In the other room, Charlene wondered whether she could find a knife. She also wondered what it would feel like to stab a man. Then a news bulletin came on. The newscaster said: “The search continues for the two Hastings girls missing since yesterday.”
Their pictures came up on the screen. The news program gave their names and showed footage of soldiers and policemen with dogs searching the area. Charlene wished Lisa could be there to see this with her. Instead, she could hear her screams from the other room, but there was nothing she could do about it.
In the bedroom, Lisa had turned away, so that she did not have to see the kidnapper’s naked body, or his erection. He told her not to worry; he was not going to do anything. Lots of pretty girls her age came to his apartment to play on the computer. She was pretty too. Would she like to play on the computer later?
As he got on top of her, she said it was not nice to take people away from their homes. He said it was not his fault her parents would not pay the ransom. Who had he talked to, she wanted to know? Her mother, he said, and she said it was okay for her to stay. Lisa accused him of lying.
She begged him to leave her alone, but he took her hand and put it on his penis. She pulled away. He told her again that she was beautiful and reached for the jar of Vaseline. As he smeared it between her legs, she told him that she was not going to let him rape her. But he forced her legs apart anyway. She was so small, she said. Would it hurt him? Why was he doing this? When he got on top of her, she realized that she would have to stop screaming and struggling or the sheer bulk of him would suffocated her.
Then came the pain. She made all sorts of promises in her head if it would stop. She would never be mean to anyone ever again. Tears were streaming down her face. Eventually it did stop and there was a sticky mess on her stomach. She did not know what it was.
When he tried to cuddle her afterward, it made her hate him even more. As she was uncooperative, he let her put her T-shirt back on and join Charlene while he had a bath. They seized the opportunity to search the apartment. They found only spoons in the kitchen drawers. He had hidden all the knives and forks. Charlene then found a letter with a name and address on it: “Alan Hopkinson… Kingfisher Drive, Eastbourne.”
Eastbourne is just along the coast from St. Leonards. They were only fifteen miles from home.
When he appeared from the bathroom he told them he would take then home, but not until after dark. He asked them if they wanted to play on the computer to pass the time. Lisa did not want to accept any favors from him, but thought that the computer room might provide some more clues. When Lisa went with him, Charlene got up too, but he would only allow one of them at a time.
The first thing Lisa looked for in the computer room was a phone. He did not seem to have one in the apartment. He made Lisa sit on his lap as there was only one chair. She asked if he was married. He said he was, but his wife and son did not live with him.
There were maps on the floor, some hand-drawn with arrows on them. He said he had been watching her for some time. She asked him why.
“Because you’re so pretty,” he said.
She asked again whether he was going to take them home when it was dark. He assured her that he would. But first they had better have a bath. He let them do this without him watching, but told them that they had better be quiet or the neighbors would hear them. Once they were finished, he brought them their school clothes and they got dressed. But still it was not dark outside.
While they waited, they watched TV. There was another news bulletin. This time they saw Charlene’s father and Lisa’s parents at a press conference, begging them to come home. Alan beamed and said that they were famous.
When it was over, Lisa had to get back in the sports bag and he carried her downstairs. Meanwhile, Charlene wrapped herself up in the garbage bag. But when they went out onto the landing, they heard voices.
“Quick! Run!” said Alan.
They ran around down the stairs to the basement parking garage. Charlene peeled off the garbage bag and leapt into the trunk next to Lisa. This time he gave them a little flashlight.
Charlene knew that it would take about half an hour to drive back to St. Leonards, but they had not gone far before the car stopped. The trunk opened and he told them quickly to get in the backseat of the car. They were in a dark alley. Charlene figured that they could have made a run for it, but if he was taking them home, what was the point?
First, he said, he was going to feed them. He went to buy them sausages and fries, telling them to stay where they were because it was a bad neighborhood. They were less than ten feet from people walking by. Charlene wondered if they should ask them for help. But the thought crossed her mind that someone else might kidnap them too.
Lisa noticed a newspaper on the front seat. The front page was filled with the search for the missing girls.
They wondered again whether they should make a run for it and tested to see if they could open the door. But Alan was watching them through the window of the food shop. If they ran, he could easily catch them. Before they knew it, he was coming back with the food.
The girls had lost their appetites. But Alan ate his meal, then headed off again. After a while, Lisa spotted a sign for Brighton. This meant they were going the wrong way. When Lisa pointed this out, he said he knew a shortcut. Then he turned off onto a side road, saying he had gotten lost. The girls begged him to let them out anywhere.
He drove on. Then they realized they had left the road and were driving over grass. It was as if they were in a field. Lisa said she needed to pee. He stopped the car and pointed to some bushes. Charlene asked where they were. He said she should come and look. When they got out, she realized that they were on the top of a cliff. Suddenly Alan pushed her. She lost her footing and was about to fall over the edge when he grabbed her by her sweater and pulled her back. He could have killed her. Then he said that he had decided to keep them for one more day.
