90: Trapped: Man Kept Family in Secret Room For Years Waiting For The End Of The World

In 2019, a 25-year-old man walked into a pub in Ruinerwold. He told the bartender that his father had kept him and his 5 siblings underground for the last 9 years, and told them they were the only people left in the world. TW: Child Abuse, reference of sexual abuse Show Notes: https://www.heartstartspounding.com/episodes/ruinerwold Subscribe on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/heartstartspoundingfor bonus content and to become a member of our Rogue Detecting Society. Patrons have access to ad-free listening and bonus content. And members of our High Council on Patreon have access to our after-show called Footnotes. Apple subscriptions are now live! Get access to ad-free episodes and bonus episodes when you subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Follow on Tik Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@heartstartspounding?lang=enand Instagram https://www.instagram.com/heartstartspounding/ for a daily dose of horror.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Kaelyn Moore?

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• 0:43Kaelyn Moore?

  To learn more about Prenuvo and get $300 off your whole body MRI, go to prenuvo.com/hsp and use code HSP. That's P-R-E-N-U-V-O dot com slash HSP. Terms and conditions apply. This episode is brought to you by Primally Pure. I feel like every time I run out of a product in my bathroom, I have this moment where I go, okay, do I just order the same thing? Or do I finally make a better swap? And that thinking is exactly what got me into Primally Pure. They're a female-founded brand that keeps it really simple. Fewer, better ingredients, and nothing you can't pronounce. I just got an order from Primally Pure and I am obsessed with their lip oil.

• 1:24Kaelyn Moore?

  I also got Eucalyptus and Lavender Body Butter, which has spa vibes for sure. If you want an easy starting point, their Clean Start Bundle is a great place to start. For under $50, you get three everyday essentials. Their best-selling aluminum-free deodorant, a mini body butter, and the lip oil that I love. It's also a really thoughtful gift if you know someone who's been wanting to clean up their routine. Use code HSP to get 15% off your Primally Pure purchase. That's W-W-W dot P-R-I-M-A-L-L-Y-P-U-R-E dot com and use code HSP at checkout for 15% off your order. A bartender working at Costelin Cafe was about to start closing down for the night, when he noticed that there was a man standing nervously outside.

• 2:09Kaelyn Moore?

  Through the glass door, he could see that the man had long unkempt hair and a scraggly beard. His clothes were tattered and dirty. The bartender tried to figure out who this old man was. They were in the small village of Roonewald in the Netherlands. It wasn't common for vagrants to travel through the area, and it was rare for someone to come to the bar that the bartender hadn't seen before. At that point, in 2019, the village had only about 3,000 residents. Just then, the unkempt man pushed through the door and grabbed a seat at the bar. In a quiet and unsure voice, he ordered five beers, all to be brought out at once.

• 2:52Kaelyn Moore?

  At this point, the bartender was a little concerned. See, now that the man was sitting closer to him, he could see that he was not, in fact, an old man, but a young one, maybe 20 or 25 years old. Dirt was caked into the creases of his eyes, which made him look much older. One by one, the man at the bar downed the five beers without saying a word. It was starting to get late, and they needed to close up soon, but the man just sat there, playing with the glasses like he had something on his mind, like he had something to say but just couldn't get it out.

• 3:32Kaelyn Moore?

  Finally, he took a breath, and with the same quiet and unsure voice, he said, "I need help. My name is Israel Von Dorsten, and my father has been keeping me and my five siblings in a bunker underground for the last nine years. Please, I need you to help me." At first, the bartender doesn't believe the man, but he looks at his pleading eyes and the clothes that looked like they hadn't been washed in months. And he starts to realize that he's maybe telling the truth. So he grabbed a phone and he called the police. But what he told the cops, that a young man just came into my bar and told me he's been held captive

• 4:17Kaelyn Moore?

  underground for the last nine years, was just the tip of the iceberg. What Israel and his siblings had gone through is unlike any story I've ever heard before, and I want to tell you the whole thing today. And as always, listener discretion is advised.

• 4:37Kaelyn Moore?

  This is Heart Starts Pounding, a podcast of horrors, hauntings, and mysteries. As always, I'm your host, Kayla Moore. When I said that this story is unlike anything I've ever heard before, I really meant that. It's the story of a family who thought they were the only people in the entire world, and the son who saved them. Much of what I'm going to tell you today comes straight from Israel himself, as well as reporting by various Dutch newspapers and some eyewitness accounts of what happened. And as per usual, I'm basing my pronunciations off of Dutch reporters and Israel, but at the end of the day, I'm just a girl whose first language is English, trying her best. If you're new here, welcome.

