Live to Tell: The Birthday Party

(CBS)  "Live to Tell," from the producers of "48 Hours Mystery," is a provocative limited-run series, featuring unfiltered, first-hand accounts from extraordinary individuals who came face-to-face with death but refused to give in.

On Jan. 21, 1998, the night before his 38th birthday, federal prosecutor Stanley Alpert was walking home in lower Manhattan, when he was kidnapped at gunpoint, triggering a 25-hour hostage ordeal which would range from the horrific to the oddly humorous. Now, Alpert recounts the bizarre events of his kidnapping - from his abduction to his release.

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Voice on answering machine: "Hi. It's Stan. Please leave a message."

David Prager, Stan's Friend: It was Jan. 22, 1998. It was Stan's 38th birthday. He didn't come to work, and that's not like Stanley. Here's a very diligent person with a very high-profile job.

And he had an appointment that he didn't show up for and didn's call anybody about. A federal prosecutor was missing and nobody knew where he was.

A group of his friends were throwing him a party at a club in downtown Manhattan. It was his birthday. And he didn't come to his own birthday party.

Kathleen Flynn, FBI Special Agent: Did he go out? Did he go partying? Did he drink? Was he using drugs? Was he involved in some sexcapades?

You know, they were saying, "No." You know, he's kind of a quiet, mild-mannered guy. He wouldn't just disappear. He wouldn't just not come to work.

Prager: One possibility was that he was at home, either ill or sleeping or passed out.

When we arrived at Stanley's apartment, the superintendent didn't have a key. So one of the guys followed the building superintendent up the fire escape and the superintendent used his elbow to smash in Stanley's kitchen windows.

There was nothing that indicated that Stanley had been there recently. Then, somebody pressed the answering machine on his telephone.

Voice on answering machine: "Hi. It's Stan. Please leave a message."

Prager: You know…beep, happy birthday, from some friend or relative. And then the third message was: "This is your credit card company calling to say there is unusual activity on your card."

A couple beeps after that it was even worse.

A person called and she said, "I found your wallet in Bedford-Stuyvesant in the garbage…" And that was really scary. Bedford-Stuyvesant is a tough neighborhood in Brooklyn. What would his wallet be doing in Bedford-Stuyvesant?

Somebody said, "Maybe he's lying in an alleyway somewhere bleeding." And somebody else said, "Or maybe, he was dead…"

Flynn: This is unbelievable. There's got to be something more to this story. As we started to look into it, people were thinking this is really way too crazy to be true.

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[kmystery_101]

Too bad he is NOW taken - I would go on a blind date with Stanley anytime! nothing better than a really smart guy! btw-
what is the book title- I would love to read it, the show was great! and STANLEY you did a great job of narrating the story....just saying GO STANLEY - YOU ROCK!.... I AGREE

kmystery

[carthur60]

The principle gun used in Stanley Alpert's kidnapping was a TEC-9 which is a semi-automatic firearm but Alpert describes in the program an "automatic machine gun" being used. Mr. Alpert is perfectly aware a "machine gun" wasn't involved in his kidnapping and since he's worked as a federal attorney for over a decade, I don't think this is just a slip of the tongue.

Also, in the 48 Hours program, Alpert says his blind date didn't work out. This seems to contradict his book in which Alpert describes being very happy about his "success" with the young woman. According to his book, he was so happy that he became oblivious to his surroundings and this was the major reason he was kidnapped.

[gsquared29]

what

[mgymoo]

No, know-it-all, aka carthur, you are wrong. In the book, he says that the blind date did not work out, like he said in the 48 Hours episode. His exact words, from page 13: "Predictably, I suppose, she turned out to be not really my type, nor I hers, so after an hour, we agreed to ditch the Merlot, and I headed home to try to salvage the evening." As a result of leaving the blind date early, Stanley met a woman on the subway ride home who he was, in fact, attracted to. She is the woman he was referencing when he said he was so happy he became oblivious to his surroundings.

So, know-it-all, I guess you are not a detective just because you watch them on 48 Hours. If you did actually read Stanley's story, you would probably not attempt to seek out trivial inconsistencies, and then publicly criticize the man for sharing his incredible story. Get a life.

Go Stanley! You rock! I saw your story on 48 Hours and had to get the book. I am half way through and love it! Thanks for sharing your story!