Her father's love of action movies and her own level head helped honor student Lindsey Michelle Dye survive a 14-hour ordeal with an escaped killer.
Dye, 17, was kidnapped at gunpoint from a convenience store Tuesday by Kelly W. Drott, who escaped from a Louisiana prison where he was serving 21 years for manslaughter in the death of a 19-year-old woman.Police said Drott, 27, and a girlfriend who helped him escape asked Dye for directions. Then he pulled out a .357 magnum and forced his way into Dye's black 1991 Camaro, driving off as the girlfriend followed in another car.
"As coolly as I could I stayed calm and tried not to do anything that would make him nervous," recalled Dye, safe at home Wednesday in Batesville. "I knew if I made him nervous he might do something rash."
For 250 miles, Dye discussed music with Drott, bandaged his wounds and kept calm - even when the killer shot his girlfriend, Robin Duvall, in the face as she tried to hide the other car in a Mississippi field. Duvall was in critical condition Thursday at a Memphis, Tenn., hospital.
The odyssey ended with a chase over back roads early Wednesday when Dye purposely swerved her car into a muddy ditch near Dardanelle, Ark., about 70 miles northwest of Little Rock. Drott put a gun in his mouth and killed himself as police approached.
Lindsey, who wants to be a doctor, said she learned the driving trick from her father, Walter, who loves action movies.
"We watch all the same ones," he said.
Drott escaped with another fugitive Sunday from a minimum-security prison in New Orleans by spraying a guard with pepper spray and scaling two razor-wire fences. Duvall drove the getaway car, authorities said. The other fugitive was captured without incident Tuesday.
An Arkansas law officer finally caught up with Dye and Drott shortly before midnight Tuesday. Drott told the teen to move over and drive as he started shooting out the window.
"She put her seat belt on, which she doesn't always do, and took off," said Ron Darby, who employs the high-schooler part time at his insurance agency. "She was driving about 90 miles an hour when she turned the wheels . . . and threw the car out of control. The car crashed. She hung on and went along for the ride.
Walter Dye, who bought her the car as an early graduation present, rushed to Arkansas with his wife to pick up their only child.
They left the sports car behind.
"I'll never drive it again," she said.