This is 54-year-old James Savage. Police are tracking him after seeing footage of him kidnapping his girlfriend, 60-year-old Merival Dunn. But when the sheriff's office starts investigating, they find this isn't just another case of domestic violence. Savage isn't who he claims to be, and he has woven a web of lies for over 40 years.

“If he is here and you don't turn him over to us, you're going to jail with him.” “I don't want to go to jail, so...”

And those lies build into an intense standoff that has the police on edge. After receiving a 911 call from Dunn's friend and seeing the footage of Savage abducting the woman, officers Warren, Helsinki, Mingus, and Jones travel to Bellhaven Loop, where they believe Savage lives. After checking his house, the police find neither Savage nor his vehicle. The officers start asking neighbors for more information.

“Good morning.” “Deputy with the sheriff's office. Just seeing if we can help with anything.” “7970 is on this side of the road, down a couple houses. Do you recognize this young man?”

“No, I don't. I heard about him, but I don't know him. I've never seen him.” “Heard about him?” “Yeah.”

“Interesting. What have you heard about him?” “I heard he's into drugs and stuff and caused a lot of problems.” “Okay. Does that guy look familiar?”

“No, I'm just here for the season, but is that the guy who was Julie's ex?” “That's him. Yeah. Is he shacking up with Lorraine now?” “He was really mean to me on the phone.”

“He's got an order not to be here. He's not supposed to be in here.” “Mhm.” “Oh, okay.”



The woman the neighbor is speaking about is Julie Sperl, the suspect's ex-girlfriend. Savage and Sperl were arrested for defrauding and exploiting an older woman out of less than $10,000 in 2020. Deputy Helsinki gets in touch with Sperl directly. She says the two lived together until they broke up after a 5-year relationship.

And as the neighbor says, Sperl issued an injunction against Savage to keep him a mile away from her residence because his violent behavior scared her. The reason for the breakup catches Deputy Helsinki's attention. Sperl says that while she and Savage were on a cruise together, Savage started flirting with an older woman by the name of Lorraine Hero. 

After they broke up, Sperl says Savage moved in with Ms. Hero. Helsinki relays the information to the others who leave a calling card at Hero's residence. Then they start asking the neighbors about her involvement.

“Do you know these neighbors well?” “The only ones we know are the ones right there, the second house.” “With the second house there.”

“The second house.” “Yeah. And we do know Fred, the next-door neighbor. We've met Fred, but I haven't seen Fred today either. What's she normally like?”

“Fred?” “No, we met her last year.” “Yeah, they have a street party in March, and I don't know.”

“She's um I mean, I want to say 75, 80 maybe. You don't think?” “No, I don't.”

“And I do think she lives alone. I've never seen a guy there. Like I said, usually I only see her in the morning when the garage door is open and she's leaving in her vehicle. We'll probably be here a while.” “Okay.”

“But if after we leave and we don't tell you not to call, if you see him leave in the house, just call 911.” “Okay.” “Okay.”

“All right.” “She okay?” “Yeah, she's okay.”

“Okay.”

This is when the officers start to realize something about the suspect. All of his acquaintances and those who associate with him seem to be older women. First, Sperl, then Hero, now Dunn. And the man has a track record of dating women significantly older than him.

But what is a hotshot businessman like Savage doing dating women with such an age gap? And why several at any given time? The police first think it's a personal preference, but a much darker truth is about to reveal itself.

“Okay. Do you all live in this area?” “Yes.” “Do you know Lorraine Hero?”

“I don't know the last name. It doesn't ring a bell. It's probably the last name.”

“No. He golfs, I guess. Lives like right here at this house.” “The most I can tell is he's been there a while because there are leaves.” “No, I've seen her, but does this guy look familiar?”

“What's his name?” “Uh well, he goes by a couple of names. His driver's license says James Savage, but he might go by like Mario Gambini.” “I can't say I have.”

This is the first twist in the suspect's story. James Savage isn't who he claims to be. When he meets people in person, the suspect is known to put on a mafia-style facade, a smooth-talking successful businessman who offers investment opportunities into wild new schemes. He drives luxury cars, flies around the world selling rare gems and coins to the highest bidder.

