Missing For 10 Years- Tanya Koch
anneinchicago
Tanya Kach was 14 when she walked out of her father's McKeesport home
more than a decade ago.
The Cornell Middle School eighth-grader vanished. There were no
sightings. No phone calls.
The case went cold and stayed that way until Tuesday - 10 years, one
month and 11 days later - when Kach walked back into her father's life
and told the world that a school security guard with whom she had
fallen in love held her captive since Feb. 10, 1996.
The guard, Thomas John Hose, 48, surrendered to police Wednesday
afternoon and was charged with child sex offenses.
Jerry Kach collapsed upon seeing his long-lost daughter.
"I've got my baby back," he said, sobbing and stroking her face. "I
can't believe it."
This is her story:
Kach spent most of the past 10 years locked in a bedroom of Hose's
parents' Soles Street home.
Hose and Kach met in late 1995 at the school where Hose, then 37,
worked as a security guard. They secretly dated. She believed they were
in love.
No one could take care of her better, she believed. He invited her to
move in with him, but told Kach she would have to remain hidden from
his parents until he mustered the courage to tell them about her.
She agreed and dreamed of their future together - a wedding, and maybe
even children.
But it was mostly a nightmare.
He locked her in an upstairs bedroom where she used a bucket as a
toilet. He brought her water and food - mostly peanut butter and jelly
sandwiches.
She was allowed to watch television and listen to the radio, but only
with headphones so his parents wouldn't hear. She tiptoed around the
room. Hose made her memorize which floorboards creaked.
Hose gave her a new first name - Nikki - and told her to pick another
last name. She opened the telephone book, closed her eyes and pointed:
Allen.
"So from then on, I was Nikki Allen," she said.
Hose never physically abused her, but he left emotional scars. He often
threatened to kill her if she ever tried to leave.
"You're stupid. You're immature. Nobody cares about you but me," he
told her.
Secret revealed
As the years went by, he convinced her that she was no longer Tanya
Kach and that he was her only ally.
"He told me no one even cared I was missing and no one was looking for
me," she said as her eyes welled with tears. "He said the case was
cold. I believed him."
Hose rarely allowed her to leave until 10 months ago, when Kach began
attending church and taking walks to a nearby deli.
A woman who answered the door yesterday at Beulah Park United Methodist
Church in McKeesport said Kach recently began attending Sunday services
and volunteered in the church's thrift shop on Wednesday nights.
In the past 10 months, Kach befriended Joe Sparico, owner of JJ's Deli
Mart on Evans Street, and visited his store just about every day. Some
days she would linger for hours. She lived with an older man, Kach told
him, and didn't have a driver's license or an education.
The store owner gently prodded Kach for details because "I knew
something about her situation just wasn't right," Sparico said.
On Tuesday morning, something had changed in his young friend. Her
hands trembled, and she was crying.
They sat down together in a back room and she revealed her secret:
Nikki Allen didn't exist. She was really Tanya Kach, the girl who
disappeared from her daddy's house long ago.
"To be honest with you, I really didn't believe her at first," Sparico
said. "I mean, who could believe that?"
Sparico called the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children,
which confirmed Kach's disappearance.
"I don't know what she was running away from, but he convinced her that
she was better off staying with him," said Ron Jones, a senior case
manager with the missing children's center. "He certainly coerced this
young woman into staying with him, which is exploitation. But I don't
believe the young woman realized that she was being exploited."
Charges filed
Allegheny County Police Superintendent Charles Moffatt said
investigators believe Kach's story.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children released about
400 million exposures of her picture - on television, milk cartons and
elsewhere - and there were no sightings. Periodic checks on her Social
Security number also revealed no activity.
"This bolsters her contention that she wasn't outside the home,"
Moffatt said. "That's where she was all the time."
Police charged Hose with statutory sexual assault and three counts of
involuntary deviate sexual intercourse.
Defense attorney James M. Ecker, who accompanied Hose yesterday to
county police headquarters in Point Breeze, said that his client is a
"good person" who has no criminal record and a full-time job, and that
he should not be prejudged.
"She is 24 years old now," Ecker said. "She definitely was not held
against her will."
Moffatt, however, said charges are warranted even if Kach went
willingly because she was a minor at the time.
"I think it's very easy to play mind games with a child her age," he
said. "He was 24 years older. He was an authority figure. He told her
what to eat, when to eat and what to wear."
Unanswered questions
Many unanswered questions remain.
Police want to interview other people who might have information about
the case, including a White Oak hair stylist who, at Hose's behest,
changed Kach's hair color, style and length as part of her identity
makeover, Moffatt said.
Hose also has a son a few years younger than Kach who lived with them
part of the time, he said. Police believe Hose's parents lived in the
house at some point during Kach's stay, but they are not certain when,
Moffatt said.
The house is within view of a cemetery where the remains of murder
victim Kimberly Krimm, also 14, were found in 1998. Moffatt would not
say if Hose would be questioned in that unsolved slaying.
Kach's reappearance and Hose's arrest rocked the McKeesport Area School
District, which suspended him without pay.
"This is just devastating to the district," school board President
Kathy Ritchie said after last night's board meeting.
