Believe it or not most of the things that we see on movies are just little examples of how really cruel the world is. Every year, every week, every day… we hear and see news about the most disgraceful and terrific acts any human can do.
It requires to be very brave to speak about a traumatic experience, even with family or friends, but is even harder when you have to tell the whole world about it.
On April 2022, at just 15 years old, Natalee Cramer disappeared from a Dallas Mavericks game at the American Airlines Center. She was found 10 days later with traffickers in Oklahoma.
Natalee Cramer spoke with CBS News about this tragic event in a video where the harshness of the situation can be seen. This is the transcript of the interview.
Her casewent viral nationwide, making all the headlines. Two years later, after all that pain and moments of breakdowns, the 18-year-old North Richland Hills sex trafficking survivor was ready to discuss every terrifying detail for the very first time.
She was once afraid to share the story, but luckily, she wants her voice to be heard.
When asked about her feelings on telling the story she said: “I’m not afraid. I’m not afraid. There’s nothing to be afraid of. And it’s so strong, feels so strong saying that,” Cramer said. “I feel so strong saying that. I never would have thought it a year ago. I would have never been here. I would have never thought I could do it. I’m so proud of myself.”
The night that changed everything
Everything took place on April 8, 2022. The Dallas Mavericks played the Trailblazers at their American Airlines Center. Cramer went to see the game with her dad and they sat in section 221, until the then 15-year-old decided to leave to the restroom and never returned.
During every day, her story made headlines all over the country. The cameras at the AAC captured the only needed clues. She was last seen with a strange man on surveillance video at the arena.
At 15 years old, young Cramer was struggling with anxiety and addiction to vaping and marijuana, and went to some people looking for someone to chill and have a relaxing time.
“I was planning on going to the game but then got anxious. … I needed something. So I just went and I found a male. I was like, ‘Hey, do you smoke?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah.’ He asked me who I was with. And I was like, ‘I was with my dad. I don’t know where he’s at, but we can just chill.'”
Nothing seemed weird until they got to the parking garage, when she realized he was not alone in the arena, leading to one of the most scary moments of her life.
“I thought he was the only one … and he wasn’t. They had a bag of weed and rolling papers,” said Cramer. “Pretty much once they kind of showed me, I was just shoved in, not thrown in. But I didn’t – I didn’t have a choice.”Cramer says it didn’t take time for her to realize she was in danger. “I wasn’t sober enough to do anything about it. I didn’t know.”
Cramer bravely said she was raped three times in the AAC parking garage and then the criminals drove her somewhere else. She kept being forced to smoke marijuana and used as an object.
“I would say … 20 to 25 minutes away from the American Airlines Center … and they continued to have me smoke marijuana and they raped me again,” said Cramer. “And when I knew I was getting sex trafficked was when the guy, he had a gray hoodie on. … I remember he asked me, he said, ‘Can you go take a shower and then put these clothes on so we can go down to the street?”
Her parents refused to give up on her
Dived into the bottom of desperation, Cramer’s parents decided to get in contact whit a private investigator, which they later hired. In not more than 24 hours time he came back with one of the worst news possible. She was being sold to adults online in Oklahoma.
She does not remember how she got to Oklahoma.
“That’s something that a lot of people will probably be very questionable about. There were times that there was a phone, and I could call. … I didn’t, it didn’t run through my mind. I was, I was running. I was running for drugs. I was running for all these other reasons.”
“I was self-sabotaging,” said Cramer. “I was putting myself in positions that I shouldn’t have, but … I just didn’t call. I don’t know why I didn’t call.”
The private investigator soon alerted the Oklahoma City police about the adult ads for Cramer. Just ten long days after Cramer vanished from the AAC, a police officer found Cramer wandering outside a complex. One of her traffickers would later be arrested.
“I was tired. I didn’t know. I didn’t know what to do,” Cramer said. “I was messed up to the point where I would see things that weren’t there … and so, I was just walking at those apartments, just like praying. I was just like, ‘God, please have someone, something, whether it’s a cop, an ambulance, something, a random person on the side of the road.’ I was like, ‘God, I can’t do this … please.’ And, ‘Somebody, please, please save me.’ And not five minutes [later], a cop pulled up next to me and he goes, ‘Are you Natalee Cramer?’ And I said, ‘Yes, I am.'”
She thanks God for looking after her
While remembering these situations Cramer became very emotional, stating that her prayers were answered.
“He felt it. God told him, ‘That’s her. Go get her.’ Like, God was there. He was there.”
It’s been two and half years since that night at the AAC. Cramer said she is lucky to be alive.
“I knew I was going to die. I knew,” said Cramer. “It’s scary to think that it happens every day. But I hope what people take from this is that it’s real. It’s real and it’s hard. And you may not think it will happen to you until it does.”
After all the hell she had to suffer, Cramer rised her voice to tell a message for other victims and survivors.
“Don’t give up on yourself. Even if this happens to you, don’t give up on yourself. It will get better. It’s not something to be ashamed of anything. You just have to embrace it and realize it’s not your fault. It’s not!”
As of today, Cramer is still recovering, but she’s more than ready to help others who may have experienced the same situation as her.
“I’m not giving up,” said Cramer. “I am going to continue to speak about it even if that means telling my story 100 times over and over and over and over. It’s not just my story being told. It’s other people’s who aren’t able to tell their story.”
