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shopify today. shopify.com/promo. It's April

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2023 on the outskirts of

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Portopranz, Haiti. A white SUV

0:53

speeds through a maze of

0:55

narrow, twisting streets. It bumps

0:57

over potholes and screeches around

0:59

hairpins, black smoke sputtering from

1:01

the exhaust, tires splashing through

1:03

brown puddles. Stray dogs scamper

1:05

out of the road, as

1:07

the SUV plunges deeper and

1:09

deeper into this dense shanty

1:11

town. On the back seat,

1:13

Jeff Frasier cannot see. The

1:15

brim of his cap is

1:17

being pushed down over his

1:20

eyes by an aggressive hand.

1:22

He tries to peek out

1:24

from beneath this makeshift blindfold.

1:26

Down to his right, he

1:28

can make out a pair

1:30

of skinny legs in scruffy-ripped

1:32

jeans, and the jet black

1:34

muzzle of an assault rifle

1:36

laid across them. The masked

1:38

men who have hijacked this

1:40

vehicle are taking Jeff and

1:42

his two security guards to

1:44

an unknown location. Jeff counts

1:46

the left and right turns,

1:48

trying to commit the root

1:50

to memory. The attempts to

1:52

stay calm, but his heart

1:54

is pounding as the car

1:56

starts to motor up an

1:59

incline. As

2:01

you go higher up the

2:03

hill in this area, you're

2:06

going deeper into king territory.

2:08

And so when we're headed

2:10

up that hill, I know

2:12

that we're being kidnapped. He

2:14

soon loses count of the

2:16

endless zigzag turns. Wherever they're

2:18

going, it's deep inside a

2:20

part of the city that

2:22

humanitarian aid workers like Jeff

2:24

normally avoid. A place governed

2:27

by gangs who trade in

2:29

human lives. It is... so

2:31

frightening. It's a strange realization

2:33

to go from free to

2:36

captive and to not only

2:38

be captive, but to think

2:40

that your life is in

2:43

jeopardy. You know, I've been

2:45

through scary situations in the

2:47

past, but none of that

2:50

compares to this situation. Ever

3:00

wondered what you would do

3:02

when disaster strikes? If

3:05

your life depended on

3:07

your next decision, could

3:10

you make the right

3:12

choice? Welcome to Real

3:14

Survival Stories. These are

3:17

the astonishing tales of

3:19

ordinary people thrown into

3:22

extraordinary situations.

3:24

People suddenly forced to

3:27

fight for their lives.

3:29

who runs food distribution

3:31

in Haiti, a beautiful

3:33

culturally rich Caribbean nation,

3:35

which has in recent

3:37

years struggled desperately with

3:39

extreme poverty and crime. In

3:41

April 2023, Jeff is in Haiti

3:43

to facilitate a relief program when

3:46

he is taken hostage by one

3:48

of the gangs who have taken

3:50

over swathes of the country. Trapped

3:52

in a fortified compound, Jeff must

3:55

negotiate with his captors and

3:57

forged bonds with his fellow

3:59

hostages. Pray every day that

4:01

he will eventually make it home

4:04

to his family. About 20% of

4:06

kidnapping victims are killed in the

4:08

process. You hope that the calculus

4:11

plays out in your favor so

4:13

that they see you as more

4:15

valuable alive than dead. But how

4:18

certain are you that they're going

4:20

to do that math? I'm John

4:22

Hopkins. From the Noiser network, this

4:25

is real survival stories. It's

4:53

April 2023 in the town

4:55

of Jacques Mel on the

4:57

south coast of Haiti. Jeff

4:59

Frasier reaches into the back

5:01

of a delivery truck and

5:04

pulls out two sacks of

5:06

rice. Heaving them onto his

5:08

broad shoulders, Jeff carries the

5:10

food into a large warehouse,

5:12

where more humanitarian volunteers sought

5:14

the sacks into separate piles.

5:17

The six-foot two American then

5:19

heads back out to the

5:21

truck and hops up into

5:23

the passenger seat. grateful for

5:25

the cool blast of air

5:27

conditioning. It's early but already

5:30

swelteringly hot. As the truck

5:32

pulls away onto the next

5:34

food distribution site, they pass

5:36

the crowd of hungry, impoverished

5:38

people forming outside the warehouse.

5:41

The work he does here

5:43

is not for the faint-hearted.

5:45

It requires dedication, emotional resilience,

5:47

and a resolute sense of

5:49

purpose. These days Jeff

5:52

possesses all those qualities, but

5:54

by his own admission, he

5:56

wasn't always this way. It

5:58

was pretty troubled. didn't do

6:01

well in school, barely graduated

6:03

high school, and luckily

6:05

joined the army at about 19-20

6:07

years old, the U.S. Army, and

6:09

that straightened me out. I always

6:11

joke it took a literal army

6:14

to get me on the straight

6:16

and narrow, but it worked. I

6:18

came out the other end pretty

6:20

tough to beat. I could withstand

6:22

a lot of pressure. and that

6:25

hit every edge of my life,

6:27

right? Everything that's hard in our

6:29

lives, whether it be emotionally or

6:31

physically or all of those things

6:33

require grit and toughness. It was

6:36

fundamental for me and became a

6:38

tool that I leveraged for ever

6:40

after that. Jeff left the army

6:42

and went into tech, building

6:44

a comfortable life for himself

6:47

and his family. But throughout

6:49

his time in the private

6:51

sector... he maintained a strong

6:53

social conscience. As a

6:55

devout Christian this impulse

6:57

to help others is rooted

7:00

partly in his faith. It

7:02

also stems from a tragic

7:04

loss that Jeff suffered following

7:06

his parents divorce. Unfortunately

7:09

my mom were married

7:11

an abusive guy who

7:13

eventually killed her when I was

7:16

14. You know the more

7:18

that I look back on

7:20

my... challenges growing up, particularly

7:23

the trauma around losing my

7:25

mom. You know, I think

7:27

there was a deep scar

7:29

there that made me really

7:32

hate that I wasn't able

7:34

to save her from him

7:37

and produced this would all

7:39

call a hero complex that

7:41

I have now that really

7:44

drives me to want to

7:46

help. those who can't help

7:48

themselves? About a decade ago, Jeff

7:51

began volunteering with

7:53

an anti-child trafficking organization.

