he said, now i can blow your -- excuse my language -- but i can blow your [ bleep ] brains out. and then i saw a gun. >> tonight on "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 just don't disappear off the face of the earth. it fit the definition of kidnapping. >> so, 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 outwit him. >> okay, i have got to work with this guy. >> tonight, the bizarre twist ending that no one saw coming. >> she said i know the name, but i can't tell you because he's going to come and kill us. >> this is it. it's like, oh, my god, he's everywhere. good evening. thanks for joining us. i'm david muir. >> and 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 ledge and quaint covered bridges. but for locals, the spectacular scenery is just part of the appeal. >> conway is a quintessential smalltown america. there is very little crime in

new hampshire. it's one of the safest states in the country. >> reporter: zenya hernandez, a divorced nurse enjoyed a happy life here raising two daughters, sara and abigail, known as abby. >> fantastic place to raise a family. very close-knit community. >> reporter: that community, a picture-perfect backdrop to a seemingly idyllic childhood. >> abby always has been very kind, always loved animals. very cheerful, happy child. >> girly girl? a little tough? >> a little bit of a tomboy. she's very athletic and a fantastic skier. we hiked a lot together. >> reporter: miranda cloutier and abby have been best friends since seventh grade. >> how would you describe her? >> very funny. always in a really positive mood. >> she has this really nice personality of being able to talk to anybody. so she kind of became friends with 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. ♪ gonna leave this world for a while ♪ ♪ 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 what point did you start to think, this is strange? >> well, right away. i was like, she should be somewhere, you know? she is probably at school with her friends. >> were you texting her? >> i texted her, yeah. nothing, no response. >> what were you thinking? >> i was worried, but i was like, okay, i'll go to the school. so, i get to school, and the librarian says, i saw her leave, that's when i got really worried. >> has she never not shown up at home before? >> my thought was she got an injury. broke her leg, who nose.

got hit by a car. i called the hospital at that time, 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 whole big party, to have friends over, to do fun things. >> reporter: by 7:00 that night, zenya is frantic and files a missing persons report at the conway police department. the next day, the community is rattled by the news. >> we are follow field goal news of a search for a missing teenager from conway tonight. >> what was your first thought? >> i was shocked that 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 remembers the last time she saw abby. 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 science 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 general's office got involved, the fbi, state police. basically created a dragnet in the north conway area looking for abby hernandez. >> reporter: the story leads the evening news. >> the town residents out all day searching. >> she was last seen leaving kennett high. >> this is the first time we heard from abby's mother since she went missing. 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 ♪ >> reporter: and zenya has a message for her daughter. >> we miss you so badly. sara and i think about you all the time. and 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. >> and as we have said over the course of the past five days, this is a missing person 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 communications with her 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 just didn't see anything that was suggestive to us that something she had done had caused her disappearance. >> classic teenage girl? >> that's what she appeared to be. >> reporter: but a classic teenage girl doesn't just vanish on her way home from school. >> i think the things 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 belongings for a significant period of time away from home. >> please stay strong. >> reporter: when we come back, after weeks without leads, clues, or any word from abby, a stunning development. this letter in zenya's mailbox. >> it's a letter from nobody knew where. >> reporter: what it says and who it's from, next. ♪ ♪i've got the brains you've got the looks♪

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hi baby that thing you're tasting? it's called skin. it's kinda weird. it's stretchy and sensitive and so delicate. and with your dad here, we'll help keep it clean and healthy. we're huggies by the way. hi! we got you, baby. still not edible. >> 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, so consumed with ongoing search, 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 from well-wishers. there was another envelope, and it appeared to be a letter from abby. >> did it say "dear mom"? >> yeah. >> i mean, 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 and tv 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 her but it's not her. >> reporter: the letter was sent 13 days after abby disappeared and brings 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 goal of 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 had 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 are still classifying this as a missing person case. >> were you concerned at all about this letter now 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 have formed 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. the talk on social media, abby is a runaway, not a victim. >> sounds like abby is a punk teenager who ran away. >> doesn't sound like she's in any danger. >> she should be forced to pay back the state. >> this story has been fishy from the very beginning. >> reporter: a torrent of rumors and innuendos swirls through the high school says her friend, miranda. >> it was definitely a hot topic for gossip. >> what was the talk in the hallways? >> being in high school most people want to assume, oh, she was pregnant, that that must be why she ran away. >> did that bother you? >> it did bother me. she and i were very close, and i knew she was not pregnant. >> when you hear people starting to doubt the story and doubting 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 cleared abby's boyfriend, and though they have no suspects, they are convinced abby is in danger. >> people just don't 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. >> reporter: so just where is abby hernandez, and why? the answers lie in the white mountains, in a tiny town with a big secret. speaking out for the very first time, abby tells us how she got there. when we come back. t-mobile is . we also believe in putting people first by treating them right. so we're upping the benefits without upping the price. introducing magenta max. now with unlimited premium data that can't slow down based on how much smartphone data you use. plus get netflix on us, and taxes and fees included! you won't find this with the other guys. in fact, you'll pay more and get less. right now, pay zero costs to switch! and bring your phone -- we'll pay it off!

