When the father of a friend asked her for help on August 8, Jasmine Block never could’ve imagined the month-long nightmare she’d be walking into.
32-year-old Thomas Barker approached the 15-year-old around 10:30 p.m. asking if Jasmine would help him with his son who was misbehaving.
Assuming she was in safe hands, the Minnesota teen willingly agreed to get in his vehicle, expecting that he would take her to his house in Alexandria.
But she couldn’t have been more wrong.
“He approached her house in a friendly way,” said Alexandria Police Chief Richard Wyffels. “He tricked her.”
By the time Jasmine’s mother noticed her daughter’s phone was left behind three hours later, it was far too late.
“Once inside,” continued Wyfels, her “nightmare began.”
What would follow was a horrific 29-day battle for survival that left the helpless teen trapped, sexually assaulted and on the brink of death.
After taking Jasmine to a remote mobile home, Barker forcefully tied her limbs together with zip ties and pulled out a gun, threatening to rape and kill her.
The defenseless girl was then stuffed into a closet, which became her primary resting place for the next month, in between episodes of violent sexual assault by Barker and his two friends Steven Powers and Joshua Holby.
“I was usually in a closet and I usually stayed quiet because I was scared they might hit me or do something,” said Jasmine.