Volume 2 · Chapter 8
The Girl in the Box
Cameron Hooker, Janice Hooker
Victim: Colleen Stan
Case at a glance
- When
- May 1977 to August 1984
- Where
- Red Bluff, California
- Perpetrator
- Cameron Hooker, with Janice Hooker
- Victim
- Colleen Stan
- Outcome
- Cameron convicted in 1985 and sentenced to 104 years; found a sexually violent predator in June 2026 and committed to a state hospital; Janice testified with immunity
The case
On May 19, 1977, Colleen Stan, 20, was hitchhiking in Red Bluff, California, on her way to Highway 36, when a couple with a baby offered her a ride. The driver was Cameron Hooker. His wife, Janice, had agreed to let him take a captive, and Colleen was restrained and taken to their home.
She was held for more than seven years. Hooker abused her physically and sexually and often confined her in a wooden box kept under the couple’s bed. To stop her from fleeing, he told her he belonged to a powerful secret organization he called “The Company,” which would hurt her family if she tried to escape. In later years she was sometimes allowed outside, but fear kept her from seeking help. In August 1984, Janice told Colleen that The Company did not exist, and Colleen left by bus.
About three months later Janice went to police, and she testified against him under immunity. In 1985 a jury convicted Cameron Hooker of kidnapping and sexual assault charges, and he was sentenced to 104 years. His parole was denied in 2015. As his release neared, the state sought civil commitment, and on June 11, 2026, a San Mateo County jury found him to be a sexually violent predator, sending him to a state hospital for an indeterminate term. Colleen Stan survived and has spoken publicly about it.
Read the full story
This case is told in full in True Crime Case Histories, Volume 2 by Jason Neal.
Get Volume 2 on AmazonCase photographs
2 photos
Where it happened
Why this case
“Colleen Stan’s case is often told as a story about a box, but the box was only part of it. The lie about The Company did most of the work, and it held for years even when she was outside and near family. I think readers should notice how much a single invented threat can control a person.”
— Jason Neal, author of True Crime Case Histories