James Savage is a con man, and the more the police uncover about him, the wilder the story becomes. The officers track down the suspect's car to a nearby parking lot. When they arrive, they find no signs that Savage has been in the car recently, so they have it towed in for evidence. It's then that the officers receive a call.

It's the victim, Merival Dunn, calling from a blocked number. She assures the officers that she is safe and instructs them to stop looking for her. Something isn't adding up. Dunn had been violently pulled to the ground and thrown into a car by Savage.

The officers need to make sure that she's okay in person before verifying anything. Dunn agrees to meet the officers at Lorraine's home. That's when the officers make the call to Lorraine.

“How are you doing this morning?” “I'm okay.”

“Well, good to hear. I'm doing well. I just had a couple of questions. Do you still reside at 7970 Southeast 174th?” “Who's calling and harassing me?”

“Who do you mean? Who's calling and harassing you?” “Who's calling you guys about my address?”

“We're just being dispatched over here via Sumter County. An incident took place over there involving someone who lives at your address. The address for one of the parties involved comes back to your residence. Is 7970 still your address?”

“Yes, it is. And I don't appreciate you guys just coming around, banging on my door for no good reason, just because somebody called.” “I just got a call saying that something happened over there.” “This is not the first time this has happened across the street.”

“Were they looking for you, or were they looking for somebody else?” “No. Nobody else lives here. Me and my two cats.”

“Okay. All right, I appreciate it. You take care now, okay?” “All right, thank you.”

“All right, bye-bye. What an angel.”

“She didn't sound like she was outside. No. She's definitely inside. Did you get to go in that house?” “No, she wasn't there.”

“She's there now.” “She's 100% there and probably has been for a while.”

The officers are confident Lorraine Hero is lying about two things, not being at home and that she is the only one that lives there. It doesn't add up with the information the neighbors have given them. While police suspect Hero could be hiding Savage in her home along with the kidnapped woman, what they don't understand is why.

Behind the scenes police are digging deeper into Savage's criminal records. What they learn makes them realize this is not simply a domestic abuser, nor is he even a simple wheeler-dealer con man. Knowing Lorraine is at her home, the police head around to knock on her door.

“I'm not letting you in right now.” “Miss Lorraine?” “Yes.”

“Hey, I need to talk to you.” “I'm not talking to you.” “Okay, can you open the door so I can talk to you? Can you open the door so we can have a conversation?”

“No.” “Okay. I'm trying to talk to you but there's kind of a giant barrier in front of me.”

“I'll come out there. I'm not letting you in. You want to talk to me outside or not?”

“That's fine. Yeah. Hey, I'm Deputy Gonzalez from the Sheriff's Office. So, listen.”

“Why are you harassing me? I don't appreciate this.” “Okay.” “This is not the first time these people have tried this. One of them is over there.”

“So, ma'am.” “in the middle of the night.” “Ma'am, I think you misunderstand why we're here.”

“Well, okay.” “I don't appreciate this. I just called the other guy. You're...”

“Yeah, I understand. He's standing right here, so we're taking the chance that he might talk to me.” “Boyfriend? What is going on?” “Miss Lorraine, okay?”

“What?” “Here's the reason we're here. Are you familiar with Mr. James Savage?” “Well, I know him.”

“Okay. We're looking for him.” “Why?”

“Why? He's involved in some pretty serious stuff out of Sumter County. There's a reason there's three deputies and a canine deputy.” “Okay. There's a reason we have a canine here, okay?”

“You have a what?” “A canine deputy.” “The canine handler for the county usually only comes out on serious calls.”

“Serious calls.” “Okay. So we need to cross all our T's and dot all our I's because we're also here for someone who might have been kidnapped. His last known address comes back to your address.” “Here?”

“Yes.” “He's never lived here.” “Okay. Well, apparently you know him and you've already spoken about him.”

“What? You want to hear what's happened to him and me?” “Yes.” “From other people?”

“No, no, I want to hear from you.” “No, I don't mean from other people. People have wrecked my life and wrecked his life, and one is the ex-wife who lives across the street.” “Okay.”

