She was 17 years old. She had already decided she didn’t want to live anymore. Then a serial killer abducted her—and everything changed.
In November 1984, Lisa McVey was riding her bicycle home from work in Tampa, Florida, when she was kidnapped at gunpoint by a man who had been terrorizing the city.
What followed was 26 hours of unimaginable violence, psychological manipulation, and a fight for survival that would ultimately help bring one of Florida’s most notorious serial killers to justice.
But the most extraordinary part of Lisa’s story isn’t simply that she survived.
It’s what happened before—and everything she chose to do afterward.
For years, Lisa endured horrific abuse inside the very home where she was supposed to be protected. Teachers, investigators, and adults around her suspected something was wrong.
Yet nobody asked her one simple question:
“Do you feel safe?”
When Lisa finally escaped her kidnapper, she returned home expecting safety. Instead, she faced more violence. And when she told investigators what had happened, some questioned her credibility because she appeared too calm.
Until one detective changed everything.
“I believe you.”
Those three words helped uncover the truth, expose the abuse happening inside her home, and ultimately contributed to the capture of a serial killer.
In this deeply personal episode of Unlikely Allies, hosts Sonny Von Cleveland and Jim Cole sit down with Lisa McVey for an extraordinary conversation about survival, trauma, forgiveness, and the responsibility we all share to protect vulnerable children.
Lisa shares the details of her abduction, the remarkable evidence she deliberately left behind, the detective who believed her, and the journey that led her to serve 25 years in law enforcement—including 13 years protecting children as a school resource deputy.
The conversation also explores the true story behind the Lifetime film Believe Me: The Abduction of Lisa McVey, what Hollywood got right and wrong, and why Lisa continues sharing her experience more than four decades later.
This episode asks questions every parent, educator, law enforcement officer, and concerned adult should consider:
- What happens when a child is trying to tell us something without saying it directly?
- Why do we sometimes mistake a trauma survivor’s calmness for dishonesty?
- How many children are overlooked because we assume they’re simply acting out?
- What difference can one person make by choosing to listen—and believe?
Lisa McVey’s story is a powerful reminder that surviving trauma does not have to define the rest of your life.
Sometimes, the person who once needed protection becomes the person who protects others.
“I’m a voice no longer silenced.” — Lisa McVey
This is Unlikely Allies.
CONTENT ADVISORY: This episode contains discussions of childhood sexual abuse, sexual assault, kidnapping, domestic violence, and suicidal thoughts. Listener discretion is advised.
ABOUT UNLIKELY ALLIES
Hosted by Sonny Von Cleveland and Jim Cole, Unlikely Allies brings together perspectives shaped by lived experience, law enforcement, advocacy, and service. Through honest conversations with survivors, investigators, and changemakers, the podcast explores the realities of exploitation, the power of human connection, and what it takes to create meaningful change.
Presented in connection with #ourrescue.
