Tanya Kach, Missing since 1996, Found Alive
Tanya Kach had been missing for over 10 years. She was last seen February 10, 1996; however, was found alive in a residence in McKeesport, PA.
While authorities have not released any details surrounding the case at this point, McKeesport police have confirmed that Tanya Kach was found alive inside a residence in McKeesport Tuesday, reports KDKA-TV.
Kach, who’s now 24, was reported missing on Feb. 10, 1996.
McKeesport Police Chief Joseph Pero says Kach was initially listed as a runaway, but her disappearance turned from there into a missing person case. (CBS 2)
Tanya Kach had been listed on the database at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
UPDATE: According to reports, Tanya Kach told the owner of a local convenience store that she was a missing girl and that she was being held by a school security guard against her will.
Joe Sparico, owner of J.J.’s Deli Mart, said the woman he’s known for the past six months as Nikki Evans broke down in tears Tuesday and told him she is the missing Tanya Kach, and that a school security guard had kept her locked in a bedroom of his Soles Street house that he shares with his elderly parents.
“To be honest with you, I really didn’t believe her at first,” Sparico said. “I mean, who could believe that. It’s been 10 years. It was just too much for me to believe.”
But when she walked into his store Tuesday morning, she was shaking and crying.
“She said she had something to tell me. She begged me to believe her and help her and not abandon her,” Sparico said.
Girl Missing for 10 Years Found, Was Allegedly Held Captive
On Tuesday she was identified as a 24-year-old woman using the name Nicky Evans, WTAE reported.
“She’s in good condition. She’s with family members in the Pittsburgh area,” Police Chief Joseph Pero told The Associated Press.
Held Captive for a Decade
Sparico told “Good Morning America” the alleged captor is a security guard at a school, and that he brainwashed her into thinking that her family didn’t want her anymore. He and Kach had allegedly concocted a cover story, telling people that she’d met him when he was 18 and he was working as a security guard at a mall.
UPDATE II: Police say missing Pa. woman had been confined to house for years
Tanya Nicole Kach, now 24, had been living at the home of Thomas Hose, 48, just about two miles from her father’s house in this Pittsburgh suburb, police said. The two had met at the school Kach attended before her disappearance.
In what is just an amazing story of being hid in plain sight, Tanya Kach was kept out of sight in seclusion just a couple of miles from her home.
Allegheny County Police Superintendent Charles Moffatt said Kach had been living at the home Hose shared with his parents since 1996, and was not allowed to leave the house for the first four years she was there.
When others came over, Kach was made to stay in a bedroom, Moffatt said.
“She had no contact with people, other than the people that were in the home,” Moffatt said.
Moffatt said that Hose would tell her what to eat and what to wear, something Moffatt referred to as “mind games.” Moffatt said there was no indication that Kach had been physically restrained.
Moffatt said charges were pending but would not elaborate.
James Ecker, Hose’s attorney, said police planned to charge his client late Wednesday with sex crimes involving a minor. The attorney said there was no indication that Kach had been abducted or kidnapped.