“She's hired people and they took possession of the rental home that he was in. He had a a computer guy. Computer guy took possession of the cameras.” “Okay.” “that he was using.”

“Filming They were filming them at all times of day when they lived there.” “James and his girlfriend.” “James and his girlfriend.”

“And um they took possession of the home. They They broke in. They put a uh You know, they had the cameras. They took possession of the camera.” “This is a long story, so hopefully you won't be.”

“Okay. Well, what what is your involvement with him? How do you know him? Are you a girlfriend of him?” “We're friends.”

“You're a friend?” “Yeah.” “Oh, no. I tried calling him.”

“I tried calling him.” “That's it. There's There's nothing else between you guys?” “We're friends. Known him 2 years.”

“Okay.” “Of course she'll tell you I have all kinds of things going on here.” “Okay.”

“not happening.” “Have you two been in a relationship?” “Yeah, a while ago.”

“Okay.” “All right.” “So.”

“They're divorced. Do you have a warrant?” “Do I need to get one?” “Well, I guess so if you want to go in my house.”

“Okay.” “Because I'm tired of being harassed.” “Can we look to say that he's here or say that he's not here?”

“No.” “Not even to just tell our sergeant, 'Hey, don't call her anymore because he's not there.'” “No, I talked I called him already up there Marion County. He left me a message and I called and I said, 'I'm fine.' That's it.”

“We're not We're not looking for you. We're looking for him.” “It doesn't matter.” “And we're also here to make sure the girlfriend is safe because all we know from Wildwood PD is that she was badly injured, forced into the car, held there against her will, and driven somewhere unknown in the middle of the night.”

“And his last known address comes back to you, and you don't want to tell us where he is.” “His car is still registered out there.” “When was the last time you saw him?”

“Recently.” “How long ago?” “Recently.”

“Like 24 hours, 48 hours, 3 days ago, 5 days ago?” “Yeah, something like that.” “Is there a reason you're being so vague?”

“Because you're harassing me.” “Okay.” “And you don't need to know these things.”

“Okay. Right now we have probable cause for his arrest. It is felonious, okay? We do have another victim.”

“If in some way it comes back that he's here and you've been keeping him here you are going to be implicated in that. Do you understand? So, just know that if he is here.” “and you're keeping him here, you're going to get wrapped up in that.” “Apparently, I'm already wrapped up in this.”

“Okay. Especially when it comes to a victim who's been kidnapped, that can mean serious jail time. Kidnapping is something the state does not play around with.”

Lorraine is not cooperating and is being incredibly vague with the officers.

The police now are very confident that Savage has been in the house with Dunn the whole time. But without expressed consent from Lorraine to search her house, they'll need to wait for a warrant. While they're waiting, something happens the police didn't see coming. Merival Dunn, the kidnapped woman they've been tracking down this whole time, walks right out of Lorraine's home seemingly free to go.

“I'm Merival.” “You're Merival?” “Yes, I'm fine.”

“Okay.” “Hi. How are you doing?” “I was told someone reported me as kidnapped.”

“Mhm.” “Where did she find you?” “She just walked right up to her. She just walked right up, and I was like, 'Hello.'”

“From where? Where did she come from?” “She just walked right up.” “We didn't see where she came?”

“No.” “So, where did she come from?” “I have no idea.”

“Okay, well. Oh my god, is this all for me? People are worried about you.” “About what? We left there at Wildwood.”

“Okay.” “I didn't have too much to drink. The others did. And you know how it is when people drink. I ended up tripping over my flip-flop and hitting my face, and that turned into a big argument.”

“Where's James now?” “Well, I went I was at my house.” “Where's your house?”

“In Lady Lake.” “Okay. How'd you get here?” “I got dropped off.”

“By?” “A friend.” “Okay.”

“I don't like this.” “I don't like this either.”

“I just want it to go away. No one did anything to me. I just want it to go away. Please, just it's embarrassing.” “What's wrong?”

“I have three children.” “And I'm not trying to embarrass you. I'm not trying to make this public. We can talk about it privately.”

