♪ [ cheers and applause ] this is "nightline." tonight escaping a monster. a woman in prisoned in this container for 65 days. >> we're going to get you out of there. >> inside the moment of her incredible rescue. now confronting her captor in court and his chilling boast to authorities. >> he has claimed to kill as many as 100 people. >> plus, mission of his life. a combat veteran searching for his birth parents. >> this was the biggest question of my life. who am i? where am i from? >> we're with him for that first knock on the door. and a moment of truth. but first, the "nightline" five.

♪ ♪ ♪ raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens ♪ ♪ bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens ♪ ♪ brown paper packages tied up with strings ♪ ♪ these are a few of my favorite things ♪ ♪ ♪ tonight we have the story of a woman imprisoned in a shipping5 serial killer. bravely facing down her monster in court. now he's behind bars but claiming to have perpetrated

other horrors. >> i would say it is one of those horror stories that you breed in books or see in movies. >> in my wildest dreams, i could not imagine. i had no idea what we were going into that day. >> these are kala brown's first moments of freedom in 65 days. >> we're going to get you out of there. >> captured on video by police, after being held prisoner by a madman. from that moment in november 2016 -- >> if it wasn't for everyone out there, i don't think i would be here today. >> to this. two days ago. kala brown powerfully, defiantly, face everything her cammor in a courtroom. the case riveted the nation. >> to a woman missing for months, discovered and rescued. >> the former south carolina

real estate broker claiming more victims. >> a killer among us. the unsealed files of todd kohlhepp. >> it began as a missing report as the woman and her boyfriend disappeared in south carolina in late 2016. >> they went missing. after the first few days, it came across as any other missing persons case. as the days went on, some things didn't piece up right. >> police and families began scouring every possible lead for the vanished couple. >> investigators started looking is that everything. they were looking into credit card records, surveillance videos. >> and the days dragged on, growing concern that this case was something more. >> there were certain things that start to come out that did give me more of an urgency about the case. >> investigators traced a cell phone ping from her phone two months dwroerl a sprawling area,

owned by a successful real estate agent, todd kohlhepp. there investigators came upon this metal storage container. >> don't move. >> the detectives were among the first officers on the case. >> we definitely did not suspect a movie script to be played out right in front of us. >> hearing those officers outside, brown responded by knocking back from inside the shipping container where they discovered she was chained up like a dog. >> we were amazed to their knocks back. the conditions were horrible. i think we all saw it that day and it will stay with us. >> she looked at me and she said thank you so much for finding me. >> once inside, kala made a startling revelation. >> do you know where your buddy is? >> he shot him. >> todd kohlhepp shot him, put

him in a bucket of the tractor, walked me down here and i never seen him again. >> police then arresting kohlhepp who would lead them to carver's body, dumped in a shallow grave. >> i can tell you one of the charges will be kidnapping. it could be murder, it could be a number of things. >> the exclusive interview. >> he would rape me twice a day every day. >> last year she recounted the saga on the dr. phil show. >> did you think you were going to die? >> at times. >> take me through the moment when you realized they've come for me. >> i was scared. because what if it wasn't really somebody coming for me? >> for investigators, the horrific discovery, kala and charlie works open a pandora's box. what was placing americans report quickly morphed into

serial killings. >> we saw a girl chained up in a box, multiple murders, a huge mysterious property, a serial kill here has this larger than life personality. >> in addition to kala's boyfriend charlie, police would find two more bodies on the property. in all, he was accused of murdering 17 people over the years, including two other bodies found on his body. four people from a grisly 2003 shooting at a spartanburg county motorcycle shop. >> i went around him. >> speaking to investigators, kohlhepp delivering proud confessions. >> she walked outside. i locked her outside. >> what gun did you shoot her with? >> kohlhepp was convicted of seven murder charges and a kidnapping and sexual assault of

kala brown despite his new life behind bars, he has not stayed quiet. in an eight-page letter sent to the spartanburg herald jr., he had claims there are even more victims. >> there are more than seven. i tried to tell investigators and did i tell fbi. >> daniel gross was the reporter kohlhepp sent his manifesto to. >> that was the fourth letter, i believe, i received. he didn't really offer that any specifics. >> in his time many prison he has continued to communicate with gross saying he doesn't see the value offering details to police. >> he has apparently claimed to have killed as many as 100 people. >> the fbi tells abc news further investigation into his glams more victims is still pending. >> a killer who claims he has more victims but gives no specifics to corroborate that is playing games. >> this doctor is a forensic

psychologist. >> i would describe him as a narcissistic, entitled man who believes that the world owed him something. when he didn't get it, people would be punished about it. >> her work explores how the mind of a serial killer operates. >> they don't process emotions very deeply. they do think that they're entitled to do what they're doing. they think their victims are in their world and so they are owned by them. >> two years after her kidnapping, kala brown is now suing kohlhepp seeking more than $263 million in punitive damages. she wants compensation for medical bills and health treatment. kohlhepp is representing himself in the case. for kala brown, this is hopefully final chapter of her nightmare. but for investigators, it may be just the beginning. >> it is really tough to say what's next.

you have a serial killer claiming so much more than meets the surface. just because he's in prison now, i don't think the story is over. next, an army veteran found abandoned as a baby. now chasing his roots. right to this doorstep. discover our largest variety of crab and crab dishes all year! like new crabfest combo. your one chance to have new jumbo snow crab with tender dungeness crab. or try crab lover's dream. sweet, juicy king crab and jumbo snow crab cozied up with crab linguini alfredo. even our shrimp is crab-topped! so hurry in and get your butter-dunkin' game on! 'cause crabfest will be gone in a snap. and now bring home the seafood you crave with red lobster to go. call or order online today. but one blows them all out of the water. hydro boost from neutrogena®. with hyaluronic acid to plump skin cells so it bounces back.

