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“ | Don't talk to me like that! | „ |
~ Kyle Zergen standing up to his father Alex, and his last words. |
Kyle Zergen is an antagonist in the Criminal Minds episode "The Hunt". He is a member of a human trafficking group led by his parents, Alex Zorgen and Donna Mangold.
He was portrayed by Brent Chase.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Kyle was conceived when his father, human trafficker Alex Zorgen, kidnapped and raped his mother, Donna Mangold, who was only a teenager at the time. Donna developed Stockholm Syndrome and convinced herself that Alex really loved him, and raised Kyle as his son. As an adult, Kyle joined his father's human trafficking ring, which sold women and young girls to sex offenders and serial killers, as a "procurer" who would groom, stalk, and ultimately kidnap their victims.
Kyle began grooming the ring's latest intended victims, 13-year-old Meg Callahan and her best friend Markayla Davis, by emailing them pictures of a male model and posing as a teenage boy named Bobby Miller who wants to hang out with them along with his friend, "Tyler". He talked them into going to a shopping mall to meet him, intending to pose as "Bobby"'s father, say that his "son" got held up at work, and kidnap them after offering to give them a ride. Fortunately, however, Meg's aunt and guardian, FBI profiler Kate Callahan of the Behavioral Analysis Unit caught Meg sneaking out and sent her husband Chris to pick them up before Kyle could get to them.
"The Hunt"[]
Undeterred, Kyle messages Meg and Markayla again and invites them to a concert. He then goes with Mangold to pick them up, with Mangold posing as "Bobby"'s mother and Kyle hiding in the backseat, waiting to grab them. While riding in the car, Meg becomes uneasy and starts to text Callahan their panic code, "peppermint", but Kyle emerges from the backseat and knocks both girls unconscious.
Kyle and Mangold take the girls to their hideout, where Kyle tells them at gunpoint to be quiet when they regain consciousness. They take the girls to Alex, who compliments Kyle on not leaving any visible bruises on them. When Markayla manages to escape, however, Alex blames Kyle, calling him a "moron". When Kyle yells at Alex not to talk to him like that, Alex loses his temper and shoots him twice in the chest, killing his own son.
Killing Kyle proves to be Alex's undoing, however. When the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) arrests Alex and Mangold, Agent Jennifer Jareau tells Mangold that Alex killed their son, showing her crime scene photos to prove it. She then appeals to the heartbroken Mangold's maternal feelings to persuade her to turn against Alex and give them information on his clients, which helps them save Meg and put Alex in prison for the rest of his life.
Trivia[]
- Kyle is primarily inspired by Philip Peske, a career criminal and the second-in-command of serial killer-affiliated sex trafficker John David Norman, the inspiration for Alex.
- Kyle is inspired by killers of multiple real-life teenage girls using Internet ruses:
- Kacie Woody, an American teenage girl who was lured from an Internet chat room to meet a pedophile, who subsequently murdered her.
- Carly Ryan, an Australian teenage girl who was tricked using both an Internet lure by a predator and the predator's son, before the predator killed her.
External Links[]
- Kyle Zorgen on the Criminal Minds Wiki