us. you just never know where we'll turn up. i'm john quinones. 2010 twn star "20/20" starts right now. he said, now i can blow your -- excuse my language. i can blow your [ bleep ] brains out, and i saw about gun. >> tonight on an all new "20/20," the 14-year-old girl who simply vanished walking home from school. >> please come home. we miss you so badly. i think about you all the time. >> people don't just disappear off the face of the earth. it's the definition of kidnapping. >> how did they miss the madman hiding in plain sight? >> i felt this stammering pain in my leg. i thought, oh, my god. i have been shot. >> he tased you. >> tonight, the amazing interview you will only see on "20/20." the girl who survived nine months in captivity. in a cargo container, shackled. >> you're 14 years old and you're being tortured.

>> i just really wanted to live though. >> the mind games he played. >> he told me, call me master. >> but she had some mind games of her own to out-wit him. >> i said, okay. i have got to work with this guy. >> tonight, the bizarre twist endsing that ending that no one saw coming. >> i can't tell you because he's going to come and kill us. this is, like, oh my god. good evening. thanks for joining us. i'm david muir. >> i'm amy robach, and this is "20/20." reporting tonight, deborah roberts. >> reporter: north conway, new hampshire borders the white mountain national forest, a popular tourist spot for hikers and skiers. there are stunning vistas from cathedral led and bridges. for locals, the spectacular scenery is just part of the appeal. >> conway is a quintessential smalltown america.

there is very little crime. it's one of the safest states in the country. >> reporter: a divorced nurse enjoyed a happy life here raising two daughters, sara and abo abigail, known as abby. >> it's a very close knit community. >> reporter: that community, a picture-perfect backdrop to a seemingly idyllic childhood. >> abby has been very kind, always loved animals. very cheerful, happy child. >> girly girl? a little tough? >> a little bit of a tomboy. very athletic and a fantastic skier. we hiked a lot together. >> reporter: these two have been best friends since seventh grade. >> how would you describe her? >> very funny. always in a positive mood. >> she has this really nice personality of being able to talk to anybody. so she kind of became friends to anybody she met. >> reporter: as a new high school freshman, abby studies german, robotics.

she loves her boyfriend, jimmy, and classic rock. especially tom petty. ♪ ♪ now i'm free >> it was a good life. >> reporter: a good life until october 9, 2013 when 14-year-old abby doesn't come home from school. at who point did you start to think, this is strange? >> well, right away. i was, like, she should be somewhere, you know? she is at school with her friends. >> were you texting her? >> i texted her. nothing, no response. >> what were you thinking? >> i was worried, but i was, like, okay. i'll go toth schoo the school. i get to the school, and someone said, i saw her leave, and i got really worried. >> has she never not shown up? >> i thought, she broke her leg, who knows? got hit by a car. i called the hospital, and they

said, no they have not seen her. i'm getting frantic actually. >> are you thinking at this point maybe she ran away? >> no. didn't make sense. >> especially because abby's 15th birthday is just three days away. >> she was very enthusiastic about it. we were planning a big party, to have friends over, to do fun things. >> reporter: by 7:00 that night, zennia is frantic is files a missing persons report, and the community is rattled by the news. >> we are in search of a missing teenager from conway tonight. >> what was your first thought? >> i was shocked she was missing. >> did it occur to you that maybe she ran away? >> no. i got to tell you she faced problems. she didn't run away from them. >> reporter: miranda members th. they were taking selfies at school. we wanted to be silly together. that was the last known picture of her, was the picture her and

i took together in scie clasp. >> fbi agents went door to door thursday night in an apartment complex just off route 16. >> the search ramped up incredibly fast. the conway police started. the attorney generals got involved, the fbi, state police, basically created a dragnet looking for abby hernandez. >> reporter: the story leads the evening news. >> the town was out all day searching. >> she was last seen leaving kennett high. >> she wished her daughter a happy birthday. >> reporter: three days after her disappearance, it's abby's birthday, but instead of a celebration, there's a vigil. ♪ happy birthday to you >> and zennia has a message for her daughter. >> we miss you so badly. sara and i think about you all the time. we want you back with us please, and we love you. we miss you. >> investigators say day four of the search for abby turned up