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at ikea, we believe your perfect student deserves the perfect room for the perfect price. and... who's there? hey. a boy? you never told your dad and me about any... wait, what's going on now? move the flag. ♪ ♪ veteran abandoned as a baby on a mission to find his birth parents. he said it is something he thought about his entire life. where did he come from? and why did someone give him up?

deborah roberts is there as he finds his answers. our mystery begins in alaska. a cool summer evening, 1986. a newborn baby boy has just been found. abandoned in a cardboard box next on a valley vegas army bin. two teenage boys were out riding their bikes. she was astonished to find a live baby in the box. >> the mother isn't found. but this baby boy doe is adopted into a loving home. growing up in idaho. playing in the hills. doing country stuff. flash forward, that baby is now benjamin tveidt. he deployed twice to iraq.

>> i was devastated. >> ben is trying to solve the mystery of his birth and has put his faith in one woman. cc moore, a world renowned dna detective. >> hello! come on in. >> and i have some news. >> she has taken his dna and entered it into four national data bases hoping for a match to his biological mother. then she catches a break. >> i saw this. r.b. is your father. a man named richard blanchfield who is a pretty incredible guy. he is atnam vet. not just any vet, a highly decorated vietnam vet. >> is he still alive? >> he is still alive. here's the good news. your dad is 20 minutes from here. >> i felt like i was hit by

lightning when she told me. we're driving to my dad's house. i'm terrified and excited. i knock on the door and there's this voice. >> knocking on my door. >> hello! >> hello. wow! >> did you feel a connection? >> right away. >> this is the roomy love the most. >> the two started by the similarities in their lives. >> you were 18? >> same as me. i went in the marine corps at 18. >> what if anything does he remember about his birth mom? he recalls a night in alaska. he had a chance encounter at a bar called the tavern. >> we had a beer and started a conversation. i don't have the lady's name. i don't. >> he recalls making woman for the woman and the two sharing a

tender, romantic night. >> i never heard from her again. >> these are my brothers? >> yep. >> a revelation of relief. >> i was accepted and wanted. >> as a parting gift, doc offers his newly found son a note. we are family. and the marine coda, semper fi. always loyal. ben's next stop, anchorage, alaska, known as the last front tear and hopefully final step finding the missing link to his past, his mother. she has gotten it down to two women. one his aunt, and the other his mother. >> i'm going to see ifhe's lln me. >> unannounced, he is rolling the dice. going to the office building where one of the women works. certain she is either his aunt or his biological mom.

>> my name is ben. >> she answers. >> i hear the voice. a little stand-offish at first. >> the startled woman at the other end of the line immediately denies that she or her sister could possibly be ben's mother. >> i am holding on to a thread of hopeful right now that's all i have. >> it's devastatingly apparent that the woman, either his mother or his aunt, wants nothing to do with ben. >> sorry for any inconvenience. >> minutes later though, a heart stopping, paralyzing moment. ben's cell phone rings costly the woman have had a change of heart? instead, the woman's sister calling back, telling ben to never contact them again.

>> she hung up on me. she said that i need to go back to where i'm from and love my family and love the people that raised me. >> did that lead to you believe that she probably was your biological mom? or maybe not? >> her reaction led me to the conclusion that she is probably the mother. >> for the mothers, this is probably one of the most difficult things they've ever had to deal with. >> they have to face a lot of deeply varied emotions. >> and a big secret. >> and it can disrupt the lives that they've built since. >> though the search for his birth mom ended with a harsh rejection, he rejoices in the special man who gave him life. a second father who embraces him fully. >> i really feel that connection to another human being in the world. i value myself that much more after meeting him. next, the little known path to the presidency of abraham

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finally, abc's legal analyst dan abrams is digging into the little known path of another highly accomplished lawyer. here's co-anchor harris. >> he is one of the towering figures in american history. >> i can't listen to this anymore. >> abraham lincoln, the 16 president of the united states in the film lincoln. >> now, now, now. >> lincoln is best known for winning the civil war and abolishing slavery. >> slavery first, i intend to sign the 13th amendment. >> but a new book by dan abrams shines a light on a surprising chapter in lincoln's life. >> one of the lesser known things about abraham lincoln was that he was a really well known

and well respected lawyer presi. >> lincoln's last trial, the case that put him into the presidency, was of a person accused of stabbing his neighbor to death in 1939. lincoln was his defense attorney. >> it became really high profile. you had these two neighbors. a claim of self-defense. but you also had a very high profile witness. peter cartwright, one of the best known preachers in the country. more well known than nc defee.t en an acquittal, courtr months before he became the republican nominee for president. >> he won the case. and this trial helped elevate his profile. and i think helped propel him to the presidency. >> the book shows a missing

chapter from the history books. >> my colleague said there's a transcript out there. the only one of any lincoln trial and it was just found in 1989. it is a really compelling murder trial and no one knows about it. >> it casts a new light on lincoln's personality. >> there was a ruling, a critical ruling that went against him. the people who described it at the time said they had never seen lincoln like this. they had never seen him so angry. he literally almost jumped over the bench. and that is a side of lincoln that many people haven't heard about before. >> dan abrams believe this case and its insights into lincoln holds valuable lessons. >> he was someone who cared whether the position he was taking was right or wrong. most importantly, he had a great love for the law. >> for "nightline," dan harris in new york. >> thank you for watching

"nightline." as always, we're online on our "nightline" facebook page. good night, manager. have a great weekend. great weekend.

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