7:55

Like his transformative

7:58

experience in the army. The

8:00

work was an eye-opener. It's one

8:02

thing to recognize people have need.

8:05

It's another thing to realize that

8:07

you can, with fairly significant ease,

8:09

meet that need. When he sold

8:12

his company in 2019, Jeff felt

8:14

inspired to roll up his sleeves

8:16

and dedicate himself full-time to humanitarian

8:19

work. He decided to focus his

8:21

attention on Haiti, where foreign aid

8:23

has long struggled to make a

8:26

lasting impact, and where human trafficking...

8:28

is a major problem. Haiti is

8:30

the poorest country in the Western

8:32

Hemisphere by a wide margin. Probably

8:35

half of the country is in

8:37

acute starvation. Maybe more than half

8:39

of the countries in acute starvation.

8:42

So you're looking at about five

8:44

or six million people in acute

8:46

starvation. In recent years, natural disasters

8:49

and political instability have brought Haiti

8:51

to a crisis point. Following the

8:53

assassination of the president in 2021,

8:56

The political vacuum was swiftly filled

8:58

by criminal gangs. The presence of

9:00

these groups makes the work of

9:03

humanitarians not only logistically difficult, but

9:05

dangerous. Jeff's NGO, Stimpac, does intense

9:07

work on the ground. We just

9:09

started. gathering food and water and

9:12

going down there and getting it

9:14

to the people that needed it

9:16

the most. So we would partner

9:19

with the World Food Program to

9:21

go into areas that they couldn't

9:23

get into for safety reasons. So

9:26

we would make deals with these

9:28

gangs to go behind enemy lines,

9:30

so to speak, and go do

9:33

these food and water distributions. The

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a seven-day free trial. Once a

11:11

semi-rural neighborhood on the leafy

11:13

southern slopes of the city, Martisson

11:16

is now considered a no-go zone

11:18

due to gang violence. Ordinarily

11:21

Jeff would hire a small

11:23

Cessna airplane to make drops

11:25

like this, but due to

11:27

the political instability, most of

11:29

the pilots have shut down

11:31

operations. Unable to fly over

11:33

this dangerous neighborhood, Jeff has

11:35

to drive through it. Still, Jeff

11:38

isn't naive. He understands

11:40

gang politics and has established

11:42

relationships with community leaders

11:44

who act as mediators

11:47

between him and the

11:49

criminal kingpins. Through

11:51

these contacts, Jeff has an agreement

11:53

in place. To travel through Martisson

11:56

safely, they just need to grease

11:58

a few palms. We'd made

12:00

the deal with this gang to pass

12:02

through this area called Martison, which is

12:05

a known area. I'd been there many

12:07

times before in previous years when it

12:09

was safer and the gangs weren't in

12:12

charge. But now they had this like

12:14

toll booth where they sit in the

12:16

middle of the road under a blue

12:19

umbrella with air 15s and AK-47s and

12:21

you have to pay them their toll.

12:23

Jeff watches from the back seat

12:26

as one of the guards manning

12:28

the toll booth stands up. and

12:30

slopes over to the SUV. He

12:33

approaches the driver's window and eyeballs

12:35

the passengers, his gaze lingering on

12:37

Jeff, who glances at the rifle

12:40

resting on the man's hip. After

12:42

exchanging a few words with

12:44

DJ, the guard takes the envelope of

12:46

cash and motions for them to carry

12:49

on. And we drove through, we kind

12:51

of waved, I'm in the back seat

12:53

of the truck, with the windows

12:55

rolled up. And my security team is

12:57

in the front with their windows rolled

13:00

down, because if you have your windows

13:02

up in this kind of area, they

13:04

assume you're a threat, and so you'll

13:06

get attacked. A few weeks ago, still at

13:08

home in Florida, Jeff read a

13:10

story in the Miami Herald about

13:12

two American visitors to Haiti who

13:14

were kidnapped here in Martism. The

13:16

news wasn't exactly as shock. Obuctions

13:19

have become a regular occurrence in

13:21

the country, a grim reality of life

13:23

under the gangs. They

13:30

drive on for a while longer. Soon,

13:32

the stretch of disputed territory,

13:34

marking the border between

13:37

Martisan and Porta Pras,

13:39

comes into view. We're almost

13:41

to safety. There's no man's

13:44

land in between Martisan and

13:46

Porta Prince proper. And just

13:48

as we're maybe a couple

13:50

hundred yards away from safety,

13:53

motorcycles roll up alongside us.

13:55

I start to realize, you

13:57

know what, this is not

13:59

good. It

14:01

all happened so quickly. A

14:03

door flies open and a

14:06

masked, armed hijacker jumps in

14:08

alongside Jeff. Another man opens

14:10

the driver door and forces

14:12

DJ to scoot over. Within

14:14

seconds, the SUV has been

14:16

turned around and is heading

14:19

back towards the toll booth.

14:21

I was hopeful that when

14:23

they jumped in, that it

14:25

wasn't what it looked like.

14:27

But when they reach the

14:30

checkpoints, the SUV doesn't stop.

