The woman who made her family disappear: how Karen Palmer escaped her abusive husband
He had threatened her, locked her up and absconded with one of their daughters. Palmer knew she and her girls needed to escape – but it would involve huge risk and total reinvention
TL;DR
- Karen Palmer escaped an abusive marriage to Gil by disappearing with her two daughters in 1989.
- They moved to Boulder, Colorado, changed their names, and created new identities, a process Palmer calls 'do-it-yourself witness protection'.
- Palmer's ex-husband was abusive, controlling, and made death threats, including a kidnapping of their daughter.
- The police and legal system were unhelpful during the years of harassment.
- Palmer's memoir details her experiences, her doubts, and her eventual affirmation that her escape was the right decision.
- The escape and reinvention were possible due to the lack of widespread internet and social media in 1989.
- Palmer and her daughters, with their new identities, built a new life, and Gil died in 2008.
- Palmer notes that many women have responded to her book, seeing her story as an inspiration or a desired option for their own difficult situations.