• 5:21Kaelyn Moore?

  You'll find us in the study of the Rogue Detecting Society Headquarters every Wednesday evening. If you have your own haunting tale you want to share, I'm always on the lookout for our listener stories episodes. Just go to heartstarts pounding dot com backslash stories and send it in, or check the link in the description. But for now, I want to take you all the way back to the start of Israel's journey.

• 5:47Kaelyn Moore?

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• 6:31Kaelyn Moore?

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• 7:14Kaelyn Moore?

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• 7:32Kaelyn Moore?

  Israel sat at the bar nervously shaking his leg. When the police arrived, they noticed that he wouldn't stop looking at the clock. He told them that every second that went by was more time that he was away from his family, meaning someone would probably come looking for him anytime now. He didn't know what would happen once they realized he was missing, but he knew it wouldn't be good. An officer whipped out a piece of paper. The kid's story still wasn't really adding up. So he told Israel to start at the beginning. The very beginning. Israel took a deep breath. And this is what he told him. So he was born in 1994 in his family's townhouse in Hasselt,

• 8:16Kaelyn Moore?

  a small town in the Netherlands. The way his life started was actually much different than the way his life ended up. So Israel's at-home birth was incredibly hard on his mother. She had three children before Israel, but none of them were like this. He was often told how his arrival almost killed her. But Israel's father, Harriet van Dorsten, never called for medical help, even when it looked like his wife was going to die in the middle of delivery. No. For Harriet, the most important thing was for Israel, and eventually, his five younger siblings, to be born at home. If that cost his wife her life, then so be it.

• 8:59Kaelyn Moore?

  Harriet was a stubborn man in that way. Neighbors at the time described him as intense and controlling. They could hear his opinions being shouted at his wife and the kids some nights. He had a big, thick beard and a gruff voice. And according to those neighbors, the children's mother seemed like she was pretty afraid of him. They said that she seldom left the house, even to just stand on the front stoop. And on the rare occasions where she did step out, she would run back inside as soon as she heard him coming, like she didn't want Harriet to catch her out there at all. It was the same with Israel's three older siblings, Shin, Marianne, and Edano.

• 9:43Kaelyn Moore?

  The kids only left the house to go to school. Otherwise, they played inside or in the backyard, never with other children. I get that some people choose to keep to themselves, but this seems really extreme. From a young age, Israel could tell that his father was much more strict and controlling than the neighborhood. Kids' parents. His family stood out in other ways, too. Most families in the neighborhood had two, maybe three kids. But the Von Dorsten family just kept growing. Their small town home was quickly overflowing with nine children.

• 10:24Kaelyn Moore?

  One day, a standoffish and reclusive man named Joseph Bruner moved into the townhouse next to the Von Dorstens. Joseph was a handyman and just a few years younger than Harriet, and the two quickly struck up a friendship. So neighbors were shocked to see that within just a few days, the Von Dorstens removed the fence dividing their backyards, and they cut a hole in the wall between the two homes so that they were fully conjoined with Joseph's house. This, Israel says, is because his father wanted more indoor living space because he believed he had to keep his family inside to protect them from the evil influence of the outside world.

• 11:06Kaelyn Moore?

  The police officer interviewing Israel couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What was your mother doing during all of this?" he asked. "She was listening to my father," Israel responded. "And your mother, what was her name?" the officer asked. "Hyunjin Moon." The officer asked Israel where his mother was from, to which he replied that she was an Austrian native. Her parents were from there as well. "Your mother was an Austrian woman with the name Hyunjin Moon." The officer was pretty taken aback by this, but Israel knew that this was unusual,

• 11:46Kaelyn Moore?

  that his white mother had a Korean name despite not being Korean at all. The reason for this was also the reason his father believed that there were so many evil influences in the world. Let me explain. So Harriet's bizarre self-made belief system developed over several years, but it seemed like it really took off during his time as a member of the Korean Unification Church back in the 1980s. The organization is perhaps better known as the Moonies. Maybe you've heard of them. Without getting too in the weeds here, the Unification Church is based on the idea

• 12:27Kaelyn Moore?

  that the founder, Sun Myung Moon, is a Messiah on par with Jesus, here to bring humanity back in line with God's plan. But they're most famous for pushing followers to participate in these arranged marriages that were sealed during mass weddings. And a mass wedding is exactly what it sounds like. Hundreds of couples would stand in a giant gymnasium, some who had never met before, and the leaders would marry them all in one large ceremony. It's truly bizarre to witness. So Israel's parents were married during one of those mass weddings in South Korea, where they were living with the cult. Israel's mother was told by the cult leaders

• 13:11Kaelyn Moore?

  that she was inhabited by the spirit of a South Korean woman, and they started referring to her as Hyjin Moon. So yes, it is weird that his mother had a Korean name, but I bet you weren't expecting it to be as weird as it actually is. Harriet really resonated with the idea that a Messiah would come be the second coming of Christ. But he didn't think that it was Sun Myung Moon, the leader of the Moonies. No, he thought that "he" was the second coming of Christ. He moved back home to the Netherlands from South Korea with his wife, and he started to refer to himself as "the prime father" and as "God's son."

