Sarah Maynard, 13, Tells How She Survived Ohio Kidnapping-Murder

The only survivor of a brutal home invastion, triple murder and kidnapping that left her mother and brother dead is speaking out today about how she survived her ordeal.

Sarah Maynard, 13, said she came forward "to let people know how I could survive what he did to me." In November, the Ohio teenager was held captive and sexually assaulted for four days inside the home of Matthew Hoffman, 30, who has confessed to murdering Sarah's mother and 11-year-old brother, as well as a family friend.

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In an interview on NBC's "Today Show" this morning, Maynard said she survived by following her kidnapper's instructions. "I just listened to everything he told me to do," she said.

Maynard was found alive Nov. 14 in the basement of Hoffman's leaf-filled home. Days later, the dismembered bodies of her mother, 32-year-old Tina Herrmann; her brother, 11-year-old Kody Maynard; and a family friend, 41-year-old Stephanie Sprang, were found in the woods.

Hoffman pleaded guilty to murder, kidnapping and rape in November. He has said he never meant to kill anyone and has insisted that he treated Sarah Maynard well during her captivity. But she says he didn't feed her or let her take showers.

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"I think he was just trying to say that in his letter to make people think that he felt good about himself, for him to think he fed me and stuff," she said. "He didn't. He didn't let me shower or do any of that stuff."

The teenager said Hoffman told her he had filled his Ohio home with stockpiles of leaves because he "wanted to make my bed comfy."

Her father, Larry Maynard, said he was still struggling with the loss of his son and his children's mother. "It's still a nightmare, every day, knowing that part of our family is not with us," he told NBC.

Hoffman was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Jan. 6.