How a Florida Mom Who Was Abducted by a Serial Killer Escaped With Her Life: 'I Had to Charm Him or Die'

How a Florida Mom Who Was Abducted by a Serial Killer Escaped With Her Life: 'I Had to Charm Him or Die'On Nov. 14, 1974, Barbara Mabee Abel was a 31-year-old single mother in West Palm Beach, Fla., working to support her 6-year-old son Dale and her twin sister, Beverly, who had cerebral palsy, when she was kidnapped by a killer. Dubbed the Casanova Killer for his good looks, Paul John Knowles was eventually linked to 18 murders, though he claimed he committed up to 35.

So I walked out of the house with him and into the car while he held the shotgun. We took off into the sunset. I didn’t know who he was, but I knew he could kill me. I decided I would do whatever I needed to do to survive. I told him how I thought he looked like Robert Redford. I was trying to build up his confidence. I prayed to the Lord to give me words that would make him fall in love with me. I knew I had to charm him or die.

For more on the how Barbara Mabee Abel survived the Casanova Killer, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands now, or subscribe Beverly died of cancer in 2019. She was the strongest woman I'd ever met in my life. She put up with cerebral palsy and made it a joke. She was amazing. I had decided to write a book,PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter

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