“I feel—look at my face. I'm embarrassed.” “We can take you to our district office where we can talk completely privately. I know you don't want to talk out here in front of everybody.” “No, no.”

“And we have a district office. You know where the fire station is?” “Yeah.” “There's one right there where I can talk to you privately if you're okay with that.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.” “Okay.” “Can you and I go to the door so Lorraine's not scared?”

“I'll walk with you. You promise you won't go back inside?” “Oh god, I promise.” “We're going to walk to the side so I can tell my sergeant what's going on.”

“Okay.” “Is he inside the building now?” “No. No.”

“And you know what?” “Well, then where is he at?” “I really haven't seen him. Okay. You go with her and tell us what you know.”

“But the thing is, why? I mean, I won't pay. I'm not paying now.”

This is a massive shock for the police, but it's also a good sign. It's proof their suspicions about Lorraine Hero keeping Dunn in her home were correct. All they need to do now is flush out Savage, but things aren't that simple. Dunn, who has visible injuries, including a serious jaw injury, is claiming that she's not been kidnapped.

She isn't aware that the police have clear footage of Savage pulling her to the ground and then forcing her into his car. She heads back towards the house to talk to Lorraine. There, she keeps up the lie that she wasn't kidnapped and acts downright friendly with the woman.

“Hey, Lorraine. I'm just going to go. They just want to make sure I'm okay. Come on now.” “She's going to come with me, and once we get everything squared away...”

“Then...” “...we'll get out of everybody's hair.” “Sorry they scared you. You know I'm okay. I told you what happened last night.”

“Yeah, she said she was scared.” “We just want to make sure she's okay and make sure she gets anything she needs.” “Where's your purse? You want to go without any ID?”

“No, I can't. We'll figure it out.” “She said she'll be in contact with you when she can.”

“Oh, I'll be back. I'll be back. I mean, I'm sorry. You know I'm okay.”

“I'm surprised I scared you. I don't understand how this turned into people saying I was kidnapped. I'll be back, okay?”

The police take Dunn to the station to make sure that she's safe and to ask some follow-up questions, but she doesn't tell the police the truth about the kidnapping either. Dunn is protecting the man who had badly hurt her.

“No, no, no. Nothing caused this.” “Okay.” “I tripped on my flip-flops.”

“Okay.” “I did.” “And then?”

“They weren't these. They were pink ones.” “So then what happened after you fell?”

“I think he picked me up. He tried to pick me up and said, 'Listen, you fell and you hit your face. Let me take you to the hospital.'” “Okay.”

“And I said, 'No, I'm fine. I'm fine.'” “Where did you fall on your face?” “The driveway.”

“The driveway?” “Yeah.” “So then he picked you up and he said he put you in the car?”

“Yeah, I guess I was so upset. I was fighting him, but from my own adrenaline. You know what I mean?” “He said you were fighting him because you were...” “...upset that I fell.”

“Yeah.” “I was so pissed.” “Well, what kind of—”

“Because he didn't do anything, and neither did Tanya. It was a reaction.” “Yeah.” “I didn't mean to do it because he said, 'I'll take you to the hospital. Calm down.'”

“Where'd y'all go?” “Well, we got close to my house.” “Okay.”

“And I told him to leave me, you know. That was it. I mean, after that...” “Just like—oh.”

“He fell asleep. Yeah, it was an argument. Listen, this is the truth. There was too much to drink.”

“I fell, and it got out of hand. Obviously. He did nothing to hurt me. Tanya was just concerned for me.”

“She told me she was concerned for me, and she thought he kidnapped me. Whoever Lorraine spoke to apparently heard the same thing, but no, I'm not kidnapped. I keep telling you that.”

“Your injuries are not consistent with falling the way you're describing it. They are not consistent with a simple fall onto your face. Can you really tell me what happened? If you tell me the truth, I'll make sure you're safe.”

“I can't. I don't know what else to say. He didn't hurt me. He didn't.”

“No, he didn't. I can't say anything different because he didn't hurt me.” “Please stop.” “This isn't—you're not the first one.”

“Please stop.” “James was arrested last year for domestic violence. Do you remember?”