few clues. >> reporter: there are nightly press conferences. >> we continue today to search for abby. >> we are now at over 300 tips and leads that we are investigating. >> search teams today expanded into some different areas. >> as we have said over the course of the past face-to-faiv this is a missing persons investigation. >> it was important to get the story in the media because we had the belief that someone must have seen something. >> reporter: investigators are desperate for information. all they know is that abby was last seen walking home from school while her boyfriend, jimmy, is on the school bus texting her. she sent him a heart at 2:53 p.m. 14 minutes later at 3:07, her cell signal disappears about a mile from abby's house. >> something happened between when she sent that text message and when her cell phone went dark. >> we looked very significantly at her communication boyfriend. we picked apart the relationship they had.

>> did you begin looking at the family, close friends? >> absolutely. we gave them a critical look. >> what were you learning about abby? >> she was very family-oriented. close with her mom. we didn't see anything that was suggestive to us that something she had done caused her disappearance. >> classic teenage girl? >> she appeared to be. >> reporter: but a classic teenage girl doesn't just vanish on her way home from school. >> the thing that really started to cause us concern were when we looked at the video of her leaving the high school. it didn't appear as though she had belongingsongingongingsongig period of time away from home. >> reporter: when we come back, after weeks without leads, clues or any word from stni development. this letter in zennia's mailbox. >> it's a letter from nobody >> reporter: what it says, and who it's from, next. from, next. your mornings were made for better things than rheumatoid arthritis.

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>> reporter: one month has passed since abby hernandez vanished. and with no credible leads or sightings, her story is no longer front page news. how were you holding it together? >> i wasn't really holding it together. one of the things about tragedies like that is that the sun gets up in the morning and life goes on. i did fall into despair at the time. >> reporter: abby's heartsick mom ignores routine daily tasks. she hasn't picked up her mail in weeks, which is understandable and unfortunate because

unbeknownst to zenya, the u.s. postal service has already delivered to her mailbox, the first big break in the case. >> there was, like, 20 envelopes. there was another envelope, and it appeared to be a letter from abby. >> did it say dear mom? >> yeah. >> you must have just been beside yourself. >> i can't believe it, and i'm happy beyond belief, and i'm also confused about some of the language. >> what did she say? >> dear, mom. i miss you and love you more than you can imagine. i'm sorry i did this. i have seen the newspaper reports, and to answer your questions, yes i'm alive. i miss you, mom, but i won't tell you where i am. >> it's, like, really cryptic, isn't it? >> it is. it's not her. >> the letter was sent 13 days

after abby disappeared and renewed hope to investigators. >> we were able to confirm her dna profile on the letter, but how she came to write that letter, nobody was sure. >> what did you make of this? >> it sounded like the letter was to say, i'm okay. now leave me alone. that was a real curveball. >> reporter: a curveball that investigators fear could put abby in even more jeopardy if made public. >> we have a lot of agonizing conversations, should we reveal this letter? if the victim had somehow been able to sneak a letter out, if she was, in fact, kidnapped, if her captor knew that, she was at greater risk. >> reporter: so they wait another month, but as winter approaches, investigators get past their cold feet. >> we believe that it was, in fact, written by abby. >> the fact that she had the ability to write and send a letter, does that indicate to

