Leave The City (Book 8 of Adopted by the Josephs)

35. Samantha

Samantha Joseph, Philanthropist and Daughter of Twentyone Pilots Frontman in Serious Car Crash in LA

LOS ANGELES, CA - All northbound lanes of La Brea at the I-10 were closed to traffic on Friday night when a passenger car travelling at a high rate of speed collided with a dump truck merging off the Interstate onto La Brea.

The driver, identified as Brandi Atherton, 18, was killed on impact. Her passenger, revealed to be Samantha Joseph, 18, the daughter of Twentyone Pilots frontman Tyler Joseph and his wife Jenna, and who started a scholarship in the name of one of her friends following a school shooting nearly two years ago at her Ohio area high school, was seriously injured in the crash.

The Jaws of Life had to be employed in order to extract Ms. Joseph from the wreckage.

She was transported to Cedars-Sinai in critical condition where it is reported she is in a medically induced coma following life-saving surgery.

The young Ms. Joseph was in Los Angeles taking her Senior Year of high school at an area high school. She had been staying with friends of the family while completing her studies.

Samantha first came to be known after the singer and his wife adopted her at 13 years of age, following her escape from her abusive father, the late Stanley Deitz, an entertainment lawyer based in Columbus, Ohio.

Following her adoption, Samantha was then abducted by her late birth father, and held for a week before police were able to rescue the young girl.

Samantha endured years of abuse at the hands of her birth father and finally found stability with the Josephs, who took her in when she appeared in their back yard on a stormy October night. 

In the intervening years, Samantha still endured health issues (the teen is a type one diabetic, diagnosed when she was ten years old) and several unrelated accidents and illnesses. Four years ago, she was involved in another car accident with her adoptive father. This ultimately led to the amputation of her right leg, as complications from the accident caused reduced blood flow to her muscles and the eventual death of muscular tissues.

In June nearly two years ago, Samantha's school was the site of another school shooting that resulted in the deaths of five students and a teacher.  Ms. Joseph sustained a bullet wound to her left leg, but made a full recovery from her physical wounds. She had been shielded by her friend, Blaine Carter, who perished in the shooting. It is for Blaine that Samantha started the scholarship, which awarded its first endowment just this past June.

The same night that Samantha was to announce the winner of the scholarship, she was abducted by her maternal uncle, Mark Solman, who she had only met for the first time when she was fourteen years old.

Samantha spent six weeks held by her so-called uncle, before finally being able to alert a motel clerk who was able to reach emergency services to rescue the teen.

Earlier this month, Samantha returned to Ohio to attend the court case against Solman, who was found guilty of abduction, trafficking a minor and unlawful confinement. He is due to be sentenced in November.

The full extent of Ms. Joseph's injuries are not currently known, but she is listed in critical condition.

Mark Solman, Maternal Uncle to Samantha Joseph, Sentenced to 50 Years in Prison for Abduction and Trafficking of Niece.