Colleen Stan thought she was safe. It was May 19, 1977, and she was hitchhiking from Eugene, Oregon, to a friend’s birthday party in Westwood, California. She felt confident as she climbed into the blue van. A young couple sat in the front — the man looked like he had just gotten off work, and the woman held a baby. It seemed harmless.
Twenty minutes later, everything changed. The man pulled off the highway, claiming he wanted to explore nearby caves. His wife and baby stepped out, leaving Colleen alone with him. Suddenly, a knife was at her throat. He tied her up and placed a heavy wooden box over her head. Darkness and silence swallowed her. She couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, couldn’t breathe. She was trapped.
Colleen didn’t know it yet, but she was now a prisoner in Cameron and Janice Hooker’s home in Red Bluff, California. For the next seven years, she would endure unimaginable cruelty — locked in a box for 23 hours a day, tortured, and brainwashed into believing that a powerful organization called “The Company” watched her every move. She would live as a slave, fearing escape more than captivity itself.
This is her story.
How was Colleen Stan kidnapped and held captive?
Colleen Stan was 20 years old when she decided to hitchhike to a friend’s birthday party in Westwood, California. It was 1977, and hitchhiking was common. She considered herself an experienced hitchhiker, cautious enough to decline two rides before accepting a third. A young couple in a blue van seemed safe. The man looked tired, like he’d just finished work, and the woman held a baby in her arms. Colleen’s instincts told her it was okay. She was wrong.
They drove along Interstate 5, the baby gurgling in the front seat. Everything seemed normal. When they stopped at a gas station, Colleen went to use the restroom. A voice in her head told her to run, to jump out of the window and never look back. But she calmed herself. They seemed like a normal family. She returned to the van. That decision changed her life forever.
Twenty minutes later, the man pulled off the highway, saying he wanted to explore some nearby caves. His wife and baby got out, leaving Colleen alone with him. Suddenly, he lunged at her with a knife. Her body froze in shock as he tied her up, his movements methodical, practiced. Then, he pulled out a wooden box. It was heavy, designed to fit tightly over her head, blocking out light, sound, and air. He placed it over her head. Darkness. Silence. Colleen couldn’t see or hear anything. Panic set in. She tried to scream, but no one could hear her. She was trapped.
The man was Cameron Hooker. His wife, Janice, was in on it. They drove Colleen to their home in Red Bluff, California. She was dragged out of the van, still blindfolded, and taken to the basement. Instruments of torture lined the walls — chains, hooks, whips. Colleen’s body shook with fear. This wasn’t a random abduction. It was planned. Deliberate.
Cameron Hooker had been waiting for someone like her. He was obsessed with bondage and control. He had an agreement with his wife, Janice, to capture a slave who would take her place, relieving Janice from his sadistic fantasies. There was one condition — no penetrative sex. But that promise didn’t last.
On the first night, Cameron strung Colleen up by her wrists, blindfolded and naked. She dangled helplessly as he beat her, his wife watching below. Colleen heard them having sex beneath her, the sounds mingling with her pain and humiliation. She wanted to scream, to fight back, but fear paralyzed her. Cameron was in control.
After that night, Colleen’s life became a nightmare. She was locked in the wooden box for hours at a time, left alone in darkness. The headbox was designed to block all sound, light, and air. It became her world — a world of silence and fear. She didn’t know if it was day or night, how much time had passed, or if she would ever escape.
Colleen Stan was no longer free. She was Cameron Hooker’s prisoner. And her ordeal was just beginning.
What happened to Colleen Stan during her captivity?
Inside the Basement of Hell
Colleen Stan’s life became a nightmare the moment she was dragged into the Hookers’ basement. It was a place designed for pain — a dungeon hidden beneath an ordinary suburban home in Red Bluff, California. Cameron Hooker, her captor, was not just a sadist. He was a meticulous planner, obsessed with control and domination. Every inch of that basement was crafted to break her body and mind.
The first night set the tone for the years of torture that followed. Cameron led Colleen down 14 cold, concrete steps into the dark, windowless room. Her wrists were shackled above her head, her feet dangling off the ground. Her body formed the shape of a “Y,” stretched and vulnerable. Cameron stood back, watching her helplessness with cold, calculating eyes. Then, without warning, he whipped her.
