Original subtitles

Hey!

Where are you going?

They were essentially alone

in an incredibly deserted area of Dallas.

Guess I have to come get ya --

get ya -- get ya -- get ya.

Once you're on top of that hill,

unless somebody knew you were there,

you'd never be found.

Woit's dark.

There's no help coming from the outside world.

And he's there with a gun.

And all I can think about is, "this is it.

You're gonna die here."

Wothere are evil people in this world.

There just are.

There are people who do evil things.

He has never stopped.

There's nothing that a court could do,

a judge could do, to keep this man

from hunting and hurting women.

Beautiful night, isn't it?

It sure is.

You don't wanna do this, please.

Please.

No.

Every state that he went to,

he left a trail of sorrow,

despair, tragedy.

If we didn't catch him, eventually,

there would be more victims.

As Cody's teacher, I have an obligation

to do what I think is best for my students.

I know this is a difficult subject.

But three times now,

Cody has come into my classroom with some bruises.

Well, he's an active boy.

And it just goes with the territory.

I think we both know that's not true.

What are you accusing me of exactly?

I'm no accusing you. I'm just saying.

Ashley, actually that did sound like an accusation.

If this was a real situation,

you would've put on the defensive right away.

Yeah, Ashley, you had me going.

Laugh now, but when you have your own classrooms,

you might deal with this exact situation.

You're right. Gotta be prepared for anything.

In 2002, Ashley Freeman is in her

freshman year at the university of Mary hardin-baylor

in belton, Texas.

I'm from Mercedes, Texas,

which is a small town in south Texas

near the border of Mexico.

Growing up, we went to church.

Grew up in a very Christian background.

My dream was to be a teacher.

And I just felt like that was my calling in life.

I wanted to branch out and not just necessarily stay

with my same little group of friends

that I'd been through all of school with.

Hey, you wanna meet up tonight?

Sounds good, but I've got something I've gotta do.

Next time.

All right. See ya.

All right. Bye.

Ash! Mike!

You scared me half to death.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. No!

I was just tryin' to surprise you.

You almost gave me a surprise heart attack!

So, are you excited for our trip?

Freei met Michael at speech class.

Michael was interested in studying

exercise sports science and becoming a coach,

while I was in the elementary education.

So we had a lot of basic classes together.

Just -- just like to show you off to my folks.

Don't make too big a thing of it.

Your parents probably don't even like me.

Baby, my parents love you.

Don't be silly.

Ashley and Michael were your average

American teenage couple.

They fell in love young.

But my dad is gonna make US sleep in separate rooms.

You'll get the guest room. Come on.

You know I wouldn't have it any other way.

Okay. Good Christian girl?

I guess so.

I recall them being incredibly strong together.

Free Michael and I started dating

probably October of freshman year in 2001.

So we had been dating less than a year

and when we went to see his parents that summer.

On June 14,

Ashley and Mike visit Mike's family

in the Dallas suburb of duncanville.

So, Ashley, how many kids you want?

Dad.

It couldn't wait 'til, like, after dessert or something.

How many kids?

Um...

Three?

Womike was a great all-around kind of guy.

He loved to have fun. He was funny.

He enjoyed life.

You could tell how much he cared for Ashley.

I think Michael wanted to make things very special for Ashley.

I think he wanted to be sure that any experience

that they had or anything they did was fun,

was good, was meaningful, was special.

There's no clouds out tonight.

You can just see on forever.

If you look straight up, it makes you feel so small,

like we're the only people in the world or something.

Well, well! Enjoyin' the evening I see!

Yeah, dad.

Yeah, we were.

Mike and Ashley wanted to go some place

where they could be alone for a while,

enjoy each other's company.

Let's go for a drive.

Sure. Okay.

Free we decided that it would be fun to go off-roading

because he had a four-wheel-drive truck.

Mike has a particular spot in mind

for some alone time with Ashley.

There are places where if you only drove

10 minutes outside of downtown Dallas,

you would feel like you're in the middle of -- of the country.

And there are definitely pockets

where you could get lost.

What is this place?

We all call it the hill.

Rising above the outskirts of Dallas,

the hill is an off-roader's paradise.

There's trails that go up and down --

down this hill -- that are used by,

all-terrain vehicles,

four-wheelers, people that like to --

to get their trucks and things in the --

in the mud.

After dark,

it attracts a different sort of thrill seeker.

This hill was a place that was utilized by,

you know, teenagers and young lovers

to spend, some private time.

Dark out here.

You scared?

It's incredibly secluded.

Once you're on top of that hill,

unless somebody knew you were there,

you'd never be found.

Darn it.

My cell phone -- I left it back at your house.

That's okay. I left mine too.

We're not gonna be very long.

Besides, who do you need to call?

