'My 10 years as a sex slave': Milk carton kid held hostage in her abductor's bedroom describes her ordeal for the first time

It was one of Pittsburgh's most enduring mysteries. 

14-year-old Tanya Kach vanished from her parents' home in 1996 and was not seen again for another 10 years.

The teenager spent a decade imprisoned in the 2nd floor bedroom of Thomas Hose, a security guard at her high school.  

Back from the dead: Tanya Kach, who vanished in 1996 aged 14, has spoken about her ordeal for the first time

Lovestruck teen: Kach said she believed she was beginning a relationship with Hose, 25 years her senior

Over time Kach's captor allowed her some limited freedom. 

And though too fearful and 'brainwashed' to escape, Kach eventually confided in a store worker. 

The sensational revelation brought police to the rescue of the girl they had been hunting for a decade.

Now a grown woman, Kach has spoken for the first time about her horrific ordeal. 

In an interview to publicise her new book, Kach said she was already a troubled teen at the time of her abduction.

Her parents were breaking up and, in dealing with her problems, the teenager confided in Hose, meeting him under the stairwell at school. 

Kach said she believed she was beginning a relationship with Hose, 25 years her senior.

She told KDKA-TV, 'My mother wasn't in my life at that point. My dad completely forgot he even had had a daughter and we were living under the same roof, and I was hanging around with the wrong crowd.'

Kach recalled, 'He was an authority figure, wearing a uniform and a badge. (He was) somebody that you would trust, and he befriended me.'

Kach ran away from home, to Hose's house, where he lived with his parents and a son. 

Incredibly Hose's parents say they never knew about the teenager who spent 10 years hidden in the second-floor bedroom.

Kach told CBS News her life confined to Hose's bedroom 24 hours a day was 'absolutely horrible.' She was allowed downstairs to a take a shower just once a week at best.

The vulnerable teen was forced to use a bucket as a toilet. 

'He put a bucket in there, and said, 'That's your bathroom,'' Kach said. 'I was just so brainwashed. I feel humiliated now. Absolutely.'

In her forthcoming book Kach describes her routine.

'Most of the time I ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches along with a banana and a can of Faygo soda pop. Sometimes Tom Hose smuggled me leftovers from his dinner. 

'About twice a week in the dead of night he led me down into a cellar with cold, concrete floors to take a shower. I was fine at first. I thought I was in love and felt my sacrifices were a labor of my love for Tom Hose. Soon, however, the ordeal began to take its toll.'

The hardest time for the missing girl were holidays. She spent four Christmas Eves inside a closet on the second floor of the Hose family home.

'It broke my heart,' she said. 'I thought of my family, wondering if they were thinking about me.'

Trusted friend: Kach's parents were breaking up and the teenager confided in Thomas Hose, a security guard at her school

Abuser: Incredibly, Thomas Hose's parents claim they never knew about the teenager who spent 10 years hidden in his second floor bedroom

Kach was also forced to change her hair colour and her name to Nikki.

After some time Hose permitted her to go on the back porch when he was getting ready for work. 

She says she was too afraid to leave because Hose threatened to find and kill her. 

'He would just point. I was like a dog,' she said. 'I did what my master told me. I went in the closet.'

Hose over time trusted Kach with limited freedom to go out. She was befriended by the owner of a nearby shop and one day told him the truth- that her name was Tanya and that she was the girl police had been searching for all these years. 

House of horrors: Kach was eventually allowed to go on the back porch when Hose was getting ready for work

Thomas Hose, now 53, was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a minor, interfering with the custody of a child and child endangerment. He is eligible for parole in February 2012.

Kach said, 'He's an absolute monster. There's just no words to explain him.'

As well as penning her autobiography, 'The Tanya Nicole Kach story. Memoir of a Milk Carton Kid', Kach has been studying to become a real estate agent.

But since the end of her captivity she has struggled to reform family bonds. 

The former hostage has claimed that her father doesn't believe her account of being kept under Hose's mental and physical control.

