Katherine Beers (born December 30, 1982) is an American woman who was kidnapped when she was 9 years old in Bay Shore, New York by John Esposito, a friend of the family, and held in an underground bunker from December 28, 1992, to January 13, 1993. Background Katie Beers lived with her mother Marilyn Beers and older half-brother John Beers in Long Island, New York. Her biological father has never been identified as her conception resulted from a one-night stand. From a young age, Katie also lived with her godmother Linda Inghilleri and Inghilleri's husband, Salvatore. Marilyn frequently neglected Katie and John, leaving them in the care of the Inghilleris, from whom they would endure abuse including frequent sexual assaults by Sal. John Esposito was a friend of the Beers family who would frequently give attention and gifts to Katie and John Beers, but would also sexually abuse John. Esposito had previously been arrested in 1977 for the attempted abduction of a twelve-year-old boy. Kidnapping Beers was lured into Esposito's house at Bay Shore, New York on December 28, 1992, two days before her 10th birthday, by the promise of birthday presents. After Beers played a video game in Esposito's bedroom, he forced her into an underground concrete bunker. The 6-foot-by-7-foot bunker hill was located under Esposito's garden and accessed via a six-foot long tunnel. The entrance tunnel was concealed by a 200-pound concrete trap door and hidden behind a removable bookcase in Esposito's office. The bunker contained a commode toilet and closed-circuit television system. Within the bunker was a coffin-size soundproofed room containing a bed and television where Beers was chained. Esposito would later tell police he had built the bunker specifically for Beers. Beers herself later recalled playing in the dirt displaced by the bunker as Esposito dug it a few years before the kidnapping. Immediately after forcing Beers into the bunker, Esposito made her record a message where she claimed a man with a knife had taken her. Esposito played the message at a pay phone outside the Spaceplex amusement arcade at Nesconset, New York and told the arcade's staff that he had lost Beers within the building. Police were called when she couldn't be located. During her captivity, Esposito would frequently visit Beers to sexually abuse her while also providing food, blankets and toys. He allowed Beers into the larger part of the bunker when he