An 18-year-old Michigan woman named Aurora Dahl went out for a run in the early morning hours of August 1 in Gaastra when she was stalked and attacked by a stranger.
The man, later identified as 23-year-old Caleb Anderson, allegedly ran up behind her and attempted to strangle her as she jogged down the street. Dahl and Anderson (mugshot, above left) became involved in a life-or-death struggle, she says, but the young woman thought quickly and managed to get away from the horrifying incident. Then, things got even weirder.
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Dahl (pictured above, top right) later recalled how the assault took place over several minutes. The stranger, later identified as Anderson, tried to strangle her and then backed off, saying he would keep her alive only if she threw her phone away.. what?!?!
Speaking to WLUC-TV late last week about the horrifying incident, Dahl detailed how she started running along the road she’s been on hundreds of times with no issues. Not long into her run, though, she heard a man rush towards her. Horrifically, the man yelled he was “doing a social experiment,” as she recalled to the outlet:
“Further down my run, probably a mile into it, I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around and he was right there, running towards me… he looked at me and said, ‘I’m doing a social experiment, I’m doing a social experiment.’ In his hands he was holding duct tape and what looked like a mace. I didn’t know for sure.”
WTF?!
Before she could do anything, Anderson allegedly rushed up and tried to strangle her:
“He was trying to throw me to the ground, and I was resisting it. Somehow, he ended up behind me trying to choke me. My dad always taught me if someone is behind you trying to choke you, kick your feet out from under you because they won’t be expecting the sudden change of movement and weight.”
Wow. Quick thinking!!!
And it worked, too. Dahl was able to wrestle herself free from the attacker just long enough to roll down into a ditch and get a bit of distance between them. She said:
“It was really weird. He mentioned to me that I was bleeding. I said, ‘Obviously, you punched me.’ … He told me if you throw away your phone, I’ll let you live.”
OMG!
But this story gets even stranger — and, sadly, even darker.
After Dahl broke free from the attacker, she rushed home and called the police as he fled. She gave a detailed description of the man to a forensic sketch artist. Because of that description, cops were able to hunt down Anderson — but not before he traveled thousands of miles, and allegedly became a suspect in TWO deadly attacks.
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Days after the incident involving Dahl, cops in Shelby County, Alabama arrested Anderson. He was charged there with murder and first-degree burglary in nearby Escambia County following the arrest. The Sun reports he has also been charged with arson. It is unclear what alleged incident(s) those charges are related to, but according to WLUC, an Alabama judge remanded Anderson to jail pending a grand jury hearing on the charges. So it must’ve been something especially f**ked up!!
And that’s not the only murder charge he’s facing, either. Cops in Green Bay, Wisconsin have now named Anderson as a suspect in the murder of a man in that city on August 2, which was just one day after Dahl’s encounter with her attacker. In the Green Bay case, cops say 65-year-old Patrick Ernst was found dead in his apartment. Evidence in the case has reportedly been connected back to Anderson, per MLive.
Now, Anderson continues to sit in jail in Alabama. It’s unclear when he will be extradited to face the Wisconsin charges. However, WLUC reports he will be extradited to Michigan soon to face the assault charges in Dahl’s jogging incident.
After hearing about the murder charges the man is facing, Dahl reflected on how fortunate she was to survive the encounter with that very violent person:
“I was the only person that was lucky with an encounter with him. I made it out. I get really scared when I hear that sort of stuff. I am still in shock. Sometimes I get sad that the situation happened to me. I am glad it was me instead of someone who couldn’t get away.”
No kidding.
Anderson, by the way, is already well-known to Michigan law enforcement officers. In 2019, he was termed a “serial butt-grabber” in the state and convicted of fourth-degree liminal sexual conduct. Per MLive, he had been caught running up behind women and groping them before fleeing.
He was sentenced to 12 months probation after that butt-grabbing conviction. Obviously, a lot of horrific s**t has gone down in the months following that story, too.
Here is more on Dahl’s survival story (below):
So scary.
Thank goodness Dahl survived, and her strong memory helped to track this guy down…
[Image via WLUK/YouTube/Shelby County Sheriff’s Office]