Hose worked as a security guard for 15 years and has been an exemplary
employee who was well-liked by the students and staff, Ritchie said.
Big adjustment
McKeesport police went to Hose's home Tuesday afternoon, helped Kach
gather her belongings and then reunited her with her father.
Clinging to him yesterday, Kach said she was stunned to learn her
father had never stopped looking for her and that he became deeply
depressed each February as the anniversary of her disappearance neared,
and again on Oct. 14 - her birthday.
She is happy to be back with her family and said her biggest wish is to
get a high school diploma. She's still getting used to being called
Tanya again. When introducing herself, she has to pause to think about
who she is.
She is surprised how much the world has changed, noting, for example,
the higher price of everyday items such as gas, milk and bread.
During an interview yesterday at her father's home in Elizabeth
Township, where he moved after his daughter disappeared, she was
alternately giddy and unsure of herself.
She asks him for permission to smoke a cigarette and to go clothes
shopping in the next few days.
"You're 24 years old, Tanya," he tells her. "There are no locks on
these doors and no bars on these windows."
These words make her cry.
"I can't believe I'm free."
tiny dancer
"anneinchicago" <annein...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:1143095876.0...@t31g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
What a story. And this guy works at a middle school. Do you think he might
be involved in that other 14 yr old girls murder, I wonder? This poor girl
has been through a lot. I too wonder what was going on in her life that she
left to begin with?
td
>
Thinker
I'm wondering if this girl disappeared on her own, or went with this
guy WILLINGLY, and now she is telling a tale to her father and
authorities, because he did something to her that she didn't like!
I mean, 10 years, and she couldn't have tried to escape, even from a
locked room? That doesn't sound too likely to me, it sounds more like a
phoney story to cover her ass. Even with bars on the windows and a
locked door, she couldn't break the window and call for help? She
couldn't yell and scream her head off? Story none too likely.
And people do have locks on doors and bars on windows for other reasons
than keeping people captive!
This story just doesn't sound too likely to me, it's all on her word so
far, and that isn't too credible without corroborating evidence.
Betsy
"tiny dancer" <tinydanc...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:BFrUf.2516$lM3....@bignews3.bellsouth.net...
|
| "anneinchicago" <annein...@comcast.net> wrote in message
| news:1143095876.0...@t31g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
| >
| > Tanya Kach was 14 when she walked out of her father's McKeesport
home
| > more than a decade ago.
| >
| > The Cornell Middle School eighth-grader vanished. There were no
| > sightings. No phone calls.
| >
| > The case went cold and stayed that way until Tuesday - 10 years, one
| > month and 11 days later - when Kach walked back into her father's
life
| > and told the world that a school security guard with whom she had
| > fallen in love held her captive since Feb. 10, 1996.
| >
| > The guard, Thomas John Hose, 48, surrendered to police Wednesday
| > afternoon and was charged with child sex offenses.
| >
<snip>|
|
| What a story. And this guy works at a middle school. Do you think he
might
| be involved in that other 14 yr old girls murder, I wonder? This poor
girl
| has been through a lot. I too wonder what was going on in her life
that she
| left to begin with?
|
|
| td
I am willing to bet he is involved with the other girls' murder.
Betsy
Uncle Buck
<tinydanc...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>"anneinchicago" <annein...@comcast.net> wrote in message
>news:1143095876.0...@t31g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
<snip>
>> Kach's reappearance and Hose's arrest rocked the McKeesport Area School
>> District, which suspended him without pay.
It seems a little odd to read all that and then see that his employer merely
"suspended him without pay" rather than outright firing him. But yet when I
thought about it, I guess they really shouldn't do that unless and until he's
proven guilty in trial.
<snip>
>What a story. And this guy works at a middle school. Do you think he might
>be involved in that other 14 yr old girls murder, I wonder? This poor girl
>has been through a lot. I too wonder what was going on in her life that she
>left to begin with?
That she left to begin with might be an indication of something or other, but I
don't think it's the biggest such indicator. I think the biggest clue is that
he was able to convince her that her family wasn't looking for her. I remember
being 14, I don't think I could have been made to believe such a thing at the
time. Then again maybe it's easier to manipulate a person's beliefs than one
would initially suspect, especially if you manage to lock them away from the
rest of the world.
--
L8r,
Uncle Buck
************************************************
The true mark of a civilized society is when its
citizens know how to hate each other peacefully.
************************************************
tiny dancer
"Uncle Buck" <Uncl...@SpamMeNot.com> wrote in message
news:sgbc22d7s9ogtbe8a...@4ax.com...
Her parents were in the middle of a divorce at the time, and she apparently
thought neither one of them wanted her. Listening to her interview the
other day, she sounds as though she's *frozen* at the age of about 14
mentally/emotionally.
td
nimue
> On Thu, 23 Mar 2006 01:59:15 -0500, "tiny dancer"
> <tinydanc...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> "anneinchicago" <annein...@comcast.net> wrote in message
>> news:1143095876.0...@t31g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> <snip>
>>> Kach's reappearance and Hose's arrest rocked the McKeesport Area
>>> School District, which suspended him without pay.
