Kidnapped Teen Outsmarted a Serial Killer Then Sent Him to Death Row

Lisa McVey was only 17 years old when she was abducted by notorious serial killer Bobby Joe Long in 1984, but her quick thinking and courage not only saved her life—it ended Long’s horrific killing spree.

On November 3, 1984, McVey was cycling home from her job at a Krispy Kreme in Tampa, Florida, when Long ambushed her at gunpoint and forced her into his Dodge Magnum. By that time, he’d already murdered eight women. McVey, however, was determined not to become another statistic.

Even though Long blindfolded and restrained her, McVey carefully memorized critical details about her surroundings. She noted unique road curves, counted stairs to his apartment, and strategically left fingerprints on surfaces like bathroom towels and door handles. These precise observations would later become key evidence.

“At one time he placed my hands on his face,” McVey recalled to Fox 13 Tampa. She took note of every detail—”pockmarks, a small mustache, small ears, short hair, clean-cut, kind of stout, but not overweight; a big guy.”

Despite enduring repeated assaults at gunpoint over 26 harrowing hours, McVey maintained her composure, calmly speaking to Long as though he were “a 4-year-old,” she said. She even convinced him that she could become his “girlfriend,” pleading that she needed to return home to care for her sick father.

Remarkably, her tactics worked. Long eventually released McVey near her home. Removing her blindfold, the first thing she saw was a large oak tree. “That’s the moment I knew my life was about to change for good,” she said. “I saw the branches of new life.”

McVey immediately went to the police and shared every critical detail she remembered—from Long’s car interior and apartment layout to the exact times he used an ATM. Her information was instrumental in helping authorities track down and arrest Long within two weeks, but tragically, not before he claimed two more victims.

Nearly 35 years later, McVey sat in the front row at Long’s execution in May 2019. “I wanted to be the first person he saw,” she told The Washington Post.

Empowered by her experience, McVey later joined the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department—the same agency that arrested her attacker. As a school resource officer, she dedicated her career to protecting children and preventing sexual violence.

“[I’m] a protector. No one’s going to get hurt on my watch,” she said. “That was my motivation to become a police officer—I’m no longer a victim.”

Today, Lisa McVey remains a powerful advocate for safety, teaching young people to trust their instincts and fight for survival. “I tell kids if somebody tries to grab them, scream as loud as you can,” she said. “Be strong and draw on your own sense of self-preservation.”