Series from 2007
Locked Up Abroad tells true stories of ordinary people who ended up miles from home, in a foreign land in a situation beyond their worst nightmares.
As the longest POW in Vietnam history, Ernie Brace likely endured more than any other POW during the war. Held for almost eight years, he faced capture, starvation, sickness, torture, solitude and desperation. After three-and-a-half years, Brace was transported from the jungle to the infamous prison in Vietnam dubbed the Hanoi Hilton, and finally heard the voice of another American: Lt. Cmdr. John McCain, a Navy pilot shot down over Hanoi.
Tom Crutchfield, a salesman living in Fort Myers, Fla., called himself the Mick Jagger of the reptile industry. He successfully smuggled crocodiles, snakes, tarantulas and king cobras around the world. But when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service begins building the case against him, Tom escapes to Belize. There, authorities imprison him. His new cellmates sleep on the floor with no electricity or plumbing. When Belize officials deport him back to the U.S., federal marshals are waiting.
Shaun Attwood left his life in England to follow his dream and became a successful stockbroker in America. After moving to Phoenix, Ariz., he soon finds himself using ecstasy and then begins dealing. He spends years living the high life with parties, expensive cars, and a luxurious house. But when a local mafia boss takes offense, the door opens on a criminal underworld. Shaun retreats back to being a stockbroker, but it proves to be too little too late when the police knock at the door.
For Roy Hallums, a routine trip to the office turned into the ultimate fight for his life. In 2004, the 20-year Navy veteran was working in Iraq when he was suddenly kidnapped. His Iraqi captors sealed him in an underground room, just barely keeping him alive while demanding a $12 million ransom. Locked Up Abroad goes inside his harrowing story of how he survived.
Learn the real story behind the Academy Award-winning movie "Argo" from the people who actually inspired the film. Locked Up Abroad sits down with Antonio Mendez - the former CIA officer portrayed in the movie by Ben Affleck - along with former hostages Mark Lijek and Cora Amburn-Lijek. Combining archival news footage with their first-person accounts, see how the CIA rescued six American diplomats from Tehran, Iran, by having them pose as a movie crew.
In the summer of 1972, five young Americans are caught trying to smuggle more than 2,000 pounds of marijuana out of Mexico. While awaiting trial, they are sent to Mazatlan Prison and desperately begin planning their escape. For six weeks, the group tunnels through a concrete wall using a butter knife and some rocks, only to find that they're sitting on top of water that won't stop gushing through the dirt floor. Will these detainees be able to escape one of Mexico's most violent prisons?
