TV Personality Weathers Personal Storm
CBN.com "I had an increasing fear that my life was going to be in jeopardy, even more than it already was," Cary recalls. "I wondered if they were going to pull the trigger. The anticipation of it made me think that something that small, a weapon that small, could take me out right here in seconds. Would it be one second? Would it be ten minutes from now?"
Imagine coming home late one night from work and within steps of your front door you are kidnapped at gunpoint. That is exactly what happened to Cary Allen.
Cary works as a weatherman for a local FOX affiliate, Channel 57 in Columbia, South Carolina. He was coming home a little after one oclock in the morning on January 25, 2001.
We went with Cary to the scene of the crime to find out more.
"I didnt see anything when I drove into the parking lot, but what happened was, as I got right about to this point, I noticed there were two individuals, and they were back over here where these pine trees are located," Cary explains, pointing to the spot where he first saw the men. "They had come out from behind that area and were approaching me from that sidewalk. I had a feelingyou know, you get a sick instinct kind of thingbecause it was late at night between 1:15 and 1:30 a.m. I did get butterflies quite a bit, but Ive never been a victim of crime before."
Cary cautiously passed the two teenagers. He only went several steps past them when they called out for him to turn around.
"They kind of got my attention again and said, 'Hey!' I turned back around, and of course there was a gun on me. They grabbed me by the arms, they took my keys, they took my cell phone, and then they ordered me into the trunk of my car."
At gunpoint the two teenagers told Cary to follow their orders. While in the trunk of his own car, Cary estimated they drove for around 30 minutes, making several stops. Cary overheard them talking.
"I could hear them talking up front," Cary remembers. "I could hear them say the gun was loaded. I got enough of the conversation to know that."
But in the darkness of that car trunk, Cary began to pray.
"I got to the point where I asked God to take over because I couldn't do anything. There was nothing I could do here in the back of the trunk. At that point I was praying for God to watch over me: 'I am totally at Your mercy right now. I have no other answers.'"
When the ride was over, Cary felt the Lord blessed him with an unbelievable peace, but when the trunk opened, there was a third young man. Now, in addition to the gun, the new boy they had picked up was holding a steal pipe. As they demanded for Cary to give over all his money, the new teenager realized they had kidnapped a local celebrity.
"At that point they made the connection. I said, 'Yes, I am the weatherman. What do you want with me? Money? If it's money, fine, lets get money.'"
Cary didnt have much money in his wallet, so he talked the boys into going with him to an ATM machine so they could get some money.
On the way to the bank, the teen with the gun asked Cary why he was being so kind to them. Cary told him about his faith. From that moment on Cary says the teenagers seemed sorry for what they had done.
"They were not violent with me. They did not talk in a violent way," Cary explains. "In fact," he says, "they showed remorse. They apologized for the car. They apologized for the damage done. They still got away with $600, but I came away with my life. Thats OK$600 for my life. Thats OK."
Miraculously, when the ordeal was over, Cary was unharmed. Police officials later told Cary that he was the third victim in a series of kidnappings allegedly performed by the same teenagers. Both of the other men suffered severe injuries.
When the news of his kidnapping was made public, Cary was overwhelmed by over 100 e-mail responses from his viewers.
"I received some Bible verses that meant a lot to me. One viewer sent . And that is that God has a purpose and a plan for you, not to harm you but to offer you a good future and for you to prosper."
Cary believes he learned some valuable lessons about prayer on that cold night in January.
"It was proof to me that God was there," he says. "There was no other explanation for it. I knew that already because I was turning to Him and letting Him take over the situation. God took over."