14:32

Instead, the driver turns left

14:34

and starts speeding up, and

14:36

I had about $4,000 US

14:38

on me for the food

14:40

distribution project because we buy

14:43

all kinds of stuff while

14:45

we're doing that. So it's

14:47

hopeful that we could just

14:49

buy my way out of

14:51

the problem. But when they

14:53

reach the checkpoints, the SUV

14:56

doesn't stop. Instead, the driver

14:58

turns left and starts speeding

15:00

uphill through a labyrinth of

15:02

tight, twisting alleys. As you

15:04

go higher up the hill

15:07

in this area, you're going

15:09

deeper into gang territory. So

15:11

imagine in a military environment,

15:13

high ground is advantageous, so

15:15

we're going to high ground,

15:17

and I imagined that we

15:20

were going to where the gang

15:22

kingpins are. Jeff instinctively threw his

15:24

cell phone onto the floor at

15:26

his feet. Now the man next

15:28

to him is demanding he hand

15:30

it over. There's a pile of

15:32

bags in the middle seat, partially

15:35

obstructing the hijacker's view. Using this

15:37

to his advantage, Jeff reaches down

15:39

and pretends he's looking for his

15:41

phone on the floor. In fact,

15:43

he's trying to sneak out a

15:45

text to his contact, a local

15:47

humanitarian coordinator named Bill. With the

15:49

hijacker barking barking orders at him,

15:51

barking orders at him. Jeff frantically

15:54

taps out the letters on the

15:56

touch screen. But before he can

15:58

send his message... I'm reaching down

16:00

trying to get a text out

16:02

and I just can't do it

16:04

in time and he kind of

16:06

within maybe 30 or 45 seconds

16:08

realizes that he needs to work

16:10

harder to get my phone and

16:13

so he starts moving luggage around

16:15

and there's no way for me

16:17

to attend anymore so I have

16:19

to give up my phone. The

16:21

hijacker snatches Jeff's cell phone from

16:23

his hands. Then he reaches over

16:25

and yanks the brim of Jeff's

16:27

baseball cap down over his eyes.

16:32

unable to see where they're going, he

16:34

tries to commit the root to

16:36

memory. But it's impossible to keep track.

16:38

I know that we're being kidnapped, but

16:41

I'm also very optimistic that I can

16:43

get out of it. Because I feel

16:45

like I know enough guys who

16:47

know he's gang leaders at the highest

16:50

levels that they're going to say, no,

16:52

no, no, he's one of our guys

16:54

that does food distributions in our area.

16:57

We want to protect him, you

16:59

know, let him go. Eventually,

17:01

the vehicle comes to a

17:04

stop. Jeff is bundled out

17:06

of the SUV and marched

17:09

towards a low-slung brick building.

17:11

They appear to be in

17:14

some kind of gated compound,

17:16

surrounded by 15-foot walls topped

17:18

with razor wire. It's surprisingly

17:21

lush, with tall leafy trees

17:23

casting dappled shade. There's a

17:26

handful of outbuildings, all spaced

17:28

generously apart. in contrast to

17:31

the cramped shanty town beyond

17:33

the perimeter wall. Armed guards

17:36

in basketball jerseys and flip-flops

17:38

watch them from their posts.

17:41

Voi can take in any

17:43

more of their surroundings. Jeff

17:46

is pushed through a low

17:48

doorway. He, Reggie, and DJ

17:50

are led into a dark

17:53

cramped cell about 10 by

17:55

14 feet. Empty. except for

17:58

two blood-stained mattresses. A

18:00

mouse darts out from behind

18:03

one and scurries across

18:05

the concrete floor. The

18:07

guards pat Jeff down, taking

18:10

his watch, passport, credit

18:12

card, and driver's license

18:15

before leaving the room

18:17

and locking them in. In

18:19

hushed, frightened tones, Jeff consults

18:22

with Reggie and DJ. They reassure

18:24

him that Reggie knows one

18:27

of the gang members. He'll be

18:29

able to pull some strings and

18:31

get them out of your pronto.

18:33

A few moments later, the

18:35

cell door opens and a

18:37

different guard comes in brandishing

18:39

a pistol. A guy comes in and

18:42

inspects one of my security guys

18:44

and he finds some rings, some

18:46

jewelry in his shoe that he

18:48

had obviously been hiding and then

18:51

he begins to beat the heck

18:53

out of this, this guy. just

18:55

of course startling because I was

18:57

I was hopeful for a fairly

19:00

civil business-like you know ability to

19:02

kind of negotiate my way out

19:04

of this and all of a

19:06

sudden I realize I'm in a

19:09

very different environment. The shocked

19:11

dazed Reggie lies on the floor

19:13

and Jeff and DJ quickly attend

19:16

to him but it's not long before

19:18

another gang member in a mask

19:20

strides into the cell. This

19:23

man is well-dressed in

19:25

crisp white jeans and

19:28

a counterfeit designer t-shirt.

19:30

Gold rings gleam on

19:32

his fingers. He must be

19:34

a higher ranking officer in

19:37

the gang. A chef, as they're

19:39

known in the local

19:41

parlance. The chef looks around

19:44

at the three prisoners,

19:46

pausing when he sees Jeff.

19:48

He yells loud blah, which is...

19:50

It's kind of hard to translate it.

19:52

It literally means white, but it really

19:55

means foreigner, right? And he's talking to

19:57

me, right? And he's gloating. He's excited

19:59

that. He's caught me, he's got a

20:01

big fish. I do speak some krail,

20:03

but he gets in my face and

20:06

starts speaking krail to me, and I'm

20:08

just not understanding. He's got a mask

20:10

on, so I can't see his mouth,

20:12

and he's using a lot of slang,

20:14

a lot of gang slang, that I

20:16

don't really understand, a lot of cursing

20:19

that I don't understand. And so I

20:21

look over at one of my security

20:23

guys to translate. Jeff looks over at

20:25

DJ, but he's head down. He's

20:28

pretending to not speak English.