• 13:53Kaelyn Moore?

  He believed he was responsible for building God's world on earth, which he referred to as Eden. And in order to do that, Harriet and his family had to live a very regimented lifestyle. According to Israel, praying was just as important as breathing. To keep the family untainted by the toxic influence of the outside world and completely focused on their mission of preparing for Eden, Harriet insisted that they spend as much time inside the house and under his control as human. Humanly possible, but the older his kids got, the harder it was for Harret to keep them inside all day.

• 14:33Kaelyn Moore?

  Israel's three older siblings, Shin, Marianne, and Edinoh, all attended public school. Because it was mandated by the country and because they had birth certificates, if they didn't go to school, someone would come check on them. Harret resented that he was not allowed to teach his children himself at home in what he called God's School. And that's why Israel and his five younger siblings were all born at home. That way Harret could make sure none of them were registered and therefore they wouldn't have to attend school. Maintaining that life outside of the law required absolute secrecy. So around 1999, when Israel was five and his older siblings were six to 10 years old.

• 15:18Kaelyn Moore?

  Harret sat them down in front of a video camera and he gave them a terrifying warning. All three of the older children sat side by side staring into the lens, looking terrified. Harret informed them that they were never allowed to talk about their younger siblings at school, including Israel. They couldn't even hint that they had other siblings. If any of their teachers or school administrators caught wind of this secret. Harret warned them that they would be responsible for sending their daddy to jail. And they didn't want that, did they? For Israel and his younger siblings, this meant days on end spent under the fluorescent lights of their townhouse.

• 16:01Kaelyn Moore?

  Listening to their father preach for hours. Preaching about how he was God, about how he felt like the end of the world was coming any day. Israel remembered days where he wasn't allowed to sleep, but was forced to continue witnessing his father's revelations. Harret spoke generally about the family's mission to build Eden. But expected the children to come up with their own roles to contribute to that goal. He instructed them to pray, asking God for guidance about their future. And then he asked them to share whatever message they received from God. If the children didn't relay something Harret agreed with, like if they talked about their dreams for a future career as a lawyer

• 16:45Kaelyn Moore?

  or professional athlete, for example. Harret would insult them and would order them to continue praying. Israel said that his father considered their mission their only purpose in life. Any actions that weren't directly in service of that were a waste of energy. Like, for instance, going to school. Their dad considered the outside world to be toxic, so he fixated on how that manifested in his oldest three children. They dreaded being told that they were, quote, "under," which meant "under the influence of an evil spirit." When Harret looked at Marianne a certain way, she knew it meant he saw an evil spirit in her.

• 17:29Kaelyn Moore?

  Then, he would force her to be isolated, kind of like a quarantine. According to Harret, if the evil child was not separated from the rest of the family, other people could end up "under" as well, until the entire family was compromised. When he would put them in isolation, the children were expected to pray continuously, even overnight, no sleeping, just praying. At this time, Joseph became like a henchman to their dad, and he rigged up this labyrinth of custom nooks and crannies for the children to be isolated in the homes. So Edino remembered sleeping in a tiny space that Joseph had made out of plywood that kind of looked like a closet.

• 18:12Kaelyn Moore?

  Marianne said she spent a lot of time in the attic. At one point, around 2001, Harret banished Shin outside into a shed, where he slept in a dog kennel. According to Shin's siblings, this period of isolation lasted for a year. But that period of isolation really broke Shin, and he was 12 years old when he got so desperate that he ran away from the house with a pocket knife. He said that he planned on killing himself, but just couldn't go through with it. Instead, he turned around and returned to the dog kennel. Over time, their dad became more and more afraid of bad spirits infiltrating the home,

• 18:57Kaelyn Moore?

  so he started using other punishments as a way to keep them out. Shin remembered being forced to spend hours in a cold bath. All three of the oldest children remember being choked until they passed out. They were dragged by their hair and they were repeatedly hit on the head. There was also public humiliation, yelling, insults, even literal mudslinging occurred. Edino remembered being told to throw mud at Shin as he cowered in his underwear. The younger kids also saw their share of abuse. They could be dragged out of bed in the middle of the night for beatings. They could have food taken away. Harret even started incorporating violence into his preaching.