you that she is maybe all right? >> is this a runaway case or an abduction? >> we're still classifying this as a missing person case. >> were you concerned about this letter turning the tide, you know, publicly and people's sympathy maybe shifting in a different direction? >> sure. one of the things that we obviously can't control is what that court of public opinion is, and i think the people form very ardent opinions as to what they think happened. >> reporter: while authorities remain skeptical about abby's letter, the public takes it at face value, causing a rush to judgment. according to social media, abby is a runaway, and not a teenager. >> sounds like abby is a punk teenager who ran away. >> she should pay back the state. >> this story has been fishy from the very beginning. >> reporter: a torrent of rumors and innuendos rips through the high school says her friend, miranda. >> it was a hot topic for

gossip. >> what was said? >> people say, she must be pregnant. that must be why she ran away. >> did it bother you? >> it be bother me. we were very close, so i knew she was not pregnant. >> when you hear people starting to doubt what happened -- >> devastating because for us that meant that perhaps they're not going to look. reporters would say, it's a runaway. we can't cover it. it's not news. >> reporter: but investigators gave no credence to that town gossip. they have cleared abby's boyfriend, and though they have no suspects, they are convinced that abby is in danger. >> people don't just disappear off the face of the earth, especially a 14-year-old girl. she didn't drive. we knew there was money at home that she didn't take. she had only the clothes on her back. no matter where she was, it fit the definition of kidnapping. abby hernandez, and why do the answers lie in the white mountai mountains? a tiny town with a big secret,

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>> reporter: since abby hernandez went missing many months have passed. her 15th birthday cake untouched. >> i still have a piece of it. i still actually do have a piece

of that cake in the freezer. >> reporter: the case is now as cold as a new hampshire river in winter. the new year comes and goes. >> that was devastating. >> reporter: what her mom doesn't know is her worst nightmare and investigators' worst fears are true. abby has been taken, and now the reality of abby's whereabouts, the ordeal she endured is being told publicly tonight for the very first time. >> thank you so much for doing this. >> reporter: by abby herself. >> i can't believe i'm alive. >> reporter: recalling that fateful october afternoon where instead of taking the bus, she decided to walk home from school. >> you walked it home other times? >> yeah. >> never a problem? >> never a problem, no. >> reporter: but this time is different. her new boots and early birthday gift have rubbed blisters on her feet, so when a car pulls over offering a ride -- just like that -- abby accepts. >> yeah? >> what led you to get in with him? >> i had blisters on my feet. he seemed like a nice guy.

>> you weren't worried about stranger danger? anything like that. >> yeah. i think that's common sense, but conway is such a friendly town. >> did he look scary at all? >> no, not really. he seemed like your average person from conway. >> reporter: still she is careful not to give the stranger her address, so she asks him to drop her off at a nearby restaurant, but he says he has to make a stop at home depot. the man pulls into a spot at the far end of the parking lot. were you beginning to feel that you were in danger? >> yes. i definitely got a gut feeling that something was wrong. i was, like, you know what? i live really close to here. i think i can walk. i unbuckled my seat belt. he kind of straightened his legs and he was digging for something, and i saw a gun. he took it and he pointed it to my thigh. >> you are this 14-year-old girl. what are you thinking? >> i was, like, oh my god. is this really happening? he said, now i can blow your [ bleep ] brains out.

i can slit your [ bleep ] throat right open. he said, if you try to scream or try to escape or make any effort to escape, there will be consequences. >> reporter: she said he whips off his plain baseball cap and shoves it on her head, sliding the brim over her face, and then covers her with a jacket. >> he told me to put my hands behind my back. >> he handcuffed you. >> yeah. >> you must have been panicked. >> yeah. i remember just adrenaline. i have never felt that much adrenaline ever. he told me, bear with me. i'm at a hard time in my life. i remember thinking to myself, i have gotuyha got to do somethin. i said, i don't judge you for this. if you let me go, i won't tell anybody. you seem really smart. >> you tried to stroke his ego. >> exactly. i asked where we were going, and he said, somewhere i feel more comfortable. i asked him, are you going to rape me? he asked me, how old are you? i said, i'm 14.