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also open in milpitas, burlingame and san leandro. >> reporter: since abby hernandez went missing many months have passed. her 15th birthday cake untouched. >> i still have a piece of it. i still do actually 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 that 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. 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, an early birthday gift have rubbed blisters on her feet, so when a car pulls over offering a ride -- just like that? >> yeah. >> abby accepts. 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? or anything like that? >> yeah, i think that's commonsense, but conway is such a friendly town. >> did he look scary at all? >> no, not really. he just 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 at a nearby restaurant, but the driver says he needs to make a stop at home depot. the man pulls into a spot at the far end of the parking lot. are 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 actually live really close to here. i think i can walk. i unbuckled my seat belt. he kind of straightened his legs. he was digging for something, and then 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 says he whips off his plain baseball cap and shoves it on her head, sliding the brim over her face, 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. but i remember thinking to myself, i got to work with this guy. i got to do something. i said, i don't judge you for this. if you let me go, i won't tell anybody. i said, you actually 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. >> what was it? >> i realize, oh, 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 obviously had a gps on it, so that was kind of my hope. he grabbed 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, popping sound of, like, glass and wires. >> reporter: abby says 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 it painted black ♪ >> reporter: she says after the long drive to a rural, 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, dark room, 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 like, almost like 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 he let me watch the press conference where my mom was looking for me. that's when i really wanted to cry. >> and we want you back with us please. >> i think maybe that's when i did cry for the first time. > and nobody knows where you are and nobody knows what you're going through. >> right. i remember her 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 told me, try to make it sound like you ran away an a little bit. try to convince them you're

okay. because 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 fingernail to carve words into that letter. >> i said, help, kidnapped. >> reporter: a brilliant and bold strategy until it backfires. >> he said, i found your messages. and i just felt my heart sink. i was like, oh, my good, he's 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've 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. that's what i try to tell myself. >> reporter: when we come back,

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>> reporter: follow this steep, scenic road and eventually you will reach the top of mt. washington. the highest peak in the northeast. the endless view, a stark abby hernandez is the needle in a new hampshire haystack, and just below the clouds is the hamlet of

>> gorham is 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. at the front door, the home owner 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 about the constitution and, you know, its origins and its meaning.

>> reporter: his name is nate kibby, and his right to bear arms fits perfectly with his ability to make them. the 33-year-old kibby works as a machinist at 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 involved the police. they involved oftentimes weapons and, to some degree, violence. and 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 that he was disgruntled. 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 hs 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 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 the paperwork getting to us. so, that was odd. >> 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 benjamin spots another oddity, a 40-foot cargo container, the kind normally used to transport products all over the 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 outwit her captor, pretending to bond. >> he said, you have, like, the closest thing i'll ever have to a daughter. >> reporter: stay with us. t-mobile is upgrading its network at a record pace. we were the first to bring 5g nationwide. and now that sprint is a part of t-mobile, we're turning up the speed. upgrading over a thousand towers a month with ultra capacity 5g to bring speeds as fast as wi-fi to cities and towns across america. and we're adding more every week. coverage and speed, who says you can't have it all?

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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 dsturbing for television, but she tells them in a manner that's remarkably matter of fact. though she never treated abby, psychologist rebecca bailey says it's not uncommon. >> she seems very matter of fact almost as she is talking about it. >> 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, be 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 music really loud. i was gagged and everything.

>> reporter: does the torture ease up? does it get worse? >> he said, you know, i'm thinking of finding something more humane to keep you quiet. he said, i'm thinking a of a shock collar. you know, like dogs wear. >> a shock collar? >> i remember 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 you ever learn his name? did he say 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 a car, and 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 eight minutes long. i told myself, after i sing this in my head, eight minutes had gone by. >> reporter: the ride seems endless, and as the teenager 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 finally arrived. >> he carried me over his shoulder into a room and he 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, but 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 he 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, 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 told me about his experiences in juvenile prison and 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, he was, like, you need to cook for your man when you get one. he always told me -- he said, you're, like, the closest thing i'll ever had to a daughter. i guess he kind of 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 block letters, and the name was nate kibby. >> reporter: abby hernandez has ucovered 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. >> hi seemed like he needed motherly love. >> stay with us. ugly fender be. if i can eke out a win, it's going to be a miracle, baby! uh, mr. vitale? it wouldn't be a miracle because geico gives you a team of experts to help manage your claim. it's going to be a nail-biter. no, the geico team is there for you 24/7. geico is awesome, baby! (shouting) too much? i think we got it. yeah. thanks. thank you. geico. great service without all the drama.

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>> 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 from 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's done bad things. i said, you know, we all have done bad things in life. >> reporter: the two spend a few 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 will later use one of those bills at a nearby walmart. >> the cashier grabbed it and she said, yeah, just give me one minute. i said, okay, no problem. >> reporter: seconds later, lauren's 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 [ bleep ] 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, i 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. we parked there and i wore a ball cap so nobody 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 took the hat off, i threw it in the car, slammed the door, and he drove off. >> 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. >> reprter: 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 seeing.

>> 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. before letting abby go, he's provided her a fake story to explain her disappearance to police. a story that conveniently does not include him. fr a while, 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 name, 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 was like, no, no, no. no, no, he doesn't.

like, we're in a public place, she's like, he is going to come and shoot us. >> reporter: but a week later, abby is finally able to break free from 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, and kibby, who by now has reclaimed all his guns after that assault charge was dropped, is armed to the teeth. >> i heard the radio communications say that he had a pistol in his waistband, and i felt like the next communication was going to 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 nate kibby 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. >> 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: at 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. >> well, 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 there 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, purchase

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 that she has found a new reason to embrace life. she and her new boyfriend were 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. why keep it in different places? sofi is a one-stop shop for your finances- designed to work better together.

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>> announcer: this is a special edition of "20/20." the deadliest mass murder since 2019. >> eight people killed. seven women. six for of asian descent. all fellow americans. each one of them, we mourn. >> fear, brutal assault, and hate all in the shadow of a pandemic. >> the shootings took place as violent hate crimes and discrimination of asian-american has risen over the last year. >> why is this happening, and what's being down to stop it? >> what happens right now and over the course of the coming months will send a message for generations to come as to will