>
> It seems a little odd to read all that and then see that his employer
> merely "suspended him without pay" rather than outright firing him.
> But yet when I thought about it, I guess they really shouldn't do
> that unless and until he's proven guilty in trial.
>
> <snip>
>
>> What a story. And this guy works at a middle school. Do you think
>> he might be involved in that other 14 yr old girls murder, I wonder?
>> This poor girl has been through a lot. I too wonder what was going
>> on in her life that she left to begin with?
>
> That she left to begin with might be an indication of something or
> other, but I don't think it's the biggest such indicator. I think
> the biggest clue is that he was able to convince her that her family
> wasn't looking for her. I remember being 14, I don't think I could
Very interesting. I know your family was abusive -- yet it seems you still
felt they wanted you and no one would have been able to convince you they
didn't. As an adult, do you think they wanted you? Why do you think you
felt that at 14? If this is too painful, don't answer it. It just piqued
my curiosity.
>Then again maybe
> it's easier to manipulate a person's beliefs than one would initially
> suspect, especially if you manage to lock them away from the rest of
> the world.
--
nimue
"Evil is not merely banal; it prides itself on sticking to the rules
and looks forward to its pension." Kyle Smith
"Violence always wants to erupt and only creativity can control it."
Sister Wendy
nimue
Well, that makes sense. She hasn't had any of the life experiences that
mature a person between the ages of 14 and 24. She is going to have a lot
of catching up to do, poor thing.
>
>
> td
>
>
>> ************************************************
>> The true mark of a civilized society is when its
>> citizens know how to hate each other peacefully.
>> ************************************************
--
tiny dancer
"nimue" <cup_o...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:KfAVf.30549$4%1.5...@news-wrt-01.rdc-nyc.rr.com...
I didn't write that paragraph above, if it's me you were referring to nimue?
Somehow the attribution appears to have been mucked up. I could very easily
have been manipulated into believing just about anything at 14, especially
if I thought the person 'loved me'. I never felt like they *wanted* either
me or my sister. Mother used to fling that at us daily "I wish I never had
any kids, I hate you, if I didn't *have you* I could have been an artist, a
country western singer, whatever she *imagined* she 'could have been' that
day. Hell, I thought about flinging myself in front of a city bus so 'she
wouldn't have to put up with me anymore', and that was in elementary school.
I could very easily see myself being talked into leaving with some scummy
guy. Getting myself into deeper shit, and then buying the idea that "I had
nowhere to go back to". I have no trouble at all believing this girls
story, especially after *hearing* her talk. My therapist has explained to
me about 'getting stuck' at the place where one had trauma. So that's
exactly what struck me, about her still sounding like a kid.
td
nimue
Nope -- I thought Uncle Buck wrote it.
>Somehow the attribution appears to have been mucked up. I
> could very easily have been manipulated into believing just about
> anything at 14, especially if I thought the person 'loved me'. I
> never felt like they *wanted* either me or my sister. Mother used to
> fling that at us daily "I wish I never had any kids, I hate you, if
> I didn't *have you* I could have been an artist, a country western
> singer, whatever she *imagined* she 'could have been' that day.
That's so awful.
> Hell, I thought about flinging myself in front of a city bus so 'she
> wouldn't have to put up with me anymore', and that was in elementary
> school.
I don't understand how people like her can exist. You deserved a wonderful
mother but you did the next best thing -- you became one yourself.
tiny dancer
Oh I'm so sorry. :( Please excuse me. I saw the part I'd written and
then the other part and thought maybe you'd meant me.
Now that you have said it was Uncle buck, I do remember wondering the same
thing myself about what he'd written. I too wait to hear his answer if he
so chooses.
Again, please excuse my mistake.
td
Uncle Buck
Ask me anything, dear, it's not really painful anymore. "Bittersweet" I guess
would be more the right word. Oh, it can -get- painful if I sit and linger on
it over a bottle or some such stupid thing, but just in the course of normal
conversation I can talk about it these days like I can talk about most other
unpleasant things.
It's not that at 14, I would have thought my -whole- family wanted me, but there
were 2 that I knew for sure did - my maternal grandmother and a maternal aunt.
I didn't have faith in anyone else in my entire family, not my parents nor my
sister, but I had faith in those two. My aunt's going to have been dead for 20
years come this October (In fact, I was 14 when she died), and grandma has been
dead for 14 as of last month (Hmmmnn... 14... 14... what could it mean? I'm
not a superstitious person, but that number's cropped up in every aspect of this
post - it's enough to make a person wonder...). Those two, and only those two,
I never could have believed would forsake me.
While in retrospect I've realized that my parents actually did (and do) love me
in their own way, at the time I honestly believed they hated me and would have
done anything to be rid of me. Especially my dad. Had they known for sure at
that time that I was gay, they probably _would_ have felt that way (if
electroshock therapy, exorcism and institutionalization failed to "cure" me,
that is - and yes, I have no doubt whatsoever that they would have subjected me
to those things). Fortunately, they didn't find out about that for 100% certain
until they, themselves, had matured enough to handle it with a MUCH better
attitude. They're really not the same people who raised me, and I don't know
how I got so lucky in that regard.