he took me out of the car. they had me kneel. i was sure that that was it, they were going to kill me. she was a traveler. adventurer, reporter. then, she became a prisoner. >> they have brought me out to kill me. >> reporter: taken hostage in one of the most dangerous places on earth. >> i was hanging on by a thread. >> her best hope for freedom -- >> mom and dad, i love you. >> -- her mother, an ocean away. she would turn investigator, then negotiator. >> we are not playing games. >> it was heartache. >> could she save her only

daughter? >> i just felt like i had to. i had had to be strong for her. also tonight, another powerful story of survival with another mother at the center. >> snow has not let up. i just want to go home. >> a single mother trapped in a sudden storm, out of gas, out of time, and nearly out of hope. >> nobody's ever going to find me here. >> she didn't know what was coming so she wasn't prepared. >> but i can't walk out in this because i don't have the clothing. >> it's a story of heartbreak. >> i just fell to the floor in the hospital with my kids balling. >> -- of a rebel brother's refusal to give up. >> so you just had had a hunch. >> better than a hunch. >> and one woman's grit and determination. >> as soon as the sun comes out i'm going to have to try to make

it. i just want to see my babies and my mom. >> a haunting message, a harrowing journey. i'm lester holt, and this is "dateline." we begin tonight with andrea canning, a story "against all odds." the sierra nevada mountains. california. november 2012. >> i was so cold. i couldn't feel my feet anymore and i couldn't get warm. >> reporter: a ferocious winter storm had had trapped 46-year-old paula lane. no one knew where she was and she thought she was going to die. >> i begged to be taken. >> reporter: but she was desperate to see her children so she set out on a dangerous journey. >> if i'm going to die, i'm going to die trying. >> reporter: and in case she didn't make it, she left a good-bye message. >> i'm so sorry this has happened.

>> reporter: the story began days earlier on thursday, november 29th. paula and her boyfriend were doing chores at his mom's place in a sacramento suburb called citrus heights. >> that morning, thursday morning, he got up on the roof and started repairing. >> reporter: she was in the garden pulling up green tomato plants. >> i was enjoying doing that. i love gardening. i love having my hands in the dirt. that's another passion of mine. i just love gardening. >> reporter: rod and paula were a free-wheeling 40-something couple. adventurers both. she had 11-year-old twin boys. rod had three daughters of his own. they'd been a couple for six months. >> i always felt safe with him. always. called him my super man. >> he was your protector. >> reporter: on this november day they were planning to drive to paula's place in nevada for dinner. it is a 2 1/2-hour drive through the mountains.

before she left, she called her mom who she lives with. she grabbed a bag of those green tomatoes and she was ready to go. it was mid afternoon. >> how was the weather that day. >> it was clear when we left. >> a beautiful day? >> yeah, it was. >> both paula and rod were dressed for late fall in jeans and light jackets. it was almost 60 degrees that day. >> i had on my cat tennis shoes which are leather but this high. >> reporter: they were driving rod's jeep cherokee, a 1989 mod. he had just acquired. they drove through the mountains and made an impromptu stop about 25 miles from paula's place. while they were there she pick up some rocks and put them in her pocket. >> i'm a rock hound. i love rocks. everywhere i go i usually pick up a couple. >> reporter: paula never dreamt how important those rocks would become. their next stop was at the intersection of two main highways. this place. it's called a yert.

>> a gal rents out cross-country skis, sleds. >> reporter: they decided to check it out so they pulled in, poked around and then drove to a mountain road they knew well. the road had a gate across it and a sign saying "closed." >> rod says, i want to go test out the jeep in deep snow. i said, well, no, you can't, the gate's closed. he says, well, yes, we can. i said that's going to be a big fine. said i don't think this is a good idea. >> but she says rod prevailed, went around the gate and rejoined the road higher up. >> what was your gut telling you? >> it was enough for me to say i don't think we should do this. because i trusted him, if i'd have said rod, no, he would have said okay. he would have. >> reporter: they both knew this mountain road. there is a lake at the end about six miles away called burnside lake. they camp there in the summer with paula's boys.

