>> m tkio tchen,se iet was like ghost. >> on the run from the man susp odtef parents. how she helped her down. tonight the emotional plus, dia into marryingicked accomplishme.

but first, the "nightline" five.

. > good evening, thanks for joining us. after three m

akslpne i n>> for 88 stood before you and said we would work jaym os wsas the >> moment everyone in the small towedop h, and he was smiling, and head h . >> reporter: tonight that aunt releasing the first photo of jayme after the two were reunited this afternoon. nearly three her parents were murdered, she was located about 70 miles away from where she was last seen. >> jayme is the real hero. >> reportehe s alleged captor on her own,

running into the of jeannie who was out walking her dog. >> i saw a young woman approaching. she was crying and said i need help. i don't know where i am. i'm lost, please help me. >> reporter: you knew something was wrong. >> right. i knew she was scared and wherever she left from she left quickly because she had shoes that were too big for her, black leggings and a sweatshirt. she just grabbed op to nto me be it was saidic i'm jayme. ep r>> tewhr:er we wnas she pointed across the street. i kept telling her, everything's going to be okay. >> reporter: want being to put distance between her and the

house she brought her down the street to their house. >> to see her walk into my kitchen, it was like seeing a ghost for real. it took my breath away, you know. it's kind of hard for me to wrap my mind around it. >> reporter: incredibly, jayme was able it to give the name of the person who kidnapped her and gave a description of the vehicle that led to his arrest. >> one of my patrol sergeants happened to find a vehicle that matched the description that jayme gave my detective and pulled the suspect over and took him into custody at that time. >> reporter: jay thomas expected to be charged with two counts of homicide and one count of kidnapping. >> in cases like this we often need a big break, and it was jay

me herself who gave us that break. >> a missing 13 year old girl. >> reporter: a mysterious 911 call made in the middle of the night led authorities to the closs home in barron, wisconsin. >> the call was given that night from the residence on a cell phone, but no contact was made with somebody that was on the other line. there was no one communicating with our dispatcher. >> reporter: police arrived within minutes of the call. jayme's dad james lay dying. her mother denise already dead. neighbors say they heard gunshots. >> i heard one shot and the second shot was louder yet. >> reporter: authorities found bullet casings but no weapon and no jayme. an amber alert was issued nationwide and local authorities enlisted the fbi to help them.

>> our goal to bring jayme home. >> she is the sweetest little girl. she wouldn't hurt a soul. >> reporter: thousands of tips poured in from across thehehehe country. while thousands of volunteers combed the countryside searching for the teenager. >> do you think jayme's still alive? >> i do. i think there's a lot of hope. >> reporter: hope but no jayme. a reward was offered. >> please, if you have information, we want to hear from you. >> reporter: months passed, snow piled up at the once-happy closs home. the national spotlight fading. ♪ let peace begin with me >> reporter: during the holidays, jay me's home town held a tree lighting ceremony reminding people not to forget

about the teen. >> our families, we just want jayme home and pray ever day. >> thank you for being here this afternoon. >> reporter: then the announcement out of the blue everyone had been hoping for. >> last night other collective promise was fulfilled with jayme's safe recovery. thank you to all. she was recognized immediately because of the work we did, the public did and the media did. >> everybody's been really holding hope. that's just wonderful news. i'm glad. >> she's going to have a loving community to come home to. >> reporter: authorities have yet to explain how jayme was able to escape her captor but he wasn't at home at the time. >> we believe the suspect was out looking for her when enforcement made contact with her. >> reporter: there was no social media contacts with her but that he specifically targeted the young girl.

>> nothing in this case shows the suspect knew anyone at the closs home. he had specific intentions to kidnap jayme and went to great lengths to prepare to kidnap her, like shaving his head, not to leave hair behind. >> reporter: authorities recovered a shotgun they say was consistent with what was used to kill her parenting. jayme is talking and cooperating with law enforcement. her road to recovery could be a long one. >> it's not a surprise to any health care professional that this child will have lasting consequences to what she lived through. that doesn't mean that she won't be happy and functional and successful in her life. >> reporter: elizabeth smart who also escaped after being kidnapped for nine months called

jayme's recovery a miracle, writing that no matter what may unfold in her story, remember that this young woman has survived and whatever other details may surface, the most important of them is that she survived. >> it's important to draw a line in the sand and respect her privacy, because she is going through an acute trauma. this is not a pop culture event, this is a child's life. >> reporter: meanwhile, jayme's family is excited to just hold the teen he thought they might have lost forever. >> going to tell her how much i love her and missed her and give her the biggest hug ever. and that we're all here >> our thanks to alex. next, dirty john, the ex-con who charmed his way into marriage. rriage. last name is "wehadababyit'saboy."

