Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2011/January 2012 | Page 45

INTERVIEW

The house in Birmingham where
Stephanie was abducted

person he made me for eight days any
more.
“I was asked recently by a police
officer if there was anything left of me
now that was there before the kidnap.
I replied that she is still in there,
but I had built on those foundations
and become me. I am not that same
person who was an estate agent with
a company car. That’s not me at all
now. What happened threw my life off
the tracks completely, and afterwards
I couldn’t find those tracks any more,
and I needed to find a new set of
tracks.
“By being kidnapped I was plucked
out of existence, and if he had cut
me up and buried me no one would
have known what happened. I hate
the thought that I could have just
vanished off the face of the earth.
“I lost Stephanie on January 22,
1992 – or at least most of her.
There were bits of her still inside. I
changed my name by deed poll to
Phoenix Rhiannon because I didn’t
want to be her anymore. It felt nice
for a while, but I might change it
back to Stephanie Slater because I
am not frightened of her or what she
went through any more, and I am
not 6