Surviving Bobby Joe Long: Lisa McVey Noland Tells Her Story, FOX 13, 2015

Name: Surviving Bobby Joe Long: Lisa McVey Noland Tells Her Story, FOX 13, 2015
Uploaded: 2015-11-05T00:00:00Z
Duration: 4 min 49 s
Description: Thirty-one years after she was abducted by Bobby Joe Long at 17, Lisa McVey Noland, by then a Hillsborough County deputy, told FOX 13 how she survived and helped police find him.

Thirty-one years after she was abducted by Bobby Joe Long at 17, Lisa McVey Noland, by then a Hillsborough County deputy, told FOX 13 how she survived and helped police find him.

Subject: Bobbie Joe Long
Recorded: about 2015
Runtime: 4:49

Content warning: A survivor describes her abduction and rape by Bobby Joe Long in 1984, when she was 17; references to childhood sexual abuse, thoughts of suicide, and the murders of women. No graphic detail.

The Interview

This is a 4-minute-49-second FOX 13 (WTVT, Tampa) news report from November 2015, posted by the station on its own channel. Reporter Lloyd Sowers interviews Lisa McVey Noland, who was abducted by Bobby Joe Long in November 1984, when she was 17, and who by 2015 was a Hillsborough County sheriff's deputy. The report opens with a few seconds of an interview she gave in 1984. Long himself is not heard; the speakers are Noland, the reporter and the station's anchor desk.

Historical Context

During 1984 a series of murders of women frightened the Tampa Bay area. In the early hours of November 3, 1984, Long abducted 17-year-old Lisa McVey as she rode her bicycle home from work, and released her about 26 hours later. Her information helped investigators identify him, and he was arrested on November 16, 1984. In 1985 he pleaded guilty to eight murders and to her abduction and rape; he was sentenced to death for the murder of Michelle Denise Simms and was executed at Florida State Prison on May 23, 2019.

Circumstances

The report aired in the week of the 31st anniversary of her escape. At the time Long was still on death row. Noland was working as a school resource officer at a middle school not far from where she was taken.

What the Interview Covers

In her account, Noland recalls the fear in Tampa that year and how she was taken from her bicycle, held for 26 hours at gunpoint and raped. She describes how she talked to her captor to keep him calm and to persuade him to let her go, and how, as the report puts it, she noted the nameplate on his car, counted the steps to his apartment, left her fingerprints in his bathroom and felt his face so she could describe him. She speaks of the moment she was released, of becoming a police officer so that "no one's going to get hurt on my watch", of her wish to witness Long's execution, and of her hope one day to let the pain go and be healed. She ends: "I'm no longer a victim. I'm a survivor, and I'm a warrior."

What Makes the Recording Significant

The video preserves, in her own words, the account of the survivor whose observations led to Long's capture, recorded by the Tampa station that had covered the case in 1984, and sets it beside a brief clip of her at 17.

Archival Importance

It records her account four years before Long's execution and three years before her story was dramatized in the 2018 Lifetime TV film "Believe Me: The Abduction of Lisa McVey".

Important Caveats

Long is not heard in this video. The events are presented as Noland's account and the station's narration. The report's figure of "at least 10 women" is the commonly cited number of victims; Long was convicted of eight murders. The report mentions details of her childhood; the page should not expand on them.

Lisa McVey: This guy, he knew what he was doing. He had me. [unclear: "For God," / "Forgot,"] I could have been dead. I could have been lying down in some ditch or somewhere.

Anchor: That's an interview from 31 years ago. She was talking about serial killer Bobby Joe Long. He killed at least 10 women in the mid-1980s, and tonight he still sits on death row. And one of his victims turned the tables on him, the one that got away. She gave police the details they needed to lead them to the serial killer. Her amazing escape happened 31 years ago this week. In a FOX 13 exclusive, she tells Lloyd Sowers tonight how she did it and how her life has taken a surprising turn.

Lloyd Sowers: It seemed that every day another body was found. A serial killer was preying on women, many of them prostitutes from Tampa's notorious strip.

Lisa McVey Noland: It was a frightening time. It frightened me because where I worked at, I used to have to ride a bicycle, and I used to always wonder and worry, would I be the next victim? And then you think, "Ah, it can't happen to me." But it did.

Lloyd Sowers: Lisa Noland was just 17. She'd been in foster care and sexually abused by a relative's boyfriend. She thought about suicide even on her way home that night from her job at a donut shop. He grabbed her off her bike.

Lisa McVey Noland: I remember pleading with God, "Whatever you do, just don't let him kill me."

Lloyd Sowers: He was serial killer Bobby Joe Long, who had eluded police and murdered and raped at least 10 women. And so it began for Lisa.

Lisa McVey Noland: Held 26 hours, gunpoint. He raped me over and over again. Lost count.

Lloyd Sowers: Lisa was tied up and blindfolded, but she says being a victim of abuse in the past actually helped her deal with the killer.

Lisa McVey Noland: So I told myself, listen: "It's unfortunate how we met. I could be your girlfriend. I could take care of you. I know, no one ever has to know." Reverse psychology, I guess. Coddling him like a four-year-old child.

Lloyd Sowers: It worked. Under her blindfold, she got a glimpse of the Magnum nameplate on his car. She counted the number of steps up to his apartment, made sure to put her fingerprints all over his bathroom.

Lisa McVey Noland: At one time he placed my hand on his face. I saw his face through my hands. Pockmarks, small mustache, small ears, short hair, clean-cut, kind of stouty, but not overweight. Big guy.

Lloyd Sowers: At one point she told him she had to care for her sick father. Finally, after 26 hours, he dropped her off not far from where the ordeal began.

Lisa McVey Noland: So he drove off, I pulled my blindfold down, and the first thing I saw was this gorgeous, beautiful oak tree. And that's the moment I knew my life was about to change for the good.

Lloyd Sowers: Branches of new life. A life 31 years later as a deputy sheriff.

Lisa McVey Noland: No one's going to get hurt on my watch. That was my motivation to become a police officer. And I love every single student in this school.

Lloyd Sowers: Lisa is now a school resource officer at a middle school not far from where it all happened.

Lisa McVey Noland: This is my calling.

Lloyd Sowers: Working to protect kids from the kind of monster that preyed on her, who still sits on death row, still alive 31 years later. And if you got a call tonight saying that they're going to execute him tomorrow, do you want to go?

Lisa McVey Noland: Yes. If the governor calls me up and asks if I want to sit in the execution, yes.

Lloyd Sowers: She says she'll wear a T-shirt with Long's name on the front.

Lisa McVey Noland: And on the back, "Overdue." Long being his last name. "Long overdue," exclamation point.

Lisa McVey Noland: I like helping children.

Lloyd Sowers: She loves her job, and she doesn't have the nightmares that used to haunt her.

Lisa McVey Noland: It's like in my dreams I'm always being hurt. I want to finally one day not hurt, and then just to be able to let that pain go. You know? And be healed.

Lloyd Sowers: She says her healing is protecting others.

Lisa McVey Noland: I'm not a victim. I'm no longer a victim. I'm a survivor, and I'm a warrior. There's no victim here.

Lloyd Sowers: A story of empowerment. From the clutches of the killer, the one that got away is now the protector. Lloyd Sowers, FOX 13 News.

Anchor: What an interview. Lisa Noland, she says she loves her job working with kids as a school resource deputy. She lives in the Carrollwood area with her husband, who is also a deputy sheriff. ---