Unseen Review

This is my 24th podcast of the year. It is currently ranked number 25. The title of the episode I listened to was "Escape from the Schoolgirl Snatcher: How 2 Best Friends Survived the Unthinkable. the Case of Charlene & Lisa." This episode was released February 2nd. Charlene and Lisa were two best friends who lived in a seaside town in the UK. They were ten years old, it was January 19, 1999. They were abducted as they walked to school together. They were kidnapped by a man named Alan Hopkinson. He sexually abused them. He drove them to a seaside cliff and held Charlene off the edge. She thought she was going to die but he said he wanted her for one more day. Meanwhile, this was a big story in the press and there were a lot of people searching for these girls. The next day, a police officer came to Hopkinson's apartment. He was there to question him regarding reports that he was stalking children as they walked to school. The police officer was going to take him for questioning but before they took him he told the police officer that he had Charlene and Lisa in the apartment. They were reunited with their families. The episode first showed the search attempts for the girls and then went to the girls' point of view. Charlene was interviewed in the episode but Lisa was not. Charlene and Lisa have remained friends and have written a book together. The title of their book is, "Abducted: Taken Tortured Terrified." There is also a documentary about this from a TV series "Cutting Edge." The documentary was season 29 episode 6 of this series and is titled, "The Girls Who Were Found Alive." I thought this was a good podcast. It gave good background on the story and I think that it is good for stories like this to be told. It is very sad. This episode is a good way to hear the story in a more toned down version as I understand the book is graphic and would be difficult to read. Charlene and Lisa seemed to act bravely and were able to keep their heads clear in a tramautic situation. I give this podcast 5/5 for telling a story that should be told and giving a voice to these victims.