>> reporter: the driver, now captor catches her peering out from under the cap. >> i felt this stammering pain in my leg, and i thought, oh my god. i have been shot. >> reporter: what was it? >> i realize, it's not a gun to my leg. it's a stun gun. >> he saw you trying to look out the window? >> yeah. he said, keep your head down. >> reporter: and more terrifying -- >> i knew my phone had a gps on it, so that was kind of my hope he would grab my phone and he held it in both hands and he started to try to break it while driving. he said, the cops can track it. i remember hearing this squeezing pumping sound of, like, glass and wires. >> reporter: she said she knew the area well enough to know the man was driving well out of conway and north into the mountains taking the back roads. >> later on i realized he was avoiding traffic lights because traffic lights, you know, have cameras. i was praying to god in my mind. so i was, like, maybe if i started singing "amazing grace," maybe god will come help me. he said, oh, you want music?

he took an ipod and i remember it was "paint it black" by the rolling stones. ♪ i see a red door and i want id painted black ♪ >> reporter: she says after a long drive to a wooded area seemingly in the middle of nowhere, her kidnapper leads her from the car with her head down to what appears to be a toolshed into a long, darkroom where she notices a green carpet and a flag. >> i remember seeing a don't tread on me flag hanging on the wall, you know, the yellow flag with the snake on it, and there were a bunch of tools. it looked almost like, you know, a workshop. >> reporter: what she recalls next is unimaginable. abby says inside that room, she is gagged and blindfolded. >> so he puts tape across your eyes to blindfold you? >> yeah. and then he put, like, a t-shirt over my head and then a motorcycle helmet over that. >> reporter: both her hands and feet bound, and then she is

sexually assaulted. this is torture. >> yeah. it is. >> you're 14 years old and you're being tortured. >> yep. i just really wanted to live though. i did not want to die, and i remember praying to god, and i remember i never said, you know,, like, amen in my mind. i never wanted to end my prayers because i didn't want god to leave me. >> the search for abby continues again tomorrow morning. >> he eventually told me that i was on the news and that everybody was looking for me. he said, i'm going to let you see it. he held his phone around me and let me watch the press conference where my mom was looking for me. that's when it really wanted to cry. >> and we want you back with us please. >> maybe that's when i did cry for the first time. >> nobody knows where you are or what you are going through. >> i remember saying, you know, we're looking for you. please come home. >> reporter: hours give way to days. that's when abby's abductor decides she should write a letter to her mother.

>> he said, try to make it sound like you ran away, and make it sound like you're okay. i think he wanted them to stop looking for me so much. >> reporter: but she realizes this could be her only chance to get a message to the outside world, so she keenly uses her finger nail to carve words into that letter. >> i said, help, kidnap. >> reporter: a brilliant and bold strategy until it backfires. >> he said, i found your messages and i just felt my heart sink. i said, oh my god. he is going to kill me. this is it. >> reporter: her captor makes her pay. >> he held a stun gun to my feet and it was really horrible and probably the most pain i have ever experienced. >> reporter: but oddly enough, he gives her another chance. >> this time he made me say, dear mom. i'm sorry i did this. i just feel so bad that i got in the car.

>> you were 14. you were a child. >> yeah, but i tried to tell myself -- >> reporter: when we come back, who is this madman holding abby for nine months? >> did you learn his name? >> he said, i can't tell you. >> reporter: she doesn't know, but police just might. >> i thought this guy has either done this before or he is a cop gone mad. >> reporter: next. orter: next. whoa. this looks worse than i thought. mike and jen doyle? yeah. time for medicare, huh. i have no idea how we're going to get through this. follow me. choosing a plan can be super-complicated. but it doesn't have to be. unitedhealthcare can guide you through the confusion, d plans. uding the only plans withe you throuthe aarp name.on, well that wasn't so bad at all. that's how we like it. aarp medicare plans, from unitedhealthcare. aarp medicare plans, it's good to... see you again, baron. a toast, to your demise.

