Child Abduction Survivor To Bring Message Of Hope To Utica-area

She was abducted as a young teen, then brutally tortured and raped - with the event streamed live on the internet. Amazingly, Alicia Kozak survived the horrific ordeal, thanks to a 'missing person' flyer from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Kozak will visit the Mohawk Valley next week and be the featured guest at 'A Night of Hope - an extension of the Ride of Missing Children Mohawk Valley. The event is set for Friday, November 3, at Hart's Hill Inn in Whitesboro.

Her story dates back to New Year's Day 2001, long before social media and the internet we know today, when Kozak, then 13, was lured to meet a child predator she had been speaking with in an online chat. She thought he was also a teenager, and agreed to meet him. However, the person on the other end of the computer was a 38-year-old man, named Scott Tyree

Tyree abducted he and would violently assault the young girl, along with torturing her for several days. The child predator held his victim in a basement and live streamed the brutality online. Incredibly, someone who saw the live stream immediately recognized the young girl from a 'missing' poster he had recently seen. That viewer contacted the FBI and it ultimately led to Kozak be found and safely rescued by police.

Tyree was convicted of the crime and sentenced to nearly 20-years in federal prison. He was granted an early parole in 2019, but was soon sent back to prison after he was caught looking up pornography at a half-way house he was staying at. However, after completing the remainder of his sentence, Tyree is a free man today.

Tickets for A Night of Hope are available through Eventbrite for $65.

The event is a fundraiser for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

A portion of the event page reads, "We must raise awareness and educate our community about the dangers threatening our children. We must teach our children how to be safe both in-person and online."

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