Eva LaRue, known for her role on CSI: Miami, has opened up about a harrowing 12-year experience of being stalked. The actress, now 58, shared her story in the documentary My Nightmare Stalker: The Eva LaRue Story, currently streaming on Paramount+. The film portrays the traumatic ordeal that began in March 2007, shortly after she secured her role as Natalia Boa Vista on the CBS crime series.
LaRue’s stalker had developed an obsession during her earlier work on the soap opera All My Children in the 1990s. He inundated her with threatening letters, some signed with the name Freddy Krueger, referencing the infamous horror movie character from A Nightmare on Elm Street. The threats were not limited to LaRue; her young daughter, Kaya Callahan, became a target as well. At just five years old, Kaya was subjected to similar threats, with the stalker even impersonating her father, John Callahan, in alarming attempts to extract her from school.
The fear and anxiety forced LaRue and Kaya to relocate three times as their stalker tracked them down. “You don’t know where the threat is coming from,” LaRue explains. “It’s a full-body takeover. My eyelashes were falling out. I had a huge rash on my face and neck.” Despite the letters tapering off temporarily, the sense of safety remained elusive.
Ironically, while LaRue played a DNA specialist on CSI: Miami, she discovered that real-life investigative resources were lacking during her ordeal. It was not until 2018 that significant progress occurred in her case. Agents from the FBI, known for solving the “Golden State Killer” case, used forensic genealogy to identify LaRue’s stalker. They matched DNA samples from his letters to James David Rogers, who was arrested in November 2019. Rogers pleaded guilty to federal stalking charges in April 2022 and received a sentence of 40 months in prison.
LaRue expressed disappointment at the length of Rogers’ sentence, stating, “After stealing our peace and sanity for 12 years, he gets three and a half years. And we get a lifetime sentence of fear.” Her anxiety intensified when Rogers was released early.
Initially hesitant about making the documentary, LaRue feared it might provoke further threats. However, the experience ultimately proved therapeutic. “Doing the documentary helped us heal a certain part of us that had not been healed,” she noted. The process also strengthened their bond, especially after the sudden death of Callahan in March 2020. As they navigated the emotional fallout of his passing, LaRue reflected on the challenges they faced during a difficult time.
“We couldn’t even have a funeral for John. We had a Zoom funeral. It was a difficult time for us,” she said. LaRue expressed appreciation for her time on All My Children, recalling it as a golden age filled with friendships and shared experiences.
With the documentary now available, LaRue is turning her attention to a scripted drama that will highlight the groundbreaking work of the FBI agents who applied forensic genealogy to her case. “I want to tell all the stories as they crisscross,” she explained. For LaRue, this new project signifies a “beautiful full circle” and an opportunity to reclaim her narrative, marking the end of a painful chapter and the beginning of a hopeful new one.