• 19:42Kaelyn Moore?

  In one session that was recorded to video, Harret misled one of the younger kids, a girl who looked about three or four at the time, by giving her compliments. And then, out of nowhere, he just smacks her, knocking her to the floor. Then, he proceeds to take a chair, demonstrating to the other children that this is how an evil spirit could mislead them. The younger girl at that point in the video was holding back tears, and she looks to her mother for support. But the mom just smiled back at the child, perhaps showing her support for the abuse and its lessons, or maybe modeling the behavior she thought would prevent the child from getting hurt again. Maybe it was a mixture of both, we don't really know.

• 20:27Kaelyn Moore?

  But according to Israel and his older siblings, their mother never participated in the abuse, but she never tried to stop it either. As far as the children could tell, she seemed to share Harret's outlandish beliefs, and he would refer to her as "prime mother," who was partnered to him as "prime father." She would also do this strange thing where she would act like a spiritual conduit for Harret, allowing him to summon spirits that would inhabit her body and communicate with him and the children. For hours, sometimes even days, it was said,

• 21:05Kaelyn Moore?

  the children's mother would disappear, replaced by whatever spirit Harret brought into her body. It's really hard to hear about how their mother enabled this level of abuse, but Israel also recalls that she was sometimes sheltered from the storm of their father. She would make sure that everyone was fed and had clothes. She would even plan birthday celebrations for the children. But what none of the children realized is that as all of this was happening, as she was enabling the abuse, but also planning their birthday parties, she was slowly dying of colon cancer. But because the family didn't believe in going to the doctor, over time, she just started getting weaker and weaker,

• 21:50Kaelyn Moore?

  and no one really knew what was happening. In 2004, when Israel was only 10 years old, she passed away. The children's only safe place was gone.

• 22:04Kaelyn Moore?

  This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. It's the season of giving thanks, and I feel like I have so many people in my life that I'm so thankful for. But there is one person that we don't get to thank enough, and that's ourselves. This season, don't forget to send thanks to the people in your life, including yourself. And one way to get better at giving yourself thanks is through therapy. I've done therapy before, so I actually struggled with pretty bad anxiety that started when I was around five years old. It actually morphed into agoraphobia when I was 16, which I really do not recommend. Luckily, I think I'm over the hill on the worst of my anxiety, but that's all thanks to the tools I learned in therapy. So it's important to me that people are able to find convenient and affordable therapy options,

• 22:49Kaelyn Moore?

  because I don't want anyone to struggle like I did. It was not very fun. If you're thinking about starting therapy, consider giving BetterHelp a try. It's entirely online, designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule. And you can just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist, and also switch therapists at any time for no additional charge. Let the gratitude flow with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com/staycurious today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P, dot com slash stay curious.

• 23:26Kaelyn Moore?

  Israel remembered Harret leaving the house one day with their mother when she was really sick and just returning without her. Harret told the children that she was "here with me now," whatever that meant. And eventually, Israel has to figure out for himself that that meant she was dead. Harret didn't allow his children any space to grieve at this time. They were allowed to attend the cremation, but Israel and his siblings had to pretend that they were the children of another mourner. They weren't allowed to tell anyone that she was their mother because no one knew the Von Dorstens had more children after the three oldest.

• 24:07Kaelyn Moore?

  Then, one day, Harret tells the children that their mother's illness and death were the result of her subpar faith. According to him, if she really believed strongly enough in God, she would still be alive. And then he demanded that the children stop referring to her as mom. In fact, he didn't want them to think about her at all because her lack of faith made her a bad influence and a detriment to their mission. Israel said that this was impossible to do. He loved his mother. He was a really gentle soul who found solace in the chaos with her. But Harret punished him for this.

• 24:49Kaelyn Moore?

  First, a beating and insults, and then isolation. He confined Israel to a roughly one-meter-square space in the attic. But that was also nothing compared to the abuse that followed this period of time. Without their mother there to stop the abuse and to serve as the spiritual conduit for Harret, he began asking Marianne and Edinno to take on that role. "The ritual was simple," he said. He would summon a spirit who would take over their body. Though, in a sickening twist, Harret would ask them to embody the spirit of their mother.

• 25:29Kaelyn Moore?