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>> reporter: follow this deep, scenic road and eventually you will reach the top of mt. washington.

the start of an endless reminder for investigators that abby hernandez is the needle in a new hampshire hay stack, and just below the clouds is gorham. >> that's one of the towns that everybody likes to go to because it's quiet, peaceful. >> reporter: the last time anyone counted, there were 2,626 residents here. but only one of them lives at 4 brookside drive in a modest mobile unit where he proudly waves the red, white and blue. he would appreciate you removing your shoes before entering. once inside, more proof that a proud american lives here. with old furniture accented with old glory. he even sweats to the stars and stripes in his home gym. there is a framed copy of the u.s. constitution, and clearly he is a believer in the second amendment with guns everywhere.

he had very strong beliefs -- he had very strong beliefs about the constitution, and, you know, its origin and its meaning. his name is nate kibby, and his right to bear arms fits perfectly with his ability to make them. >> reporter: the 33-year-old kibby works as a machinist as a gun shop and even as far back as high school had a fondness for guns. >> we learned nate kibby was a bully in high school. we learned that he was just that quintessential weirdo that you were scared of. >> he was involved in a number of conflicts that involve the police. they involved oftentimes weapons and to some degree, violence. the violence that he exhibited was almost always associated with manipulative behavior.

>> reporter: eventually nate kibby would move to gorham and seemingly become a hardworking member of society. although still, not without his quirks. >> neighbors in his mobile park community where kibby lived knew that he was weird. they knew he was disgruntled and some of them were afraid of him. they tried to really steer clear of him. >> reporter: during the time that abby hernandez is missing, kibby's involved in a simple traffic accident that escalates into an assault charge. as a condition of his bail, the court says kibby must turn over his pride and joy, his gun collection. >> we knew, you know, he is probably going to argue everything you're going to say, and he is probably going to have some sort of, i know my constitutional rights and argue that point. >> reporter: but this time, the confrontational kibby turns congenial. he calls the gorham police department himself and is eager to turn over his cache.

it's a crafty move. >> this is the first time for myself that anyone has contacted us ahead of th t d. >> reporter: as the patrol car arrives on brookside drive, officer benjamin notices mr. kibby has done all the heavy lifting, bringing the guns curbside. >> it was kind of like one of those welcome home parties where everyone's waiting at the curb to greet you. he had, you know, all his guns lined up like dominos in a row. >> reporter: from the road, officer ben j minujamin spots a oddi oddity. a cargo container, used to transport products all over the wor world. >> we didn't have a reason to get closer and he made sure of that. >> reporter: while the hunt for abby continues all across the state, police will never get as close as they are at this very moment because what they don't know, what they could not have known is that they are standing

just a few feet away from the 15-year-old who has been bound and gagged inside that cargo container. >> he thought things through. that's why the first thing i'm sure he thought of was, again, i need to make sure they don't have a reason to come on my property. >> his goals were always self-centered, and were cruel. >> reporter: cruel indeed, but things are about to take a turn inside the kibby home. when we return, mind games. abby begins to out-wit her captor, pretending to bond. >> i said, you have, like, the closest thing i'll ever have to a daughter. >> reporter: stay with us. tay with us. jardiance asked- and now you know. said, you have, like, the closest thing i'll ever have to a daughter. >> reporter: stay with us. said, closest thing i'll ever have to a daughter. >> reporter: stay with us. esaid closest thing i'll ever have to a daughter. >> reporter: stay with us. said, closest thing i'll ever have to a daughter. >> reporter: stay with us. hesai closest thing i'll ever have to a daughter. >> reporter: stay with us. said closest thing i'll ever have to a daughter. >> reporter: stay with us. tay with us.