and anyway, it was a kick. four-wheeling through the snow. it's a popular activity in these parts, especially in the back country. but then plau waaula wanted to around and rod wanted to keep going. >> well, let's turn around. well, in isn't a good place to turn around. well now we've gone this far. >> were you having a good time? >> kind of, and kind of not. >> they made it to burnside lake 7:00 that evening. the snow was deep and it was cold. very cold. and it was here that things went terribly wrong. >> we went to do a three-point turn and after he went reverse, then forward, it was an absolute drop thug. it was like -- uh-oh. he says that's okay. we'll get out of this. we'll rock it, we'll do whatever. >> reporter: the jeep's left front tire was wedged if a deep rut.

they did everything they could to free it but nothing worked. they couldn't call for help, there was no cell phone service. back at home, paula's mom delores wasn't too worried when rod and paula didn't show up. it was the fact that they didn't call that surprised her. >> paula was good at calling us and letting her know what her had time schedule was. >> reporter: dee kept things calm, telling them their mom was on her way home. time dragged. >> then rod's mom called me later thursday and said have you heard from the kids? i said no. she said well i haven't either. >> reporter: alexis is rod's younger sister. she got a call from their mom. >> she said have you heard anything from your brother zp i said am i supposed to hear something from my brother? didn't think anything of it. >> reporter: by 11:00 that night

after spending four hours trying to get the jeep free, paula was exhausted. >> i said hey, let's get in the jeep, snuggle up, get warm and try again in the morning. >> that was a major decision to spend the night there. >> had to. >> so you had almost no gat gas. >> correct. >> no water. >> correct. >> no boots. >> correct. >> no warm clothes. >> correct. >> and barely any food. >> correct. >> they huddled together in the back of the jeep, wet and tired and freezing cold. it was bad and it was about to get worse. >> let's talk about the timing of these three storms. >> reporter: there were storms on the way. severe storms. l paula and rod didn't have a clue. >> how did you not know? just not listen to tv? >> no. and that's not like me. i figured he must have. it was silly. >> reporter: the snow started falling overnight and temperatures fell below freezing. paula kept telling herself to be positive, but she remembers the

words she blurted out to rod as the storm gathered force around them. >> i did tell him that night i didn't want to die. when we come back, the next day the couple faced a terrifying choice. stay trapped in the jeep and hope for a rescue, or head out into the storm and struggle for miles through four feet of snow. >> he says okay, i'm going to do this. we kissed each other an said we loved each other. for cross-country, classical. and for jumps, i need something...special. so i use my citi thankyou visa card for music downloads and earn two times the points... plus a little extra inspiration. [ ♪ music plays ] the citi thankyou preferred visa card. earn two times the points on entertainment and dining out with no annual fee. citi, with you every step of the way. [ laughs ]

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as a winter storm howled around them, paula lane and her boyfriend, rod clifton, spent a frigid night trapped in their jeep in the sierra nevada mountains. when friday morning came there was a lull in the storm. they tried again to pull the jeep out.

again, they had no luck. >> and i said, you know, one of us needs to try to get out. >> she knew they were so ea isolated, no one would find them, if anyone was looking. rod immediately volunteered to go. >> he said paula, i'm leaving. >> well, i was ready to go because i had the better clothing, i thought. he said no, no, no, i'm going to go. >> paula says she tried to get him to wait but he wouldn't, so she prepared him. it was a six-mile trek out and the snow was waist deep in places. she couldn't do much about his wet motorcycle pants but she could about his shoes. >> he had had little tiny tennis shoes on, like beach shoes. i said let me get your feet wrapped up. plastic bag i cut in half, put around his feet, taped it up, and then put my socks over the top of that. >> she gave him her ski mask to

cover his face and he was ready. >> he was looking down for a long time. and then he look at me and we kissed each other and said we loved each other. and it's almost like he knew, too? >> knew what? >> that probably be the last time we of are ever saw each other. >> she watched him walk away. a big guy fighting to get through the snow. she was still watching when a gust of snow blew up whiting him out. >> i wished i would have begged him to stay. >> by now, two families were uneasy, calling each other. rod's sister -- >> i'm like have you heard anything yet? "no, i haven't heard anything yet." >> that afternoon, her uneasiness turned into outright fear. >> boys came home from school, is mom here?

