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Last month, according to authorities, a 15-year-old girl escaped from a weeks-long captivity after being abducted near her home and then physically and sexually assaulted while held against her will.

Last week, the 65-year-old Minnesota farmer who came to the frightened teen’s aid during her escape accepted a $7,000 reward in the case — and then promptly gave it to the girl, whom police say he called the “real hero.”

“It’s the best thing I’ve ever done,” Earl Melchert said in an interview with the New York Times.

He was presented on Friday with a check for the reward...

A 15-year-old Minnesota girl has been returned to her family after allegedly spending nearly a month in the captivity of three men who terrorized and sexually assaulted her.

On Tuesday, 29 days after she first vanished, the teen escaped by swimming across a large lake before sprinting through a field of tall grass to find help. The police were summoned and eventually detained her alleged captors — roommates Thomas Barker, 32, and Steven Powers, 20, as well as another man, Joshua Holby, 31.

All three men are being held without bail following their arrests for kidnapping, false imprisonment, and assault. None has entered a plea to the charges they face.

Court documents obtained by People contain disturbing details in the case of a 15-year-old Minnesota girl who authorities allege was held captive for nearly a month by three men who tortured and repeatedly raped her before she escaped by swimming across a lake.

According to the documents, the girl told investigators she constantly feared for her life, and said her alleged assailants tried drowning her twice and at one point tied a rope around the girl’s neck and hung her from the ceiling.

The documents allege Thomas Barker, 32, and Steven Powers, 20, forced the teen to consume alcohol and cocaine.

Police say that a month after vanishing, a Minnesota teen has been reunited with her family following her escape from the three men who had allegedly held her captive, People confirms.

According to investigators, all three men are suspected of sexually assaulting the 15-year-old girl, who was last seen on Aug. 8 leaving her home in Alexandria, Minnesota.

Alexandria police said in a statement that the teen was found on Tuesday running through a field in adjoining Grant County, Minnesota. She happened upon a stranger and told them who she was and asked that they call 911.

According to police, the girl...

Minnie Driver yelling, “Oy! Oy!” at people she disapproves of is, quite simply, a thing of beauty. But more than that, it’s an act we need to support each and every opportunity we get. Sheer joy is experienced by all within earshot when she tosses her English colloquialism like a grenade at unsuspecting offenders, and simple pleasures like this are in such short supply how dare you, I or anyone deprive the world of even one?

It’s with this in mind that I throw my full endorsement behind “Speechless,” Driver’s new ABC comedy wedged between “The Goldbergs,” “Modern Family” and “Black-ish” as the missing piece of the network’s award-worthy (and award-winning) family night lineup. Yes, there are a few pacing issues in the 22-minute pilot, and recommending a series based on one episode of television is a risky gamble critics are asked to make far too often.

"Thom Powers, the artistic director of Doc NYC, the largest festival of documentary films in the country, said he didn’t realize what he had done until after this year’s lineup of 104 features was released," begins Mike Hale in the New York Times. "Someone else had to point out to him that his opening night, closing night and centerpiece selections were all directed or co-directed by women…. The films Mr. Powers chose for his most high-profile slots are Barbara Kopple’s Miss Sharon Jones! (opening night); Amy Berg’s Janis: Little Girl Blue (centerpiece [reviews]); and Dyllan McGee and Michael Epstein’s Once and For All (closing night), about the 1995 World Conference on Women in Beijing." We're collecting reviews and more from this year's edition. » - David Hudson...

"Thom Powers, the artistic director of Doc NYC, the largest festival of documentary films in the country, said he didn’t realize what he had done until after this year’s lineup of 104 features was released," begins Mike Hale in the New York Times. "Someone else had to point out to him that his opening night, closing night and centerpiece selections were all directed or co-directed by women…. The films Mr. Powers chose for his most high-profile slots are Barbara Kopple’s Miss Sharon Jones! (opening night); Amy Berg’s Janis: Little Girl Blue (centerpiece [reviews]); and Dyllan McGee and Michael Epstein’s Once and For All (closing night), about the 1995 World Conference on Women in Beijing." We're collecting reviews and more from this year's edition. » - David Hudson...