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>> reporter: live free or die isn't just new hampshire's state motto. it's also the two possible outcomes running through the mind of abby hernandez. >> i thought, oh my god. i'm going to die tonight or i'm going to escape somehow. >> reporter: nate kibby owns a $3,000 cargo container that holds his darkest secrets, a steel box with multiple rooms, electricity and space heaters, all soundproofed. neighbors see nothing and hear nothing of abby's endless suffering. did the rapes stop? >> no. no. >> that happened throughout your captivity? >> yeah. >> reporter: many of the details of abby's captivity are too disturbing for television, but she tells them in a manner that's remarkably matter of fact. she never treated abby, psychologist rebecca bailey says

it's not uncommon. >> she seems matter of fact almost as she is talking about. >> i think she has had the ability to move beyond all of that pain and in a way, sort of split out a piece of herself that part, that person who was being wounded and hurt and tortured all those days, there is not one way that a survivor looks like. which we often think that they should. they should act a certain way, eat a certain way. it's not true. >> reporter: meanwhile back in conway, friends haven't forgotten about abby and post this video to keep her name in the public eye. >> dear abby, i cannot tell you enough how much you are missed. >> reporter: little do they know, nate kibby is roaming around their safe town. every day he leaves his mobile home driving 34 miles to his machinist job in conway, one that requires him to drive past the conway police department on his way to and from work. in gorham, abby has a job too, to survive. >> how i got water was a tube

strung into the corner of my mouth. whenever i wanted water, i would flip the switch with my thumb, and water would drip in my mouth. >> reporter: to prevent the captive girl from screaming, kibby uses a multiprong approach. >> he played heavy metal usic really loud. i was gagged. >> reporter: does the torture ease up? does it get worse? >> he said, i'm thinking of finding something more humane to keep you caller. he was thinking of a shock collar, you know, like dogs wear. >> a shock collar? >> he put it on me, and said, try to scream. i slowly started to raise my voice and it shocked me and he said, now you know what it feels like. >> did he say his name or who he was? >> he told me, call me -- call me master. >> reporter: but the more time kibby and abby spend together locked behind his fiendish

facade, the more paranoid he becomes. there was at least one moment of panic. >> he said, you know too much. he said, so i need to move you. we need to move, like, we can't stay here. he put me in the trunk of the car. we drove for a really long time, and how i used to keep track of time, i would sing "american pie" in my head because i knew that song was around signature minutes lo -- eight minutes long. >> reporter: the drive seems endless, and as the teen tries to keep track of how long they have traveled -- ♪ this will be the day i die >> reporter: the car suddenly stops. wherever they are, they have arrived. >> he carried me over his shoulder and dumped me on a mattress. he made a room for me, which is where i lived for months. >> reporter: little does abby know. kibby has driven in circles and brought her right back to the

same cargo container, with you in a never-before-seen room. the door he tells her, is wired to keep would-be rescuers at bay. >> i noticed on the door there were, like, screws and then wires. he told me that they tripped the door so that if for any reason it was busted open, the room would catch on fire. >> reporter: the explosives are fake, but the changing dynamic between the two is about to get real. the predator slowly becoming unmasked. >> one time he fell asleep with me. i was facing the door. i woke up and i wasn't wearing a blindfold. so i remember rolling over and i saw his face and i quickly sat up and i covered my eyes because i was afraid he would kill me now because he said i needed to forget what his face looked like. >> reporter: as bizarre as it may seem, inside these cramped quarters, a bond begins to form. >> it's always bonding to the bad guy, and that ability to figure out how they can sort of keep them at bay so they won't

go off and become more violent. >> you know, being there for, like, nine months, i kind of eventually became weirdly comfortable. >> reporter: and he does too. abby says the machinist confesses everything from his sideline marijuana business to his disdain for police and more. >> i remember when he tied me up, he said, do you want to know how i know how to do this? and i just said, how? he said, it's because it's what they did to us. >> they did to us? >> we would talk. he would talk to me about his experiences in juvenile prison, actual prison. about how they would abuse them there. >> this had happened to him? >> yeah. >> reporter: while in high school, kibby was reportedly incarcerated for 42 days. most of that time in a psych ward at the state prison because he was deemed to be a threat to himself. abby's a good listener, making sure never to disagree with her captor and lending a hand with his projects. >> and he said, you know, i'm

