Cine TV Contest #116: "Believe Me: The Abduction of Lisa McVey"

I like watching True Crime documentaries and/or listening to some podcast as some true crime hosts deepdive on certain cases. It's weird and disturbing at times but my eagerness to understand the human mind is greater.

One of the reasons why I'm interested in such stories is the bottomless questions I have with regards to why some people do such heinous crime and how they ended up doing such.

For Cine TV Contest 116, I want to share one of the True Crime stories that really impressed me... and no, not with the serial killer and sexual offender, but with the survivor who helped solving the case. The movie is called Believe Me: The Abduction of Lisa McVey.

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Even before she was abducted, Lisa was already a victim of abuse. When she was around 14 years old, her mom forced her to move in with her grandmother. Her grandma's boyfriend has been molesting her for three years. Because of the violence and abuse she's experienced, she decided to end her life. She has already written her final note before she headed to her part-time job. That would be last time, she thought.

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On her way home from her job, she was was snatched from her bicycle, was blindfolded, sexually assaulted and tortured. At first, it was just in the car but then she was taken to the unknown man's place.

What's amazing was that despite the things that she's experiencing, she was calm enough to think and gather clues around her. She did it while blindfolded.

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While she was abducted, she offered to be the abductor's girlfriend and tried to get his sympathy by making up stories. Bobby Joe Long, the perpetrator, ended up convinced with her stories and decided to release her.

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She went home, but nobody believed her and was still abused. However, because of her experience, she learned to value her life and fight for it. When she found people who were willing to lend their ears, she told them everything.

Her perpetrator wasn't just an ordinary crazy guy. He was more than that. He turned out to be a serial killer and sexual offender who has cut the life of ten women in the area.

We don't want bad things to happen to anyone... However, I really like this story. Lisa McVey have experienced a lot of bad things in life even before her abduction that she decided to end her life. But her abduction, though traumatic in a sense, made her realize how important life is.

I watched some other documentaries and interviews of Lisa and she said something along the lines of, "One bad situation that got me to another bad situation is what saved my life. The night before I was abducted, I was writing my final note and the next night, I was fighting for my life."

She actually ended up being a police officer and a motivation to many other women.

In the movie, they depicted how she was able to use her mind brilliantly. She was thinking about the future, so she left a bunch of clues which later on helped a lot with not only her case but also all the other cases.

I think everyone (especially women) should watch this movie. Of course, it could be disturbing and traumatic to some extent, but her experience is such a great lesson for everyone.

Almost all true crime stories don't end up in a good note, but this one is different, so it really stuck in my mind.

Thanks for reading and see you around! Stay safe and make better choices!