When Lisa came back, she could not see Charlene. Alan grabbed her and pushed her within two feet of the cliff’s edge. She wondered whether he had pushed Charlene over already. But then she saw her a little way off.
He bundled the girls back into the trunk, and Charlene told Lisa what he had said. Then he started the car. Charlene wondered for a moment whether he was going to drive all three of them over the cliff, but soon they were back on the road. They had, it seemed, another twenty-four hours to live.
After fifteen minutes, they were back in the garage of his parents’ house. Lisa had to get back in the sports bag and he carried her inside. Then he got Charlene and led her down the corridor. Suddenly, Lisa heard a scream and she ran down the corridor. Throwing open the door to a back room, she saw Charlene kneeling naked on the floor with Alan penetrating her from behind.
Lisa screamed for him to stop it. He had promised that he would not rape her anymore. He told Lisa to be quiet or the neighbors would hear. They were bad people and would do terrible things to them. She said he was a bad person and he was doing terrible things to them. He had lied, she said. He had promised to take them home.
Suddenly he stopped and looked at the two of them.
“All right, we’d better go then,” he said and ordered Lisa to get back in the bag.
His eyes were cold and cruel. Lisa wondered whether she had made him mad and feared that he would take them back to the cliff and throw them off.
Back in the trunk, they decided the next chance they got to run away, they would seize it. They decided they would run in different directions. That way he could not catch both of them. They would run, even if they were on top of a cliff. Death was better than what they were being forced to endure.
Instead, he took them back to his apartment and let them sleep in his bed. He had to go and pick his parents up from the airport, he said.
When Charlene awoke the next morning, she was sure that it was her last day on earth. And she figured he would rape them again before he killed them. On top of everything else
, she was humiliated that Lisa had seen her like that. Had she imagined that she had not fought back? She kicked herself for having gotten into the trunk with Lisa that first day. She could have memorized the license plate number and run to a nearby house and spared them both this agony.
Lisa awoke and went to the bathroom. It appeared that he had not returned, and they hunted around the apartment for a way out. The front door was locked and there was no handle on the inside. They searched for a phone, but could not find one. Instead, they found pictures of children torn from magazines. Examining the maps Lisa had seen in the computer room, they found that the arrows pointed to local schools. They also found a list of what appeared to be children’s names and tortures he would like to inflict on them. They began to wonder whether he had tortured previous victims. Were things about to get even worse?
They decided that, if he had tortured other people, he must have killed them. Otherwise, the victims would have told the police and he would be in jail. Then they began to worry about what would happen if he did not come back. Would they starve to death? They feared shouting out the window in case it drew the attention of the man next door who Alan had said was even worse.
When Alan returned, he turned on the television. The news said that hopes of finding the two missing girls alive were fading. Charlene’s father made an appeal to anyone who was holding his daughter. She looked at Alan’s face. Plainly he was unmoved. Charlene could see that her father really thought she was dead.
Alan paced around the apartment. He told Lisa to come into the bedroom with him. She refused. He said he had something important to tell her. She said he could tell her out there. He stomped off.
Later he reappeared and ordered Charlene to go into the bedroom. When it became clear that he was prepared to drag her into the bedroom, she got up and went with him. Lisa felt guilty, but when she heard no noise coming from the bedroom she figured that nothing was happening.
The truth was that Charlene had been so brutalized that she did not put up any resistance. She was so sore and swollen that he could not do much. All she could offer was passive resistance. She refused to react to anything he did or said.
When he had finished, they went back in the other room and he told Lisa it was her turn. She did not dare refuse him twice. Afterward, he asked them if they were hungry. Lisa asked for pizza and chips, while Charlene continued to ignore him. When he went out to get it, they considered the possibilities of escape again. It was impossible.
When he returned with the pizza, Charlene decided that she had better have some.
“Don’t say I’m not good to you,” he said as he dished it up.
Why was he feeding them when he was going to kill them? Charlene wondered. But as darkness fell, she got more and more worried. Then he said: “Come on, Charlene. It’s your turn.” And the torment began all over again.
After he had finished with Charlene, he took Lisa into the bedroom. Then it was Charlene’s turn again; then Lisa’s. It went on all night. Eventually, after hours of trying, he managed to penetrate Lisa fully. The pain was excruciating. Lisa tried to do what Charlene had advised her to do and distance herself from the experience as much as possible, but the pain was so great that she could not help wondering whether it was possible to die from being raped.
When it was over, she went into the other room, where she hugged Charlene and they went to sleep in each other’s arms.
They were woken by a loud, insistent banging on the door. Charlene feared that he had invited some friends over to have sex with them. But Alan did not open the door. Then they heard a man’s voice say: “Police.” Alan told the girls to stay quiet, while he cursed under his breath.
They began to fear that the police would give up and go away, but they were too scared to shout out. Eventually he opened the door. A policeman asked his name, said that there had been a complaint, and asked him to accompany him to the station. Alan asked if he could get a couple of things, then mentioned, as an afterthought, that he had the two missing girls from Hastings.