  This was traumatic for the children who were still grieving her death, but also because there was abuse that would follow. See, with their mother's spirit inside of them, Harret expected them to act as she would act, as a mother to their siblings and also as a wife to their father.

• 25:50Kaelyn Moore?

  And while this was happening, the other younger children had to act like their mother had returned. Edino said that he once spent weeks with his mother's spirit inside of him. As time passes, as I'm sure you can imagine, the children start becoming even more isolated from the world. So I wondered what they thought of the world at this time because their father was telling them so many things like that the world was ending. The oldest siblings all remembered going to school, so they knew that there was a whole world out there. But the younger siblings didn't go to school and they had only heard stories from the older siblings about what the world looked like. They had

• 26:33Kaelyn Moore?

  heard stories about grocery stores and sleepovers and baseball games, but they never knew what those things actually were. Everything they did know was just what was in the house. When recalling these experiences as adults, Edino, Marianne, and Israel all recognized that they were playing pretend to appease Harriet. They didn't truly believe that they were being embodied by outside spirits, and they knew that there were other people on the planet who didn't believe what their dad said and did. But that wasn't for their dad's lack of trying. Marianne remembered feeling afraid that Harriet would call her out as a phony. She didn't seem to have the same fantastical ability that her mother

• 27:17Kaelyn Moore?

  and siblings had, but even though they knew what was happening wasn't real, the psychological damage very much was. Israel said that he felt like a puppet that his father was playing with. Constantly pretending to be someone else was stripping him of his real identity, and he stopped knowing who he actually was. So the next five years, between 2005 and 2010, were really tumultuous for the Von Dorstens. They moved twice, and the three oldest children started realizing that they were not going to return to school again. The one thing that was their escape, school, was now off the table.

• 27:59Kaelyn Moore?

  Harret's mental state was also becoming way more erratic and deranged. He would often tell Shin that if he wasn't registered with the government, he would kill him. If there was no school, there wasn't going to be anyone to miss the kids. And they were really afraid of what Harret might do. Plus, the isolation periods were growing longer and longer. For Marion, Harret was making her spend almost all of her time in isolation away from her siblings. And it seems like that was her breaking point. If she couldn't be with her siblings, then she needed to get out of the house.

• 28:40Kaelyn Moore?

  She, remember, knew that there was a world out there full of people who weren't like her father. So one night in 2008, when she was 17 years old, she snuck out of the house and she was able to find her way to their old house in Hassault, where she stayed until she got her footing. But Israel never saw her after that. And Shin followed suit in 2009, when he was 21. By that point, he and Edino weren't living in the house anymore with the rest of the family. Instead, they were sleeping in a warehouse with Joseph, who was still acting as Harret's henchman. Like Marion, Shin recently reached a point where he was incredibly depressed and could not stay any longer.

• 29:23Kaelyn Moore?

  So one night, he stole money from Joseph's wallet, filled a backpack with clothes, and he snuck out of the warehouse. Freedom was so close. He could finally go be with his sister. But as he was leaving, he said he heard a small voice inside of his head that wondered if he was ruining everything. It said, "What if your father is really the Messiah?" That's how brainwashed he was at this point. He was worried that if he left, he would be responsible for his family failing in their mission to build God's world. But luckily, he trusted his gut, ignored that voice, and he fled out into the night. In 2010, Edino, who was 21 at the time,

• 30:10Kaelyn Moore?

  Had to make the same difficult choice. He could tell that his father was planning another move for the family. And he worried that if they did that, it would make it way harder for them to escape. Plus, he had been in touch secretly with Marianne, and he saw that she was surviving. Not thriving, but surviving. So, one night, just like his brother, he escaped from Joseph's warehouse and he went and he found his siblings. Israel watched as all of this happened, as each of his older siblings left the home. But he couldn't bring himself to do the same thing. Remember, he didn't know much about the world that his siblings were leaving for. He never went to school. And he was scared.

• 30:54Kaelyn Moore?

  He was scared that the world was actually like what his father had been telling him, that it was full of bad people and evil spirits. And as the oldest children left the family, Harret started kind of freaking out. Their departures, to him at least, represented the destruction of God's world, which was the exact opposite of his mission. And anytime something went wrong, he told his children that it was because of the older children's betrayal. So, that left Israel and his younger siblings so afraid of leaving. And also, feeling even more pressure to remain committed to their missions, because now the responsibility was all theirs.

• 31:37Kaelyn Moore?

