4th and Long
03-23-2006, 05:41 PM
Like ... wow ...
Girl Missing For 10 Years Allegedly Locked In House
Woman Is Now 24 Years Old
UPDATED: 7:06 am CST March 23, 2006
McKEESPORT, Pa. -- A Pennsylvania teen who disappeared in 1996 has been found.
Tanya Kach, now 24, was 14 when she disappeared on Feb. 10, 1996. That was the last time she was heard from, police said.
Ten years later, officials said that Kach was found in McKeesport, Pa., -- the very city from which she vanished.
The girl had been going by the name "Nikki Evans," WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh reported.
http://images.ibsys.com/2006/0323/8203943_400X300.jpg
The man who found Kach is the owner of JJ's Deli Mart in McKeesport. Joe Sparico said that for the past seven months, Kach had been going to his deli and befriended him. On Tuesday, Sparico said Kach came into his deli and told him she had something to tell him. He said Kach told him that she had been using an alias -- that her real name is Tanya Kach.
Kach said she was held captive, locked in the house -- typically made to stay in the bedroom -- at 1002 Soles St. in McKeesport.
It's the home of 47-year-old Thomas Hose, an ex-security guard at Cornell Middle School, where Tanya attended, according to WTAE. He shares the house with his elderly parents.
Kach said she was not allowed to leave the house until sometime in 2000, which was a period of about four years. Kach said after four years as a captive, she was allowed to venture out of the house.
According to Kach, Hose threatened her life if she left or told anyone.
Hose is now jailed on charges of statutory sexual assault and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. His lawyer said Kach went with him willingly. Police said Hose used "mind games" to keep her with him and convince her that her parents didn't care about her. The deli owner said Kach pleaded with him, "Don't you abandon me."
"She said, 'If you go on the missing children Web site, you'll see my name on there.' And I just couldn't believe it," Sparico said. Tuesday night, Sparico checked missing persons reports and located Kach, and then called McKeesport police.
"I was so scared that nobody would believe me," Kach said.
"I feel so bad for the family. I feel so bad for Nikki. She lost her childhood," said a neighbor on Soles Street who said she visited with "Nikki" almost every day.
"She would leave about 3:15 p.m. because Tom got home after work."
When asked if Kach gave any indication that something was wrong, the neighbor said,
"She cried a lot. She cried at Christmas. She said she missed her family, but she didn't know where her family was.
About 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Hose showed up with his attorney at county police headquarters.
Allegheny County Police Superintendent Charles Moffett said that Hose would face charges for sex crimes involving a minor.
Meanwhile, Kach is to be reunited with her mother Thursday. She was reunited with her father Wednesday.
http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/news/8203934/detail.html
Girl Missing For 10 Years Allegedly Locked In House
Woman Is Now 24 Years Old
UPDATED: 7:06 am CST March 23, 2006
McKEESPORT, Pa. -- A Pennsylvania teen who disappeared in 1996 has been found.
Tanya Kach, now 24, was 14 when she disappeared on Feb. 10, 1996. That was the last time she was heard from, police said.
Ten years later, officials said that Kach was found in McKeesport, Pa., -- the very city from which she vanished.
The girl had been going by the name "Nikki Evans," WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh reported.
http://images.ibsys.com/2006/0323/8203943_400X300.jpg
The man who found Kach is the owner of JJ's Deli Mart in McKeesport. Joe Sparico said that for the past seven months, Kach had been going to his deli and befriended him. On Tuesday, Sparico said Kach came into his deli and told him she had something to tell him. He said Kach told him that she had been using an alias -- that her real name is Tanya Kach.
Kach said she was held captive, locked in the house -- typically made to stay in the bedroom -- at 1002 Soles St. in McKeesport.
It's the home of 47-year-old Thomas Hose, an ex-security guard at Cornell Middle School, where Tanya attended, according to WTAE. He shares the house with his elderly parents.
Kach said she was not allowed to leave the house until sometime in 2000, which was a period of about four years. Kach said after four years as a captive, she was allowed to venture out of the house.
According to Kach, Hose threatened her life if she left or told anyone.
Hose is now jailed on charges of statutory sexual assault and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. His lawyer said Kach went with him willingly. Police said Hose used "mind games" to keep her with him and convince her that her parents didn't care about her. The deli owner said Kach pleaded with him, "Don't you abandon me."
"She said, 'If you go on the missing children Web site, you'll see my name on there.' And I just couldn't believe it," Sparico said. Tuesday night, Sparico checked missing persons reports and located Kach, and then called McKeesport police.
"I was so scared that nobody would believe me," Kach said.
"I feel so bad for the family. I feel so bad for Nikki. She lost her childhood," said a neighbor on Soles Street who said she visited with "Nikki" almost every day.
"She would leave about 3:15 p.m. because Tom got home after work."
When asked if Kach gave any indication that something was wrong, the neighbor said,
"She cried a lot. She cried at Christmas. She said she missed her family, but she didn't know where her family was.
About 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Hose showed up with his attorney at county police headquarters.
Allegheny County Police Superintendent Charles Moffett said that Hose would face charges for sex crimes involving a minor.
Meanwhile, Kach is to be reunited with her mother Thursday. She was reunited with her father Wednesday.
http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/news/8203934/detail.html