Sabrina Cesaratto

America will never be the same.

On September 29, 1978, a 15-year-old runaway named Mary Vincent decided to hitchhike from Soquel, California on her way to visit her grandfather in Corona, which was about 400 miles away. She accepted a ride from Lawrence Singleton, a 50-year-old man who initially seemed harmless. Vincent quickly became suspicious when Singleton put his hand on her neck and asked her if she was ill, but she shrugged it off and continued the ride. At some point, Vincent fell asleep — and when she woke up, she realized that they were heading in the completely wrong direction. Vincent found a sharp stick in the backseat and pointed it at Singleton, ordering him to turn the car around. To her surprise, he did. However, when they stopped for a bathroom break soon afterward, Singleton hit Vincent in the head as she leaned down to tie her shoe and dragged her into the back of his van, where he repeatedly raped her. When Vincent begged Singleton to let her go, he cut off both of her arms below the elbow with a hatchet and told her, "Okay, now you're free." Singleton then dumped her in a canyon, where he left her for dead. But against all odds, she escaped.