  Over the course of 2010, Harret and Joseph prepared to move the family into their final phase, fully off-grid. They had lived in isolated houses up until this point. But Harret wanted to take them even further away from the world, completely underground. To do this, Joseph rented a farmhouse just outside of a tiny village called Runerwald, one that didn't have any neighbors anywhere near it. It was fully remote. The landlords actually thought that he was just getting the property to live there alone. They had no idea that a family was going in with him. Harret, in the meantime, told Dutch authorities that he planned to move abroad, and he deregistered

• 32:22Kaelyn Moore?

  as a citizen. He and his children officially did not exist, at least on paper. In August, the family relocated to the isolated farm property. And at that point, Israel was 16 and the youngest sibling was just nine. Joseph built a secret extension on the farmhouse for the family to live in. The only access point was hidden behind a cupboard in the main house. When the cupboard was removed, it actually revealed a staircase that led down to a network of rooms, and down there, there were no windows. The downstairs only included a few pieces of furniture. There were no beds and no tables.

• 33:04Kaelyn Moore?

  The children would eat sitting on the floor and they all slept in sleeping bags. That's how the remaining Von Dorstens lived, hidden away from the outside world. The children were only allowed to leave the house with Harriet's permission and just to do a few tasks, like tend to the farm's vegetable garden, take care of the animals, and do a couple of exercises. They couldn't leave for any other reason, not even to go to the store. Harriet instructed Joseph on what supplies the family would need, and then Joseph would go purchase it for them. And this move was supposed to keep his family safe, at least according to Harriet.

• 33:44Kaelyn Moore?

  But it was here, in this house, that his obsession with evil spirits and cleansing his children of them would get even worse. Whenever Harriet sensed that one of his children was under, he required them to live outside for three days without any food. And the beatings, of course, continued at this time. Harriet began using an invisible spiritual sword to cut evil spirits from his children's bodies, and whenever he would strike them with this invisible sword, they had to pretend to lose consciousness. And to make sure that the family's presence remained a secret, Joseph surrounded the

• 34:27Kaelyn Moore?

  property with high fences and installed security cameras. So when the neighbors came over to welcome him or to offer help with renovations, Joseph would just wave them off. All in all, Joseph the henchman actually spent very little time at the property. He slept in a trailer outside of his workshop. And when he did come to the farm, he interacted only with Harret. He would not talk to the children. They were completely isolated from anyone. And at some point, while the family was there, Harret began telling them that they were the last people left in the world. When Israel hears Harret say that they're the last people left, he knew that that couldn't be true.

• 35:12Kaelyn Moore?

  Though he hadn't talked to his older siblings in years and he missed them every day, he remembered hearing their stories about school. He heard them talk about other children who had parents. He knew that there was a world out there, but he looked to his younger siblings. All of them stared at their father with wide eyes when he said that, and Israel could tell that they really believed him. And at that moment, Israel realized it was do or die. There was a secret computer in the house, actually, one that Joseph would use, and Israel figured out how to make it work. The internet became his portal to the outside world,

• 35:54Kaelyn Moore?

  but at the same time, he still had that little voice in his head, the one that his older brother heard when he left, one that believed his father really was this all-seeing Messiah. So in a moment of panic, he actually confessed to his father that he had been using the computer, and then he suffered several punishing days living outside. Israel felt caught between his desire to explore and learn, and his duty to his father and their family mission. But he knew that they couldn't live that way forever. In 2016, Harret actually suffered a really debilitating stroke that left him bedridden and unable to speak. So he named Israel the man of the house.

• 36:39Kaelyn Moore?

  And at that point, Israel became the point of contact for Joseph, telling him what supplies the family needed and whatnot.

• 36:48Kaelyn Moore?

  There, when Israel saw his father in his weakened, bedridden state, he started thinking like, he was right all along. Like, his father really wasn't the Messiah? How could a Messiah not be able to get up from bed to go to the bathroom? His father always told him that it was his mother's fault she got sick. It was her bad faith that gave her cancer and took her life. Well, then, what did that mean for his father's debilitating condition? So Israel began to see his father's beliefs for what they were. Just a story. What's outside? That's what was real. And so he began to formulate a plan.

• 37:29Kaelyn Moore?

  This episode is brought to you by Quince. The weather is finally getting cooler. Just kidding, I'm in Texas and it was literally 87 degrees the other day, but that has not stopped me from ordering more cozy, cool weather clothing from Quince. So recently, I got this really great cotton oversized cardigan that I love. And I cannot rave enough about these ultra stretch wide leg pants that I got in espresso, color espresso. I wear them everywhere and I get so many compliments on them. I wore them on the plane last weekend because they're very comfy, but I can also wear them out. And honestly, they fit so perfect that I should probably just get them in every color. Quince is really known for their Mongolian cashmere sweaters that start at just $50.

