The Katie Beers case

John Esposito, the man who held Katie Beers captive in an underground dungeon 20 years ago, was found dead in his cell at Sing Sing on Sept. 4, 2013, hours after appearing in front of the state parole board, a prison spokesman said.

Katie Beers with her two children, Logan, 3, and 1 year-old Halee. Beers was kidnapped in 1992 by a family friend and held in an underground bunker in a Bay Shore house for 16 days. She is now getting ready for the release of her book, "Buried Memories," where for the first time in 20 years, she talks about her ordeal. (Jan. 8, 2013)

Katie Beers was kidnapped in 1992 by a family friend and held in an underground bunker in a Bay Shore house for 16 days. She is now getting ready for the release of her book, "Buried Memories," where for the first time in 20 years, she talks about her ordeal. (Jan. 8, 2013)

Katie Beers was kidnapped in 1992 by a family friend and held in an underground bunker in a Bay Shore house for 16 days. She is now getting ready for the release of her book, "Buried Memories," where for the first time in 20 years, she talks about her ordeal. (Jan. 8, 2013)

Katie Beers was kidnapped in 1992 by a family friend and held in an underground bunker in a Bay Shore house for 16 days. She is now getting ready for the release of her book, "Buried Memories," where for the first time in 20 years, she talks about her ordeal. (Jan. 8, 2013)

Exterior of the Spaceplex in Bay Shore, with a posted sign showing the photograph of Katie Beers who was kidnapped and held in an underground bunker at the home of John Esposito who was arrested after telling police he was holding Katie Beers in his home. She was released from captivity on Jan. 13, 1993. (Jan. 6, 1993)

Undated photo of Katie Beers at age 10. Katie was kidnapped and held in an underground bunker at the home of John Esposito who was arrested after telling police he was holding Katie Beers in his home. She was released from captivity on Jan. 13, 1993.

Linda Inghilleri, Katie Beer's godmother, smoking. (Feb. 2, 1993)

Sal Inghilleri, the husband of the godmother of missing 10-year-old Katie Beers, holds a picture of the child in her bedroom on Monday, Jan. 4, 1992 in Bay Shore. Beers was reported missing during a trip to a local arcade with a family friend last week. "This case has certainly been complicated by the peculiar family relationships," said a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation.

Marilyn Beers, Katie Beers' mother, after her makeover. (Feb. 4, 1993)

Det. Lt. Dominick Varrone, chief of Suffolk County kidnap investigation team, talks about the Katie Beers disappearance and subsequent investigation, outside the Fourth Precinct in Hauppauge (Dec. 31, 1992)

Det. Lt. Dominick Varrone of the Suffolk County Police Department points to a diagram of a subterranean room, in which John Esposito held Katie Beers captive, during a news conference in West Islip, Jan. 16, 1993. Esposito, who is charged with kidnapping, kept the 10-year-old Beers in the room for 16 days until he led police to her Wednesday.

Officials employ a backhoe to break up a slab of concrete that covers a subterranean room behind a carport at the home of John Esposito in Bay Shore, where he allegedly held Katie Beers for 16 days. (Jan. 17, 1993)

Workers sift through dirt as another scans with a metal detector in Bay Shore as officials dismantle a carport above the subterranean bunker where 10-year-old Katie Beers was held captive. The search focuses on the area around the carport, which was attached to the converted garage where Beers family acquaintance John Esposito lived. (Jan. 17, 1993)

Workmen peek under a slab of concrete in Bay Shore as they dismantle a carport above the subterranean bunker where 10-year-old Katie Beers was held captive, The demolition focused on the area around the carport, which was attached to the converted garage where Beers family acquaintance John Esposito lived. (Jan. 17, 1993)

Suffolk County Police continue their investigation at the Bay Shore home of John Esposito. Ten-year-old Katie Beers was found alive after 16 days in captivity in an underground bunker at the home. Esposito is being held on $500,000 bail on charges of second degree kidnapping. (Jan. 15, 1993)

A 30-foot-high crane raises the bunker out of the earth from the property of John Esposito in Bay Shore on Jan. 18, 1993. The cement and wood bunker in which young Katie Beers was imprisoned measured 6 feet by 9 feet.

Katie beers leaves the 4th precinct by a back door with Det. Dennis Rafferty and an unidentified woman, at about 7 pm. after being released from captivity. (Jan. 13, 1993)

Katie Beers being driven away from the house where she was being held captive by John Esposito by Lt. Dominick Varrone. (Jan. 13, 1993)

Katie Beers leaves the 4th precinct by a back door with Det. Dennis Rafferty and an unidentified woman after being released from captivity. (Jan. 13, 1993)

Kidnap suspect John Esposito leaves the 4th Precinct in Hauppauge on the way to his arraignment in Central Islip for the kidnapping of 10 year-old Katie Beers. (Jan. 14, 1993)

John Esposito of Bay Shore, is led by court officers into his arraignment before Judge Patrick Barton at Suffolk County District Court in Islip, New York, Jan. 15, 1993. Esposito is charged with the kidnapping of 10-year-old Katie Beers of Long Island and was ordered held on $500,000 bail.

Marilyn Beers, mother of 10-year-old Katie Beers, faces reporters following a hearing at Suffolk County Family Court in Central Islip on Jan. 21, 1993. A judge agreed to allow Beers to pay frequent visits to her daughter after she gave the county temporary custody of her child after Katie was found in a bunker beneath the house of a family acquaintance.

Sal Inghilleri, who was convicted of two counts of sexual abuse, was today, sentenced to 4 to 12 years in state prison in the Suffolk County Criminal Court in Riverhead, NY. ( Aug. 9, 1994)

Sal Inghilleri, 49, convicted in 1994 of sexually abusing Katie Beers, in the Suffolk County Court of Judge Ralph Gazzillo in Riverhead for his classification as a sex offender. (July 15, 2002)

Newsday's front page showing Katie Beers leaving the Fourth Precinct by a back door with Det. Dennis Rafferty and an unidentified woman, at about 7 p.m., after being released from captivity. Inset photo of perpetrator John Esposito also shown. (Jan. 14, 1993)

New York Newsday covers Katie Beers: "He Kept Her in Chains" (Jan. 14, 1993)

Front cover of Newsday, Nassau edition. Katie Beers' mom: "I'll Fight to Keep Katie" (Jan. 15, 1993)

Front cover of Newsday, Suffolk edition. Katie Beers: "The Box" (Jan. 16, 1993)

Front cover of Newsday" New York edition. Katie Beers: "He Kept Katie in a Coffin" (Jan. 16, 1993)

Front cover of New York Newsday. Katie Beers: "Katie Captures America's Heart" (Jan. 17, 1993)