Woman who escaped a SERIAL KILLER after he kidnapped her as a teen shares her traumatic story on TikTok while revealing safety tips for others - including how to get out of restraints
A woman who survived being kidnapped by a serial killer when she was 15 years old is sharing her story on TikTok while offering advice about managing trauma and how to escape a captor.
Kara Robinson Chamberlain, 34, from Columbia, South Carolina, was watering flowers by herself in her friend's front yard on June 24, 2002, when a man she didn't know pulled into the driveway and asked her if he could give her some brochures.
The stranger, whom she would later learn was serial killer Richard Evonitz, put a gun to her neck and forced her into a plastic container in the back of his car. He later restrained her wrists and ankles and gagged her before taking her to his apartment.
Fighter: Kara Robinson Chamberlain, 34, from Columbia, South Carolina, was kidnapped by serial killer Richard Evonitz on June 24, 2002
Monster: Evonitz (right) restrained 15-year-old Chamberlain (left) before taking him to his apartment, where he held her captive for 18 hours and repeatedly sexually assaulted her
According to the FBI, Evonitz imprisoned Chamberlain for 18 hours and repeatedly sexually assaulted her before she could escape from handcuffs and flee his apartment.
During her appearance on Crime Watch Daily in 2018, she told fellow kidnapping survivor Elizabeth Smart that she studied her abductor and his belongings while planning her escape.
She was able to free herself from her restraints the next morning while her abductor slept beside her in his bed. When she ran out the door, she flagged down a car and had the two men take her to Richland County Sheriff's Department.
Chamberlain was able to help identify her attacker, who fled to Sarasota, Florida, when he realized she had escaped. He killed himself after a police chase.
Terrifying moment: Chamberlain, who has been sharing her story on TikTok, was watering flowers by herself in her friend's front yard (pictured) when she was abducted
Kidnapped: Evonitz pulled into the driveway and asked if he could give her some brochures. He then put a gun to her neck and forced her into a plastic container in the back of his car
Nightmare: The serial killer took her to his apartment, where he held her captive for 18 hours. The police listed her as a runaway when her parents filed a missing persons report
She later learned Evonitz was a serial killer after an investigation revealed that he had abducted and murdered Sofia Silva, 16, in 1996 and Kristen Lisk, 15, and her sister Kati, 12, in 1997, while living in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.
Evonitz has been suspected of other murders, and before killing himself, he confessed a number of crimes to his sister, according to the Washington Post.
Chamberlain's experience inspired her to pursue a career in law enforcement. The summer after her abduction, she started working with the Richland County Sheriff's Department.
She did administrative work in victim services and in the DNA lab for the rest of high school and college, which she paid for using the reward money she received for helping solve the murders of Evonitz's victims in Virginia.
Inspiration: Chamberlain opened up about her escape during her appearance on Crime Watch Daily in 2018
Hero: Chamberlain was able to free herself from her restraints, run outside, and flag down a car to take her to Richland County Sheriff's Department, where she helped identify Evonitz
Chamberlain later joined the police academy and spent a few years working as a school resource officer.
She then went into investigations, taking on sexual assault and child abuse cases, before finally returning to victim services.
The mom left law enforcement after having her two sons, but she is using her traumatic experience and work as a police officer to educate others as a motivational speaker.
Following her interview on Crime Watch Daily, she appeared on the Lifetime special Smart Justice with five other kidnapping and sexual abuse survivors, including Smart.
Online star: Chamberlain, who helped connect Evonitz to other murders, started sharing her story on TikTok in late May and now has nearly 160,000 followers
Say what? In one viral video, she recounted how her case was studied in one of her classes at the criminal justice academy before anyone knew her story
End of story: Chamberlain ended up being nominated for an award for outstanding bravery at graduation
'That helped me realize how much power we as women can have when we speak our truths, and we share and we empower people,' she told BuzzFeed News.
Chamberlain, who is in the process of developing her own documentary, started sharing her story on TikTok in late May and now has nearly 160,000 followers.
In one of her most popular videos, she put her own personal spin on the TikTok's viral 'put a finger down' challenge by sharing her kidnapping story.
'Put a finger down if you were kidnapped from your best friend's front yard when you were 15 from a guy who didn't look creepy or scary, but he put a gun to the side of your neck and told you to get into a plastic container in the backseat of his car,' she said at the start of the clip, which has been viewed more than 2.8 million times.
@kararobinsonchamberlain Reply to @bleugreenredd SSDGM friends.
¿ original sound - Kara Chamberlain
Using her voice: Chamberlain also offers advice about dealing with trauma and answers questions, including one about how to get out of restraints
Goal: Chamberlain left her job in law enforcement after having her two sons, but she is using her experience and work as a police officer to educate others as a motivational speaker
In another viral video, she recounted how her case was studied in one of her classes at the criminal justice academy before anyone knew her story. She ended up being nominated for an award for outstanding bravery at graduation.
Chamberlain also offers advice about dealing with trauma and answers questions, including one about how to get out of restraints.
She said she doesn't have any tips on how to get out of a normal pair of handcuffs, but she noted that there are tons of TikTok tutorials on how to free yourself from zip ties.
'I was personally in handcuffs, but they had a fuzzy ring around them,' she explained. 'So that provided enough slack that one of them was not that tight, and so I could kind of manipulate my hand and slide it out.
'The best advice for escape, though, is really that you have to be cognizant of what's going on and at some point your captor will probably let their guard down, and that's your opportunity to seize.'
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September 23, 2020
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