The girls reached for their clothes as the police rushed in. Once the police had identified them, they told them not to get dressed. They needed them as they were, wearing nothing but T-shirts, as evidence. Then they wrapped them up and carried them down to a police car.
At the police station, the girls each faced the ordeal of a painful, invasive medical examination. Then they were fed and allowed to put on clothes that their parents had brought them. In a comfortable room full of toys, they were asked to describe what had happened to them. Charlene said, straight out, that she had been raped, numerous times. But that was not good enough. The police needed a detailed break down, day by day, hour by hour. Little Lisa found it hard even to say the words. It was then that they learned that the Spice Girls had made an appeal for them. Both girls were fans.
At last, their parents were allowed to take them home. Both of their homes were besieged by the media, and they discovered that the police had been camped out there in case a ransom demand came through.
The girls and their families were assured that Alan Hopkinson would go to prison for a very long time. Then, after two weeks, they went back to school. Things were a little awkward at first, but they soon settled back into their routine. It helped that Charlene and Lisa had each other to rely on. Then a letter came to the school office for Charlene. It read:Dear Charlene, I think it is really good that you were abducted by Alan Hopkinson because you have learned lots of things about sex and you’ve lost your cherry. I’m going to find you and abduct you myself now and we’ll do much more things than Alan ever did to you, just you wait and see.
Underneath there was a picture of a pregnant woman and the words: “This is what I am going to do to you.”
Charlene was horrified by this. The girls’ mail at home was being vetted, and the school had been told not to pass any correspondence on to them, but this one had been given to Charlene by mistake. The police managed to arrest the author two weeks later.
For Lisa there was another shock. Within weeks of her return, her mother left her father for another man.
Charlene was later encouraged to tell her father and the police about what Bert had done to her when she was six. However, when he was interviewed, Bert denied everything. Charlene could offer no proof and that case was dropped.
In court on May 28, 1999, Alan Hopkinson pleaded guilty, relieving the girls of the ordeal of testifying against him. He was given nine life sentences.
Lisa and Charlene gradually grew apart. Seeing each other brought back terrible memories. At secondary school, Lisa was bullied.
“Everyone knew what had happened to me, and some of the girls used to tease me by saying that I’d enjoyed it or had asked for it,” says Lisa. “They also used to look up all the details of the attack on the Internet and then read it out loud for everyone to hear. All my classmates knew Charlene had been there, too, but because she was bigger than me and much more confident, no one said anything like that to her.”
Charlene was never actually involved in bullying, but Lisa often wondered if she had encouraged it.
“She’d call me names on a regular basis, tell other people that I’d been rude about them behind their back, and she never stood up for me,” said Lisa. “I used to dread going to school and nearly left before taking my GCSEs [General Certificate of Secondary Education] because I was so unhappy there.”
However, following the death of a friend in a road traffic accident in 2005, Charlene held out an olive branch.
“I realized then that Lisa was the only person to truly understand what I’d been through,” Charlene said. “I knew I’d been an awful person and had been cruel toward her, and I wanted to make amends. My hands were trembling as I picked up the telephone. As soon as she answered, I blurted out: ‘I’m sorry.’”
Lisa accepted her apology. They got together and talked for hours, discussing for the first time the ordeal that they had shared. Despite everything, they discovered
that they had a special bond. After that, the two friends began to see each other almost every day. Despite the passage of time, Charlene still does not like walking along the road alone.
Chapter 11
John Jamelske—The Miserly Slave Master
IN MOST CASES, SADIST KIDNAPPERS have taken one victim, sometimes two. Gary Heidnik managed to hold six, though two of them were killed, but his career as a kidnapper was short. John Jamelske succeeded in kidnapping and holding five victims as his personal sex slaves, one after the other, over a period of fifteen years. When he released his victims, some were so intimidated they did not report their ordeal. Others had no idea where they had been kept and could not lead the police there. It was only when Jamelske was caught red-handed with his fifth victim that the whole sordid story came out.
An only child, Jamelske was born in the village of DeWitt, now a suburb of Syracuse, New York, on May 9, 1935. At school in nearby Fayetteville, he was withdrawn and was given the nickname “Germs” for his terrible acne.
“He wasn’t one to talk much,” said one classmate. “You’d say hello and that would be the conversation.”
Jamelske avoided sports and performed poorly in most subjects, though he did take an interest in history. His father was a horologist and collector of antique clocks, and encouraged him to go to college. He later graduated from a state university with a degree in watchmaking.
In September 1959, Jamelske married Dorothy Richmond, a schoolteacher who gave him three sons. They stayed in the vicinity of DeWitt, where the boys went to local schools and played little league baseball. But the children’s relationship with their taciturn father was problematic.
“My father was always odd,” one son told a journalist.
Jamelske supported his growing family by working in grocery stores; then he took a series of blue-collar jobs as a carpenter and handyman. Well-known for his miserliness, he was always ready to fight over a nickel. He scoured the area for bottles and cans, which he returned by the thousands for the deposit. He would also collect bottles that were not redeemable in New York from local recycling centers and take them to states where he could get money for them.
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