Shasta County, Calif, -- It began in the early afternoon of November 26th.
That’s when police records detail the victim was meeting with a casual friend, 33-year-old Johanna Knighten, on Aspin Way in Redding.
According to the victim, they were going to see another friend.
However, they ended up at the Redding Christian Fellowship Church on Victor Ave.
That's where Redding Police Department Captain Eric Wallace says Fred Sanders was inside of the van.
Sanders then struck the victim with his hands, in the face then head before she was knocked to the ground.
Sanders, then threatening the victim, told her to get inside a van or he would kill her.
The violence, all because the woman was accused of stealing marijuana, meth, keys, and a cell phone from Sanders.
The 25-year-old was then held against her will on the floor of the van, as the suspects drove around 60 to 90 minutes up Highway 44 east of "Eskimo Hill."
From there they drove down a dirt road.
That’s when they brought her to a remote wooded area, where she spent nearly 24 hours with no food, clothes, or shelter .
And she was exposed to rain, snow, and the cold.
Police and doctors say she shouldn’t have survived the night.
"if you dont have clothes on and you're wet, you could freeze to death in one night," said Dr. Doug McMullin.
The next day, a family on the hunt for the perfect Christmas tree found the woman inside a hollowed out tree, wearing nothing but a pair of "mesh" shorts.
"She was roughly at an elevation of 6,500 feet when she was found. It had gotten down into the high 20’s," said Captain Wallace.
Police say she made shelter and was using bark to enclose herself.
Her legs and feet however were exposed.
"There were signs of being assaulted and held against her will," added Wallace.
The victim claims the thought of her children gave her the will to keep fighting and screaming for help.
That Monday, she was transported to Mercy Medical Center for treatment of hypothermia.
Police say video surveillance has been located confirming her story.
But at this time we do not have access to it.
Knighten has since been arrested, and pleaded “not guilty” in Shasta County Superior Court to 7 counts of conspiracy to commit murder, kidnapping for robbery, and torture.
She is being held on $1,000,000 bail.
Sanders has been found and arrested.