I'm right here.

Free there was nothing there.

You know, nobody,

no lights, no anything around.

But tonight on the hill,

they're not alone.

Freecoming down the mountain was another vehicle.

We both kind of blew it off because we were young and,

nothing's really bad going to happen.

If you were up on top of the hill,

then you can kind of look down and see all the city lights.

Um, I thought we were goin' four-wheelin', mister.

And everything was goin' great.

Ash, look, I just...

I want you to know that this weekend

with my parents and all,

it's not something that I do with every girl that I meet,

none of 'em really.

And look, I know that we're young.

I'm not saying that we run off tomorrow and get married.

But it's something that I think about is all.

I just... I thought you oughta know I'm not just --

I'm not just marking time with you.

Mike, I think someone's here.

After college sweethearts Ashley and Mike

pass a stranger on the road to the hill

in the north Texas countryside,

they think they've seen the last of him.

Freehe went on his way, or we so thought.

And then, we went on ours.

But in reality, he really turned around

and followed US up there.

Mike, I think someone's here.

Mike, I think we should get goin'.

They were essentially alone

in an incredibly deserted area of Dallas.

Go on. Start the truck. Start the truck. Let's go.

There was no one that knew where they were.

There was no one that was going to come find them.

They were alone.

What the hell, man?

What do you want?

I just love this time of night out here.

No one around. Peaceful.

I guess so.

Mike.

You ain't goin' anywhere.

Turn the truck off. Hurry up, boy.

Okay. Turn it off.

And give me your money!

Gimme all you got, the both of you!

Growing up, my dad had guns.

Come on. Hurry up.

But these guns were never pointed directly at me.

Twenty bucks?! That's it?! That's all you got?

Can we go now, sir, please?

We won't say anything. Just let US get out of here.

You can go first if you want.

Just -- whatever you want.

Freewe were hoping that, that would be the end of that.

And he could go on his way.

And we could go on ours.

Whatever I want? ...But it wasn't.

Can we go, please?

Please?

You. Get out.

Mike! Come on. Hurry up.

Okay.

Hurry up. Get over there.

Okay. Come here.

Give me your hands.

Don't you move.

Freethere's no help coming from the outside world.

No one's going to hear anything.

No one can see anything.

Come on.

Ashley!

Yeah.

Ha...

Come here.

Unh-unh-unh, don't fight it. Don't fight it.

No. Freethat's where...

Hey, hey, hey.

You wanna die here tonight?

Please.

Just leave US alone.

Leave US alone!

Free he proceeded...

Please, no.

To rape me.

They say your life flashes before your eyes.

That's really not what happened in my case.

It was more like, here's everything

that's not gonna happen in your life.

Look at that sweet face.

I wanted to be able to one day have my own family.

And all I could think about is, not gonna graduate,

not gonna become a teacher --

none of that's gonna happen.

I'm not gonna have a full life.

Please! Ashley!

Tied up inside his truck,

Mike is powerless to stop what's happening to Ashley.

Ashley!

I can only imagine what he went through,

as a young man,

just having the love of his life...

Ashley! Taken from him,

raped in front of him.

Sexual offenders don't steal.

They don't take because they like sex,

or they like to rape.

It's all about power.

Ashley! Ashley!

Ashley! Mike.

Hey.

Don't you move from this spot,

or I will kill you.

What did you do?!

Mike!

No! Wait! Wait!

No! No, please!

Mike, no! No!

My god, no!

Mike! Mike, no!

Ashley was terrified that she --

she was gonna lose Mike forever,

that no way is he gonna get out of that truck.

Help me! Please! Somebody!

Free and it was all...

Unreal...

No!

Unimaginable.

No!

This was likely the end game

that a man that's willing to murder

and execute her boyfriend

does not care about human life,

does not care about her at all.

And I think she quickly realized

that she would likely die that night at this man's hands.

Freeit was just the flight reaction to, you know,

get out of there as quickly as possible.

Hey!

Where are you going?

Come back here now.

Okay.

So we're playin' that game?

Guess I have to come get ya.

Get ya -- get ya -- get ya.

Alone in the dark

somewhere outside of Dallas, Texas,

with no hope of rescue,

Ashley has nowhere to run.

Ha-ha-ha...

Don't fight it.

You ain't goin' anywhere.

Turn the truck off! Give me your money!

You ain't goin' anywhere.

Hurry up, boy. You ain't goin' anywhere.

Turn the truck off.

You ain't goin' anywhere.

...goin' anywhere.

Beautiful night, isn't it? Hurry up!

Turn the truck off. Don't fight it.

You're not goin' anywhere. Turn the truck off.

Don't fight it. Not goin' anywhere.

Girl, I told you not to move.

I know. I'm sorry.

