NAMPA, Idaho — The Idaho woman who survived one of the state’s most infamous killing sprees lost her Nampa home and everything inside it to a fire Wednesday.
Nampa Fire Department responded to a house fire Wednesday, March 6. As it turned out, the home belonged to Shasta Groene.
Shasta, now 27, was kidnapped, held captive and tortured in 2005. She endured the slaughter of her entire family, including her brother, who was taken along with Shasta and then killed in front of her.
Nampa fire said crews responded to the house fire early Wednesday morning; and although firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the blaze, the home experienced "significant damage," resulting in a near total loss. All occupants, however, escaped the fire uninjured.
A verified GoFundMe account and fundraising campaign has been created to help Shasta and her five sons, in hopes that the community will rally around her once again.
According to Nampa Fire Department, the Red Cross of Idaho and the Nampa Fire Fighter Charity Fund are working to assist Shasta and her family.
Shasta was 8 years old when her mother, stepfather and one of her brothers were killed. She and her other brother, Dylan, were kidnapped and tortured in Lolo National Forest in Montana before Dylan was murdered before her very eyes.
Shasta was held captive and sexual assaulted for weeks before being spotted with the killer, Joseph Edward Duncan, at a restaurant in Coeur d’Alene and rescued.
Duncan was convicted of killing four people in 2005. He passed away from terminal brain cancer in an Indiana hospital in 2021. He was on federal death row at the time of his death.
Shasta has since moved to the Treasure Valley, making a home in Nampa with her five children.
In 2015, ten years after her rescue, Shasta told her story of survival to KTVB during an in-depth interview. You can watch the full interview here.
GoFundMe campaign: 'Support Shasta Groene and Her Children'
Most people in the Pacific Northwest know Shasta Groene as the little girl who survived a serial killer and was rescued at an Idaho Denny’s. That was almost 20 years ago. Yesterday, a devastating fire swept through their modest home leaving the single mother and her five children homeless and without any possessions.
The funds will help Shasta and her children with much-needed relief and support as they navigate this traumatic time. Contributions will secure temporary housing, clothing, daily necessities, and eventually, the rebuilding of their home.
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