then my heart dropped because, i said no, we haven't heard from them yet. >> finally, rod's mom couldn't take it anymore. late friday afternoon, lois clifton filed a missing persons report for rod and paula in california. >> it was horrible. the wondering, knowing that there was a snowstorm. >> that night dee called her local sheriff's department in nevada. paula's sons in their bedroom were listening. >> when we first knew she was missing, grandma called and she was like, i would like to report a missing person. she didn't know we were awake so we heard that whole conversation. >> were you worried? >> yeah. >> did you think that maybe something bad had happened to her? >> yeah. >> yeah. >> it was becoming clear to dee that the whole family needed to pull together if they were ever going to find the missing couple. she called her son, gary. after all, he had always watched over his little sister. >> i look out for her best i can. you know?

kind of hard to keep an eye on that girl. >> reporter: gary knew paula had taken off in the past without telling anyone where she was going. but dee told him this time was different. >> mom made sure that i was aware that it was different. that's the call that i got. straight from the boss. >> reporter: back at burnside lake, paula dozed, waiting for rod's return. but as the hours passed, the storm got worse. the temperature dropped. the snow wouldn't let up. and rod was out there somewhere. >> he was walking out into the worst of it. >> reporter: mark finen is the chief meteorologist at sacramento's kcra tv. >> if he was trying to make that seven-mile trip down into it, i don't know how he could have done that. >> reporter: at 11:00 p.m., paula woke up scared, upset. rod had told her he'd be back in a couple of hours but he'd been gone 14. >> i said something happened, something not good.

>> where does your mind go at that point? >> i wanted to help him. that's all i could think of is i can't even go help him. >> reporter: paula ran the car to get warm using the last of the gas. she never felt so alone. she didn't think anyone would be looking for them. that night she started what became a ritual. >> i would say outloud, mom, sam, haden, burnside lake. burnside lake. i would say it outside. burnside lake. >> tell them where you were. >> yeah. >> the same night as haden was lying in bed watching tv, the strangest thing happened. >> commercial came on, burnside lake, tours now. >> reporter: haden remembered the lake from camping trips. >> so you saw the commercial. >> yeah. >> and that made you think maybe that's where they are? >> yeah. and i came out and told grandma. >> reporter: to dee, it was as if he had heard his mom. so she called her local sheriff's office to suggest a

search of burnside lake. >> they've camped back in there several times. just in case they might have gotten stuck or the car quit working on them. >> reporter: an alpine county sheriff's official was dispatched to look. he reported back to his boss. >> burnside lake is closed and the road is snowed in. >> they called and told me they couldn't go in there. because of the locked gate and the snow. >> so did you just think, okay? >> i figured they knew what they were talking about. you know? i didn't push it and i -- that's a -- horrible regret, not safing you guys got to go down there. >> reporter: that night paula wasn't just cold and lonely and scared, she was grieving. you didn't know what happened to rod obviously but -- >> i knew. >> you knew. >> because of how wicked the storm got. >> reporter: and the weather was about to get even worse and

paula became convinced she'd never make it out alive. >> i just want to see my babies and my mom.

i'm so sorry this has happened.1

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on saturday, december 1st, paula woke up about 6:00 a.m. she had survived a second night in the wild, but she was worried sick about her boyfriend, rod, who'd hiked out for help the day before. >> we had no clue it was coming and how hard it would be to try to traipse out of there. >> reporter: things were grim in the jeep. paula was living on one green tomato a day, eating snow to stay hydrated. and drawing on every ounce of ingenuity she possessed to stay warm. remember those rocks she'd picked up a lifetime ago? she needed them know.

>> i look around the seat, there is a budweiser can can, empty one. and we had some motor oil and rod had his folder with his resume stuff in it. and i wadded up some little pieces of paper, put a couple drops of that oil in there, stuck the rocks in there, caught them on fire and did it a couple times to get them hot enough and stuck them in the pockets of my inner jacket. >> reporter: by now she was wearing three pairs of jeans, three jackets and socks she had made from masking tape and tissue. >> i had no more masking tape. so i had to preserve the socks that i made. >> reporter: that day, as rain lashed the lower elevations, searchers went out looking for the missing couple, checking highways in two states -- california and nevada. lois, rod's mom, searched, too, and drove right by the road paula and rod had taken.

