A television actress has transformed her terrifying experience into a powerful documentary that aims to help other stalking victims and change how authorities handle these serious crimes. Eva LaRue, known for her roles on “All My Children” and “CSI: Miami,” stars in the upcoming Paramount+ docuseries, “My Nightmare Stalker: The Eva LaRue Story,” which reveals how a mother and daughter survived a dozen years of terror while maintaining their strength and ultimately finding justice.
The two-part documentary, premiering November 13, chronicles LaRue’s extraordinary survival story that began in 2007 when disturbing letters started arriving for the “General Hospital” alum. What initially seemed like a twisted prank quickly escalated into a nightmare that would span over a decade and threaten not just the actress but her young daughter, Kaya Callahan, as well.
LaRue was at the height of her career when the stalking began, with her prime-time series among the top 10 most-watched scripted shows on television. However, her professional success was overshadowed by increasingly menacing threats that regularly arrived in her mail, signed “Freddie Krueger.”
Through advanced technology and persistent law enforcement work, authorities finally achieved justice in 2019 when they arrested their stalker.
LaRue Shares Her Story
The documentary serves as more than just a recounting of events. It is also a powerful tool for advocacy and awareness. LaRue explained how the experience revealed troubling gaps in the legal system’s approach to stalking cases.
“The worst thing about stalking is that it’s this crime-less crime. The crime hasn’t happened yet,” LaRue shared during a post-screening discussion, according to Michael Fairman TV. She described the frustration of trying to get help when authorities struggled to take threats seriously without physical violence having occurred.
The stalker, who signed his letters “Freddie Krueger” after the horror movie villain, sent graphically violent threats of rape, torture, and murder over the years. The letters contained what LaRue described to PEOPLE as “the most heinous, most deplorable, most sickening, most terrifying threats” that eventually expanded to include Callahan.
To protect her child, LaRue installed security cameras and moved homes multiple times, but their tormentor consistently found their new addresses. The actress made the difficult decision to shield her daughter from the full extent of the threats for years, bearing the psychological burden largely alone.
The situation reached a critical point in 2019 when the stalker contacted Callahan’s school, impersonating her father and attempting to arrange a pickup. This escalation finally led to a breakthrough when DNA evidence found on one of the letters identified Ohio resident James David Rogers, then 61.
Authorities arrested Rogers in 2019, and he pleaded guilty to federal stalking charges in 2022, with the court sentencing him to 40 months in prison. However, Rogers’ release has since forced LaRue and her daughter to face new security challenges that continue to affect their daily lives.
Becoming an Advocate
The documentary experience provided healing for both mother and daughter, as filmmakers interviewed them separately about their ordeal.
Callahan, now 23, told PEOPLE that filming allowed her to process events she had only partially understood as a child.
“Because my mom kept so much hidden, I didn’t know much about it,” Callahan explained. “It was like reliving it and yet experiencing it for the very first time.” The process, while emotionally challenging, ultimately provided therapeutic benefits for both women.
According to Michael Fairman TV, the family kept their therapist “on speed dial” throughout the filming week, recognizing the emotional toll of revisiting their trauma. However, Callahan found the experience “incredibly healing” as it allowed her to fully process and release emotions she had carried for years.
LaRue has become an advocate for stronger stalking legislation, using her platform to highlight alarming statistics about these crimes. During the documentary screening, she shared that “stalkers target 86% of women before murdering them in the United States every year” and that “13.5 million people experience stalking annually in the United States alone.”
The actress stressed that stalking affects people from all walks of life, not just celebrities. “It’s not just celebrities — all of us can be targeted through social media,” she told PEOPLE. “We want to help everybody who’s being stalked and instill some hope.”
The documentary utilizes groundbreaking technology and features insights from former FBI professionals who helped solve the case, showcasing how advanced investigative techniques can finally bring stalkers to justice after years of terror.
