In 1984, 17 year old Lisa McVey was abducted on her way home from work. Unlike nine girls before her, Lisa survives her kidnapping and, thanks to her ingenuity and quick thinking, is able to lead the police to her kidnapper’s doorstep. Believe Me: The Abduction of Lisa McVey is her story of survival and justice.

Young Lisa came from an abusive home. At the age of 14 she was forced, by her drug-addicted mother, to move in with and care for her grandmother. Not only was her grandmother neglectful but her grandmother’s boyfriend was abusive and spent years molesting Lisa. When Lisa reported the abuse to her grandmother she was not believed.

After years of being in and out of foster care and suffering from neglect and abuse, Lisa felt there was no way her life could get worse. And then she was abducted.

On her way home from work one night, a man lures her into his vehicle, rapes her immediately, then takes her to his home where he binds and blindfolds her. Over the next 26 hours, Lisa suffers multiple rapes. In between the assaults, her captor, serial rapist and murderer, Bobby Joe Long, rants about the abuses he has suffered in the past at the hands of heartless women. Lisa, listens and feigns compassion to attempt to gain his trust.

When Bobby passes out, Lisa manages to remove her blindfold for a few minutes. She commits as much detail about Bobby and his apartment to memory as she can. She also leaves strands of her hair under his bed and her fingerprints all over his bathroom, in hopes that police will eventually be able to find and arrest Long.

After some time, Long decides he is finished with Lisa and takes her out to a secluded wooded area. His plan is to murder her and hide her body, as he had done many times before, but Lisa is able to convince him to let her live. As he drives away, leaving her in the middle of nowhere, Lisa finally exhales. She removes her blindfold and memorizes her surroundings before making her way home.

When she finally arrives home, and reports the details of her kidnapping, her grandmother doesn’t believe her. Her grandmother accuses her of being a runaway and calls the police. When the police arrive, Lisa again reports her story and again is not believed. The police eventually taker her in for questioning and there, she is finally able to tell her story to someone who believes her, Sergeant Larry Pinkerton.

Not only does Sergeant Pinkerton believe Lisa’s story about the kidnapping, her gets her to confide in him about the abuses she has suffered at her grandmother’s house. Lisa is removed from her abusive home and the search for Lisa’s abductor and rapist is kicked into high gear.

Believe Me: The Abduction of Lisa McVey tells Lisa’s full story from beginning to end. It was written by Christina Walsh for the American channel Lifetime and Canadian channel Showcase in 2018. Starring Katie Douglas, Rossif Sutherland and David James Elliot, this docudrama received critical praise and was nominated for several awards, including best picture at the Canadian Screen Awards in 2020.

While not currently available on Netflix Canada, the movie can been seen by unlocking the promo below.