20:30

So he's already, my security

20:32

guy, is already positioning as

20:34

a poor, helpless Haitian. And

20:37

if he speaks English, he's

20:39

essentially saying, I have money

20:41

and I can pay a

20:43

healthy ransom. DJ is thinking

20:45

ahead, focusing on his own

20:47

self-preservation. And as the gangster

20:49

looks Jeff up and down,

20:51

it becomes clear that he

20:53

will have to start doing

20:55

the same thing. It's

21:02

around midday, an hour after their

21:05

arrival at the compound. Jeff is

21:07

being moved to a different

21:09

cell. Why, he doesn't know.

21:11

But for whatever reason, his

21:13

captors have decided to keep

21:15

him separated from Reggie and

21:17

DJ. They march him down

21:19

the corridor to a nearly

21:21

identical second room. There are

21:23

more prisoners inside this cell.

21:25

Two young men and a

21:28

woman. They watch the tall

21:30

blue-eyed American with furtiff. bloodshot

21:32

glances. A string of blinking

21:34

red and blue fairy lights

21:36

hangs from the ceiling. At

21:38

the far end of the

21:40

cell a small adjoining bathroom

21:42

contains a toilet and a

21:44

bucket. When the guards leave

21:46

Jeff introduces himself to his

21:48

fellow captives. To my amazement

21:50

two of them actually all

21:52

three of them speak English

21:54

but two of them are

21:56

actually Americans and I got

21:58

to know their names. And

22:00

I said, wait a second,

22:02

I know this story. I

22:04

read about this in the

22:06

Miami Herald a couple weeks

22:08

ago. Jeff is stunned. The

22:10

smiling faces he remembers from

22:12

the pages of the newspaper,

22:14

look back at him now,

22:16

haggard and drawn. They introduced

22:18

themselves as Abigail and Gene

22:20

Dickens-Tucent, a couple from Florida.

22:22

They were passing through Martisson

22:24

on a bus on their

22:26

way to visit relatives. when

22:29

they were abducted at gunpoint.

22:31

That was a month ago.

22:33

The other prisoner, a young

22:35

Haitian man who introduces himself

22:37

as Kervin, has also been

22:39

here for several weeks. Jeff's

22:41

new cellmates proceed to tell

22:43

him all about the gang's

22:45

methods and motives and motives.

22:47

Evidently this is a kidnap

22:49

for ransom operation. The tussas

22:51

have a negotiator on the

22:53

outside who is speaking directly

22:55

with the kidnappers. trying to

22:57

reach an agreement. Jeff sits

22:59

down on one of the

23:01

filthy mattresses and leans his

23:03

head against the painted cement

23:05

wall. Being trapped here for

23:07

a night would be bad

23:09

enough, let alone a whole

23:11

month. But he still got

23:13

a potential get-out-of-jail-free card in

23:15

the shape of Bill. His

23:17

colleague with connections to the

23:19

gang leadership. As soon as

23:21

they let him place his

23:23

first phone call, Bill will

23:25

come to the rescue. Later

23:33

that afternoon, the two sons sit

23:35

up, suddenly alert. A month in

23:37

confinement has sharpened the couple senses.

23:39

They could detect so much with

23:41

just their hearing alone, and so

23:43

when they kind of got their

23:45

eyes big at some of the

23:47

sounds, they said, what's going on?

23:50

They said, what do you mean

23:52

more people? They're like, like you,

23:54

right? New kidnappers, new victims, is

23:56

what they were trying to say

23:58

to me. Sure enough,

24:00

moments later, the cell door

24:02

squeaks open. The new victims start

24:05

piling into the room. There's five

24:07

of them, two females and

24:09

three males, all come flooding into

24:12

the room. The new prisoners

24:14

are all young Haitians. Shortly

24:16

after their arrival, the three men

24:18

are taken into the first cell,

24:21

where DJ and Reggie are being

24:23

held. The two women stay here

24:25

with Jeff, Kevin, and the two

24:27

sons. Their names

24:29

are Sarah and Stephanie, their

24:31

co-workers, who were kidnapped on

24:33

their way home from the office. The

24:35

two women sit down on a

24:38

mattress against the opposite wall. Jeff

24:40

looks around at the faces of

24:42

his fellow prisoners. He doesn't

24:44

know these people, but there

24:47

is an instant profound sense

24:49

of solidarity among the hostages.

24:51

It's important to understand how

24:53

important your fellow captives become.

24:56

to you and your survival.

24:58

I remember, I think he

25:00

was on probably day one

25:02

or day two, somebody made

25:05

the comment, well, we're going

25:07

to know each other for

25:09

the rest of our lives

25:11

now, right, because of how unforgettable

25:15

that trauma is. That evening,

25:17

a guard enters the cell

25:19

and tosses Jeff his cell

25:21

phone. He's allowed to make

25:23

one call. He's allowed to

25:25

make one call. He

25:28

dials Bill. By now, through

25:30

the course of his conversations

25:33

with his cellmates,

25:35

Jeff has worked out

25:37

that he's been kidnapped

25:39

by a local kingpin

25:41

called Telepli. He communicates

25:43

this Intel to Bill, but

25:45

with the guard listening

25:47

in, he has to tread lightly.

25:49

So I send that. message to

25:52

Bill over the phone and I

25:54

coded it. So Tlopli means little

25:56

rain and krail. And so I

25:58

translated that as small. precipitation, right?

26:00

So a small precipitation has captured

26:03

me. Do you get my meeting?

26:05

He's like, yeah, I know exactly

26:07

what you're talking about. I know

26:09

where you are. There's little else

26:12

Jeff can do. The word is

26:14

out now. He just has to

26:16

pray Bill comes through for him.

