PrimeTime: A Tragic Case of Abuse

— -- Editor’s Note: ABCNEWS correspondent Sylvia Chase has been covering Esther Combs' case for more than two years. This report originally aired on PrimeTime Thursday on Nov. 2, 2000. The following are Chase's reflections on the emotional impact of the case.

There are story subjects that journalists hope they never have to revisit. We think that if we tell it right just one more time, it will never have to be told again. People will learn and things will change.

Child abuse is one of those subjects. How many times have I told this story?

Yet I could tell it every day and never exhaust the supply of small victims and unthinkable abusers.

I think, though, I will never tell a story quite like that of Esther Combs, whose earliest memory is of her mother tying her to a high chair and knocking it down the basement stairs. Some 410 physical scars and 19 years worth of soul-damaging violence later, Combs' life was actually saved when she attempted suicide.

The Preacher's Daughter

Very few people even knew of Combs' existence when, in February 1997, an ambulance delivered her to an emergency room in Bristol, Tenn. Paramedics reported that she raved deliriously during the ride, saying, "Don't hurt me. I'll make the coffee right this time."

That ride led to Combs' first encounter with a physician.

"Her physical appearance was shocking," recalls Dr. Jennifer Stiefel. "She had scars from her face to her back to her limbs. All parts of her body were covered."

Lab tests established that Combs had swallowed anti-freeze in an attempt to take her own life. She had to spend several days in the hospital, but now the doctors who saved her life knew the secret of her torture. Her assailants could be brought to justice — if only she would share the details.

But Combs refused to answer any questions about her scars, and her family denied any knowledge of how she obtained them.

It took the dedication of Bristol police Detective Debbie Richmond to crack the case, and it was a long, arduous journey.