That moment, that seemingly innocent act of kindness, had teetered on the edge of something much darker.
We had been inches away from becoming his next victims.
And we had no idea.
He was a wanted criminal.
The news anchor reported that he had been arrested after years on the run. He was 35 years old—not in his early twenties as he had claimed. He had spent over a decade robbing unsuspecting drivers stranded in remote areas, targeting those stuck on deserted roads late at night. More than 30 victims had come forward, describing eerily similar situations.
He would gain their trust, offer a ride, and then rob them at gunpoint. Some were left tied up in abandoned locations, others were stranded miles away from civilization. The police had been searching for him for years.
And yet, he had let us go.
I felt a cold chill spread through my body as my mind replayed that night. Why hadn’t he robbed us? Why had he simply driven us to safety and left without taking anything?
Maybe he changed his mind at the last second. Maybe having two of us made it more complicated. Maybe I looked intimidating enough that he thought I’d fight back. Or maybe—just maybe—he saw something in us that reminded him of someone he once cared about.
I’ll never know for sure.
But what I do know is that my wife and I had walked away from that night completely unharmed—not realizing just how dangerous our situation truly was.
That moment, that seemingly innocent act of kindness, had teetered on the edge of something much darker.
We had been inches away from becoming his next victims.
And we had no idea.