Grown up: Kach, pictured leaving court, was 25 in 2007 when Hose pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to five to 15 years in prison

Father and daughter: Tanya and Jerry Kach were initially happily reunited after Tanya's rescue but are now estranged

After she escaped Jerry Kach verbally abused Tanya and said he didn't love her, she dramatically claims in the book.

Appearing on the 'Dr. Phil' chat show earlier this week Kach said she had cut her father out of her life two years ago because she 'didn't need the negativity'.

But Jerry Kach has retaliated saying he feels demonised by his estranged daughter's book, the Pittsburgh Tribune Review reported. 

He said: 'If you want to go out and tell your story, go on trash TV and have your 15 minutes, fine. But don't drag me down with you and besmirch my good name,'

'I love my daughter. But her last words to me were 'Have a nice life, Jerry.' Those words really hurt.'

The make-up of Britain: Northern women like to slap it on while Southern girls prefer the ‘natural look’ (with the exception of Essex)

A make-up map of Britain has revealed a North-South divide among the nation’s women.

While northerners are happy to slap on fake tan and false eyelashes, those in the South are more keen on a natural look.

The only exception – you might guess – was Essex, where girls shared the northern attitude of ‘more is more’.

 

Prime examples: Geordie Shore's Holly Hagan (left) and TOWIE's Amy Childs both like to wear a lot of make-up

Northern WAGs Coleen Rooney and Abbey Clancy are credited with helping fuel sales of fake tan and pink lip gloss.

Scottish women were also fans of tanning and bronzer, with the country’s chilly climes forcing many to reach for the bottle for a sun-kissed look.

Further south however, women were keener on products which give the effect of having perfect skin with concealers, tinted  moisturisers and pore-perfecting powders particularly popular in London, Exeter and Brighton.

A study by Debenhams found that women in the North buy on average a new pair of false eyelashes every fortnight, while women in the South spend three hours carefully choosing the correct foundation to match their skin tone.

HOW LONG TO CHOOSE PERFECT FOUNDATION? 3 HOURS IN THE SOUTH

• Northern women buy, on average, a new pair of false eyelashes every fortnight
• Midlands women own on average ten red lipsticks
• Irish women tend to reapply mascara three times a day
• British women are most likely to apply fake tan on a Thursday evening, leaving enough time for the colour to develop before Friday and Saturday nights out
• Southern women spend three hours carefully choosing the correct skin tone match of foundation / tinted moisturiser

But in Essex, Debenhams stores in Romford, Lakeside and Chelmsford reported women wearing three pairs of lashes at the same time and spending hours in store buying the perfect make-up.

The study also found that the red lipstick reigns supreme in the Midlands where women own an average of ten each. They’re also most likely to purchase lip-liners to match the lipstick.

British women are most likely to apply fake tan on a Thursday evening, leaving enough time for the colour to develop before Friday and Saturday nights out.

Northern women are aficionados of the ‘more is more’ style with fake tan, false eyelashes and pink lip-gloss the runaway bestsellers, Debenhams has found.

They buy, on average, a new pair of false eyelashes every fortnight and are most likely to apply fake tan on a Thursday evening, leaving enough time for the colour to develop before Friday and Saturday nights out.

Northern celebrities, particularly the ever-groomed WAGs Coleen Rooney and Abbey Clancy - and the cast of MTV's Georgie Shore - are no exception.

Scottish lasses follow suit with their love of tanning and bronzer, perhaps making up for the colder weather.

In the South, women are devoted to skincare and minimal make-up. The average southerner spends an impressive three hours carefully choosing the correct skin tone match of foundation or tinted moisturiser.

Cult product YSL’s Touche Éclat, flattering tinted moisturisers and pore-perfecting powders fly off the shelves in London, Exeter and Brighton.

Bucking the trend comes the county of Essex.

Instead of echoing the simpler slap of their southern sisters, Essex girls align themselves firmly with the Geordies and Scousers. 

Their devotion to a full face of make-up means Debenhams stores in Lakeside, Romford and Chelmsford have reported local girls wearing three pairs of lashes at the same time and spending hours in store getting ready for a Saturday night out.