26:19

He slumps against the wall and

26:21

pulls his knees up to his

26:23

chest. As his fellow hostages lie

26:25

down to sleep, Jeff sits there,

26:28

wide awake. So frightening. It's a

26:30

strange realization to go from free

26:32

to captive and to not only

26:34

be captive, but to think that

26:37

your life is in jeopardy. I

26:39

know kidnapping, about 20% of kidnapping

26:41

victims are killed in the process.

26:44

Or whatever reason the families don't

26:46

pay enough ransom or something goes

26:48

awry and the gangs have to

26:50

keep up there. reputations in order

26:53

to get people to pay ransom

26:55

and so that they have to

26:57

kill some of them. And so

27:00

you know that going in and

27:02

you hope that the calculus plays

27:04

out in your favor so that

27:06

they see you as more valuable

27:09

alive than dead. But how certain

27:11

are you that they're going to

27:13

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That's Support at noiser.com. It's

28:40

three days later. Jeff paces

28:42

restlessly around his cell, listening

28:45

out for approaching guards. The

28:47

last 72 hours have been

28:49

deathly monotonous. A nightmarish blur

28:51

of little sleep and less

28:53

food. There have, however, been

28:55

some positive developments. Firstly, the

28:57

Tussans have been released. Two

28:59

days ago, a guard came

29:01

to tell them that a

29:03

ransom had been agreed, and

29:05

they were being driven to

29:07

the designated location to make

29:09

the exchange. Assuming the gang

29:11

is true to their word,

29:14

the release of the Tussans

29:16

gives Jeff reason to hope.

29:18

Plus, with the money they

29:20

received in exchange for the

29:22

couple's freedom, the gang has

29:24

provided the remaining four prisoners.

29:26

with a few modest creature

29:28

comforts. They bought us a

29:30

fan, which was great, and

29:32

gave us fitted sheets for

29:34

these nasty, bloody, bug-infested addresses.

29:36

So it felt like we

29:38

were headed to relative luxury.

29:40

Jeff has also been able

29:42

to speak to his wife,

29:45

Mary. She was notified of

29:47

his kidnapping by the U.S.

29:49

Embassy in Haiti, who Bill

29:51

must have contacted on day

29:53

one. Mary is of course

29:55

beside herself with worry, but Jeff has

29:57

tried to reassure her saying that he's

29:59

coping. and we'll try to be back

30:02

with her and the kids soon.

30:04

And so I was able

30:06

to communicate that to my wife,

30:08

like, I'm okay, right? I'm not,

30:10

you know, strapped to a torture

30:12

chamber, you know, I'm okay, right,

30:14

I'm gonna be fine, and I

30:16

was trying so hard to communicate

30:18

that to my wife, but she

30:21

wasn't buying it. As well as

30:23

speaking to Mary, Jeff has been

30:25

back on the phone with Bill. But

30:27

their last conversation... wasn't

30:30

comforting. Bill sounded shifty

30:32

and evasive, as if the

30:34

influence he claimed to have

30:36

over the gang leadership wasn't

30:39

quite as clear-cut as he

30:41

promised. Bill has given Jeff

30:43

another phone number. Somebody, he

30:45

says, will be able to

30:47

negotiate his release. But after

30:49

calling this number repeatedly,

30:51

he hasn't been able to

30:54

get through. He's running out of

30:56

patience with Bill, and soon...

30:58

the gang will run out

31:00

of patience with Jeff. I

31:02

realize he's not going to

31:04

be able to help me,

31:06

that he's giving me this

31:09

contact that's not answering the

31:11

phone and it's just breaking

31:13

down. And so I realize

31:15

that my get out of

31:17

jail free cards have failed and

31:19

I need to find a new

31:22

negotiator. They should be able to

31:24

speak some Creel. and they need

31:26

to know the logistics of conducting

31:29

a ransom exchange. There is only

31:31

one person he knows who meets

31:33

all these criteria. I just didn't

31:35

know anyone like that except me.

31:38

I was the most qualified person

31:40

I could imagine on how much

31:42

I would need to pay and

31:45

to home and how to logistically

31:47

make that happen. I am the

31:49

most qualified operator on all of

31:51

those things that I know. So

31:53

why don't I just negotiate for

31:55

myself. Later

31:59

that day, Jeff asks his captors

32:01

if he can barter on his

32:04

own behalf. They agree. On the

32:06

afternoon of his fourth day in

32:08

captivity, a guard escorts him from

32:11

the cell. As he follows the

32:13

man down the corridor, Jeff has

32:15

to suppress the urge to make

32:18

a break for it. It's hard

32:20

to quantify how powerful the drive

32:22

to get home is, to get

32:25

home to your family. You have

32:27

to be talking yourself out of

32:29

attacking these guards often. Because they

32:32

come into the room and they're

32:34

tiny. And a lot of military

32:36

training, these are not trained individuals.

32:39

I'm at that time was probably

32:41

250 pounds and 6 foot 2

32:43

and these guys are 135 pounds.

32:46

But you have to really suppress

32:48

those thoughts because that's obviously a...

32:50

terrible idea. Yeah, you can get

32:53

through that guard, but then there's

32:55

200 soldiers within a mile of

32:57

this place that are all armed,

33:00

where you're going to go. Yeah,

33:02

you can get outside the building

33:04

within one. Like it or not,

33:07

Jeff is going to have to

33:09

play by the rules. The gang

33:11

member takes him into a kind

33:14

of kitchen area, stripped bare, except

33:16

for a small forma table and

33:18

a couple of chairs. All this

33:21

time... Jeff has been anticipating a

33:23

business-like negotiation. He'll say a number,

33:25

they'll go and run it by

33:28

their boss, then come back and

33:30

counter, etc. But he soon sees

33:32

the naivety of that assumption. What

33:35

really happens is they come with

33:37

shock treatments and they've got packing

33:39

tape that they're going to take

33:42

me up with and they set

33:44

it on the counter and they're,

33:46

you know, they're buzzing the taser,

33:49

you know, which is a really

33:51

loud, scary noise, right? while negotiating

33:53

with me. The gang member aggressively

33:56

demands two million dollars, a ludicrously

33:58

large sum. He's

34:00

probably just high-balling, setting the

34:02

ceiling absurdly high to force

34:04

Jeff to cough up more.

