***Snippet from North American version aired on PBS***
PBS Funding credits:
"This special program is made possible in part by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional funding is provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, The Joyful Heart Foundation, and by contributions to your PBS station from Viewers Like You. Thank you."
JOHN WALSH
(Host of
America's Most Wanted)
"Hello, I'm John Walsh. I've been asked by PBS to introduce this evening's special presentation. Next month will mark the tenth anniversary of one of the darkest days in American history. That was a day dubbed by pop culture enthusiasts as 'The Day the Laughter Died.' It was on July 19, 1996, that a then-15 year old girl was rescued alive in Albany, New York, after the highly-televised police chase involving a demented pervert who was once celebrated as a game changer in his industry. Now 25, 'Blair' has tried to start a new life in St Louis, but closure remains ever elusive. Tonight, 'Blair' sits down with our friends at the British Broadcasting Corporation for her first interview since that fateful encounter."
***End snippet***
SAMANTHA POLING
(BBC Panorama correspondent)
"Every morning in her St Louis apartment, 'Blair' starts her day by memorizing her regimen of anxiety medication."
'BLAIR':
"As part of my prescription, I pretty much have to take one after I get out of bed...the second I take during my lunch break...the third I take before I go to bed. If I forget to take one, I start to get real nasty flashbacks of what the Monster did to me. There were plenty of times when I've forgotten to take a tablet and I've had to leave work early because my flashbacks were so bad."
POLING (Cont'd):
"For the past three years, 'Blair' has worked several odd jobs since moving to St Louis. Her first job was in the mail room at the locally based investment firm Edward Jones. Her newest and current job is as a cashier at a gift shop at Riverfront Square, which is currently undergoing major expansions."
'BLAIR':
"When I'm at work, I don't get too many people who recognize me these days. It's as if people pretty much moved on after I gave my testimony...and I pretty much had my fifteen minutes of fame if you will."
POLING:
"But what about when you were attending medical school at the University of Nebraska?"
'BLAIR':
"I was originally studying to become a pediatrician or a day care provider...but the anxiety took its toll. Frat boys would often gather outside my dormitory building and sing the 'Happy Happy, Joy Joy song, without any regard for the fact that I was the Monster's captive. By the time I was supposed to attend more schooling towards that field...that's when the anxiety reared its ugly head even more."