A masked intruder turned an elderly couple’s home into the starting point of a nightmare. Taken to a rental property and held out of sight, Connie and Larry remained captive until deputies noticed something wrong with the floorboards. Beneath them, a live security screen revealed a chilling scene—and the search led toward a steel-lined hidden door concealing the capt…

Connie and Larry Van Ostein were rescued from a concealed basement bunker in Janesville after being abducted from their home. Their attacker wore a mask, used a voice distorter, and carried a sledgehammer, taser, handcuffs, gun, and duct tape. After subduing them, the intruder transported the elderly couple to a rental roughly 25 minutes away. Deputies investigating properties connected to suspect Chad Skipper discovered unusual flooring that led them to a hidden room containing a surveillance monitor.

The live feed showed the couple blindfolded, shackled to a wall, and forced to stand in a concrete enclosure. Access involved a ladder rather than stairs, with a steel-lined door concealed inside a closet. Cameras and microphones monitored the bunker. When deputies reached them, Connie and Larry were bruised, hypothermic, and weakened by insufficient food and sleep. But both had survived. Recognizing that help had finally arrived, they embraced the deputies who freed them.