Serial Killer Survivor Shasta Groene Seeks Community Help After Losing Home in Fire

Groene was only 8 years old when she was kidnapped by serial killer Joseph Duncan III

Shasta Groene, who survived being kidnapped by a serial killer, is asking for her community’s help once more after losing her home in a fire.

Groene, now a mother of four, is looking for assistance after she and her children lost everything and became displaced when their Nampa, Idaho residence burned down in early March.

According to a GoFundMe created by Robbin Lassen on behalf of the family, donations will go towards “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.”

Those who are unable to provide monetary assistance are encouraged to “leave a note of support for Shasta and her children. Let them know they are not alone.”

As of Thursday, April 4, the fundraiser has reached just over $43,000 of its $100,000 goal.

Nearly 20 years ago, in 2005, Groene made headlines after she was rescued from wanted sex offender Joseph Edward Duncan III in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. A waitress had spotted the pair having breakfast at Denny’s.

Related: Shasta Groene Details Kidnapping Ordeal

She and her then-9-year-old brother Dylan were kidnapped from their rural Wolf Lodge, Idaho home after witnessing the murder of their family during a home invasion.

Their mother, Brenda Groene, 40; her boyfriend, Mark McKenzie, 37; and Shasta and Dylan’s brother, Slade McKenzie, 13 (one of Brenda’s five children), were killed.

The three had been bound and beaten to death at the residence.

In the seven weeks that followed, the siblings were taken to at least two remote campsites and held captive and sexually assaulted by their family’s killer, who later shot and killed Dylan.

Duncan had been out on parole at the time of the murders and kidnapping.

He was later charged with two felony counts of kidnapping with intent to commit rape – one each for Shasta and Dylan.

"This case profoundly affected this community," retired Det. Sgt. Brad Maskell, the former lead investigator for the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department, told PEOPLE in 2022. "To this day, everybody still talks about it."

Duncan, who was also connected to three previous murders of children, died in March 2021 of brain cancer while serving multiple life sentences on federal death row.

Shasta’s story was the focus of the two-hour premiere episode of People Magazine Investigates in 2022.

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