34:06

So he counters. Maybe he

34:08

can scrounge together 30,000. The

34:10

man fixes Jeff with a

34:12

menacing glare, then motions again

34:14

towards the taser and packing

34:16

tape. Jeff quickly blurts out

34:18

another offer, 50,000. This is

34:20

met with another shake of

34:22

the head, another sinister stare.

34:24

Eventually, I say something like,

34:26

you know, I think I

34:28

might be able to scrape

34:30

together a hundred grand, and

34:32

that's the number that they

34:34

kind of glom on to.

34:36

Like, if you can come

34:38

up to that number, we

34:40

won't torture you, and we'll

34:42

let you go. The gangster

34:44

hands Jeff his cell phone.

34:46

Time to start gathering the

34:48

money. As he dials, he

34:50

kicks himself over his negotiating

34:53

tactics. He gave away too

34:55

much too soon, but there's

34:57

no going back now. The

35:00

first person he calls is

35:02

a security contractor in Haiti

35:04

who Jeff calls Gunny. When

35:06

he picks up, he already

35:08

knows about Jeff's situation. Evidently,

35:10

Mary has been phoning around

35:12

her husband's contacts, mobilizing a

35:15

support team. Jeff is going

35:17

to need to wire the

35:19

100,000 from his American accounts

35:21

across to Gunny's Haitian bank

35:23

account. He agrees to withdraw

35:25

the cash and act as

35:27

Korea. Next, Jeff calls his

35:29

brother-in-law, Aaron. Aaron

35:31

has handled investments for

35:33

him in the past

35:36

and has access to

35:38

his finances. Jeff asks

35:40

him to wire the

35:43

cash to Gunny. He

35:45

thanks his brother-in-law and

35:47

hangs up the phone.

35:50

Having placed his calls,

35:52

Jeff is led back

35:54

down the corridor and

35:57

returned to his cell.

36:00

One hundred thousand dollars. Transferring

36:02

such a large sum of

36:05

money internationally won't be instantaneous.

36:07

It will be flagged and

36:09

reported, and Aaron will have

36:11

to explain everything to US

36:13

customs. This will take time.

36:15

The fan in the corner

36:17

oscillates slowly, pushing a weak

36:19

breeze through the warm stale

36:21

air. Jeff closes his eyes.

36:23

His freedom is now in

36:25

the hands of others. He

36:27

trusts his people, but communication

36:29

is going to be fragmented

36:31

and frustrating. It began a

36:34

massive amount of confusion between

36:36

me and my team on

36:38

the outside. It was so

36:40

hard for us to communicate

36:42

clearly, one with another. They

36:44

presumed that I was always

36:46

under duress, meaning at gunpoint,

36:48

being forced to say certain

36:50

things, because that is the

36:52

case in many kidnapping scenarios.

36:54

but that was not the

36:56

case here because they didn't

36:58

speak English and none of

37:01

my game captors spoke English.

37:03

I was essentially able to

37:05

speak freely the whole time

37:07

that I was there, but

37:09

my team never believed that.

37:11

In hostage negotiations, the protocol

37:13

is to assume any communication

37:15

with the captive is being

37:17

monitored or controlled by the

37:19

kidnappers. That's the assumption Jeff's

37:21

team on the outside is

37:23

making. They're doing things by

37:25

the book. It's the only

37:28

way. A

37:30

few days after first speaking

37:32

to him, Aaron breaks some

37:34

bad news. He can't get

37:36

hold of the 100,000. All

37:38

they can scrape together is

37:40

a relatively meagre 13 grand.

37:42

Jeff places more frantic calls

37:44

to other contacts, but again

37:47

communication breaks down. Nobody believes

37:49

that he is literally asking

37:51

for a hundred thousand dollars.

37:53

They assume they're negotiating with

37:55

criminals, and they won't simply

37:57

concede to their first demand.

38:00

But Jeff tries to make it

38:02

clear that the gang isn't making

38:04

empty threats. After his own

38:07

negotiation, he witnessed the torture

38:09

of his fellow hostage Stephanie.

38:11

The threat of more pain

38:14

hangs in the air. The gang

38:16

is deadly serious. If his team

38:18

can't secure the ransom, Jeff's

38:20

options are running thin. And

38:23

he may have to go

38:25

down a different, rather more

38:27

drastic end. Jeff

38:35

is now well over a week

38:37

into his captivity. By this stage,

38:39

he knows every corner of this

38:42

cell inside out. In terms of security,

38:44

it's not exactly Fort

38:46

Knox. The ceiling is a

38:48

grid of interlocking T-bars and

38:51

lightweight panels, easy enough to

38:53

remove. Trouble is, the roof

38:55

itself is made of corrugated

38:57

tin sheets bolted together.

38:59

Trying to climb across them

39:01

would be extremely precarious

39:03

and noisy. The

39:06

cell door is flimsy, wooden

39:08

balsam, but again there's no way

39:10

to break it down quietly, and

39:12

the guards' living quarters are just

39:15

beyond it, where they spend all

39:17

day blasting music and drinking.

39:19

As for windows, there are three.