thinking of making counterfeit money because he said morally, you know, they owe me basically. so he said, let's make some fake money. part of how i gained his trust i guess was, you know, i went along with whatever he wanted to do. >> if i were going to write the textbook about how victims should deal with abductions, the first chapter would be about abby. >> reporter: kibby's home is filled with books and he shares his passion for reading with abby. it will be a rare slipup for the maniac turned mentor. >> he gave me a cookbook because, you know, how he was, like, you need to cook for your man when you get one. he always told me -- he said, you are, like, the closest thing i'll ever had to a daughter. he looked at me like he wanted to teach me stuff. so anyway, he had a cookbook and i would just read the cookbook, but there was a name written in, you know, black letters and the name was nate kibby. >> reporter: abby hernandez has

uncovered what no investigator has, a name. >> i asked him. i said, who is nate kibby? he looked a little disappointed. he just kind of breathed and he said, how do you know my name? >> reporter: that's not the only secret about to be exposed. when we come back, abby gets an assist from another woman who was once herself in the clutches of nate kibby and lived to tell about it. >> he seeme carla is living with metastatic breast cancer, which is breast cancer that has spread to other parts of her body. she's also taking prescription ibrance with an

aromatase inhibitor, which is for postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive her2- metastatic breast cancer as the first hormonal based therapy. ibrance plus letrozole was significantly more effective at delaying disease progression versus letrozole. patients taking ibrance can develop low white blood cell counts, which may cause serious infections that can lead to death. before taking ibrance, tell your doctor if you have fever, chills, or other signs of infection, liver or kidney problems, are pregnant, breastfeeding, or plan to become pregnant. common side effects include low red blood cell and low platelet counts, infections, tiredness, nausea, sore mouth, abnormalities in liver blood tests, diarrhea, hair thinning or loss, vomiting, rash, and loss of appetite. carla calls it her new normal because a lot has changed, but a lot hasn't. ask your doctor about ibrance. the #1 prescribed fda-approved oral combination treatment for hr+/her2- mbc.

what might seem like a small cough can be a big bad problem for your grandchildren.

babies too young to be vaccinated against whooping cough are the most at risk for severe illness. help prevent this! talk to your doctor or pharmacist today about getting vaccinated against whooping cough. >> reporter: abby hernandez's freedom will be indirectly tied to a woman she doesn't even know. her name is lauren munday. who had the misfortune of meeting nate kibby first online, and later at a hotel. >> i just felt for him like he needed somebody to talk to, and that's all he wanted to do. >> reporter: lauren says they only met once. kibby introducing himself as jay. >> he said he has done bad things. i said, you know, we all have done bad things in life. >> reporter: the two spend two hours together. >> he rubbed my head and played with my hair and rubbed my face until i fell asleep. >> reporter: lauren says kibby

agrees to pay for the hotel and leaves behind three $50 bills in the room. she'll later use one of those at a walmart. >> the cashier grabbed it and said, just give me one minute. i said, okay. no problem. >> reporter: seconds later, lauren is in legal hot water because the bill is counterfeit. >> i called him immediately, and i swore at him. okay? i said, you -- you [ bleep ]. you could have at least told me. how dare you play with my freedom? i told him, whatever you're [ bleep ] making in your damn basement, you better clean it up right now because they are coming for your ass. >> reporter: fearing munday's threat will lead police to his doorstep, kibby takes action immediately. >> he said, we need to get you out of here in case the police come to my house.

