Survival Options
Kidnap Survival & Escape

Had only the victims below been able to read these Kidnap Survival & Escape Options before they were plunged into a crisis.

Meeting Melissa at a party, Jason offered her a ride home. But as soon as they left, Jason’s sparkling personality became cold as he ignored her directions to her home. Heading instead toward the secluded outskirts of town, the ride home became an abduction. Melissa yelled at him to turn around yet he ignored her. Which survival option should she choose?
• Wait and see what happens – then decide what to do.
• Reason with him, if at all possible.
• Outsmart him – using Outsmarting strategies.
• Invite him to “a more comfortable place” – one that provides an escape.
• Initiate violent action – preemptive self-defense – before she’s taken to a secluded place.

What preemptive survival self-defense is possible? Attacking him while he's driving in order to crash the car is the best way to crash his plans as well. While the car is moving very slowly, cause it to crash into almost anything, such as bushes, trees, curbs, an empty parked car or a ditch, while also trying, as best she can, to avoid a serious car-crash or harming innocent people. And, if not wearing a seat belt, just before the crash, trying to curl into a ball on the floor to minimize her injuries. Timing her actions to be most effective, such as when safe havens or police are nearby, she can:
1. Turn off the ignition key to kill the engine at a crucial time – causing the car to “lock up” (suddenly slowing down with the power steering virtually "freezing").
2. Grab the steering wheel at a crucial time (such as when he’s turning a corner).
3. Step on his foot while it’s on the accelerator (at a crucial time).
4. Attack his eyes – as in the Clinch-Attack in Fighting Strategies.
5. Brace her back against the door and attack Jason with the Defensive Ground Kicks in Fighting Strategies. He won’t be able to drive while absorbing a rapid-fire barrage of such powerful kicks.

Carjacking Kidnapping
Returning to her car in a strip-mall parking lot, a New Jersey schoolteacher was confronted by a teenage boy with his hand in a jacket pocket and claiming to have a gun aimed at her. He demanded she drive him to a secluded area. He then ordered her to bind herself and even helped her do so. As he later confessed to police, all he had originally planned was to steal her car but he then decided to eliminate the only witness and strangled her to death.

Since hindsight is 20/20, a review of these events provides some possible survival alternatives to merely obeying a criminal (see How He Reaches for a Weapon below). As shown in Outsmarting strategies, the victim of a carjacking/kidnapping could:
1. Give the car keys to the boy but refuse to enter the car. Or drop the keys and run.
2. Outsmart him. Tell him that friends are about to join her or that the police are nearby looking for a boy seen hanging around – such as, "Oh, you're the one the cops are looking for! Then drop the keys and run.
3. Fake a heart attack or faint. Drop in a limp heap. A limp body is very difficult to drag and lift into a car. In the unlikely event the boy were to attempt it, she could explode into a surprise attack when the boy is vulnerable (see Sucker Punch).
4. Attack the boy while his “gun-hand” is trapped in his pocket (but not pointing at her. Does he truly have a gun? She should assume he does unless it becomes obvious that he’s bluffing. (The police found out later that he had been bluffing by keeping his empty hand in his pocket all the while.)
5. If she does enter the car and is forced to drive, she can: disable the car as described above; drive erratically to attract the police; drive over curbs; or mow down shrubbery. The boy fears attention – so crash the car!
6. If she is the front-seat passenger, choose one of Melissa’s options above.
7. If she is a back seat passenger, she may still be able to attack the driver by attacking his eyes or throat from behind at a critical time. At a very slow speed, cause the car to crash!
8. A worse place to be is in the car’s trunk. Still, she can: disable the taillight wires to attract the police, or kick out a taillight, then stick an arm out of the hole and wave wildly. Other drivers will see it, but not the kidnapper; open the trunk’s lock from inside (newer cars have emergency escape latches in the trunk), hold it closed until stopped in traffic, then jump out; or lastly, burst out and attack her kidnapper when he finally opens the trunk.

Further hindsight: The police found a tape recorder in her pocket with the entire crime recorded and learned that:
• As a high-school teacher, she'd assumed she could reason with a teenager. She didn’t realize that a criminal in mid-crime is likely not reasonable.
• In the car and at the secluded area, the boy still kept his “gun” hidden unnecessarily in his pocket. She should have known at that point that he was bluffing and had no gun, yet she continued to obey him. Had only she known what you're reading right now.

When a criminal reaches for a gun, it usually looks like he's reaching for his wallet with one hand – either from his back pants pocket, rear waistband, or the inside front of his jacket. If the gun is tucked into his front waistband, he'll probably use two hands – one to lift his loose shirt that's been hiding the gun, the other to grab the gun. In any event, by the time he gets the gun into position to fire, you can be already running away in full stride toward outdoor safety.

Beyond extremely close range (0-3 feet is "point-blank range" and 3-9 feet is "close range"), handguns are very difficult to shoot accurately. According to Sanford Strong, retired San Diego police SWAT team instructor and author of “Strong on Defense,” police officers miss with 75 percent of close-range shots while criminals miss with 96 percent of close-range shots. And a moving target is even more difficult to hit.

Besides, according to J.J. Bittenbinder, Chicago police detective and author of “Tough Target,” U.S. Department of Justice statistics show there’s only a 12 percent chance that a robber will call attention to himself by firing a gun in a populated area (at any range) and only a 3 percent chance of hitting you fatally.

However, knives are more easily hidden, more quickly drawn, and have no “loudness deterrent” because they are silent. Still, throw down your wallet as you run toward outdoor safety. For complete details, see Victim’s Options - Overview, and Kidnapping. Also see Pepper Spray, Devices, and Weapons.

Bridget Kelly was alone in her apartment when an attacker kicked down her locked door, wielding a gun. He forced her to drive to an abandoned field where he raped and shot her. ... “He told me to walk away, to walk in front of him with my back to him," Kelly recalled. "He shot me once and I fell and just tried to play dead. I just wanted him to believe that I was already dead." ... In her mind she told him to "please go away, please leave me here." But he didn't leave. Instead, he stood over her motionless body and fired two more shots into her back. Her assailant left her for dead... or so he thought. Kelly's determination and remarkable will to live took over. "God lifted me up, gave me a shove, pushed me toward those houses," Kelly said.
Excerpted from ABC News – 05 June 2003

Bridget's survival odds would have been better off had she refused to be kidnapped or crashed the car when she had the chance. The above victims simply weren’t prepared. But now you are. Also, see Avoiding Carjacking and Escaping Carjacking.

An attempted kidnapping leaves you with two basic choices – with no guarantee either way: Risk escalating the violence right away by fighting or fleeing and better survival odds, versus cooperating with a (deceitful) kidnapper and worse survival odds. Trust your Intuition to guide you.

See all worst-case scenarios:
• Survival Options - Overview of the do-or-die realities of worst-case crises.
• Shooting Rampage: seven options for surviving.
• Hostage Taking: the slightest edge makes all the difference in survival.
• Hostage Escape: optimizing hostage survival and escape.
• Kidnapping avoidance and prevention.
• Kidnap Escape (YOU’RE NOW ON THIS PAGE): optimizing kidnap survival and escape.
• SOS Distress Signals for summoning help in all situations.
• Surviving the Worst: options for the worst of the worst-case scenarios.
• Recap of Survival Options.
• Pepper Spray & Devices.

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