isn't with him.

Hey.

We need you to be a witness.

I knew that you actually did need witnesses for these things,

and so I was like, "okay."

You know, I grabbed a pen because I was like,

"I'm going to sign some stuff."

Left my phone in the car.

Going into that shed right there.

Watch your step.

Get this door open for you.

Ladies first.

Where is he?

I'm really glad you came out here today.

Ethan?

Ethan walton and his girlfriend Amanda burney

have traveled to a remote Oklahoma farmhouse

to complete a land sale,

but Amanda suddenly finds herself

in a dangerous situation.

Ladies first.

Initially going into the shed,

I saw a body laying on the floor.

It was Ethan's body.

I saw his bright orange and white shoes.

And then I kind of soaked it all in, then it hit me...

Ethan.

...well, this is definitely out of the norm.

This is not okay.

No! I got grabbed from behind.

That's enough! Hey!

He put his hand over my mouth,

and I felt some cold steel to my temple.

Shh!

What did you do to him?!

Did you really think that I was going give you $30,000

for that damn piece of land over there?!

I don't think he ever planned on paying my boy

for the land.

I think that he intended

to perpetuate bad acts

on Ethan and on Amanda.

Come on!

Get over here!

Yeah.

He picked me up and put me on a deep freeze

in front of an air conditioner

which was set at 65 degrees.

I don't know why.

I will always remember that number.

Shh.

The car.

You can have that.

You can have whatever you want.

I'm going to show you what I want.

I'm going to show you what I want.

Meanwhile, the deadline for

Amanda and Ethan to bring the car back to her sister

has long since passed.

She has no idea what her sister Amanda is enduring.

Get over there and sit down.

Sit.

Gouker actually sexually assaulted Amanda

on three different occasions in the shed.

That was fun.

But I got to do this to you

because you're a bit of screamer.

Keep it down, now.

Need these.

I'll be back.

She was cuffed to this pole and was actually hearing

Ethan moan and gurgle.

He was crying at the same time.

That was heart-wrenching in itself.

That was... It was something terrible

that I had to listen to for a really long time.

While the nightmare unfolds in the shed,

Glen gouker wastes no time in covering his tracks.

Meantime, Amanda's sister Alicia

is becoming increasingly alarmed.

The afternoon hours tick by.

I think she tried both of them's cellphones

throughout the day, because their agreement was

they could borrow the car but they had to have it back

in, like, 2 hours.

Hey, mom.

Have you heard from Amanda?

She was supposed to home at noon.

She's not answering.

Do you mind calling her?

Okay. Let me know if you hear anything.

After hours in the shed...

I'm moving the party inside.

Amanda weighs her options,

of which there are precious few.

Got a few friends that I'd like you to meet.

I didn't want to die,

and if I was, I was going to die trying.

And I was going to die fighting.

And, to me, death really was not an option.

Being scared, it was not an option.

I knew that I had to just do it.

I had to overcome everything, despite everything.

Stop! Hey!

Hey! Hey!

You're going to regret that.

But her attempt at escape doesn't work,

and it only seems to make Glen gouker angrier.

Now.

What? What?!

Can I have some water, too?

What?

No "please"?

Please.

Please, can I have some water?

I'll get you some water.

I looked around the room.

There was a window directly behind me,

and there were guns on the walls,

guns on a gun rack.

There were knives.

And just when Amanda thinks that her captor

is coming back,

someone else enters the room.

Help me. Please. Help me.

Held captive in a remote Oklahoma farmhouse

with no one around to save her, Amanda burney

sees someone peering in through the bedroom door.

My god. Please help me.

Please untie me before he comes back.

It's Michelle gouker.

What the hell you doing in here, Michelle?

Don't get all snippy with me.

I was just checking on our guest.

Come on. There you go.

That good?

Want a little more?

We got a little spill there.

Unh!

Don't do anything I wouldn't do.

Get out of here.

Go. Now!

I'll be right back.

At that point, she made the decision that the only way

that she was going to survive,

she was going to have to do something,

and if she was going to die, she was going to die fighting.

Seven hours after Amanda was supposed to

return home, her sister Alicia's frustration...

