Karen Kummerer and Scott Freeman dated for eight months in 2006
NEED TO KNOW
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After their breakup, Freeman kidnapped Kummerer and took her across multiple states
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The traumatic incident is the subject of a season 2 episode of Netflix's Worst Ex Ever
In 2006, Karen Kummerer was stepping back into the dating scene after her recent divorce.
One night out, she met Joseph Scott Freeman and they started dating. But their relationship eventually took a dark turn — resulting in Freeman abducting Kummerer, leading to a multi-state chase with the police and FBI in pursuit.
"I was scared from the very beginning," Kummerer said, according to theOrlando Sentinel. "Honestly, I didn’t think I was coming back."
The harrowing account of Kummerer's relationship with Freeman is the subject of an episode in season 2 of Netflix'sWorst Ex Ever. Thedocuseriesfeaturestrue crimestories, told by the survivors who lived through them, including Kummerer.
Here's what led to the kidnapping of Karen Kummerer, and what happened to Joseph Scott Freeman.
Freeman and Kummerer dated for several months
Kummerer met Freeman out at a local bar one night in January 2006.
"When I met Scott, I felt a little bit of a spark," she said inWorst Ex Ever.
Valentine's Day was a couple weeks after they met, and Freeman showered her with gifts. "He spent a lot of money on me, actually," Kummerer recalled.
Despite Kummerer "not really looking for a committed relationship," things moved quickly, with Freeman unexpectedly moving into Kummerer's house one day.
Freeman was allegedly verbally and physically abusive during their relationship
Kummerer's niece, Brenna Randall, was living with Kummerer at the time she started dating Freeman.
"Karen definitely changed after Scott moved in," Randall said inWorst Ex Ever.
After Freeman established himself in the house, he "suggested Brenna move out," and "that's when the real domestic violence started," Kummerer said, adding how he would hold her down and scream at her "all night."
They would date for eight months, according tolegal documentsfiled in the Supreme Court of Florida.
After they broke up, Freeman harassed Kummerer
Kummerer finally broke it off with Freeman, but after their relationship ended, he started harassing her.
Kummerer recalled how he left 27 voicemails on her phone over the course of one day, per legal documents. "It was all the time like this," Randall added.
One morning, while on her way to work, Kummerer stopped at a stop sign, while Freeman was hiding out in a bush nearby, waiting for her.
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Using a key fob, he unlocked her car and got in the passenger seat with a knife. He told her to drive, and she was eventually able to calm him down by telling him she would start seeing him again.
"It was the first time Scott had ever held a knife or weapon to me," Kummerer said inWorst Ex Ever.
Freeman let Kummerer go, and Kummerer went to the police department and filed an emergency restraining order.
Freeman kidnapped Kummerer, leading to a week-long abduction through multiple states
Kummerer changed her phone number, and had all her car doors rekeyed — except the trunk.
Two weeks after filing the restraining order, Kummerer was on her way to work when her open trunk light came on.
She stopped, and went around the back to shut it, when Freeman jumped out of the trunk wearing all black and holding a knife, according to the Supreme Court of Florida filing.
He forced her into the passenger seat, and took her to his jeep. They got in his jeep, and he started driving.
While in Freeman's jeep, Randall called Kummerer, and using a code phrase, Kummerer let Randall know she was in trouble, and Randall called the police.
Over the next week, Freeman and Kummerer traveled across multiple states. After staying in a hotel one night, Kummerer grabbed the notepad from the room, and started leaving notes in restaurant and gas station bathrooms along their route, saying she had been abducted.
A restaurant employee found one of the notes, and called the police. A week into the ordeal, authorities were able to pinpoint their location from an ATM withdrawal.
The FBI later spotted Freeman's jeep on a highway in Mississippi. The police arrived and were able to stop Freeman and arrest him.
Where is Joseph Scott Freeman now?
After Kummerer was rescued, authorities found a knife, rope, blankets and a can "used to smoke crack cocaine" in Freeman's jeep.
According to the end ofWorst Ex Ever, Freeman was charged with "aggravated stalking, kidnapping with a weapon, violation of an injunction against domestic violation and violation of probation."
In 2007, he was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty on all charges, per theOrlando Sentinel.
Freeman died in prison in 2025.
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