The shocking true crime story of one of the most bizarre mass murders ever recordedâand the girl who escaped with her life.
In the fall of 2010, in the all-American town of Apple Valley, Ohio, four people disappeared without a trace: Stephanie Sprang; her friend, Tina Maynard; and Tinaâs two children, thirteen-year-old Sarah and eleven-year-old Kody. Investigators began scouring the area, yet despite an extensive search, no signs of the missing people were discovered.
On the fourth day of the search, evidence trickled in about neighborhood âweirdoâ Matthew Hoffman. A police SWAT team raided his home and found an extremely disturbing sight: every square inch of the place was filled with leaves and a terrified Sarah Maynard was bound up in the middle of it like some sort of perverted autumn tableau. But there was no trace of the others.
Then came Hoffmanâs confession to an unspeakable crime that went beyond murder and defied all reason. His tale of evil would make Sarahâs survival and rescue all the more astonishingâa compelling tribute to a young girlâs resilience and courage and to her fierce determination to reclaim her life in the wake of unimaginable trauma.