By Bonita Wilborn
Rachel Hastings, a Scottsboro teen that was abducted, shot in the head, and left for dead in December 2021, is finally ready to share her horrific story of survival.
She was viciously tortured, attacked, and shot before being dumped along Langston Gap Road in Scottsboro.
On Saturday, December 11, 2021, Jackson County law enforcement officials received calls of a woman walking and stumbling along the roadside on Langston Gap Road. An investigation into the possible attempted murder began after officers with the Jackson County Sheriff’s office “found the woman, with an injury to her head, who was incoherent and unable to communicate.” The teen was identified as Rachel Hastings, age 18, of Scottsboro.
After she received medical attention, it was determined she had been shot in the head. Rachel had been reported as missing six days before she was found.
In her recent comments about the December 2021 incident, Hastings said of her abductors, “They got mad about something, and she was punching me. She made me take a lot of pills and then made me do a bleach bath.”
Hastings admittedly doesn’t remember much of what happened after that but recalls waking up in a wooded area. “I started yelling for help, but I could hear nothing but myself.”
Hastings remembered seeing a car going by in the distance, so she knew that she was pretty close to a place where she could be found. She recalled crawling toward the road, and when the roadway was empty, she collapsed again in the road. “Then they found me.”
Officials determined that, before help arrived, Hastings had spent three days and nights in the wooded area where she had been dumped and left for dead.
Rachel Hastings’ father, Jeff Hastings, said. “My daughter is nothing short of a miracle. They meant for her to die. You don’t shoot somebody in the head point-blank, dump them in the woods, and think they’ll be OK. They meant to kill my daughter.”
Ten months later, Rachel is still recovering physically, mentally, and emotionally. The bullet is still in her head, but doctors determined that removing it would be more detrimental than leaving it where it is.
Although Rachel Hastings knows at least one of the people involved in her abduction and brutal attack, the investigation is still ongoing, and no arrests have been made regarding the crime. Rachel Hastings admits that she will feel a lot more comfortable when that happens.
She commented, “I am blessed that I am alive, but I don’t want to be scared to go outside.”
