Nevada robbery and kidnapping victim: I am a survivor
Life changed in an instant for 42-year-old Brandy Parry when the gas station and convenience store where she worked was robbed and she was kidnapped shortly after midnight on July 24.
Although the crime occurred in Mesquite, Nevada, the five people who were charged in connection with the crime are from Tuscarawas County. Kyle Lewis Dynes, 34, of Uhrichsville, is charged with felony robbery with use of a deadly weapon, felony first-degree kidnapping and misdemeanor obstructing an officer.
More:Five people from Tuscarawas County charged after robbery at Nevada gas station and convenience store
Parry offered to speak about the ordeal in the hope that it could help someone else who has had the same experience, or might yet face a similar situation.
"I want them to know that they are stronger than they think, and that they can heal, just like I am," she said. "I don't want to be a victim," she said by phone. "I want to be a survivor."
She returned to work Tuesday, beating her goal of returning to work within a month.
Parry had been the manager for exactly two weeks on the 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. shift when the crime occurred. She was alone because the manager who was supposed to be training her was hospitalized with COVID-19.
When I was in combat, I was trained to be in combat. I had a Kevlar vest. I had a Kevlar helmet. I had an M16 I could use to fire back. I was trained to be captured. I was trained to be a POW. I was trained to escape. I was trained in how to survive ... after escaping. Brandy had none of that, no protection, anything. She's my hero.
Timothy Parry
She initally noticed the suspect, Dynes, in the store playing a slot machine after she started her shift. He saw her get a $100 bill from another customer. She put it in a safe. He left and returned later.
"He's at my Krispy Kreme stand eating a doughnut and I heard him say, 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Give me all your effing money," Parry said. "I said, 'Excuse me?' He goes, 'I don't want to hurt you. I've got a gun. Give me all your money.'"
She tried to stay calm and gave him $50 from the till. He asked for more. She gave him $50 from another drawer. He asked about the $100 bill. She told him the money in the safe gets picked up daily. He asked for her cell phone, then let her keep it.
"He was getting really agitated," Parry said. "He made me walk outside with him."
She made him walk across the street to a parking lot.
"When he told me to come up there, I knew I was as good as dead. He opened up the car door and told me, 'You need to get in.' He told me he had a daughter. I used that to my advantage."
Brandy, a fan of true crime shows, noted the shared fact that they are parents to humanize herself to the perpetrator, in the hope it would prevent him from killing her.
"I told him, 'I have kids. I have grandkids. Please don't hurt me. I'll do whatever you say.'"
She stayed as close as possible to the car door. She kept the door slightly open, having noticed that the dashboard lights weren't working and wouldn't alert her abductor.
When he started talking about the gas station's security cameras, she told him, falsely, that they were broken. She told him he didn't have to worry because she didn't know who he was, and she wouldn't say anything.
Brandy became more fearful as he drove toward Interstate 15. She believed he would kill her if he got on the freeway. She knew any escape would be more dangerous at highway speeds.
But instead of continuing toward the interstate, the suspect pulled the vehicle over near a casino and let her go, telling her, “You better not flag anybody down.”
She ran toward the casino, located less than a mile from the gas station where the robbery occurred. She called 911 and tried unsuccessfully to flag down a vehicle. She stayed near the casino while waiting for police to arrive.
Mesquite police were able to match the suspect's images from the gas station and the casino, said Brandy's husband, Timothy Parry.
After the robbery and kidnapping, Brandy and Timothy experienced a reversal of roles. She had been the nurturer for him, a combat veteran with PTSD.
"She hasn't been able to be left alone, at all, since this happened," Timothy said in a July 30 telephone interview.
"Since this incident occurred she has been suffering mentally and even scared to stay in our town," he wrote in a GoFundMe post. "I've taken her out of town to be closer to family and keep her safe away from the area, but we have a lot of expenses that will pile up in the immediate aftermath of this we'd appreciate any assistance with."
While the couple credits her employer, Nevada-based Terrible Herbst, for taking good care of her following the crime, they have encountered costs that haven't been covered: gas to get to and from her therapist and other organizations over 70 miles away, temporary hotel room costs and food.
Timothy said he was impressed by his wife's quick thinking. They both believe it saved her life.
"When I was in combat, I was trained to be in combat," he said. "I had a Kevlar vest. I had a Kevlar helmet. I had an M16 I could use to fire back. I was trained to be captured. I was trained to be a POW. I was trained to escape. I was trained in how to survive ... after escaping. Brandy had none of that, no protection, anything. She's my hero."
She has a message for anyone who might consider robbery and kidnapping as a way to get money for their drug addiction.
"I just want people on drugs to know that it's not worth you going to prison for a potentially the rest of your life, ruining not only your family's life, your own, but the survivors' too. That's going to stick with them for as long as they live," Brandy said.
Other people charged in connection with the incident include a 36-year-old Canton woman, Tabbetha D. Perez, who previously lived in Tuscarawas County, She was sentenced to 30 days in the Clark County, Nevada jail for possession of a drug not to be introduced into interstate commerce. A drug possession charge was dismissed.
Perez is also the subject of an arrest warrant from Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Court in New Philadelphia, where she has entered pleas of not guilty to corrupting another with drugs, aggravated possession of drugs, trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound and illegal use or possession of drug paraphernalia.
Reach Nancy at 330-364-8402 or nancy.molnar@timesreporter.com.
On Twitter: @nmolnarTR
This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Nevada robbery and kidnapping victim talks about surviving ordeal