39:21

Two in the main cell, one in

39:23

the bathroom. After discussing various

39:26

options with his fellow prisoners,

39:28

Jeff concludes that if he's going

39:30

to break out, then one of

39:32

the three windows presents the

39:34

likeliest root. Windows are covered

39:37

in bars, both horizontal bars

39:39

and then diagonal bars that

39:41

kind of create these trapezoidal

39:44

shapes. It was through well-made

39:46

bars. And so I was

39:48

going to have to figure

39:50

out a way to bend those

39:52

bars. Jeff closes his fists

39:55

around the iron bars and

39:57

gives them a strong tug. They

39:59

hold firm. barely a millimeter

40:01

of give, but at least now

40:03

he has a problem to solve,

40:05

something to keep him occupied. Over

40:08

the course of the next few

40:10

days, Jeff workshops various solutions to

40:12

the problem. Then, one afternoon, while

40:15

staring at the defunct ceiling fan,

40:17

he gets a brainwave. On the

40:19

inside of that fan, they've got

40:22

copper coils, you know, that make

40:24

it spin. And... that idea of

40:26

those, the copper coils wrapped around

40:29

and around and around, having greater

40:31

strength, got my brain thinking, okay,

40:33

if I could just find some

40:35

sort of a rope, I knew

40:38

the copper wouldn't work because copper

40:40

breaks really easily. But if I

40:42

could find something around to make

40:45

rope out of, then maybe I

40:47

could exert enough force on these

40:49

bars to pry them open. He

40:52

starts looking around the cell for

40:54

makeshift solutions. His gaze

40:56

falls on one of the

40:58

mattresses on the floor. Specifically,

41:00

the length of nylon ribbing

41:02

stitched along the uppermost edge.

41:04

Maybe, by looping the nylon

41:06

string around the bars and

41:09

twisting, he could exert enough

41:11

pressure to bend them. I

41:13

cut the nylon ribbing off

41:15

and I pull it and

41:17

it rips, which was super

41:19

disappointing. It killed my plan.

41:21

The brittle fibres come apart

41:23

in Jeff's fingers. He drops

41:25

them onto the floor, his

41:27

great escape in tatters. Then

41:29

his eyes shift across to

41:31

the other mattress, this one

41:33

notably newer and less frayed

41:35

than its counterpart. It's worth

41:37

a shot. And so I

41:39

pulled that nylon ribbing off

41:41

and tried that and it

41:43

was much stronger. Like, okay,

41:45

this might work. And so

41:47

one day, in the gut,

41:49

like the guards were away,

41:51

I snuck into the bathroom

41:53

and took my nylon, my

41:56

new nylon. and wrapped it

41:58

around those bars and then

42:00

stuck a piece of metal

42:02

that I had, it was

42:04

a curtain rod that I

42:06

stole from another one of

42:08

the windows and was able

42:10

to twist it like a

42:12

tourniquet in order to pull

42:14

the bars close together and

42:16

it worked. Jeff rotates the

42:18

curtain rod winding the nylon

42:20

rope tighter and tighter until

42:22

the iron bars flex under

42:24

the pressure bending inwards like

42:26

a bow tie. Pleased

42:29

with his handiwork, Jeff lets

42:31

go. He doesn't want to

42:34

reshape the bars too much

42:36

or the guards will notice.

42:39

He just wants to establish

42:41

that it's possible. That if

42:43

desperate measures are required, at

42:46

least he has a backup

42:48

plan. At this stage, negotiating

42:50

his release is still plan

42:53

A. He's continuing to communicate.

42:55

with Aaron, Mary, Gunny and

42:58

others on the outside, hoping

43:00

that someone will come through

43:02

with the money. For their

43:05

part, Jeff's team has started

43:07

urging him to employ an

43:09

outside negotiator, an experienced professional,

43:12

who can perhaps bring the

43:14

ransom price down. Because as

43:17

Jeff approaches the two-week mark,

43:19

the gang remain resolute in

43:21

their demands. And if he

43:24

isn't able to meet those

43:26

demands, then he will eventually

43:28

become less of an asset

43:31

to them and more of

43:33

a burden. For now, he's

43:36

still more valuable to his

43:38

kidnappers alive than dead. The

43:40

question is, how much longer

43:43

will that be the case?

43:45

Jeff lies on his side facing

43:47

the wall. His stomach growls with

43:49

hunger. His mouth is parched and

43:52

his teeth feel rough from weeks

43:54

without brushing. As he enters his

43:56

third week in captivity, there is

43:59

still no... sign of the $100,000.

44:01

His team are resisting and

44:03

Jeff has begun to

44:05

understand why. It's not that they're

44:07

being careless with his life. It's

44:10

that the professionals who Mary

44:12

and Aaron have consulted have

44:14

all advised a tougher negotiation.

44:17

By giving the gang what they

44:19

want at the first time

44:21

of asking, there's every chance

44:23

they'll refuse to release Jeff

44:25

and demand more money. Eventually.

44:28

he decides to trust the

44:30

team that his wife has

44:32

assembled. I said before that

44:34

I could only imagine myself

44:36

being qualified to negotiate and

44:38

understand the dynamics of Haiti

44:40

and the language and how to logistically

44:43

move money and how to safely actually

44:45

do an exchange and all of that.

44:47

I couldn't imagine other people knowing how

44:49

to do that. Well, my wife had

44:52

put together a team of people more

44:54

qualified than me to do that very

44:56

thing. I start to figure it out.

44:59

Like, hey, I think this team she's

45:01

putting together might be pretty good, might

45:03

be qualified to take this off of

45:05

my shoulders, so I don't have to

45:08

be this idiot on the inside.

45:10

Jeff finally agrees to turn the

45:12

negotiations over to his outside team.