In the Midlands, a simple but effective red lipstick is the most popular product with the average woman owning 10 of them. The classic look sells best in Birmingham and Nottingham where women apply it with matching lip-liner.

Irish and Welsh girls like to emphasise their eyes. They reapply mascara around three times a day, like wide-eyed local girls Katherine Jenkins and Christine Bleakley.

 

Opposites: While northern girls can wear up to three pairs of fake eyelashes at once, southerners tend to prefer the minimalist look

Ruth Attridge, spokesperson for Debenhams says: 'British women’s love of lotions and potions has ensured that our beauty halls are busy all over the country.

'Our lipstick sales are up 19 per cent, mascara sales up 21 per cent and nail varnish up 21 per cent when compared with last year.

'This beauty research helps us manage where we send our stock and when.

'Shipments of fake tan will be winging their way up north to satisfy the Thursday rush while we’ll also make sure Londoners don’t miss out on their Touche Éclat fix.

'However, when it comes to starting the Saturday night getting-ready ritual in store, The Only Way really is Essex'.  

TOP FIVE BESTSELLING PRODUCTS BY REGION

Regional trend: Women in the Midlands own, on average, 10 lipsticks each

NORTH AND SCOTLAND

1. Fake tan
2. Bronzer
3. False eyelashes
4. Pink lip gloss
5. Mascara

ESSEX

1. Fake tan
2. False eyelashes
3. Lip gloss
4. Bronzer
5. Mascara

SOUTH

1. Tinted moisturiser
2. Concealer
3. Mascara
4. Powder
5. Pink lip gloss

WALES AND IRELAND

1. Mascara
2. Eyeliner
3. Foundation
4. Pink lip gloss
5. False eyelashes

Downton on the High Street: How Lord Grantham's girls have brought Edwardian elegance back to the shops

What manner of madness is this? Downton Abbey fashions, reinvented by (whisper it, ladies) the High Street?

Oh shiver me lawks and put an extra pennyworth o’ bobbin on the liberty corset, or whatever it is the mistress of the wardrobe doth do with her ladyship’s flannelette unspeakables and afternoon tea gowns.

Downton Abbey fashions for all? You mean that even shopgirls and the second maid of the coalscuttle can now afford to wear the kind of elegant velvets and fur shrugs that were once enjoyed only by the proper ladies of the aristocracy? 

Blouse, £49, viyella. Palazzo pants, £15, dorothyperkins.com. Feather hair clip, £18, accessorize.com. Gloves, £69, aspinaloflondon.com

Cream chiffon dress, £150, houseof fraser.co.uk. Nude shoes, £59.99, zara. com. Bronze clutch, £45, dune.co.uk. Embellished hairband, £7.99, and earrings, £3.99, newlook.com

Well I never. This is the kind of thing that would give Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham, as played by Dame Maggie Smith, a fit of the oyster-eyed vapours. Yet this is exactly what is happening.

Today, millions of women don’t just love watching Downton Abbey, the blockbuster ITV costume drama created by Julian Fellowes. They want to shop the look, too.

This season, sales of Downton period-perfect accessories such as silk gloves, empire-line velvet dresses and demure strings of pearls have surged. 

The popularity of the drama series and the beauty of the costumes worn by the female cast has manifested itself in a demand for the discreet charms of the Edwardian-style fashions of the day. 

No, not the mob caps and frilled pinnies of the downstairs crew. No one wants to head out on a Saturday night looking like Mrs Patmore the cook — unless you happen to be Christopher Biggins or perhaps even a slumming-it Russell Grant.

Burgundy dress, £150, coast-stores.com. Pearl necklace, £12.50, topshop.com. Pearl bracelet, £4, accessorize.com. Faux fur shrug, £68, corneliajames.com

Embellished dress, £325, jigsaw.co.uk. Lace gloves, £35, corneliajames.com

We’re drawing a line, too, through Violet’s gigantic lambskin hats, the approximate size and shape of a dishwasher. If you wore one of those walking down the street, children would just assume you were SpongeBob Squarepants’s mum. Simply not on.

