In the new documentary series Stalking Samantha: 13 Years of Terror on Hulu, survivor Samantha Stites talks about how her stalker abducted her.
Christopher Thomas, Stites’ longstanding stalker, abducted the then-30-year-old in October 2022. Then he built a windowless soundproof bunker within a storage locker and shackled her to the wall.
Regarding the kidnapping, Stites states in Stalking Samantha: 13 Years of Terror, which debuted on Hulu on Tuesday, August 19, “I did not picture myself surviving through that day.” The bunker, she said, was a torture chamber.
While attending Grand Valley State University in Michigan in 2011, Stites got to know Thomas. He was socially awkward, she said. Thomas started following Stites around campus and attending her women’s frisbee team practices despite the fact that he hardly knew her.
According to Stites, “at first I think he’s just lonely [and] finds me an approachable person to talk to for some reason.” Then it changes at some point.
Stites discussed her story of being kidnapped on ABC Newson on Tuesday.
It is the worst nightmare of all people. “It’s something you watch for entertainment in a scripted movie,” she remarked. I was aware that my chances of surviving in this small room he had created for me were probably slim. Even while having him there was awful, being imprisoned in this dark, quiet room with no one knowing where I was might have been even more terrifying after he left.
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The Netflix series You, in which Penn Badgley plays stalker and serial killer Joe Goldberg, is where Stites claims that Thomas informed her he got the idea for the bunker.
How did Samantha Stites escape?
By pretending to be interested in a relationship with Thomas, Stites was able to persuade him to let her go, which was her last hope of surviving.
She recalled in Stalking Samantha: “You promised me, Christopher, that if I sleep with you, you will let me out tonight.” Thirteen Years of Horror.
After 13 hours, Stites released her after Thomas shook her hand and vowed to honor his word.
Regarding her bravery during the event, Stites stated, “I believe that everyone has the ability to do something amazing to save their own life at the end of the day.”
How long did Christopher Thomas stalk Samantha Stites?
Before he abducted Stites in 2022, Thomas followed her for more than ten years. When he joined the same religious group at her college in 2011, they got to know one another. Despite Stites’ repeated pleadings for him to leave her alone, Thomas relocated to another state to do the same internship as her after graduating.
In 2014, Stites received a six-year restraining order. She told ABC News that after that, Thomas seemed to vanish from her life for a while, though she later found out he had been monitoring her in other ways.
Stites’ restraining order had ended by 2020, when she returned to her hometown of Traverse City, Michigan. Thomas started attending her soccer matches in September of that year. Later, she began to see him outside her apartment, at the grocery store, at her gym, and at bars.
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Stites requested another restraining order, but it was turned down.
Stites described the denial as a “slap in the face.”
Did Samantha Stites stalker go to prison?
In December 2023, Thomas entered a guilty plea to charges of kidnapping, torture, and aggravated stalking. As part of a plea agreement, the criminal sexual conduct charges that were first brought against him were withdrawn.
Thomas received a sentence of 40–60 years in jail in February 2024. According to WPBN/WGTU, Thomas will have to wear a GPS tracking device for the remainder of his life if he is freed from prison.
You can watch Stalking Samantha: 13 Years of Terror on Hulu.
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