Where Is Lisa McVey Now? Inside the Kidnapping Survivor's Life 41 Years After She Outsmarted a Serial Killer By Erica Marrison

More than 40 years ago, Lisa McVey was abducted by the notorious serial killer Bobby Joe Long. However, unlike at least 10 other victims, McVey escaped — a feat that both saved her own life and led the police to the brutal predator.

In 1984, McVey was 17 years old and living in Tampa Bay, Fla., with her grandmother and her grandmother’s boyfriend. One night, as McVey was biking home from a nearby Krispy Kreme, where she worked, when she was held at gunpoint and kidnapped by Long, who had been terrorizing the Tampa Bay area for months, per The Washington Post.

Long’s killing spree started in the early 1980s, eventually earning him the moniker of “Classified Ad Rapist,” as he was known to target women who placed newspaper ads selling home goods, according to the outlet. After his arrest, he ultimately confessed to murdering 10 women and raping dozens of others.

However, using impressive street smarts and presence of mind, McVey left a trail of evidence behind and convinced Long to release her. Her testimony helped lead police to him, resulting in his ultimate arrest and conviction.

So, where is Lisa McVey now? Here’s everything to know about her kidnapping at the hands of Bobby Joe Long.

What happened to Lisa McVey?

McVey was kidnapped while biking home from her job at a Krispy Kreme Shop in Tampa on Nov. 3, 1984. Long held her at gunpoint and dragged her into his Dodge Magnum, where he undressed, bound and blindfolded her, per The Washington Post.

From there, Long took her to his apartment where he raped and tortured her at gunpoint for 26 hours, she told Fox 13 Tampa in July 2019.

Who was Bobby Joe Long?

Long was born in Kenova, W.V., where he was raised by his mother, per Biography. During his childhood, Long experienced multiple head injuries; in 1974, he suffered a serious head injury following a road accident and was hospitalized for several weeks, according to the outlet.

The same year, he married his high school sweetheart, Cynthia Brown, with whom he welcomed two children. Brown ultimately filed for divorce in 1980.

In 1984, Long embarked on his months-long killing spree. Before turning to murder, Long is believed to have committed at least 50 rapes across Florida, according to the outlet.

Long murdered at least 10 women in the Tampa Bay, Fla., area. His known murder victims include Chanel Devounn Williams, Virginia Lee Johnson, Nguen Thi Long, Artiss Ann Wick, Vicky Marie Elliot, Kim Marie Swann, Michelle Denise Simms, Kimberly Kyle Hopps, Elizabeth Loudenback and Karen Beth Dinsfriend.

He also kidnapped and raped McVey, who would ultimately help lead police to him.

How did Lisa McVey escape?

Despite being blindfolded, McVey remembered a number of details about her situation, including the number of stairs to Long’s apartment and the shape of her assaulter’s face.

“At one time he placed my hands on his face,” she told Fox 13 Tampa. “There were pockmarks, a small mustache, small ears, short hair, clean-cut, kind of stout, but not overweight; a big guy.”

She also left fingerprints on as many surfaces as she could in the hopes that police would find them later.

McVey then tricked Long into letting her go by speaking to him in a calm, caring tone, as if he were “a 4-year-old,” she explained to Fox 13 Tampa.

“Listen, it’s unfortunate how we met, but I can be your girlfriend,” she recalled saying. “I could take care of you, and no one ever has to know.”

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In an attempt to appeal to Long’s humanity, the teenager also told Long a fabricated story that her father was sick and that she needed to return home to care for him.

It worked, and Long dropped her off near her home.

“He drove off. I pulled my blindfold down, and the first thing I saw was this gorgeous, beautiful oak tree,” she told Fox 13 Tampa. “That’s the moment I knew my life was about to change for the good.”

How was Bobby Joe Long caught?

After her escape, McVey shared her experience with her grandmother and her grandmother’s boyfriend, who didn’t believe her, per The Washington Post.

However, she later went to the police. McVey recounted everything she could remember to the police, including details about Long’s car interior, apartment layout and when he’d used an ATM, per WFLA. While they combed through records looking for Long’s Dodge Magnum, two more women — Johnson and Swann — were murdered, according to The Washington Post.

Ultimately, Long was arrested after police recognized his car while staking out the area where McVey was taken. He ultimately pleaded guilty to eight counts of first-degree murder, eight counts of kidnapping and seven counts of sexual battery, per court documents.

What happened to Bobby Joe Long?

On May 23, 2019, Long was executed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison in Raiford, Fla., per NBC News. He was 65 years old at the time of his death.

McVey was present at the execution, sitting front row and hoping to make eye contact with Long. “I wanted to be the first person he saw,” said McVey, per The Washington Post. “I wanted to look him in the eye.”

But the pair never did see each other again. According to the outlet, Long laid on a gurney and never spoke or opened his eyes.

“Now, after 35 years, we can say we have some peace of mind, knowing that justice has been served,” Lula Williams, whose daughter, Chanel, was killed by Long, told The Washington Post.

Where is Lisa McVey now?

Since her kidnapping, McVey has become an advocate for victims of violent crimes. She joined the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department — the very agency that arrested her abductor — as a deputy and was on track to become a detective as of November 2024, per Fox News Digital.

“This is my calling,” she told the outlet. “They were looking for a notorious serial killer for eight months. Here comes a 17-year-old … my evidence and my quick thinking and my … remembering every little detail not only saved my life, but countless lives.”

Over the past few years, she’s also served as a school resource officer in a local middle school.

“I’m not embarrassed to say I was raped,” she told A&E in December 2020. “I tell kids if somebody tries to grab them, scream as loud as you can. And if they get taken anyway, they should mind their Ps and Qs and do whatever they can to survive. I tell them to be strong and draw on their own sense of self-preservation.”

She’s also changed her name to Lisa Mae to honor the relatives who took her in after the abduction.

“My uncle passed away two years ago, and in honor of him, I wanted to take his last name because my aunt and my uncle are the only ones that came and rescued me when I was 17 to give me a home,” she told Fox News Digital in November 2024.