Held Hostages By A Serial Killer

Kala was rescued – but others lost their lives...

- Cher Heasmer

As South Carolina police officers tried to unlock the shipping container, they heard something move inside.

Then came muffled screams and cries for help.

When they finally broke the lock and opened it, they couldn’t believe their eyes.

A woman was chained up by her ankle and neck.

Kala Brown, 30, had been missing for two months. Now she’d been found caged and chained up like a dog.

When police asked who’d done this to her, she gave them a name…

Todd Kohlhepp.

He owned the land where the container was situated.

Kala told how Kohlhepp had shot dead her boyfriend Charles Carver, 32.

Days on, investigators dug the body of Charles from a shallow grave.

Shortly after, another body was found, then another…

So who was Todd Kohlhepp? And why had he murdered several people and held Kala captive?

Todd was born in Florida, in 1971, and his parents split up when he was young.

He was reportedly aggressive towards other children, and he allegedly shot a dog with a BB gun, and killed a goldfish with bleach.

Todd had counselling – then, in 1983, went to live with his father in Arizona.

It was there that he developed an obsession with guns.

His first run-in with the law came in 1986.

Kohlhepp, then 15, kidnapped a 14-year-old girl. He threatened her with a gun and led her back to his house. He then tied her up and taped her mouth shut.