Mary Stauffer And Daughter Were Held Captive By Her Ex-Student

Mary and her daughter, Elizabeth, had chosen that day to have haircuts in preparation for their family's upcoming international flight on a missionary trip to the Philippines.

The man approached them after they had returned to their car, he held a gun to Beth's side.

Mary was unaware of his identity or what he desired from them at the moment; all she knew was that he insisted they get into his car.

Ming Shiue, the 29-year-old abductor, dragged Mary and Elizabeth into his car and ordered Mary to drive to a lonely area where he shackled their hands and threw them into the trunk before driving away.

Shiue stopped the car to tape their mouths after hearing the mother and daughter praying aloud inside the trunk.

He stopped the car again after Mary tried to free his daughter, and when he opened the trunk, he vowed to kill them both if they tried to flee again.

That was when two young boys passing by noticed something wasn't right - one of them was six-year-old Jason Wilkman.

Wilkman walked over to the car and spotted Mary and Beth in the trunk.

"Whoa," he shouted, before Shiue hurled him into the trunk and drove away.

The next time the car stopped, Shiue threw Wilkman out of the trunk and fatally struck him on the head with a metal rod.

The six-year-old's body was left in the woods as Shiue drove off.

Shiue later arrived at his house in Roseville, Minnesota, where he locked Mary and Beth in a wardrobe that was 53 centimeters wide and 1.2 meters long.

The next day, he took Mary out of the wardrobe and revealed his identity. Ming Sen Shiue was Mary's student 15 years ago who was sickly obsessed with her.

Life In Captivity

The wardrobe, which had a single light with a pull cord, two throw pillows, and a rug on the floor, served as Mary and Beth's residence for the following 51 days.

They were bound together, and he warned them that he would kill them and their families if they ever attempted to flee.

Shiue would also sexually assault Mary, which he would videotape.

"When he would take her out for the rape sessions, he never had me know about any of that," Beth stated. "They kept it from me. I was locked away in a closet, so I was removed from it.

Their Escape

Then, on July 7, while Shiue was working at his local electronics store, a thought flashed into Mary's head.

She remembered how her father used to take hinge pins out of doors.

Holding the door with one hand, she used her other to pull the pin out of the door.

"It came out just like it was greased... it was a miracle," she said.

Once freed, Mary called the police and hid with her daughter in Shiue's backyard until officers showed up.

Shiue was soon arrested at his workplace and went on to stand trial for kidnapping the mother and daughter.

Later, he was found guilty of kidnapping and given a 30 year prison term. For the murder of Wilkman, he was also given a further 40 years in prison.

Shiue was denied parole in July 2010 and has been behind bars ever since.

Mary and Beth Today

Mary and Beth have moved on with their lives, determined not to let the ordeal define them.

After the trials, the family moved to the Philippines to carry out Christian missionary work.

Since then, Mary has retired, and Beth is married with kids.

Their story of survival also inspired 2019 film Abducted: The Mary Stauffer Story which Mary said shows other survivors that they’re not alone.

"I think many people have gone through really bad things; many women have been raped," she told People. "They need to see that there’s life after this."