>> i got to 88 and 89 and i looked up the hill and i said, that's where they were camping. and there was no sign of them. >> reporter: no one could locate the missing jeep. it was torture for the families. linda hathaway is paula's older sister. >> so i told my husband, i said i got to go be with my mom. >> they told us they had the search and rescue out and they had had to wait for the storm to pass before they could use the helicopters. >> reporter: at burnside lake, paula had a brief blazing moment of hope. she caught a glimpse of the sun, the first time in two days. she gathered her things as fast as she could to make a break for it. but then the storm came roaring back. >> i just had to keep telling myself, it's got to break, it's got to break. things go through your mind. nobody's going to find you back here purp's going to freeze to death in this jeep. >> it must be tempting to just want to go. >> yeah. because you are terrified.

>> reporter: saturday night the storm raged strong her than ever. >> the winds were howling with that one. if we saw the strongest winds, it was late saturday night, early sunday morning. >> reporter: gusts slammed into the jeep, rocking it violently. there was no way she could sleep or stay warm. her dreams began, they were horrible. >> i was right by the gate. >> i was calling 911, somebody help me. we are 911. well, can you come in here and help me? no, the gate's closed and we can't come inside. >> so in your dreams they couldn't come get you. >> yeah. just like right there. right there. >> reporter: by day three, she was spent. cold and frightened and at her wit's end. >> it is now sunday morning and snow has not let up.

it is about 6 1/2 feet deep, i think. >> reporter: she had survived so far on guts and green tomatoes but she knew she couldn't hold out much longer. sitting in the jeep, she used the last of the battery in her camera to make a farewell video for her family. >> i'm eating as much snow ascii remember to and try to stay warm. i just want to come home. rod left friday morning. i don't know what happened to him. i don't know if he got hypothermia or frostbite or some greater harm. he didn't come back. oh, god. i feel so bad. >> reporter: and then came the

most heartbreaking moment of all. >> i just want to see my babies and my mom. i'm so sorry this has happened. >> i didn't want it to turn out the way it did, you know? but you can obviously see that i thought i was going to die. coming up -- on the fourth morning, paula would make a faithful decision. nothing could have prepared her for the consequences. >> you know, this is it. this is how i'm going. >> reporter: and coming up later on date line, another young woman caught in a harrowing struggle to survive. >> it was the moment that i had been fearing. devastating when it happened. >> reporter: she had been kidnapped and held captive in a dangerous land. what were the chances she'd make it out alive? >> you're playing detective. >> i learned to analyze everything. >> reporter: enter -- her mother an ocean away. could she help bring her

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paula lane had had started her third day in the sierra nevada mountains in tears, recording that farewell video for her family.third day in the mountains in tears, recording that farewell video for her family. >> i'm so sorry this has happened. >> reporter: but paula wasn't leaving the jeep any time soon. the winds were especially fierce that morning, gusting up to 80 miles an hour. >> i couldn't see how she could have look out the window of the jeep and thought now is a good time to go. any time during the day on sunday. >> reporter: paula was holed up in the back seat with no way to know that search teams were out looking for her, whenever the weather allowed it. the same day paula's brother gary and a friend conducted their own search. >> we're stopping at restaurants

and bars and places and then asking, have they seen them? >> reporter: paula spent another night sleeping fitfully. sunday turned into monday. day four. she woke up early and kicked her way out of the jeep. checked the sky and couldn't believe what she saw. the storm was over. finally. >> and it was warmer outside than it was in the jeep. it was a no-brainer. >> reporter: she got back in the jeep and packed her backpack. >> i had nye knife, my flash my, my scissors, and my tomatoes, of course. what i had left. >> you're like the mcgyver of the mountains. >> it's all i had, you know? >> reporter: she put on makeshift gloves of tape and tissue and said good-bye to the jeep. >> kicked my way out and headed off. >> you said i'm going for it. >> yeah. ima he getting out of here. maybe i can find rod and still save him and kind of lost the hopes of that happening real quick. >> reporter: why?

she was sinking in snow that came up to her thighs in places. some four feet of fresh snow had fallen while she was stranded in the jeep. weeks after her ordeal, "dateline" took paula back to burnside lake. she showed us how she crawled to get through deep snow. >> i'd just go like that, like that. i'd look down and every once in a while look up, make sure i was still following the trail. and then just keep going. and whenever i'd stop to eat some snow and rest, i would always whistle, yell. >> that's a good whistle! >> reporter: but she was deteriorating out there on her own. her body was failing her. she started to vomit blood. she continued down the road but her progress was painfully slow. what gave you the strength to keep going? >> i want to see my babies.