The whip cracked against her back, the sharp sting cutting through her flesh. Colleen’s body jerked with each strike, pain shooting through her spine. Cameron’s strikes were rhythmic, methodical. He didn’t just want to hurt her; he wanted to destroy her will. The whipping lasted for 15 minutes. Each lash left red welts on her back, burning with pain. But Cameron didn’t stop there.
He brought Janice, his wife, down to the basement. They stripped naked in front of Colleen, then had sex on the table before her. Colleen’s head hung low, humiliation searing through her. She was an object, a spectator in her own horror story. When she accidentally looked up, Cameron snapped. He grabbed the whip again, his anger intensifying the brutality. This was his way of reinforcing her powerlessness. She was nothing. Just an object to be used and discarded.
The Headbox
Cameron’s torture methods were varied and meticulous. He hung her from the ceiling by her wrists, leaving her to dangle for hours, her body twisting in pain. Sometimes he flipped her upside down, hanging her by her ankles until her head throbbed with blood rushing downward. Then, he’d flip her back, the sudden shift sending shockwaves through her spine. He did this repeatedly, prolonging the agony, watching her suffer.
One of Cameron’s most sinister devices was the headbox. It was a wooden box designed to fit tightly over her head, blocking out all light, sound, and fresh air. It was heavy, pressing down on her shoulders, suffocating her. When he clamped it shut, Colleen was trapped in absolute darkness. She couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, couldn’t even breathe properly. The air grew hot and stale, her lungs straining for oxygen. Every breath was a struggle.
The headbox was more than a physical prison. It was psychological torture. Colleen was isolated from the world, her senses cut off, her mind left to spiral into despair. She was trapped in darkness, unable to gauge time. Days blurred into nights, hours stretched into eternity. She was alone, suffocating in a silence so complete it drove her to the brink of madness.
The Coffin Box
But the headbox was just the beginning. Cameron built another box — larger, coffin-like. It was six and a half feet long, two and a half feet wide, and twenty inches high. It was made of particle board, which scratched her skin and gave her tiny splinters. He chained her inside this box for 23 hours a day, locking her in darkness. Her hands were chained above her head, her body cramped and twisted. There was no room to move, no space to breathe.
The box was soundproof. No one could hear her cries, her screams. She was buried alive, trapped in a coffin under Cameron and Janice’s waterbed. Every night, she listened to their voices above her, their laughter, their lives continuing while she suffocated in darkness. She could hear the bed creaking as they slept, made love, and lived a normal life above her prison.
To survive, Colleen escaped into her mind. She imagined herself far away, in a better place. She went on picnics with her family, visited beautiful places, and relived happy memories. Her mind became her sanctuary, her only escape from the darkness. It was the only way she stayed sane.
The Company
Cameron’s most powerful weapon wasn’t the whip or the box. It was his ability to control Colleen’s mind. He invented “The Company,” a secret, powerful organization that he claimed monitored her every move. He told her they were always watching, that they would kill her and her family if she tried to escape. He said they had eyes everywhere — even the police were under their control.
He backed up his lies with fake documents and news articles, convincing her that she was trapped not just by him but by an entire organization. Colleen believed him completely. She was terrified of “The Company,” convinced that any attempt to run would result in brutal torture or death. Her fear kept her obedient, silent, and submissive.
Cameron’s manipulation was so complete that even when Colleen was allowed to walk outside, jog, or work as a maid, she didn’t try to escape. She believed she was being watched, that “The Company” would find her no matter where she went. Her body wasn’t the only thing imprisoned — her mind was too.
Little Rewards and Conditional Freedom
Cameron used small acts of kindness as a twisted form of control. He would occasionally allow Colleen to come out of the box to bathe, brush her teeth, or eat special meals. These small moments of normalcy made her grateful, reinforcing his power over her. He played the role of both tormentor and savior, confusing her, breaking her will.
To reward her obedience, Cameron allowed her to visit her family in 1981. It was the ultimate psychological manipulation. Colleen was free, out of his house, surrounded by people who loved her. But she didn’t tell them the truth. She was too terrified of “The Company” and what they would do if she tried to escape.
Her family thought she was involved in a cult because of her strange behavior, her homemade clothes, and her nervous demeanor. They didn’t pressure her, afraid she would disappear forever. Colleen smiled for photographs with Cameron, posing as his girlfriend. The pictures show them laughing together, her arm around his waist, her face a mask of compliance.