Hey, um... ...Has turned to fear.

Look, I know this is super last-minute,

but can I borrow your car?

Yeah, Amanda took mine.

She was supposed to be home at noon,

and I haven't even heard from her.

I'm just starting to get worried.

Thank you. Okay. Thank you so much.

All right. I'll be right over.

All right. Bye.

She decides to drive out to Glen gouker's property

herself to look for her sister.

She's being checked on every 10, 15 minutes,

maybe even less than that.

The chances of her fighting her way out are minimal.

But that doesn't stop Amanda

from trying to free herself.

I started to play with this hand,

and I noticed the more you pull on it,

the more it actually lets loose, and you get some play with it.

And so I was like, "okay. I can actually...

I can do something with this."

I made sure I looked the same every time she came in

because she would quickly just open the door,

look right at me and then shut the door and leave.

As soon as she would leave, I slipped my hand out,

and I began untying this hand.

Someone's here.

Some lady.

Look, I'm going to go see what she needs.

Don't do anything stupid.

Howdy, ma'am. Hi.

Can I help you?

Are you Glen gouker?

I am, indeed. How can I help you?

I'm looking for my sister, Amanda.

She and her boyfriend, Ethan,

were supposed to be coming here this morning.

They said they were selling you some land.

Yeah. That's just what they did.

They came here,

signed the deed and left probably about noon.

Did they happen to say where they were going?

Ethan was really excited.

They did say something about going to

a BMW dealership in the city.

Oklahoma city?

They didn't say for sure, but I'd say so, yeah.

Thanks for your time.

My pleasure.

I knew she looked for me, and he said,

"they just took the money and left."

And from that,

she knew I would not do that.

It won't be long before she comes back with cops.

You stay here.

I got some things I got to take care of.

I didn't know where he was going,

so I waited till he was far enough away,

and the last time she came in and checked on me,

as soon as she closed the door,

I slipped everything out, and I began untying my legs.

And that was one of the most frightening things.

First thing I go for is that gun.

So I'm trying to be really quiet,

and there are no bullets in the gun.

In fact, there are no bullets in any of the guns.

I didn't know what I was going to do then.

She had the wherewithal

to plan, to think,

to not go blackout

and go brain-numb

when she was faced with the most horrendous adversity.

She didn't know 100 percent that Ethan was dead.

So the only way to save Ethan, or try to,

was to save herself first.

And she wasn't going to lay down.

Aah!

She opened the door,

and I grabbed the handle,

and I just started slashing at her

and trying to get her hand off the door

so I could have control.

Unfortunately, she got the door shut

and locked me in.

Glen!

In a remote Oklahoma farmhouse,

hostage Amanda burney has gotten herself untied,

but she remains locked inside Glen gouker's bedroom.

Glen!

This is Amanda's last chance for survival.

It's now or never.

She's out!

That dumb bitch got untied.

Get the gun!

Aah!

I still have a scar on my knuckle,

and so I know

this 90-pound girl

can punch a window out.

She ain't going nowheres.

Be careful. She's got a knife!

This is on you.

No.

You let her escape!

No!

I just jumped out, and I landed on this glass.

My feet did not get cut.

I don't know how.

Start the damn car!

I got to find her.

I got to find her.

I got to find her.

Hey! Amanda!

I'm coming for you.

I thought about running to the shed first to get Ethan

and to at least see if he was alive,

but I knew that he wasn't.

Instead, she looks for any means of escape

from Glen's property.

Amanda!

Amanda!

Amanda!

I went straight.

I knew not to stay on the roads.

There's no cover, you know, and I ran north.

And I finally got to a house, and I thought, "thank god,"

you know?

Amanda!

That night, a woman named Carolyn Adams

is home alone.

She's not expecting visitors.

God! What?

Who are you?

My boyfriend!

He's hurt.

He might be dead.

They're after me. You have to help.

Who's after you?

Glen. Please.

I can't... help me.

Come on. Come with me.

Come on. It's all right, honey.

Darling, you're safe now. I'm going to call the police.

All right?

Shh.

She says she's been raped.

