# Adult women held captive for 10 years? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 7, 2013, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698 "2013-05-07T14:03:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MizQuirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/94ad74/32.png) [@MizQuirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizQuirk)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/1 "2013-05-07T14:03:52Z")
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=12](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=12) I know the time is early in the reporting of this story in Cleveland, but isn’t it outlandish that these women could be kept quiet for that long? Even ten days would be hard to believe, don’t you think? Is anyone else as appalled as I am? ---
**Author:** ![MizQuirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/94ad74/32.png) [@MizQuirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizQuirk)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/2 "2013-05-07T14:12:19Z")
Sorry. I think this is the link I meant to cite: > **[HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News](https://www.huffpost.com/?err_code=404&err_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2F2013%2F05%2F07%2Fgina-dejesus-amanda-berry-found_n_3228815.html%3Ficid%3Dmaing-grid10%257Chtmlws-main-bb%257Cdl1%257Csec1_lnk3%2526pLid%253D309284)** > > Read the latest headlines, news stories, and opinion from Politics, Entertainment, Life, Perspectives, and more. ---
**Author:** ![nonacetone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonacetone/32/2819_2.png) [@nonacetone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonacetone)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/3 "2013-05-07T14:13:45Z")
Fear. Fear will make you do things that you would never do, otherwise. Maybe he had them so afraid of what would happen to them if they tried to escape, they didn’t think they could pull it off. I’m very glad they did, though! ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/4 "2013-05-07T14:14:43Z")
What exactly are you appalled by? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/5 "2013-05-07T14:15:25Z")
Well, they weren’t adult women when they were captured. There are very few details in the story as of yet - traumatized teenagers locked in a basement are a lot easier to keep in than adult women in the foyer. Could have been a _Room_ setup, and such things have happened before reasonably frequently. ---
**Author:** ![MizQuirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/94ad74/32.png) [@MizQuirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizQuirk)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/6 "2013-05-07T14:26:39Z")
> [@sandra\_nz](#): > > What exactly are you appalled by? The fact that evidently not one of them hatched some kind of plan for escape in TEN YEARS. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/7 "2013-05-07T14:29:08Z")
> [@MizQuirk](#): > > The fact that evidently not one of them hatched some kind of plan for escape in TEN YEARS. How could you know? For all we know, they made a dozen escape attempts and were foiled by their captor(s). ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/8 "2013-05-07T14:29:10Z")
> [@MizQuirk](#): > > The fact that evidently not one of them hatched some kind of plan for escape in TEN YEARS. How do you know they didn’t? All we can assume is that it took 10 years to hatch a successful escape plan. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/9 "2013-05-07T14:32:40Z")
why would age matter if you’re a prisoner? surely it’s not just fear that kept them in. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/10 "2013-05-07T14:32:57Z")
As I mentioned in the MPSIMS thread about this, at the least, that house must be more secure than it looks. That and the guys must be very careful with their security measures to last 10 years. But I guess the gimp finally forgot to lock the dugeon door. PS, not really blaming the girls here. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/11 "2013-05-07T14:37:47Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Well, they weren’t adult women when they were captured. There are very few details in the story as of yet - traumatized teenagers locked in a basement are a lot easier to keep in than adult women in the foyer. Could have been a _Room_ setup, and such things have happened before reasonably frequently. Evidently one of them was over 20 when she was captured. It’s very strange to me. It will be interesting to hear the details of their captivity. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/12 "2013-05-07T15:23:04Z")
It’s incredibly common for captives to be held for long persiods of time before managing to escape, yet someone always starts a thread about how strange it is. From the article: > [@](#): > > “To us at the National Center, this is not something that we find shocking any more,” he said. “The fact is, we have seen more and more long term missing cases end up in the victim being rescued many years after their original abduction.” > > The most widely reported such incident in recent years was that of Jaycee Dugard, who was freed in 2009 after 18 years of captivity behind the home of a California couple. The OP really sounds like victim-blaming, which is the only thing I find appaling about the story. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/13 "2013-05-07T15:43:33Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > It will be interesting to hear the details of their captivity. Indeed. I’m waiting for the made-for-Lifetime movie. (Hey, they did a good job with Brandi Blackbear.) ---
**Author:** ![MizQuirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/94ad74/32.png) [@MizQuirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizQuirk)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/14 "2013-05-07T15:44:21Z")
No, I don’t mean to blame the victims but to understand how there could be so much control over them and for so much time. I’ve read about Stockholm Syndrome, etc, but the fact that there were three of them, they were adults, and it was over a period of ten years just seems astonishing that nothing toward getting free was accomplished sooner. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/15 "2013-05-07T15:47:09Z")
Okay, fair enough. There are a lot of other similar stories out there, many of which attempt to explain how these things unfold. Jaycee Duggard, for one. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/16 "2013-05-07T16:27:40Z")
It does sound like the house was fairly secure - the rescuer said that Amanda could only open the outer door a handbreadth, and she made her move while the guy was out of the house. There are plenty of security devices (barred windows, door locks that require keys to get out too) that could be put on a house without attracting a ton of attention and serve to keep people inside as well. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/17 "2013-05-07T16:45:07Z")
> [@MizQuirk](#): > > No, I don’t mean to blame the victims but to understand how there could be so much control over them and for so much time. I’ve read about Stockholm Syndrome, etc, but the fact that there were three of them, they were adults, and it was over a period of ten years just seems astonishing that nothing toward getting free was accomplished sooner. Even more astonishing, there are hundreds of thousands of adult males who have been held against their will for decades without being able to escape their captors. It’s just amazing that the people guarding them, who often are only one tenth their number, have been able to exert so much control over them for so much time. Why, you’d think prisons and jails would be almost empty by now. :rolleyes: Come on, can you really not imagine how three adult men can successfully imprison three young women for an extended period of time? What I find remarkable is that they got out alive. ---
**Author:** ![Tequila\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a6a055/32.png) [@Tequila\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tequila_Party)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/18 "2013-05-07T16:51:28Z")
There’s no telling what kind of physical, mental and sexual abuse they probably suffered early on to cement the fact they couldn’t get away. Also, their captor could very easily have been telling them that any wrong actions could result in deaths of loved ones outside the house. It’s one thing to fight to save yourself, it’s another to do so and believe it will kill your parents or siblings. ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/19 "2013-05-07T18:26:59Z")
All the captors would really need is a closet with a good lock. There’s a case where Texan Jeffrey Allan Maxwell held a woman captive for two weeks. He was much bigger than she was; he kept her in restraints much of the time. He didn’t feed her enough, so she was weak from hunger as well as from being tortured. The only reason she was found so quickly was that authorities came to his home to question him as they suspected he was responsible for her disappearance. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698/20 "2013-05-07T18:30:42Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > Come on, can you really not imagine how three adult men can successfully imprison three young women for an extended period of time? What I find remarkable is that they got out alive. How do you know it was three adult men? Was there a bit of news that I missed? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-women-held-captive-for-10-years/657698.md?page=2)