Girl Missing For 10 Years Says She Was Locked In Room

Randy Orton

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Girl Missing For 10 Years Says She Was Locked In Room
Kach Was 14 When Last Seen In McKeesport

UPDATED: 10:38 am EST March 23, 2006

MCKEESPORT, Pa. -- The mother of a woman who vanished 10 years ago as a 14-year-old called her discovery "the best ending" she could imagine.

Tanya Nicole Kach, now 24, was reunited with her father Wednesday near Pittsburgh and will see her mother for the first time in a decade Thursday.

Kach said a middle school security guard kept her in his home and used mind games to control her. She said the man said her parents didn't want her, that she was stupid and no one cared about her.

Since her parents reported her missing in Feb. 10, 1996, Kach has been living in the same Pennsylvania town as her father -- McKeesport.

The man arrested in the case, 48-year-old Thomas Hose, worked as a security guard at her Pittsburgh-area middle school. Hose is jailed on charges of statutory sexual assault and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse.

His lawyer said Hose didn't force the woman to stay with him.

She finally revealed her identity to a convenience store owner Tuesday, and that led to the reunion.

Kach said, "I thought I found someone who loved me and he said he'd take care of me."

Kach said she was held in a bedroom for 10 years. She insisted she wasn't physically or sexually abused, but she said there was verbal and mental abuse.

"There were times when I would threaten to leave and there were times he threatened to kill me," said Kach.

Police said Hose used "mind games" to keep her with him and convince her that her parents didn't care about her.

Kach said after four years of never leaving the bedroom, she was finally allowed to go out once in a while, but she thinks she was brainwashed into thinking her parents wouldn't want her back.

"I didn't want to be on the streets because that's where I thought I'd be. I didn't think I had a home. That was my home, that was my life," said Kach. "I didn't think anybody cared because he would tell me, 'Your case is dead, it's cold.'"

McKeesport police Officer Joseph Pero said Kach was initially listed as a runaway, but her disappearance turned into a missing person case.

Kach was reported to be in good condition and is with family members in Pittsburgh.

Her father, Jerry Kach, never gave up hope of finding her.

Jerry Kach said, "It was exactly 10 years, one month and 11 days and there wasn't a day that went by that I didn't think of her."

Officials said the investigation is continuing, but would not comment further.

Mr. Kennedy

I heard this story on CNN, i'm not sure if I believe her. I think she may have chosen to be with him and only recently changed her mind.

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airr233

I read about this on Yahoo and I never saw a picture until now but she looks like a mess for 24 but I guess I understand why she does.

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