Her boyfriend is hurt, maybe dead.

You got to get away from the window.

Shh!

He's going to kill me. Amanda. Amanda, look at me.

You got to hide.

Come on. Get inside.

Come on.

I'm going to go see what he wants.

Shh! Listen to me.

Look at me. Look at me.

You got to be quiet. All right?

Okay. Keep this door closed.

Okay.

While Amanda hides in the closet,

Carolyn takes a huge risk and goes outside.

Who in the world is making all that racket?!

Glen?

After fleeing the remote Oklahoma farmhouse

where she was held captive,

Amanda burney is now hiding in the bedroom closet

of Glen gouker's closest neighbor

waiting for police to arrive.

Who in the world is making all that racket?

Glen?

Glen gouker, is that you?

Amanda, you in there?! Amanda!

What are you doing on my property?

I'm looking for someone. She's a friend.

You see anybody around here?

Why would anybody come over here?

I haven't seen anything. I've been watching TV.

Are you sure about that?

This is really serious.

Wouldn't your friend be looking for you at your place?

They're on their way, they will be there in 5 minutes.

If she's in there, someone's going to pay.

Frank will be home any minute.

He's not going to take too kindly to you

being on our property.

We're wasting our time here!

Let's go! Let's go!

Come on.

Glen!

Get in the truck.

Yeah.

Nice seeing you, too.

Carolyn had the wherewithal to protect the stranger

who burst into her house, closed the door behind her,

Carolyn did, step out onto the driveway,

calmly chat,

like there was nothing wrong with the neighbor.

She continued to help and save Amanda.

And I just wished I'd ever been able to say thank you.

Finally, Glen gouker is apprehended

back on his property,

and the desperate search for Ethan begins.

He's in the barrel.

What?

The guy you're looking for,

he's in the barrel.

It was probably one of the most horrific scenes I had seen,

as far as a young man being beat so severely

and then duct-taped and put into a 55-gallon drum,

upside down, like a piece of trash.

It was unbelievable that somebody could even do that...

To a young man.

When it's someone so young

that their life is extinguished

before they ever have a chance

to see what their life is going to be,

that's a true travesty.

And especially when it's someone of the character

and the upbringing that Ethan was,

you never know what he could have done,

given the opportunity to keep breathing.

Glendon gouker is charged with

rape, kidnapping, and murder.

But the story doesn't end there.

Before the trial, Ethan walton's mother gets a call

from the prosecutor on the case.

And he said that there are other victims,

that the DNA collected has proven

and locked this perpetrator

in to a rape

and a double homicide that's very similar,

or similar enough to Amanda's and Ethan's case,

and other cases,

and those detectives from that other state

have asked me to ask you a question.

And he asked me to give up the death penalty.

And, as you can see,

it's still not an easy thing to do.

When she finally said, through tears, said,

"if it will help some other people,

some other parents to find out

what truly happened to their kids,

I'm willing to do it."

And that's a big moment for anybody to put their own

feelings aside

for the sake of other people.

I knew Ethan would have a legacy.

What a greater legacy out of bad could I ask for,

other than the sacrifice solved crimes?

Ethan's greatest sacrifice, his life,

at the hands of another,

is going to help other families.

I think he'd be proud.

Michelle gouker is sentenced to 20 years in prison

for being an accessory to murder and kidnapping.

In the few first years after her ordeal,

Amanda burney suffered from depression and PTSD.

She is now recovering and would like to work

with a victims' advocacy group.

She clearly had the fortitude and the gumption,

to use an Oklahoma term,

that not many people have to rise up

in a life-or-death situation.

And you just can't understate that.

She's a hero.

Every time I see her or talk to her,

I call her my little hero

because that's what she is to me.

And she always will be.

What matters is your inner strengths.

Even if you think you don't have any,

you'd be really surprised at the fact that you actually do.

You can be so much more brave

than you ever thought that you could be.

You can do so much more than you ever thought you could achieve,

and that is a mixed blessing, what happened to me.

I hate, I really hate that it happened,

but it made me who I am today,

and I am proud of who I am now.

I'm proud of everything that I've done.

And I am proud of who I am now.