You s... I'm so sorry.

You make one more bad move like that,

and I'll give you a hit with a bullet in your head.

With Mike's truck still burning,

Ashley is forced to leave the hill.

Wo when they drove off...

Put this on.

And the truck was on fire,

she thought she'd never see Michael again.

When Ashley was taken from the hill,

she did everything she could to save her life.

Where are we going?

You'll see.

Hey.

Why don't we go to a hotel?

I mean, I can get cleaned up. And we --

we can be alone there.

I mean, look, why do we have to be out here

in the middle of nowhere?

I say where we go, okay? So shut up!

At some point, she realized nothing would work.

Where are we going? Where are we going?!

S-Still?

Please leave me a message.

Sweetie? I've tried his phone twice.

I'll try Ashley.

By the early morning hours,

Mike and Ashley have yet to return home.

Well, sh-- should we call the police?

And tell 'em what? That our 20-year-old son

and his 19-year-old girlfriend are out too late?

Just, we'll... Just give it some time.

Give it some time.

The time is running out.

Ashley's attacker takes her from the hill

to yet another desolate location.

The Trinity river bottoms

are an extremely secluded area south of downtown Dallas.

There's nobody around.

It is literally a desolate marshland.

Take that jacket off.

Hurry up. Put it in the seat.

Out.

I swear I won't tell anyone.

I swear it.

I know you won't.

Out.

Once, um, you know,

the truck stopped and I was out of the car,

I felt like, you know,

he is takin' me here to shoot me.

And at that particular time, she says, "this is it.

This is the only chance I'm gonna have,

or he's gonna kill me."

So she took off runnin'.

Freei was just out of there as fast as I could.

I got very cut up.

My legs were all scraped up. I didn't feel any of that.

19-year-old Ashley Freeman

faces a horrific end

in the desolate Trinity river bottoms

after a stranger kidnaps her from her boyfriend's truck.

Freeand that's when he did actually shoot me.

All I could think about is, "this is it.

You're gonna die here."

Then, I didn't.

You know, I didn't move after I was shot

because I wanted him to think that I was dead.

I wasn't sure exactly how long I was going to have to lay there.

And I wanted to make sure that I gave plenty of time

for him to actually leave

and not just be waiting to see if I'm okay.

I believe that he felt that it was a vital shot -- fatal.

So he left -- left her there to die.

Freemy leg is bleeding.

My thigh had a gunshot wound in it.

I know that there is a major artery there

and that you can bleed out very, very quickly.

A bullet had entered her body.

And in the position she was in, it made five wounds.

Freei didn't know until later that the bullet

had not actually exited my body

and that it was still inside and that I had, um,

internal wounds in the abdomen area as well.

Even after being violated sexually, and shot --

had multiple gun shot wounds,

the mental strength that she had to endure this entire thing,

and still be motivated to be helped

and to try to get out of this situation alive

was tremendous.

Tremendous will to survive.

As she bleeds, and precious minutes pass,

Ashley searches for any sign of civilization.

Woit just breaks your heart to know that

here was this 19-year-old girl

out in the dark somewhere in the Trinity river bottoms

walking trying to get help bleeding.

Freethere is obviously a protecting hand,

a power greater than mine.

There is absolutely no way that I could've kept my head

and remained this calm

had it not been for god, there, protecting me.

An hour later after an excruciating mile-long walk,

Ashley approaches a vacant construction site.

I didn't know what situation I was gonna encounter next.

I didn't know where I was.

And maybe I would end up in a worse situation.

Hey!

An overnight security guard at the construction site

is the answer to Ashley's prayers.

I'll call for help. Okay?

I'm gonna go get you help. Okay?

Freei knew that I shouldn't be alive.

That -- there's -- there's no way that

I should have survived all of that.

To survive this type of crime,

in my opinion, was a miracle.

Ashley is rushed to a hospital in downtown Dallas

where surgeons are able to stabilize her condition.

Fiona, may I have a word, please?

Sure. Thank you.

Ashley, when you're ready,

I need to take a full statement

to make sure we catch whoever did this to you.

It's hard to...

Mike!

Can you please...

Tell me what happened to Mike?

Mike! No!

Help me! Please, somebody!

Ash!

Mike?

Baby!

I didn't know you were alive.

So are you!

I missed you so much. Are you okay?

Were you hurt?

God.

How did you...

Michael fought for his life.

He was able to somehow,

miraculously, get free.

Kicked his way out of his own vehicle.

When Michael was finally able to get the attention of drivers,

he was taken to the hospital, treated for his burns.

That wasn't what was on his mind.

The only thing he cared about was Ashley.

Womichael said that when

the gentleman drove off with Ashley,

he thought he'd never see her again.

I love you.