Instead, the real fashion attraction for fans is the outfits worn by the blushing young ladies of Downton Abbey. 

Swathed in jet beading and privilege, Lady Mary, Lady Sybil and Lady Edith — not to mention their unfeasibly youthful mother, Cora, Countess of Grantham — breakfast each day in silks and dine in satins. 

They have to change about six times a day — lunch, hunting, tea, town, vicar-visiting, trembling like a mouse with unrequited Matthew-lust, furiously brushing hair in mirror before going to bed.

Whatever the occasion, theirs is a timeless elegance, one that speaks of an age when overtly sexy was unacceptable and anything emotive was unspoken and unseen. 

Pleated skirt, £115, coast-stores.com. Betty Jackson 2 lace blouse, £110, johnlewis.com. Clutch, £49, dune.co.uk. Shoes, £65, aldoshoes.com

Let’s put it this way. The word JUICY on the back of your tracky-bums would definitely be frowned upon. At Downton Abbey, it is the whisper of a lace ruffle or the tiniest glimpse of ankle that provides the erotic charge. 

As you can see, the charms of this decorous style have been reinterpreted today by designers using the same graceful long lines and rich yet muted colours. Here, there is lots of deep burgundy, such as in the dress by Coast and the coat by Wallis, offset by the gleam of pearls or a neat little cloche hat.

There are also ankle-skimming pleats, the repression of deep cuffs, prim button-backed blouses and a hint of skin behind layers of pale chiffon. Hairbands are modest, handbags are tiny. Remember, the ladies of Downton Abbey had no independence and nothing important to carry around. Excluding the soft toy that Lady Mary gave to Matthew to keep him safe in the Somme, of course! 

 

Burgundy velvet dress with embellished belt, £325, austique. co.uk. Earrings, £3.99, newlook.com. Shrug, £89.90, massimo dutti.com

Coat, £90, wallis.co.uk. Faux fur stole, £45, lkbennett. com. Cloche hat, £50, johnlewis.com. Tights, £6, debenhams.com. Boots, £69.99, zara.com

The Great War changed everything at Downton Abbey, although this has yet to dawn on the inhabitants. Violet, for example, is an arch snob, desperate to ensure that the Crawley family keep their grappling hooks sunk deep into the summit of the social order and remain kingpins of the ruling classes.

She cannot see the change that is coming. That one day, women of all classes will indeed wear palazzo pants. Or the fact that John Lewis and Betty Jackson — no, milady, they are not the Abbey’s newly appointed footman and mistress of the bedchamber — will one day be producing the kind of sumptuous clothes that were once the sole prerogative of the aristocracy.

Jessica Fellowes, the niece of Julian, has written an excellent book to accompany the series. In The World Of Downton Abbey, she reveals that a few of the ladies’ costumes are vintage, some are hired, but most are made to order by the show’s wardrobe department. The modern fabrics used have to be ‘dipped down’ — dyed — to capture the muted tones of the day. 

Velvet dress, £245, toast.co.uk. Pearl necklaces, £8 each, and embellished clutch, £32, accessorize.com. T-Bar shoes, £80, dune.co.uk

She also reveals that under their costumes, all the actresses wear plain, nude-coloured cling-resistant slips from M&S. Indeed, they love them so much they have become addicted to wearing them off-screen, too.

It is this mix of the old and the new that is perhaps so potent. I particularly love the long pleated skirt and wafty blouse combo. Just the thing to wear when bossing around the curiously scrumptious Bates.

Fetch me some tea! Iron that newspaper. Starch the master’s collar after you’ve steamed the hearth. And then come here and sit on my lap.

You see? You don’t need much of a Downton costume to get into Downton character.

The Downton ladies have to change about six times a day - lunch, hunting, tea, town, vicar-visiting, trembling like a mouse with unrequited Matthew-lust, furiously brushing hair in mirror before going to bed