McKEESPORT, Pa. -- Locked away for years, too afraid to tell anyone who she was, a McKeesport woman finally found the courage to tell a local deli owner her real name.

Now, more details are being released regarding the missing girl mystery of Tanya Kach.

Kach said she ran away from home in February 1996 to be with the man she called her boyfriend.

Thirty-eight at the time, Thomas Hose was a security guard at McKeesport's Cornell Middle School.

That's where police said the two met.

To go undetected, Kach said she changed her look -- getting her hair cut and colored.

Shortly after the two started living together, Kach said Hose threatened he would kill her if she left his bedroom.

She said she was so frightened, she never left.

In June 2005, police said Kach changed her name to Nikki Allen and started attending church.

On Tuesday, Kach confided in Joe Sparico -- the owner of JJ's Deli -- who then called police.

She has since been reunited with her father.

On Thursday, the young woman will see her mother for the first time in 10 years -- a mom who said she never gave up hope.

"Things will go slowly, I'm sure. She has a long way to go. We'll just take it one day at a time. I'm happy. I'm overjoyed now. I'm starting to get happier every minute," said Sherri Koehnke, Kach's mother.

Koehnke said she feels like can relax for first time in 10 years.

Hose is being held at the Allegheny County Jail.

He's facing a number of charges for statutory sexual assault and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. They stem from Kach being underage when they began their sexual relationship.

Hose's attorney maintains that Hose didn't force Kach to live with him.

He is expected in court March 27.

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