Strictly Stalking

Once called "the miracle on the beach," Synanon began in the 1960s as an experimental rehab facility in Santa Monica, California with a radical claim: It could cure heroin addiction. Before long, it would make an even bolder claim: It could cure any of your problems. All you had to do was move in. What started in a house on the beach, soon spread to compounds across the country. The man who made t...

Jillian Hamilton is the Creator and Host of the Podcast "Cheating: When Love Lies." While in high school, a stranger started sending Jillian gifts and notes, which she ignored at first. She figured out who her "secret admirer" was when he showed up unannounced at her parent's house, a boy in her grade that she wasn't friends with and didn't know well. Jillian continued to ignore the letters and gi...

Maisie was stalked by her driving instructor after taking lessons from him. While learning to drive, Maisie's teacher seemed professional and friendly at first, but then she started feeling uncomfortable around him. She turned him down when he asked her out for a drink for her 18th birthday, and he responded by creating a Tik Tok for her with driving tips, but he added a heart and called her his "...

Jeanette was stalked in college by a classmate she befriended from her wilderness class. During the class trip, they got to know each other as friends, and afterward, he texted her, asking her to be his girlfriend and saying he loved her. She turned him down, but he continued to reach out excessively, eventually showing up in class with a bouquet, causing them embarrassment when she again turned h...

Melanie was stalked by her ex-husband after meeting and connecting with him online. When he told her about his criminal past, she felt they should just remain friends, but he won her over and they were quickly married. Melanie's new husband was immediately abusive, and she barely made it out of the marriage alive. After a horrible beating she filed for divorce and pressed charges. Her abuser only...

Jill was stalked by an older high school foreign exchange student who became obsessed with her. He constantly stood in front of her locker and would move aside when she needed to use it, but continued to stare without speaking to her. As his behavior escalated, he followed her around school, waited outside the bathroom for her, and offered her gifts. Jill told the school counselor about this, and...

Paula was stalked by an ex-boyfriend from high school. When Paula broke up with him, his behavior became disturbing, and he attempted suicide to try to get her back. She gave in but only stayed long enough to help him survive the suicide attempt. When she left him again, he followed her to a hotel room she was at with friends and threatened them with a gun. Paula was again afraid for her life when...

Liz Hickox was stalked by a woman who faked illnesses for financial support and sympathy. While volunteering at a breast cancer charity, Liz met and became friends with Sarah, who told Liz she had terminal cancer. Sarah soon became obsessed with Liz, messaging up to 200 times a day, showing up for unannounced visits, and even moving in with Liz's parents at one point. When Liz and her husband Bria...

MT is being stalked by a man she met at church. After church one day MT received a Facebook friend request with an odd message containing religious conspiracy theories, but accepted it anyway, believing it was her duty as a Christian to help him. He started following her around, taking non-consensual photos, told people they were dating, and even showed up on her dates with other men. MT was conce...

Keila was six years old when her stepfather started stalking and abusing her. Within three months of moving in with her stepfather in Brazil, Keila discovered he was watching her while she slept and showered. Keila's stepfather started physically and sexually abusing her, but when she told her mother, Keila was the one blamed for it. She found holes her stepfather made in the walls of their house...

Lily Baldwin was stalked for over thirteen years by a man who became obsessed with her while she toured as a backup dancer. It started with emails, then calls, notes, and gifts in the mail - until he came to the United States looking for her. Lily hired a legal firm and sent him a cease and desist letter to stop contacting her, but it was ignored. As the stalking continued, Lily was able to get th...

Nicola was stalked by a coworker she dated. Nicola had just left an abusive partner and was living in a woman's shelter when she met her coworker. She began to notice him outside of work at places she frequented, so they became friends and then started dating. After Nicola told him she wanted to start a family, he pulled away, so she decided to end the relationship. When Nicola moved out of the sh...

