TULSA, Oklahoma -
A Tulsa teenager has a warning for all families after his bizarre experience Sunday afternoon.
Zach Lossner is 17 and a junior at Memorial High School.
He was walking home from his new job at Taco Bueno on a cold and wet Sunday afternoon when a couple of guys about his age offered him a ride. He accepted, never dreaming that for the next six hours, they would refuse to let him go.
Zach said he was pretty scared when they drove right past his neighborhood, and refused to stop, no matter how many times he asked.
He said they were trying to recruit him to work for them selling magazines door-to-door.
"He said that they actually were from Vegas, originally, with their company, and they're here—and they said that they travel from one side of the U.S. across it, and that you got to have points for how many magazines you sell," Zach said.
Zach told them he had a job, even showed them the paperwork where he had just been hired at Taco Bueno, and that he was in school, that his parents would be worried about him, but he said they just kept driving.
His frustration turned to fear when he heard the driver on the phone threatening one of his sales people.
"He's sitting there threatening people he works with to kill them, and I'm just a stranger that he's offering a job. So, I didn't want to—that's the point where I quit arguing with him about stopping and I just was quiet," Zach said.
Six hours later, he said they stopped for gas at a Quik Trip, which was not far from his home, so, as soon as the men got out, he made a run for it. He said he hid a few blocks from home for about ten minutes, because he knew they knew where he lives.
He said it took him awhile to tell his family what had happened. When he did tell them, his parents could quickly tell he wasn't just making up a story to cover for being late.
"He was scared. I could tell he was scared. He was pale, looking down at the ground and shaky," his mother, Claire Lossner said.
They filed a police report and the officer told them this is what these door-to-door crews do. Articles have been written about them, and there's even a rescue group to help these kids escape. They recruit young people, promise them big money, but hold their money for months. They often work the kids 14-hour days and force them to stay several people to a room in cheap motels.
Zach and his mom wanted to warn others.
"Part of me is mad, but part of me is extremely is happy that I'm able to laugh about it today, because I'm okay. But then again, I'm mad about it. Who would just randomly kidnap someone to try and get them to work for you? It just doesn't make sense," Zach said.
Police say there may not be a lot they can do about it, since Zach got in the van willingly and they didn't physically hurt him.
But they do warn people to be leery of these groups when they come knocking on your door.
Many of them have criminal records and aren't on the up-and-up.
Zach Lossner said he was pretty scared when they drove right past his neighborhood, and refused to stop, no matter how many times he asked.
Articles have been written about them, and there's even a rescue group to help these kids escape.
Six hours later, he said they stopped for gas at a Quik Trip, which was not far from his home, so, as soon as the men got out, he made a run for it.