After the visit, she returned to captivity. Cameron punished her by locking her in the coffin box for 23 hours a day for the next three years. The box became her world — a dark, airless prison where she ate scraps of food and used a bedpan to relieve herself. She was a ghost, living in darkness while life went on above her.
Physical and Mental Torture
Cameron’s cruelty was boundless. He tortured her with electricity, burned her, choked her, and nearly drowned her multiple times. He raped her with foreign objects, humiliating and degrading her. He forced her to wear a collar, labeling her as his property. He changed her name to “K,” stripping her of her identity. She was no longer Colleen Stan. She was just an object, a slave.
He isolated her from reality, manipulating her until she lost her sense of self. She became compliant, obedient, and broken. Her spirit was shattered, her hope extinguished. But even in the darkest moments, Colleen survived. She endured unimaginable cruelty, her mind retreating to a place where Cameron couldn’t reach her.
For seven years, she lived in darkness, tortured and broken. Yet, she never gave up. She escaped not just from the basement but from the prison Cameron tried to create in her mind. She was The Girl in the Box. But she was also a survivor.
Who were Cameron and Janice Hooker in Colleen Stan’s case?
Cameron Hooker was not an ordinary man. On the surface, he was a lumber mill worker in Red Bluff, California, living with his wife Janice and their children. But beneath that ordinary facade was a sadistic predator with dark fantasies of power and control. He was obsessed with bondage, domination, and torture. He didn’t just want to hurt his victims; he wanted to own them — mind, body, and soul.
Cameron’s obsession began long before he met Colleen Stan. He practiced his fantasies on Janice, torturing and manipulating her from the start of their relationship. But he wanted more. He wanted a slave. Janice was tired of being his victim, so they made a twisted agreement — Cameron could kidnap another woman to be his slave as long as he didn’t have penetrative sex with her. It was a compromise to save herself, or at least that’s what she told herself.
Cameron planned everything meticulously. He built a headbox to isolate his victim from light, sound, and air. He constructed the wooden box under his waterbed to keep her hidden for days. He designed chains, hooks, and whips to break her will. His goal wasn’t just physical domination; he wanted to control her mind. When he kidnapped Colleen Stan, his fantasies became a terrifying reality.
Janice’s role was complicated. She was Cameron’s wife, but also his first victim. He manipulated her into believing that his sadistic desires were normal. She watched as he tortured Colleen, sometimes participating, sometimes just looking away. She justified it by convincing herself that it saved her from his abuse. But she was trapped too — emotionally and psychologically. Cameron controlled her with the same fear he used on Colleen.
The dynamic between Cameron and Janice was twisted and complex. They weren’t just partners in crime; they were prisoners of each other’s fears and needs. Cameron controlled Janice with guilt and violence, just as he controlled Colleen with “The Company.” Janice’s silence enabled Cameron’s cruelty, but she was also a victim of his manipulation.
Janice finally broke her silence in 1984 when Cameron told her he wanted to make Colleen his second wife. That was too much. Her guilt and jealousy collided, forcing her to confront the truth. She confessed everything to Colleen, revealing that “The Company” was a lie. Her confession set Colleen free and led to Cameron’s arrest.
Cameron Hooker was sentenced to 104 years in prison. Janice received immunity in exchange for her testimony. Cameron remains behind bars, while Janice rebuilt her life under a new identity.
How did Collen Stan escape her captors?
Colleen Stan’s escape didn’t happen in a burst of heroism. It started with a whisper of truth. In August 1984, after seven years of silence, Janice Hooker confessed. She told Colleen the secret that shattered her psychological chains — “The Company” didn’t exist. It was a lie Cameron had used to control her mind, to keep her obedient and terrified.
The truth was liberating, but Colleen didn’t run immediately. Her fear was too deeply rooted. She went to the bus station and did something unexpected. She called Cameron. She told him she was leaving. He broke down, sobbing, begging her to stay. But she hung up and boarded the bus, finally free.
For months, she didn’t call the police. She wanted to give Cameron a chance to change, influenced by Janice’s pleas. But Janice couldn’t live with the guilt anymore. She went to the authorities and confessed everything — Cameron’s lies, the torture, the captivity. Her testimony exposed Cameron’s crimes.
Cameron Hooker was arrested and sentenced to 104 years in prison. Colleen Stan walked away from seven years of darkness, reclaiming her life. She was no longer “K.” She was Colleen again — free and unbroken.