45:15

When the guard next brings him

45:17

his cell phone, he speaks with

45:19

Gunny, who introduces him to a

45:21

local negotiator named Billy, who

45:24

seems well equipped to handle

45:26

the gang. I quiz him

45:28

a little bit on his background

45:30

and become convinced, okay, I think

45:32

I've got a qualified team. And

45:34

he says, okay, let me have the

45:37

ball. Stop screwing around Jeff. And I

45:39

said, okay, but you've got to understand

45:41

I've committed to this 100K number.

45:43

Billy tells Jeff that he'll handle

45:46

it. He'll inform the gang that

45:48

US customs have blocked the 100,000

45:50

from getting into Haiti. If they

45:52

want their payday, they'll have to

45:54

agree to a lower amount. Jeff agrees

45:57

to the new strategy. When

46:00

the guard comes back, Jeff

46:02

tells him that from now

46:04

on his negotiations will be

46:07

handled by others. The guard

46:09

snatches the phone from his

46:11

hand and stalks back out

46:13

of the cell. The next

46:15

few days are an agonizing

46:17

wait for news. Over the

46:19

course of his three weeks

46:21

in captivity, Jeff has been

46:23

able to observe certain patterns

46:25

in the gang's behavior. He's

46:27

reached a point where he

46:29

can predict their next move.

46:31

I've seen this. I've seen

46:33

this. cycle that happens with

46:35

the games where they get

46:37

money from a ransom payment

46:39

and they're thrilled and they

46:41

use the money and they

46:43

buy bullets and drugs and

46:45

food and then it runs

46:47

out and then somebody else

46:49

gets out, right? Somebody gets

46:51

released and they get more

46:53

ransom money and there's this

46:55

pattern and it was about

46:57

a week at a time.

46:59

It's like they wanted weekend

47:01

money, right? A couple of

47:03

weeks back, Kervin was released.

47:05

Then, about a week ago,

47:07

a ransom was agreed for

47:09

the release of Sarah. If

47:12

the pattern that Jeff has

47:14

observed is correct, then another

47:16

hostage release should be imminent.

47:18

It's just him and Stephanie

47:20

left now. He spends each

47:22

day pacing the cell. His

47:24

heartbeat increasing every time he

47:26

hears a guard's approaching footsteps.

47:28

Could it finally be his

47:30

turn? Then, towards the end

47:32

of his fourth week in

47:34

captivity. Sure enough that pattern

47:36

comes up around day 26,

47:38

day 27, and my team

47:40

gets an agreement. The next

47:42

day, a guard comes to

47:44

tell Jeff that his courier

47:46

is bringing the ransom. Once

47:48

they receive the cash, they'll

47:50

drive back up to the

47:52

compound to release him. Optimism

47:54

builds. The nightmare appears to

47:56

be ending. So my

47:58

team came and they They

48:00

did the drop, they made

48:03

the payment, and the normal

48:05

MO is for once your

48:07

courier drops the cash to

48:09

the game, they then take

48:11

that money back up the

48:13

hill to the fort and

48:15

they count the money and

48:17

they decide whether or not

48:19

they're going to let you

48:21

go. Jeff spends the morning

48:23

of day 28 in a

48:25

state of high alert and

48:27

heightened anxiety. He listens out

48:29

for vehicles, but nothing comes

48:31

for ours, until eventually... The

48:33

door flies open and several

48:35

guards barge into the cell.

48:37

Jeff jumps to his feet,

48:39

shoes on, ready to go.

48:41

If he had a bag,

48:43

it would be packed. But

48:45

something is clearly wrong. The

48:47

guards appear to be angry,

48:49

agitated. They're shouting and gesticulating

48:51

with their guns. Slowly, a

48:53

new possibility presents itself. Perhaps

48:55

the guards aren't angry. Perhaps

48:57

they're excited. Slowly Jeff manages

48:59

to piece together what they

49:01

are saying. They're yelling. You

49:03

know, I was having a

49:05

hard time following it, but

49:07

they essentially said, we got

49:09

the money, but we're not

49:11

letting you go. They said,

49:13

wait, wait, wait, didn't you

49:15

have an agreement? They said,

49:17

yeah, we had an agreement.

49:19

We had the court. Did

49:21

they pay the amount that

49:24

you agreed to? Yes, but

49:26

it's not enough. And we're

49:28

going to... beat you and

49:30

torture you until you pay

49:32

the hundred thousand. The guards

49:34

leave the cell. Jeff collapses

49:36

onto an upturned bucket and

49:38

stares off into space. Sitting

49:40

on her mattress across the

49:42

cell, Stephanie watches him with

49:44

sympathy in her eyes. Perhaps

49:46

the only person in the

49:48

world right now who can

49:50

understand his despair and disappointment.

49:54

Jeff looks back at his cellmate.

49:56

Her hair matted and disheveled, bruises

49:58

on her arms. Then

50:01

Jeff turns his head

50:03

and points his gaze

50:06

towards the bathroom window.

50:08

I was sitting on

50:10

a bucket right by

50:12

the door and I

50:14

looked across at that

50:16

western window that I

50:19

was planning to escape

50:21

from and decided

50:23

right there that I guess

50:25

if we're not going out

50:27

the door we're going out the

50:29

window. We return to Jeff as

50:32

he prepares to make his daring

50:34

bid for freedom. In the dead of

50:36

night, with the guards distracted, he'll

50:38

commit to the prison break. But

50:41

even with careful preparation, it seems

50:43

cursed from the outset. Can he

50:45

overcome the many obstacles in his

50:47

path and escape into the jungle?

50:50

Or will he be caught? And

50:52

if so, what punishment awaits? That's

51:00

next time on Real Survival Stories.

51:02

Listen to part 2 of Jeff's story

51:04

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51:06

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51:08

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51:11

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