Mary Vincent, at the age of 15, survived a horrific attack where a man severed both her arms and abandoned her in a ravine. In 1978, while hitchhiking to her grandfather’s house after running away from home, she accepted a ride from a seemingly kind older man in a blue van, who turned out to be 51-year-old Lawrence Singleton. Singleton took Mary to a deserted road near Modesto, California, where he assaulted her, cut off her arms with a hatchet, and left her for dead.
Despite her severe injuries, Mary managed to climb out of the ravine, using dirt to stop the bleeding, and flagged down a passing car while naked, injured, and barely conscious. Good Samaritans found her and rushed her to a hospital. Police arrested Singleton based on Mary’s description, and he was convicted of multiple felonies, serving 14 years in prison before being released on parole.
Singleton’s release sparked public outrage, leading him to relocate multiple times until he ended up serving parole near San Quentin Prison. Nearly two decades after his attack on Mary, Singleton murdered another woman in Florida. Mary, devastated by the news, advocated for change, sharing her story with other trauma victims and pushing for sentencing reform legislation. Her efforts led to the passing of a law in California, known as the “Singleton bill,” which increased penalties for similar crimes.