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dirty john. he's a schemer, a grifter and ex-convict who covered up his past. marci gonzalez takes us behind the story of the podcast. >> reporter: it is the chilling tale of miblind love. >> i was worried john would kill me to try to get the money. the papers show that he has numerous things, numerous social security numbers. >> reporter: a handsome, volatile con man. >> he said i was a whore and

bitch and i was going to pay for what i did. >> reporter: and a woman who fell for him. >> he got in my car, started it and set it on fire. >> reporter: setting in motion a chain of events with deadly consequences. dirty john tells the story of john meehan, a master of deception who charmed and tormented his unsuspecting victims, women like debra newell. what do you think when people hear your story and think how did you let this happen? >> i tell them you weren't in my shoes. >> reporter: millions listen to the podcast which has been adapted into a hit scripted bravo show. and now a new documentary from oxygen. in 2014, debra had a successful

interior design business, beautiful children and everything that money could buy here on the coast of orange county, california. >> i decided i had it all except love. >> reporter: that would change when she went online and met the man that would forever changer and her children's lives. >> i liked everything on his profile. his daughters, animals that he was an anesthesiologist. >> reporter: she went on her first date with the tall, good-looking, self-proclaimed doctor at this houston's restaurant. >> john started calling every day, and we would meet after work. and he started saying he was in love with me, i was the soulmate. he's been waiting for me. i ate it up. >> reporter: even though debra had only known him for two months, she agreed to marry him while on a trip to las vegas. john seemed like the man of her

dreams. what kind of things would he do? >> everything. we would take walks at the end of the day, and he wanted to hear all about my day. he would make me breakfast, take my dry-cleaning in, take my mail to the mailbox. and i thought i have the perfect husband, i thought so. >> reporter: they moved into this water front home on balboa island. overlooking red flag after red flag her children picked up from the beginning. what did they notice. >> the first thing they noticed is he didn't have a car. he was driving bunone of my car. >> reporter: but his story about serving with doctors without borders in iraq was one of the tales in his story of deceit.

>> everything he told me was a lie. he was not a >> reporter: john would isolate her. >> everything came to a head. john was not who i married whatsoever. >> reporter: it was his true nature, something his first wife of almost ten years, tonya, is all to familiar with, sharing in the documentary how she learned i was a liar and drug addict. >> i found all the way to the back a box of anesthesia drugs. >> reporter: he made violent threats in these phone calls. >> you enjoy your time left on this earth, okay? because that's what it's going to come down to. >> reporter: tonya and her

daughter spent years fearing for their lives. >> i always thought he was going to come and get us just to get back at my mom and i got scare. >> someone that he has latched onto is never free from him. >> reporter: she has learned about 50 victims made against john in 2013, arresting him after finding cyanide capsules, a gun and ammo. >> if we had not arrested him, something horrible would have happened to our victim. >> reporter: he was released from prison in october of 2014. two days later he met debra and zeroed in. at what point did you start to realize something might be off here? >> not until we were married. >> reporter: it would take her more than a year to realize the full scope plisity. >> i said i'm leaving you, i

want a divorce. >> reporter: he stalked her, finding her car and setting it on fire. >> it was clear that this guy was really dangerous. >> reporter: did you ever think he would go after your children? >> i never thought he would go after my children. what did he have to gain? >> reporter: but that's exactly what he did. john's reign of terror finally came to an end when he attacked her youngest daughter tara outside her apartment building and she fought back, stabbing him to death in self-defense. >> for me, it was just surreal. here's your daughter that fought for her life against someone you thought was the love of your life. >> reporter: now more than a year later, tara is recovering and debra is reflecting on her family's nightmare. what are the lessons that you learned from all this, that you hope other women can learn from

you? >> do the background. really try to figure out who this person is. meet their friends. never allow them to come to your home until you really know who they are. take your time. >> reporter: are these all things you wish you had done differently? >> of course. yeah. i let my heart lead instead of my head. >> reporter: a life-threatening realization of how love can blind you from the dirty truth. how has it impacted your view on love? are you dating? >> no. i'm not ready. let's put it this way. i will do everything differently, and trusting the right person, yeah. yeah, because there's good guys out there, too. >> reporter: for "nightline," marci gonzalez in newport beach, california. oxygen's documentary airs monday night. and next, the actress breaking down barriers on

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not when it comes to popular. i know about there's nothing that can stop you from becoming popular. >> she's always been popular, now glenda the good witch is making history. for half a year, brittany johnson has been an understudy. but last night she became the first black actress to play glenda on broadway. taking a bow with "wicked" cast members and changing theater history for good. congratulations to her. and before we take a bow, remember you can always catch

full "nightline" episodes on hu hulu. thanks for the company america, goodnight. merica, goodnight.