Vinson Filyaw, born on (December 15, 1969 -May 3, 2021), was an American construction laborer who, in 2006, was found guilty of ab*ucting and a**aulting Elizabeth Shoaf, a 14-year-old from Lugoff, South Carolina. He held her captive in an underground bunker.
Elizabeth Shoaf, the survivor, was kidn-apped on September 6, 2006, after getting off her school bus. Her kidn-apper, Filyaw, pretended to be a police officer to gain her trust.
He took her into the woods until she was lost, then led her to an underground bunker, not far from her home.
Once inside, he forcibly disrobed her, bound her with chains, and subjected her to repeated acts of a**ault throughout her ten-day captivity. At first, the police thought she had run away and didn’t issue an Amber alert.
But Elizabeth stayed calm and smart, impressing those who deal with missing children. Captain David Thomley of the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Department remarked, “Not only was she very brave, she was also very astute, employing several tactics to increase her chances of survival.”
While in the woods, she dropped her shoes as a clue for anyone searching for her. Even though Filyaw threatened her and had explosives nearby, she talked to him about things he liked, making herself more than just a captive.
Eventually, she gained his trust enough to be allowed out of the bunker. She left strands of her hair on branches to help search dogs find her scent.
After ten days, she convinced Filyaw to let her use his cell phone for games, but she secretly texted her mom and friends for help when he fell asleep, who promptly contacted the police.
At first, Sheriff Steve McCaskill thought it was a prank, but they got Filyaw’s phone number from his ex-girlfriend and used it to find the bunker.
Officer Dave Thomley didn’t know about the bunker until Filyaw’s ex-girlfriend showed it to him, thinking it was just a trash pit.
Filyaw found out he was being chased when he saw the news on TV in the bunker. He asked Elizabeth for advice, and she told him to run away.
He did, and the next morning, Elizabeth left the bunker and called for help until rescuers found her.
Filyaw had set up a dangerous trap at the bunker’s entrance, but Elizabeth was finally safe.
The real story of Elizabeth Shoaf, a 14-year-old girl who escaped her kidna-pper by sending a text message.
When Filyaw was apprehended, he was located five miles away from his residence, and he was found in possession of a taser, a pellet gun, and a knife.
He faced several serious charges, including kidna-pping, possessing an incendiary device (specifically, a flare gun), and impersonating a police officer. Additionally, there were other pending charges against him.
Filyaw pleaded guilty to all counts just prior to the trial’s commencement. The victim, Shoaf, couldn’t testify due to her emotional state, but her attorney read a prepared statement for her, and she subsequently issued a public statement.
On September 19, 2007, Circuit Judge G. Thomas Cooper sentenced Filyaw to 421 years in prison with no chance of parole, the maximum penalty allowed by South Carolina law. He was then incarcerated at the Maximum Security Unit in Kirkland Correctional Institution.
Filyaw died in prison at McCormick Correctional Institution on May 3, 2021, at the age of 51; no cause of death has been determined.
Subsequently, Shoaf made several appearances in the media. In 2008, she was featured on the Today Show in a segment hosted by Meredith Vieira, where Vieira profiled Shoaf and her family, noting her composure despite the traumatic events she endured.
This story was also covered on Dateline NBC on March 7, 2008. Filyaw’s interactions with Shoaf were further explored in the “Underground Terror” episode of the Investigation Discovery series Surviving Evil, hosted by fellow crime survivor Charisma Carpenter, airing on September 9, 2013.
The entire ordeal was later adapted into a Lifetime movie titled “Girl in the Bunker,” premiering on May 28, 2018. The film starred Julia LaLonde as Elizabeth Shoaf, Henry Thomas as Vinson Filyaw, and Moira Kelly as Madeline Shoaf.
