‘Hannah Montana’ Actor Says He Was Kidnapped by 70s Serial Killer

Content warning: sexual violence.

Actor Jack Merrill, who has credits on shows like Grey's Anatomy, Sex and the City and Hannah Montana, had a terrifying experience as a youngster with an infamous 1970s serial killer.

Merrill revealed that the incident took place in 1978 in Chicago when John Wayne Gacy allegedly kidnapped and assaulted him.

"I was on my way home from a swim. I was 19 years old and living on my own and I was walking past this park, where all these cars pulled around," Merrill shared with People.

He was enjoying a normal fall evening when he accepted a ride from Gacy, who incapacitated Merrill with chloroform.

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"I woke up in handcuffs. He asked if I trusted him and I said I did. He took off the handcuffs," Merrill said.

Gacy then offered him beer and weed before cuffing Merrill once again.

"He put this homemade contraption around my neck, that if I struggled I would choke. He stuck a gun in my mouth and raped me in the bedroom," Merrill detailed.

"I thought the only way to make it through was to stay calm and accept whatever psychotic behavior he was displaying," he shared.

Gacy allegedly told Merrill he was "not like those other kids."

"I sensed that it was a good thing he thought I was different. But I didn’t know what he meant. I didn’t know then that he was a serial killer," Merrill said.

Miraculously, Gacy dropped Merrill off near his apartment the next morning. Just months later, Gacy was arrested.

"That meant I was one of the last ones," Merrill said.

While Gacy was charged with the murder of 33 young men and was killed by lethal injection in 1994, Merrill moved to New York when he was 21 and began acting.

Now, Merrill is sharing his story for the first time through a one-man show about his life at The Electric Lodge theater in Los Angeles, Calif.

"I made a pact with myself at the time that he controlled me for one night but he would not control my life. It happened 45 years ago, and I think it’s time to tell it," he said.

If you or someone you know has been the victim of sexual abuse or violence, help is available through the RAINN website. To speak to someone on the phone, dial 1-800-656-4673.