“James is a person who has gotten better as a person. I know what he's done in the past. Honestly, I think I've made him a better person because I don't come from the background that most of the women he has dated come from.”

It doesn't matter how much the officers pressed on. She won't admit that Savage hurt her or kidnapped her. Luckily, they don't need her confession to get Savage put behind bars. Meanwhile, back at Lorraine's home, the officers on the scene have had enough with the woman's lies.

“And you're looking at me like...” “Like you lied?” “No.”

“No? Okay.” “You know what? People get in situations that are impossible.” “I asked you if there were people that were here.”

“I just want to explain what we're doing. Right now we're getting a search warrant for your house, okay? So I'm letting you know that nobody is allowed to leave from here. We are getting that warrant because we believe he's in there.”

“If we come in and find him after you've kept him there, you're going to jail with him. I'm telling you that right now. So if he's there and you want to turn him over to us, you can do that now instead of making us go through the whole process.” “I don't want to go to jail.”

“If you want to turn him over to us, then you can. If you don't, you make us do all this other work. And if he's here, that matters. I'm explaining that to you.” “I'm an innocent bystander trying to help.”

“He's here. I'm telling you right now.” “He's always here.” “Huh?”

“Who do you think you're looking for?” “We're looking for James Savage.” “James Savage.”

“Yep, James Savage. If he is here and you don't turn him over to us, you're going to jail with him. He is going to jail today. We are getting a search warrant, so we are going into your house.”

The police now make it very clear to Lorraine they know Savage is in her house. If she doesn't let them in, she'll go to jail for harboring a criminal. Now that it's been laid out for her, Lorraine has a change of heart.

“I just don't want to go to jail, sir. If you want to walk in, I think you better be careful.” “Okay. I think you have to give us permission to go in there. I'm just trying to explain that to you.”

“I don't want to go to jail, okay? I'm in an impossible situation. Okay? You know, there's my money involved.” “It's going to destroy me, so I'm not happy.”

“It's happening either way. That's what I'm saying. We're just going to have to get the search warrant.” “You're harboring a fugitive, or a criminal, because we...” “He's not a fugitive.”

“He's a criminal. Right now, he is.” “No, he's falsely accused.”

“No, we have it on video, ma'am. He's not falsely accused. If you want to believe that, that's fine, but we've got proof.” “Do you hear?” “Yes, we did.”

“I don't want to go to jail. So, if you want to go in my house, go ahead.” “Okay. Are you going to give us permission to go into your house?” “Yes.”

“Okay.” “You better be careful. That's all I've got to say.” “Why do you say that?”

“Is he armed? He's got a gun. He's got a legal gun. So I'm just telling you.”

The police finally get consent to enter Lorraine's home, but now they learn that the suspect is armed and dangerous. The police call in the SWAT team, block off the road, and the situation turns into a full-on standoff.

“We know you're inside. We know there's a gun. At some point, we're going to be coming into the house.”

As Savage refused to come out, the standoff dragged on for hours. SWAT officers tried several non-lethal methods intended to bring him outside without a direct confrontation. They also sent in a remote device to look inside the house, but Savage fired at the device and also fired toward officers as they approached the property.

“Do you want us to try the drone?” “Yeah, that'd be good.”

The standoff dragged on with Savage refusing to come out. Police later used specialized equipment to gain access to part of the structure. At one point, Savage sent a picture indicating he might harm himself. Finally, after 22 hours, Savage gave up and walked out peacefully at 10:31 a.m.

Even in custody, he remained talkative.

“I'm going to be honest with you, and I'm being straight with you. I need to use the bathroom. I'm not trying to hurt you. Listen, I need to pee.”

“I've got a problem and a medical bag in my abdomen. I'm not trying to escape. I'm just letting this officer know that these restraints were put on loosely right here, and I'm trying to explain what I need.” “He said he fed the cats.” “Thanks a lot for having my place destroyed.”

James Savage faced two counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, one count of shooting into an occupied dwelling, one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, one count of resisting an officer with violence, two counts of criminal mischief, one count of violation of a domestic violence injunction, as well as kidnapping and domestic battery.