You may be interested to find out that there’s been some controversy around this topic. In 2011, William G. Hillar claimed that Taken was based on a real-life incident with his daughter, during which time she was killed. He was eventually convicted of wire fraud after it was revealed that he was never a Green Beret colonel like he claimed, but instead a Coast Guard Reserve. He spent more than 12 years lecturing to the FBI and other agencies on security issues, claiming knowledge he didn’t have. He pled guilty to the charges, served 500 hours of community service, and paid back $171,000 in speaking fees that he has already received from various organizations when he presented himself as an expert in human trafficking and terrorism.