text: A woman who was kidnapped, held for ransom and driven to an area near the Mexican border has opened up about her traumatic experience. Ana Elizondo made headlines in 2012 after she was kidnapped from a parking lot when she was leaving a night class at the University of Texas, Pan American. The psychology graduate student, 27, was blindfolded and transported through several cars as her abductors made a failed attempt to cross the Mexican border. Ana Elizondo made headlines in 2012 after she was kidnapped from a parking lot as she was leaving a class at University of Texas, Pan American. She was released unharmed the following day after one of the kidnappers introduced her to his mother who helped her escape to another location . She escaped the hands of her captors the following day unharmed and said she tried to keep in good spirits for much of the time she was kidnapped. Miguel Angel Cruz Navarro was reportedly the ringleader of the kidnapping. He was sentenced to 34 years in prison in 2014 . On Tuesday she will open up about her experiences on the popular true crime documentary show House of Horrors: Kidnapped on Investigation Discovery. Elizondo has said in prior interviews that she was determined to look strong throughout the kidnapping, according to the Panamerican Online. She said in 2013: '(I thought) which one of these guys is going to rape me? All these thoughts were going through my head. 'I was very kind to them. I cracked jokes with them to get out of the situation mentally. 'They saw me as a good person and I think that's why I wasn't physically harmed or raped or anything like that.' An investigation revealed that Elizondo was targeted by the kidnappers because her father was a well-known wealthy business man in the area, according to The Inquisitr. The men demanded a $160,000 ransom when they first called Elizondo's father. She was told by the kidnappers that her father lived a secret life and sold alcohol and cigarettes to the Mexican drug cartel. But eventually, one of the kidnappers introduced Elizondo to his mother, who helped her escape to another location where her parents could reach her. The kidnappers, named as Milton Treviño, Miguel Angel Cruz Navarro, 35, and Onan Herrera-Sanchez, 28, were all arrested. Investigators revealed the Elizondo was targeted because her father was a wealthy and well-known businessman in the area. The kidnappers demanded a $160,000 when they first reached out to the psychology graduate student's father . Investigators said that Treviño, Herrera-Sanchez and Navarro's wife Elva Navarro were responsible for taking Elizondo from the parking lot. Navarro, who was supposedly the ringleader of the operation, was sentenced to 34 years in prison in April 2014, according to FOX Rio. Treviño, who pleaded guilty in the case in 2013 was sentenced to ten years in prison and Herrera-Sanchez was sentenced to 20 years. Elva Navarro was sentenced to three years in December 2014 to three years for her role at a spa that injected women with a deadly fake botox, according to Valley Central. She is still facing kidnapping charges, among others.
target: Ana Elizondo was kidnapped in 2012 as she was leaving a night class at the University of Texas, Pan American .
  Captors transported her through cars and tried to cross Mexican border .
  She was released unharmed the following day by one of the kidnappers .
  She believes she stayed safe by being friendly and joking with kidnappers .
  Her experience will be featured on a crime documentary show Tuesday .