Mike Paluska, CBS46
ATLANTA (CBS46) - It has been more than 11 years since Alicia Kozakiewicz was abducted outside her Pittsburgh home, driven hundreds of miles away and locked in a basement that was hell on earth.
Not a day goes by that Kozakiewicz does not remember the horrific crimes against her mentally and physically.
"I fear I will wake up and still be there, and this is all a dream," Kozakiewicz said. "It is hard to sit here, and talk about it and relive it, but that's not the important part. The important part is it (the story) gets out."
Kozakiewicz was abducted in 2002 outside of her Pittsburgh home by Scott Tyree. Tyree manipulated Kozakiewicz through Yahoo Chat. At the time, she had no idea the danger she was in.
"What he had done was groomed me and made himself seem like my best friend in the world," Kozakiewicz said. "And we talked about everything. And he was always on my side and he made my friends seem like they were bad people and my parents were bad people for me."
Tyree would ultimately abduct her and drive to his home in a suburban Washington D.C. neighborhood. There, she was chained to the floor with a collar locked around her neck. For four days she was tortured, beaten and sexually assaulted.
On the last day of her captivity, Kozakiewicz said she knew he was going to kill her.
"That was the day he told me he was beginning to like me too much. And that night we were going to go for a ride. And I took that as he was going to kill me. And I realized that was the day - game over," Kozakiewicz said.
Why didn't she run? Scream? Try and break free? Those are questions victims are often asked. This is Kozakiewicz's response.
"You can't comment on that until you are there. For me, I was never really sure if he was just standing outside the door waiting to hear me to scream, and it was a test. ... That is enough fear to keep you put," Kozakiewicz said.
Tyree left for work, and she waited to be murdered. That didn't happen. The Federal Bureau of Investigation were able to track Tyree's home using the internet. With guns drawn, they swarmed the home and saved Kozakiewicz's life.
"It really gave me a second chance at life. They are my angels," she said.
With all of the stories of kidnapping victims being found years, even decades later, Kozakiewicz wants people not to give up on the missing.
"The important message out of this is hope. Never give up," Kozakiewicz said.
Kozakiewicz has talked to thousands of children over the years to warn them about the ‘monster' that attacked her.
"If I speak to a million kids, it doesn't matter. It is the one that matters. Just reaching the one to save them from what I've gone through and my parents have gone through, it is worth it," Kozakiewicz said.
Currently, she is a contributor on Discovery ID. And she has started a nonprofit called the Alicia Project.
Tyree pleaded guilty to traveling in interstate commerce for the purpose of engaging in a sexual act with a minor. He received nearly 20 years in prison and according to the Bureau of Prisons is scheduled to be released as early as 2019.
"He is not a person to me. People always ask, ‘Did you forgive him?' Absolutely not. I have made him not a human. You can forgive a human they make mistakes. Monsters don't," Kozakiewicz said.
Copyright 2013 WGCL-TV (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.
Read more: http://www.cbs46.com/story/22222451/kidnap-victims-continue-fight-to-save-others#ixzz3J7Qh7GTl
ATLANTA (CBS46) - It has been more than 11 years since Alicia Kozakiewicz was abducted outside her Pittsburgh home, driven hundreds of miles away and locked in a basement that was hell on earth.
Not a day goes by that Kozakiewicz does not remember the horrific crimes against her mentally and physically.
"I fear I will wake up and still be there, and this is all a dream," Kozakiewicz said. "It is hard to sit here, and talk about it and relive it, but that's not the important part. The important part is it (the story) gets out."
Kozakiewicz was abducted in 2002 outside of her Pittsburgh home by Scott Tyree. Tyree manipulated Kozakiewicz through Yahoo Chat. At the time, she had no idea the danger she was in.
"What he had done was groomed me and made himself seem like my best friend in the world," Kozakiewicz said. "And we talked about everything. And he was always on my side and he made my friends seem like they were bad people and my parents were bad people for me."
Tyree would ultimately abduct her and drive to his home in a suburban Washington D.C. neighborhood. There, she was chained to the floor with a collar locked around her neck. For four days she was tortured, beaten and sexually assaulted.
On the last day of her captivity, Kozakiewicz said she knew he was going to kill her.
"That was the day he told me he was beginning to like me too much. And that night we were going to go for a ride. And I took that as he was going to kill me. And I realized that was the day - game over," Kozakiewicz said.
Why didn't she run? Scream? Try and break free? Those are questions victims are often asked. This is Kozakiewicz's response.
"You can't comment on that until you are there. For me, I was never really sure if he was just standing outside the door waiting to hear me to scream, and it was a test. ... That is enough fear to keep you put," Kozakiewicz said.
Tyree left for work, and she waited to be murdered. That didn't happen. The Federal Bureau of Investigation were able to track Tyree's home using the internet. With guns drawn, they swarmed the home and saved Kozakiewicz's life.
"It really gave me a second chance at life. They are my angels," she said.
With all of the stories of kidnapping victims being found years, even decades later, Kozakiewicz wants people not to give up on the missing.
"The important message out of this is hope. Never give up," Kozakiewicz said.
Kozakiewicz has talked to thousands of children over the years to warn them about the ‘monster' that attacked her.
"If I speak to a million kids, it doesn't matter. It is the one that matters. Just reaching the one to save them from what I've gone through and my parents have gone through, it is worth it," Kozakiewicz said.
Currently, she is a contributor on Discovery ID. And she has started a nonprofit called the Alicia Project.
Tyree pleaded guilty to traveling in interstate commerce for the purpose of engaging in a sexual act with a minor. He received nearly 20 years in prison and according to the Bureau of Prisons is scheduled to be released as early as 2019.
"He is not a person to me. People always ask, ‘Did you forgive him?' Absolutely not. I have made him not a human. You can forgive a human they make mistakes. Monsters don't," Kozakiewicz said.
Copyright 2013 WGCL-TV (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.
Read more: http://www.cbs46.com/story/22222451/kidnap-victims-continue-fight-to-save-others#ixzz3J7Qh7GTl
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