• 38:14Kaelyn Moore?

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• 38:55Kaelyn Moore?

  The process of figuring out his escape was torturous. Obviously, any steps Israel took towards reaching the outside, even any thoughts of the outside world, according to Harret, put Israel at risk of punishment. But even worse, he faced betraying his siblings, the only people he had ever known. He had seen what happened to his older siblings after their departure. They were considered traitors to the mission and the family, and they were never spoken of. If they were, it was only with absolute hatred. And Israel was considering doing something even more drastic than escaping. He wanted to help everyone get out,

• 39:36Kaelyn Moore?

  but he knew that the only way to do that was by exposing his father and removing his siblings from their controlling lifestyle. He had to blow everything up. And at first, Israel kind of fantasized about somehow being able to contact authorities and arrange a rescue without his siblings ever finding out that he was the one to do it. He wanted to find some way to help everyone escape without alienating himself. Over time, Harret's health was getting more fragile, though, and he started having seizures and trouble breathing. And Israel really thought that Harret's death would solve everything, that they could finally be free. But he kind of hated himself for thinking that way.

• 40:21Kaelyn Moore?

  Only a terrible person would wish death on his own father. And plus, that didn't solve for the issue of Joseph, who was still very much in the picture. He was still trying to ensure that the children would never be free. After months of agonizing over the next step, Israel got a lucky break. One day, Harret called him over with a shaky hand, and he asked the boy to order some expensive medical equipment. And while Israel was out, he bought a smartphone, hoping that the addition wouldn't really be noticed on an already big bill. And it worked. No one noticed that he had the phone. And finally, he had a way to contact the police.

• 41:07Kaelyn Moore?

  He was able to figure out how to send emails on the phone, something he had never done before. And he reached out to the authorities with reports about Harret's physical abuse. But the response advised him to call the police station, something he couldn't safely do from the farmhouse, because someone would definitely hear him on the phone. So he tried again with a tip about possible money laundering. He had seen large amounts of money around the house, and so he thought maybe there was something there. But he got the same exact response. A follow-up call was required. So by October of 2019, Israel decided he was going to do something more drastic. He was going to leave the farm.

• 41:51Kaelyn Moore?

  Like his siblings, he decided to sneak out at night, when he was the least likely to be missed. He ended up walking into the village of Runerwald, and that's when he came upon the Callistin Cafe. It was the neighborhood spot, full of locals enjoying an evening beer. And Israel just stood outside watching. The people inside were smiling. They were happy. They weren't worried about evil spirits or abuse. They were having a drink with their friends. Israel was right. He and his siblings were not the only people in the world. And that gets us to where we started the story, with Israel talking to the police officer,

• 42:35Kaelyn Moore?

  who could hardly believe what he was hearing. But the officer couldn't look Israel up in his system to confirm anything the boy was saying. Because remember, Israel didn't exist in any system. He was a totally unregistered person. So the officer said they were going to have to go back to the station so they could confirm his story. So they had him get in the back of their car, and they started driving him. Israel was finally able to put his head down and relax a little bit. He closed his eyes, knowing that this would all be over soon. When all of a sudden, he heard a familiar crunch of dirt underneath the car tires. And the car started jostling like it was off-roading.

• 43:18Kaelyn Moore?

  His eyes shot open and he saw that the officers were bringing him back to his family's property. He screamed that he couldn't go back, but the officer said they couldn't do anything until they verified his story and they made him get out of the car at the edge of the property. So Israel just waited on the dirt road that led to the property. He figured he could maybe stay there until morning and then figure out what to do, when all of a sudden, he saw something that made his blood run cold. There was a flashlight shining out of one of the windows. That meant that they were looking for him.

• 44:00Kaelyn Moore?

  There was no way he could go back now, so he just took off running in the other direction, but he had no idea where to go. He ended up wandering onto an overpass and as he watched the cars below, he considered jumping. There was no way for him to imagine what his future could possibly look like. It was completely unknown in every way. But then, he starts thinking about his younger siblings and he chooses to keep walking to try and find safety. Eventually, he did find a police station and an officer brought him inside. They said they wanted to interview him again, but at that point, Israel started panicking

• 44:45Kaelyn Moore?

  and he kind of started having trouble recalling details. It was like his body's way of protecting itself and he totally shut down. Until, all of a sudden, he saw a familiar face enter the station. It was his brother, Edono. Soon after, the other siblings rushed into the station and the four of them were all together again. Israel, Edono, Maryan, and Shin. Everyone was overwhelmed by the emotions. Israel was unsure how much they would be willing to help him and the others were worried that Israel felt abandoned by them or angry that they didn't try to track him down sooner.

