The Disturbing Case of a Teenager Kidnapped After Online Grooming
In one of the most harrowing child abduction cases linked to the early internet era, a teenage girl was groomed online, kidnapped, and subjected to four days of torture that was allegedly live-streamed to viewers. The case highlights the profound dangers that existed in largely unregulated online spaces during the early 2000s and continues to serve as a stark warning about digital safety.
A Friendship Built on Deception
Alicia Kozakiewicz was just thirteen years old when she began communicating with an individual she met on the internet. This person falsely presented themselves as a peer of similar age, cultivating a virtual friendship through daily chats, shared interests, and emotional connection over several months. The truth, however, was far more sinister: the individual was actually a thirty-one-year-old man who would later introduce Alicia to an acquaintance as part of a calculated grooming process.
On New Year's Day in 2002, Alicia told her parents she felt unwell and retreated to her bedroom. Instead of resting, she secretly left her family home in Pittsburgh to meet this online friend face-to-face for the first time. "He was the one I walked out to see on New Year's Day and who kidnapped me in his car," Alicia later recounted in a first-person account.
A Brutal Abduction and Four-Day Nightmare
The encounter turned violent immediately. "He was grabbing my hand so tightly that I thought it was broken," she recalled, describing how he threatened to place her in the car trunk if she did not remain quiet. After a five-hour drive to a property in Virginia, she was dragged into a house and down into a basement filled with equipment her young mind could not comprehend.
What followed was a horrific four-day ordeal during which Alicia was:
- Placed in a dog collar and chained to the floor
- Sexually assaulted and beaten repeatedly
- Subjected to abuse that was allegedly live-streamed online
"I was raped and beaten and tortured in that house for four days," she wrote. "Sometimes people say, 'You're so lucky, that's not that long.' You cannot define pain by time... it's your experience and your pain that defines it." During the assaults, she fought back at times, resulting in a broken nose, and lived in constant fear that her abuser would ultimately murder her.
The Dramatic FBI Rescue Operation
On the fourth day, her abuser told her, "I'm beginning to like you too much. Tonight we're going to go for a ride," which Alicia interpreted as a death sentence. After he left for work, giving her food for the first time in days, she had begun to accept her own fate when she heard forceful banging on the door.
Hiding under the bed, she was discovered by armed agents. "I was staring down the barrel of a gun," she wrote. "I thought, 'This is when I'm going to die. This is it.'" Only when she saw the letters FBI on their uniforms did she realise she was being rescued. "They set me free," she said. "They gave me a second chance at life. These men and women, they are my angels."
The rescue was triggered after an online viewer of the live-stream recognised Alicia from missing person posters and alerted authorities, enabling investigators to trace her location.
Aftermath and Advocacy for Child Safety
Her kidnapper, Scott Tyree, was arrested and later sentenced to nearly twenty years in federal prison for abduction, sexual exploitation, and production of explicit images of a minor. He has since completed his sentence and been released, though he faced additional legal action for parole violations.
Today, Alicia Kozakiewicz has transformed her trauma into powerful advocacy. She has become a prominent campaigner for child protection and online safety awareness, founding the Alicia Project and helping to establish Alicia's Law. This legislation ensures dedicated funding for Internet Crimes Against Children task forces across the United States.
"This is the perfect example why, when a child is missing, every single second counts," Alicia emphasised. Her story remains a chilling reminder of the vulnerabilities children face in digital spaces and the critical importance of vigilant online safety measures.
