The Laura Cowan Story premieres tonight

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In the mid-1990s, a Californian woman named Laura Cowan was already having a hard time: her husband was in prison and she was struggling to make ends meet with her three young children. However, things got exponentially worse when, after her husband’s arrest, she sought shelter and support from an acquaintance, who ended up imprisoning Cowan and her children in his nailed-down garage, without heat, water, a bathroom or adequate food.

It sounds like the premise of a page-turning thriller, but it’s actually a true crime that’s been turned into a Lifetime Original Movie. Premiere tonight, January 18 at 20 Eastern Time, Girl in the Garage: The Laura Cowan Story is the latest title under the network’s “Ripped from the Headlines” film umbrella. Paige Hurd stars as Laura, leading a cast that includes Stephen Bishop, Brad James, Shanica Knowles, Tracey Rooney, Sanaa Sade Salaam, Jackson Little, Jazzanae Sherman and Diego J. Torres. Manu Boyer is in the director’s seat with a script written by writer Avery O. Williams.

“When a family friend offers to move her and her children into his home temporarily, Laura breathes a sigh of relief, thinking this is an act of kindness that will give her time to get back on her feet. Over at night this blessing turns into a nightmare as Laura and her children realize they have been abducted,” reads the film’s official synopsis. “Held captive in a cold and dark garage, Laura is repeatedly sexually assaulted by her captor, and she and her children are beaten and abused for years. One day, Laura manages to sneak a note to the outside world, and the authorities are able to save her. and her family. To Laura’s surprise, not only did her note lead to her and her family, but two other women and their children were being held captive in the same house.”

To tune in to the premiere of Girl in the Garage: The Laura Cowan Story tonight at 20.00 you must have access to Lifetime. Those with cable packages can watch on their local Lifetime channel, but even if you don’t have traditional cable, cord cutters can also tune in online with a live TV streaming service that carries Lifetime, such as Frndly TV, Fubo, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and Philo TV. And if you miss the telecast tonight, Girl in the Garage: The Laura Cowan Story will also be available for streaming on MyLifetime.com starting tomorrow, Sunday, January 19th.

Watch the official trailer for Girl in the Garage: The Laura Cowan Story before I tune into the harrowing drama tonight on Lifetime.