Thomas Hose was a security guard at Cornell Middle School in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, where Kach was a student. Hose befriended Kach, often taking her out of classes to talk to her and one day when he caught her skipping class, he kissed her. Over time, Hose convinced Kach to run away from her family and move in with him, which she did in February 1996.

For the first four years, she was not allowed out of the house. Hose lived with his parents and son and went to great lengths to keep Kach hidden from them. She was confined to his second story bedroom all day and had to go to the toilet in a bucket. In 2000, Hose created a new identity for Kach, "Nikki Allen", and introduced her to his parents as his girlfriend who would be moving in with them. After this, she was occasionally allowed to leave the house but had a strict curfew. Six years later she escaped.

In 2007, Hose pled guilty to three counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault, statutory sexual assault, interfering with the custody of a child, corruption of a minor and child endangerment.

Since her escape, Kach attempted to sue numerous government organizations for their failing of her, including the police and school board. All were thrown out of court. She has also written a New York Times Bestselling book titled Memoir of a Milk Carton Kid: The Tanya Nicole Kach Story. (Tate Publishing, 2011, ISBN 978-1613467596).