so that night, and he gave me back my clothes that i got kidnapped in. >> reporter: oddly the ride home will include a last meal of sorts. >> he took me to dairy queen. he parked there and i wore a ball cap so that no one would recognize my face from posters and the news and stuff. >> reporter: the drama abby thought never would end finally does on a desolate road about a mile from her home. >> there were no cars coming either way, and he said, get out. so i got out and then he yelled, wait. give me my hat back. give me my hat back. i threw it in the car, slammed the door and he drove off. >> reporter: just like that? >> just like that, that was it. i remember looking up and laughing just being so happy, like, oh my god. this actually happened. i'm a free person. i never thought it would happen to me, but i'm free, and i just walked home. >> reporter: this

never-before-seen footage of abby returning home caught on the family security camera. >> i remember when i came up to my doorstep, i could hear my mom talking on the phone. i could hear her voice. i opened the door and i said, mom? i remember she said, abby? and i remember she ran out. >> it was almost like -- it was a shock. like, i had this shudder and i -- i couldn't believe what i was seating. >> that was such a beautiful moment. i remember just the look on her face. i remember seeing her. she looked different. she really did. i could see stress, the months of stress in her face, and it kind of killed me a little bit, but i was just so relieved to see her. >> reporter: back in gorham, all nate kibby can do is sit and wait befo wait. before letting abby go, he has provided her a fake story to explain her disappearance to police. a story that conveniently does

not include him. for awhile, his plan works. >> her captor told her that he would kill police if they came to get him, that he would kill her family. he made all kinds of threats. >> she said, i know the game, but i can't tell you because he is going to come and kill us. he is everywhere. he knows i'm telling you this now. i said, no, no no, he doesn't. we're in a public place. she was, like, she is going to come and shoot us. >> reporter: a week later, abby is finally able to break free if her tormenter once and for all. >> what does she say about his name? >> she said, nathaniel kibby. he lives in gorham, new hampshire. >> reporter: a s.w.a.t. team races to the gorham mobile home, where kibby who by now has regained all his guns after that assault charge was dropped was armed to the teeth. >> i heard he had a pistol in his waistband, and i heard the next communication would be that there were shots fired. it was maybe two to three minutes after that i heard the

radio communication come across that the subject was in custody. >> nate kibby behaved like he always behaved. he was never physically confrontational with the police. he was violent in situations where he had the upper hand and the victim was compromised. >> on a dramatic day in a new hampshire courtroom, a young man faced with a 34-year-old man under arrest and now charged with kidnapping her. >> reporter: and kibby's arraignment, abby's courage is in full view as she stares down her former captor, but there will be no trial. months later, nate kibby pleads guilty to a range of charges, including kidnapping and sex assault. >> initially he faced 183 charges, but with the plea deal with the state, pled guilty to seven of those charges. now kibby will spend 45 to 90 years behind prison bars. >> reporter: but this is one thing that angers the deputy attorney general. despite the stiff sentence, despite all the facts coming to light, some in the local

community still refuse to believe abby's story to this day. >> what this investigation revealed is that every painstaking detail that the victim provided was, in fact, true, no doubt. everything supported by evidence. hundreds of pieces of evidence. physical evidence, purchased records, statements of other individuals. >> every day i'm just glad that she got away. she was the one who got away, and it's not a cold case file of another innocent child. >> reporter: it's been five years since that horrible ordeal. when we first met abby, we learned she has found a new reason to embrace life. she and her new boyfriend are expecting their first child. since that interview, abby now 19 is the proud mom of a baby boy. she wants everyone to know that her painful past will not define

her. >> just don't lose hope. i feel like hope, even when you feel like you have lost everything, you know, hope is something that nobody can take away from you, and just keep that, and it will keep you going. >> wow. just an amazing story of resilience here tonight. to learn more about how abby actually kept hope alive, go to abcnews.com. >> you can also find lessons from a psychologist that can help survivors of violent crimes. i'm amy row bach. >> i'm david muir. from all of us here at "20/20" and abc news, have a great friday night and a great weekend. good night. developing news inside several bay area homes, children and the elderly were being cared

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