Ashley and Mike are safe, for now.

But the hunt for a ruthless criminal has just begun.

We felt that we had a sexual predator in our city.

And it was... We were on all high alert.

DNA testing from the rape kit is inconclusive.

But the victims are able to share vital clues.

The most important thing

was that they were able to give a detailed

description of the suspect's truck.

If police can find the vehicle soon enough,

Ashley's fingerprints will prove she was inside.

But the suspect and the vehicle

have vanished without a trace.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, we have more than 100 of those tan pick-ups.

We looked at all of them. Nothing.

Okay. Let me know.

Nothing.

In the 6 months since Ashley and Mike

gave their statements to police,

the trail for the stranger on the hill goes cold.

Mike! No! No!

Dallas police department

was between a rock and a hard place.

They spent months searching for this truck.

Free it was just kind of always

at the back of your mind

that he can't live that far away.

Is he gonna come back? Is he gonna try to...

Give you a hit with a bullet in your head!

You know, finish the job.

For 9 months, Dallas police work desperately

to identify the man who raped 19-year-old Ashley Freeman

and did his best to kill her

and her 20-year-old boyfriend, Mike.

No, wait! Please! No!

The following year, a witness finally spots

a truck near Dallas that matches Ashley

and Mike's description of their assailant's vehicle.

She was able to call 911.

And patrol officers, we spotted

and was able to locate a suspect in that truck.

The truck matched to a "t."

We knew the tires matched the tire tracks on the hill.

During the interview, he denied any criminal acts very calmly,

um, smooth talker,

seemed confident.

But we knew we had the right guy.

The suspect in custody

is already well-known to law enforcement.

His name is leeroy Rogers.

Now, just remember, he can't hurt you.

There is absolutely no need to be afraid of him.

You can see him but he can't see you.

And he can't hear a word anyone says in here.

Just take your time.

Tell US if this is the guy.

Beautiful night, isn't it?

Come here.

You wanna die here?

No.

That's him.

That's the guy.

Freei knew exactly what he looked like.

And I knew it when I saw him.

I was 100 percent confident that I picked the right person.

Leeroy Rogers is one of the most vile,

calculating, and evil individuals

I've ever come across in my career.

You don't wanna do this. God knows.

No.

Leeroy Rogers was a -- a lifelong criminal.

He was known through Texas

and his home state of Ohio

as being both a petty criminal

and a violent offender.

Charged in 1984 for the killing of a store clerk,

Rogers could not be prosecuted

due to a lack of witness cooperation.

Mr. Rogers seemed to have skirted the law

through his whole life.

For one reason or another, he always avoided

that life sentence

that this man so justly deserved.

Mr. Rogers had been arrested for sexual assault

in St. Louis, Missouri.

Again, he wasn't prosecuted for that case.

Definitely one of the worst predators

and violent persons I've ever met,

and certainly had a mission to hurt people

and was successful in that many, many times

unfortunately.

Not only the victims of his crime,

but to their families as well.

He made their lives miserable

and caused them to have lifelong, terrible memories.

It's all over, baby.

Freeit was a big relief that he had been arrested.

And it was just kind of,

"I don't have to worry about that anymore."

In 2003, leeroy Rogers is charged with attempted murder

and sexual assault for his attacks

on Mike and Ashley.

As we neared the trial date,

Ashley and her family made a decision

that she just couldn't do it.

Taking that witness stand and having to face the man

that did this to her was going to be too much

physically and emotionally for her to handle.

We made the decision to offer a plea bargain

on this case respecting the decision

of the Freeman family.

And that's what we did.

Leeroy Roger's sentence

takes him off the streets for 10 years.

But his reign of terror is far from over.

In 2015, he was arrested again,

charged by Ohio police with the murder of two women

in his home town of massillon.

Rogers had a pretty constant m.O.

He would target a white female,

take them to an isolated, wooded area

where no one would hear pleas for help,

or he would be seen; In darkness.

Havin' a firearm in all three cases,

shooting all three victims.

It was clear in my mind

that he had thought he had killed Ashley.

And later on, learning that

he had not actually murdered Ashley,

that she was able to help

in the investigation and his apprehension,

that's him. He didn't want that

to happen again.

So the two Ohio cases,

after he had sexually assaulted them,

he killed 'em and made sure he killed 'em

by shooting them both in the head.

Free that whole incident

was very much like a horror movie.

So while that incident was very horrifying at the time,

it's just one of those storms you had to weather

to get to where you wanted to go.

But I use that by not taking anything for granted.

I hope that I instill that with my students that I teach --

because I did become a teacher,

and I did finish college, and I did graduate.

My dad tells me, "I thank god every day

that you're still alive."

And, you know, I am thankful I'm still alive

because there's plenty of living left to do.