• 45:27Kaelyn Moore?

  But in fact, the three oldest all knew where the rest of the family was and they did actually try to see them, but Harit would never allow them access to the other kids.

• 45:40Kaelyn Moore?

  The following day, on October 15th, 2019, the police raided the farmhouse. They discovered the living spaces, the five siblings, ages 18 to 25 at that point, and Harret inside. Joseph also happened to be on the property then. Police said that the five young people appeared to be in good physical health, but some of their speech was difficult to understand. And according to some sources, a few of them were unable to speak at all. Within the next few days, Harret and Joseph were both arrested, and the five youngest siblings were put into protective custody. Their identities have never been released. And the following year after that

• 46:23Kaelyn Moore?

  was a really difficult combination of healing and then new wounds for Israel. He got his first ID, and he met more relatives for the first time ever, relatives who had no idea what was happening to him. And he even hosted his own birthday party. But his fear of alienating his siblings did come true. The younger siblings did not agree with Harret's imprisonment, so they decided to adhere to the lifestyle that he preached, just without him. They claimed that Harret was innocent of the crimes he was charged with, like money laundering, assaults, and false imprisonment. So it's really heartbreaking to hear that the siblings just went on living

• 47:06Kaelyn Moore?

  like they lived with their dad, but on their own. But I can't help but think of how brainwashed they were. I can understand how a person who was raised thinking the world didn't exist would be afraid to go join the world. They probably wanted to do what was familiar and felt safe to them. After a lengthy and draining pre-trial process, the court determined that Harret could not stand trial. Because he couldn't speak due to the stroke, he couldn't adequately defend himself. So he was released, and he returned to living with his five youngest children in March of 2021.

• 47:45Kaelyn Moore?

  But I will add, there is a little hope in the end of this story. Within two months of Harriet rejoining the family, some of the five children reported that there was more misconduct from him. And it seemed like maybe a switch may have flipped in one of their brains, and they realized that what their father was doing was actually not okay. And given Harriet's condition, authorities decided to relocate him to a state-run facility far away from the children. And then, in June of 2022, Joseph was found guilty of imprisonment and sentenced to three years in prison. In December of 2022, Israel actually published a book about his life.

• 48:28Kaelyn Moore?

  And as far as I can tell, it's only ever been published in Dutch, but it did sell pretty well. People in the Netherlands were incredibly curious to learn about his experience. And it was healing for Israel to be able to put it all down on paper. He has said that he plans to keep writing, hoping to maybe be a writer one day. And he's also currently studying sociology at a university. Though Israel spent the first 25 years of his life as a captive of his father's delusional beliefs, it didn't take him much time at all to start reclaiming his life. He became so curious about the world that he was told for so long to be afraid of. It's like he knew that the world wasn't a bad place.

• 49:12Kaelyn Moore?

  He was just put in a bad situation. And he knew that escaping the bunker was going to put his relationship with his siblings at risk. But today, he says he has a good relationship with all of the siblings, even the younger ones that were more hesitant to venture out into the world. But he also said that he never plans on seeing Harriet ever again. So, remember, just like Israel did. No matter what people are telling you, no matter what the voice in your head says, and no matter how many doubts you have inside of you, you are not alone. You are not the only person in the world. Somewhere, there is a metaphorical pub

• 49:54Kaelyn Moore?

  full of smiling, happy people who all want to help you. You just have to trust that there is.

• 50:03Kaelyn Moore?

  Heart Starts Pounding is written and produced by me, Kayla Moore. Heart Starts Pounding is also produced by Matt Brown. Additional writing and research by Hannah McIntosh. Sound design and mix by Peachtree Sound. Special thanks to Travis Dunlap, Grayson Jernigan, the team at WME, and Ben Jaffe. Have a heart pounding story or a case request? Check out heartstarts pounding dot com. Until next time, stay curious.

• 50:29Kaelyn Moore?

  Do you want more darkly curious stories in your life? Sign up for our Patreon for free and get access to a rotating shelf of bonus content, our weekly Rogue Detecting Society newsletter, and the HSP Book Club. Paid members also get monthly bonus episodes and archive access, which I think is more than 40 episodes at this point. You also get a cool jinx sticker after your first three months. And you can check it all out with a free seven day trial. Link in the bio or go to patreon dot com backslash heart starts pounding. But whatever you do, stay curious.