Daniel is being stalked by a man he met on the dating app, Grindr. Although there was no romantic chemistry, they decided to remain friends. When Daniel was having financial problems, his new friend offered to help him out, even letting Daniel live with him to help him save money. After he moved in, Daniel was regularly questioned about his whereabouts, and his friend started drama within Daniel's...

Nikki was seventeen when she met the man she would later date, have a child with, and would eventually become her stalker. During the relationship, he was controlling and abusive. Every time Nikki tried to leave, he lured her back with promises that things would get better. When she became pregnant with their child, the abuse escalated to the point that Nikki was held captive and tortured. When sh...

Francesca is a former bikini model who has been cyberstalked for almost twenty years. After gaining international recognition through televised bikini modeling competitions and photo shoots, an obsessed fan pretended to be Francesca to acquire candidly explicit unpublished material from her photographers. Then the fan leaked the nude photos and videos to porn websites and created fake social media...

Darian was stalked by a stranger he met through a random act of violence. When Darian's female friend was sexually assaulted during a night out, they left the scene, but the perpetrator followed and physically assaulted Darian. Days later, a friend of the perpetrator confronted them, saying they should die because they called the police. The man started showing up in places Darian frequented, phys...

Collier Landry is being stalked by a woman obsessed with his past. As a child, Collier testified against his father in the brutal murder of his mother. Collier channeled his tragedy into the ID documentary "A Murder in Mansfield," revealing intimate details about his childhood and the loss of his mother. A fan of the documentary reached out to Collier wanting to collaborate on another documentary...

Isis was stalked by a boyfriend she met when she was eighteen years old. Their relationship was great at first, but he became insecure and manipulated her into spending all her time with him. He threatened her, physically abused her, called her job, followed her to work, and even told her boss that he would set the store on fire. After his threats got her fired from her job, he followed her to her...

Faye is being stalked by an ex-boyfriend who is obsessed with Asian women. While working out at the gym, Faye met an employee who found her personal information in the company database and sent her a Facebook friend request. Their friendship became romantic, but when she wanted to become exclusive, he ghosted her, and it turned into an on and off-again relationship. After Faye started dating a new...

Jeska Bailey Forsyth is a musician and model whose stalker is using revenge porn to cause her harm.   Before boarding a plane to Paris to meet up with her boyfriend, Jeksa received a screenshot from one of her friends who found an explicit photo online that she had posed for privately. Jeska contacted the website where it was posted, and they removed it. Later, another friend discovered more expli...

Jamie was stalked by an active-duty soldier who used his training to turn her life into a nightmare. After ending a brief relationship, Jamie began receiving unwanted calls, texts, and gifts from her ex. He "went dark" for a month, then started stalking Jamie and her new partner. He attached GPS tracking devices to their vehicles, took surveillance videos, destroyed a truck engine, and coerced an...

Nicole was stalked by a man she met while online dating. After dating briefly, Nicole decided they weren't right for each other and tried to end the relationship. But he wouldn't accept it. He called and texted her repeatedly, delivered flowers, food, gifts and condoms to her, and showed up at her house uninvited. She blocked him hundreds of times from different apps, social media, and her cell ph...

Radio DJ Amy O. was stalked by an obsessed fan. While working as DJ for a local radio station, Amy O. met a man at one of her remote broadcasts. He showed up at her at job with coffee, flowers, and food.  Amy thought he was harmless until he texted her pictures he took from her patio window looking into her bedroom. His obsession took a darker turn when he stole her mail, broke into her home multi...

Steven was stalked for over fifteen years by his sadistic older brother. Steven grew up in a rough neighborhood where everyone feared his older brother. Throughout his childhood, Steven's older brother would threaten him in public while he played with his friends, steal his possessions, mentally abuse, and physically attack him. When Steven eventually left home, his brother threatened to show up a...

Marie was stalked by a former friend she met in college.  After graduation Marie moved home and while they stayed friends Marie was overwhelmed because her friend was manipulative and monopolized her time. Marie told her friend they needed a break and confided in some of her friends about the turmoil. Unbeknownst to Marie, her new friends started reaching out and harassing her former friend online...