Alexandra Poolos and Ismael Estrada
AC360°

Jerri Hyde first sent Anderson an email in July. In it, she wrote that her sons Donald and Daniel had both served in Iraq. Dan, 23, worked as an explosives expert in the Marines, and Don, 25, had been in the Army. Both, Jerri wrote, now suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and weren't getting the help they needed.

"I am writing because I feel Mr. Cooper just might be the one to listen," Jerri wrote. "My sons are suffering PTSD after serving our country. And getting no help. I don't understand this."

Jerri's email arrived after visiting her younger son Dan in Texas.

When we first called her, Jerri told us that Dan's problems seemed minor when compared to his older brother Don’s, who had deserted the military almost six months ago after reenlisting for another tour of duty. Don didn't know what to do now that he deserted the army. Jerri didn't know where he was hiding, just that he was somewhere in their home state of Illinois. For three months, the family kept in touch, and then finally in late September, Don reached out and said he wanted to talk.

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Aid agencies say young women are being forced into prostitution across Russia's capital.

Alexandra Poolos
AC360° Editorial Producer

A new United Nations report says that modern-day slavery is on the rise. I have reported on trafficking in the past, and I was stunned to hear that the numbers are going up, despite increasing awareness of the problem. Worse, this is not a problem confined to the developing world. Slaves can be found everywhere, including small towns and big cities across the U.S. I spoke with a victims’ advocate and a journalist, who covers slavery and they introduced me to one young Ukrainian woman, who escaped enslavement in the Midwest.

As a teenager living in Ukraine, Katya had seen plenty of ads and movies promoting awareness about sex trafficking. Still, she never thought she would end up enslaved in an exotic nightclub in the Midwest, held by Russian traffickers who routinely beat and sexually abused her. She was forced to dance twelve hours a day, six days a week for no pay until she escaped a year later.

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