by Tanya Kach’s story was a movie of a lifetime – and it’s now a story.
Kach is speaking out about the horrific ordeal of being held captive for ten years since he was 14, after fellow kidnap survivor Elizabeth Smart convinced her to share her story.
“A lot of women messaged me, reaching out to me and opening up about something that happened in their life because they feel comfortable talking to me because I understand,” said the now 42-year-old. The Independent, just days after The Girl Under Lock Upstairs: The Story of Tanya Kach premiered on Lifetime.
The teenager from Pennsylvania was struggling at home and at school after her parents’ turbulent divorce before she left office in February 1996.
Months earlier, when Kach tried to skip class at Cornell Middle School in the Pittsburgh suburb of McKeesport to avoid the peers who bullied her, she was caught by the school’s security guard.
But instead of turning her in, Thomas “Tom” Hose, who was more than twice her age at 38, took an interest in her and the two became close.
Hose gave her flowers, candy, gifts and money for cigarettes. They even shared a kiss in the bedroom. She began to believe that she was in love with him.
He learned of Kach’s unstable home life, her thoughts of wanting to run away and so after gaining her trust, he preyed on her vulnerabilities and convinced her to move in with him – with the promise of she has a better life.
But perhaps it was a desperate attempt at a new beginning for Kach that turned into a nightmare.
Inside Tanya’s prison
On February 10, 1996, Kach was lured to Hose’s home in McKeesport where she was held captive for 10 years.
The house, where Hose lived with his parents and son, was only a few miles away from where Kach lived with her father and stepmother before she went missing.
Hose’s parents later claimed that they never knew that Kach was in their house, according to The Associated Press.
Kach’s nightmare ended when she took refuge in a neighboring deli owner and was able to escape. She was 24 years old at the time.
For the first four years of their ten-year captivity, Kach was not allowed to leave Hose’s second-story bedroom, where she was kept locked inside and sexually abused daily.
She had to use a metal can as a toilet and Hose would give her scraps of food from his meals.
Hose also forced Kach to record their sexual encounters in a series of journals so he could “brag to co-workers and friends,” according to a criminal complaint he received. The Associated Press.
“He made me keep a calendar book of our sex acts, so I knew the dates,” she said.
The years passed but still, she was too afraid to escape.
“He threatened to kill me in my sleep,” Kach said The Independent. “He threatened to throw me in a garbage bag and throw me in the river.”
When Kach was 18, she discovered she was missing after seeing her name and photo in the local newspaper.
Around that time, Hose started introducing her to his family and friends as his live-in girlfriend “Nikki Allen” and even let her leave home sometimes, believing that she wouldn’t leave at this point.
“He trusted me to go out because he knew I was in it,” she said.
She was allowed to go to church or the neighborhood deli, but she had a strict curfew.
“I was scared,” she said, describing her first time out in public.
“He gave me those specific instructions and everything and I was following the instructions, doing what I had to do, but I was like a deer in the headlights out there.”
A daring escape
During her brief sojourn, Kach began working part-time at a neighboring deli. She developed a friendship with the owners, which would change her life.
“I saw what a family should be like,” she said The Independent. “And I said ‘that’s what I want.'”
That family helped Kach understand that what she had with Hose, and her life for the past 10 years, was not normal.
She finally found the courage to trust the owner of the deli, Joe Sparico, on March 21, 2006.
“If you go to the website for missing children, you’ll see a picture of me,” she reportedly told Sparico through tears The Denver Post.
Sparico contacted his son, a retired police officer who was familiar with Kach’s case. A short time later, Hose was arrested.
“I will never forget how it felt to leave that house that day,” she later wrote, according to People. “I got into the police car, took a deep breath and thought, ‘It’s over. I’m free.'”
What happened to Thomas Hose?
In 2007, Thomas Hose pleaded guilty to statutory sexual assault, involuntary manslaughter, indecent assault and endangering the welfare of children, corruption of minors, interference with child custody and aggravated indecent assault. The Associated Press.
Hose was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
At her hearing, Kach read a victim impact statement, telling Hose she was no longer a “puppet.”
“You took my innocence, my youth. You made me think that my family didn’t want me or love me, that no one cared or loved me but you,” says the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “For 10 years you ruled me.”
“I plan to go places,” she told him, adding “what I want to do most is help protect children and women from men like you.”
Hose apologized in court for his treatment of Kach.
“I want to say I’m sorry,” he said. “I want Tanya to know how sorry I am.”
He ended his statement claiming that his actions were done to help Kach and that she often told him, “Thank you, without you, I would be dead or on the streets,” according to NBC News.
After serving 15 years in prison, Hose was released in 2022, according to WTAE. He is registered as a sex offender Megan’s Law Pennsylvania.
Where is Tanya Kach now?
Kach went on to live a successful life. She earned her GED, got her driver’s license and attended college.
“I’ve built a very happy life for myself,” she said. “I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
She co-authored a book in 2017 with Lawrence Fisher entitled, A Memoir of a Milk Cartoon Child: The Story of Tanya Kach.
In September 2018, Kach married a man named Carl and became a stepmother, as well as a grandmother to her stepson’s young children.
“We had a beautiful ceremony on the beach. It was just us, we wanted something very private,” said Kach People in a previous interview. “He’s been my rock and my biggest supporter through all of this and through life and everything.”
Although she was happy to be reunited with her father after being rescued, she has since revealed that he believes she is partly responsible for her own abduction. After a bittersweet reunion, the two fell out and haven’t spoken since.
However, Tanya and her mother have become close.
“My mom and I are very close now,” she said. “She was my biggest supporter and helped me get back on my feet after my rescue. We have been through intensive therapy together and things are very good.”
About a year ago, Kach ran into Joe Sparico, the deli owner who saved her.
“We were walking into a supermarket and we hugged and grabbed everything in life, because life gets in the way,” she said.
“But Joe wanted me to go out and build a life and live my life and, you know, and that’s what I did.”
The Girl Under Lock Upstairs: The Story of Tanya Kach now available on Lifetime.
