“911, what is the address of your emergency?” I wait for a response. But all I heard were leaves rustling, “Hello? Can you tell me where you are?” Still no response. I knew I had a bad feeling about today. But this time I heard labored breathing, like she had been running.

Then finally I hear a faint “Hello? Hello?” from the caller. 

So I say, “Yes, Hello can you tell me where you are?” 

I barely catch a whisper, “no.” which isn’t much to work with, so I start to get on another line with the police. 

“911 dispatch, this is Camila I’ve got a young girl on the line, I’m currently trying to pinpoint a location, standby.” 

Then I check back in with the victim and ask “What’s your name?”

“Opal Williams,” She blurted out, and I was quite surprised because I recognized the name she is very famous. Even I knew who she was and, I’m not on social media much. 

“Alright Opal, can you tell me what happened? I’m trying to find where you are, or at least an area that I can tell the other emergency services like the police and ambulances.”

Opal’s voice trembled when she described what took place, “ I was kidnapped by this creepy man who has been stalking me for the last few weeks. I've noticed him snooping around my house and where I go to school. But I never told anyone because I thought that I could handle this on my own. How could I be so stupid.” she cried. I start to have trouble understanding what she’s saying through her sobs.

In an effort to keep her calm I tell her, “ It's ok Opal, everyone makes mistakes, and the important thing is that you were able to get the phone and call 911, that takes a lot of courage, you’re a very brave young girl.”

“Th-Thank you, w-where are the police, are they on their way yet?!” She cries out

The thing with this job is it can be very rewarding sometimes, but most of the time we don’t know what happens to the person after they hang up, and we need to learn how to deal with these situations where we don’t have closure day-in and day-out. So it is important for us to gather as much information as we can as fast as possible, without overwhelming the caller, because they’re already dealing with so much in those moments.

“ Can you describe what’s around you, Opal, where he’s keeping you, or how long it took you to get there?” I hear her slowly catch her breath as she processes what I’ve asked. 

She hesitantly replied, “I was blindfolded on the way here but if I had to guess about two hours and a half, he forced me into his car with a gun he pushed into my back.”

 “Once we arrived he took off the cover and I could see that he’s keeping me in a log cabin in the middle of a forest with a lot of white trees. There's also a Toyota car in the driveway, I’m not sure what model specifically, but I see the Toyota logo. I see a lot of mountains towering over us, like we’re in a valley. The first chance I got I grabbed his phone and ran out into the forest looking for service so I could call 911.” 

 I start to look for cabins in birch tree forests about two or three hours outside of the city, while I was waiting for the computers to work their magic I decided that I could get a description of Opal’s stalker and send it to the police so they can get out a warrant for his arrest. 

“Alright Opal, you’re doing great, now can you describe the man who took you and where he took you from?” 

“I was out for a run early this morning to beat the california heat and he was trailing me the whole way and grabbed me when we were in a secluded part of the trail.”

“That’s great Opal, this is all great information, and you said he was stalking you?”

“Y-Y-Yes he was stalking me for a couple weeks”

I hear a man’s voice in the background, “ Opal, where are you….” I think to myself please dont panic and hang up. But she does exactly what I’ve feared, and starts panicking. 

She starts to say, “ Oh no he-he-he’s coming I hear his footsteps! I’ve got to go, he’s gonna hear me and bring me-” Her breathing gets more and more shallow as his footsteps get closer. 

But I cut her off, “ No Opal don’t hang up,we just need another minute so I can locate you. Take some deep breaths for me. I have law enforcement on the other line ready to come rescue you. Please don’t hang up, even if he gets you to hide the phone.” 

In a shaky whisper she says, “ Alright, I will wait, but are the police on their way?!!.” 

Once again I hear a man’s booming voice in the background, “Opal! This isn’t funny! You need to come back right now!” 

I hear muffled sobs and rapid breathing from her end of the line. I’m getting increasingly worried that the worst will happen if we don’t find her soon…

Suddenly she starts saying something I can't quite understand, and I think her connection is getting weaker, she whispers “ I- going- move- he’s- closer…” I only hear fragments of what she says. And yet It takes me at most a fraction of a second to realize what she’s just said. And in that moment my computer beeps and I finally get a location on where Opal is. I immediately let the officer that I had on the other line know her location. 

“911 dispatch, It's Camila. I have a location on the victim, I’m sending it to you now.”

They respond, “ Alright, we’ll be there soon!”

Subsequently, I hear some struggling on the phone and then Opal screaming, “NO, NO, NO, HELP ME, NO LET ME GO” Then her breathing ceased and I could no longer hear her on the phone. 

I start to tear up, then say, “ Opal we’re on our way, just hang tight!”

“Give me that phone, you shouldn't have taken it in the first place.” I overhear a man say further away from the phone. “Who is this?” he says in his … voice, I stay silent, to not give away who I am, but I think he saw the caller ID…

When he doesn’t hear an answer he says unapologetically, “ She’s not going anywhere…” and laughs mockingly

Then the line clicked off.