you see ""finding nemo"?" i kept singing ♪ just keep crawling ♪ just keep crawling >> reporter: but by sunday she was beyond tired. she couldn't stop shaking, she feel her hands. she had one tomato left and she couldn't bear to eat it. she rested against a tree and finally hit her breaking point. >> i at that point laid there and said, please forgive me, but please take me now. thought about taking off my clothes just to get it done faster. >> because you had been so strong up to this point. what changed? >> i knew i hadn't made it very far. nobody was looking for me out there. you know? this is it. this is how i'm going. >> reporter: she crawled over to a mound in the snow. turns out it was a hollow tree lying on the ground.

it didn't take her long to figure out that she'd just discovered a refuge. >> if you look down in there you can see how far down it goes. >> reporter: paula climbed inside leaving only her face exposed. she soon discovered she was shacked up with a nest of spiders and those spiders were biting her. she was too exhausted to care. she fell asleep in the stump not knowing, or caring, if she ever woke up again. >> i want them home. >> reporter: lois clifton told -- >> reporter: by now the story of the missing couple had had hit the local news. >> i ache. i cry. >> reporter: both families were losing hope. all the searches, including their own, had failed. paula's mom dee would lie awake at night and think the worst. >> did they go off a cliff? maybe they were carjacked. then i turn the tv on hoping there would be something there. >> what was it like for you, linda, the waiting? >> it's very hard because

there's no sign, no -- you know, and nobody coming to say hey, we haven't found a car. >> paula's twins dealt with it their way. >> my one friend daniel, his dad is a snowplow man. so i told him because he knows what our mom looks like. i said tell your dad, see if he can can find our mom. >> reporter: but that snowplow mom would have never found their mom inside a tree stump in theethe unforgiving sierra. paula spent most of the day in the tree stump, mostly sleeping. then the next day she knew after two nights in the tree strurm it was time to go. >> it was just like an overwhelming feeling like none other. >> reporter: she set out again crawling pushing her backpack in front of her following the road ahead of her and soon she made a heartbreaking discovery. >> i just crawled right up on him.

right there. >> reporter: it was rod, her super man, lying on his back in the middle of the road with his arms crossed and she says a smile on his face. >> and i knew he wasn't alive because there was just little bit of snow across his neck, across just half of his mouth right here. >> reporter: she knelt and cried and said good-bye. >> i didn't say sorry. i just said thank you for trying to save my life. >> do you think rod had a moment like you did given the way that you found him that he had said it's my time now? >> yeah. >> i'm ready? >> and i'm going to not go out suffering. >> did seeing rod, for some reason, give you strength to go on? >> oh, yeah. >> even though he didn't make it? >> oh, yeah. >> why did that give you strength? >> because one of us had had to make it out for our kids. i mean i needed to tell them,

his daughters, i needed to be there for my sons. >> reporter: she spent half-an-hour kneeling by his body. and then, she says, it was time to go. >> i had no doubt i was getting out of there, no matter what it took. i mean i was going to die trying. coming up -- while paula struggles to get out, her family gets a bizarre clue from thousands of miles away. >> i knew she was there. i knew it was her. in 1953. afghanistan, in 2009. orbiting the moon in 1971. [ male announcer ] once it's earned, usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection. and because usaa's commitment to serve current and former military members and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve.

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by wednesday, december 5th, paula's sixth day in the wild, gary lane had become convinced that his sister and rod were at burnside lake. >> what was it about burnside lake? >> they had disappeared up there one time before. that's where they were. >> so you just had a hunch. >> turned out to be better than a hunch, didn't it? >> reporter: gar are y >> reporter: gary and brian, his buddy, decided to check out

burnside their selves and do it their way. >> i remember you said you knew in your heart they was there. >> that's true. >> reporter: but they ran into trouble immediately. problems with their jeep. as brian worked on it, gary spotted a front-end loader in a shed. >> he goes brian, there's a loader in there. >> was it locked up? >> no, no, it wasn't locked up. the key was in there. >> so it was just there for the taking. >> no, wasn't there for the taking but it was there for the borrowing. >> reporter: for your purposes. gary is a maverick, so borrowing the loader, a vehicle like this one, wasn't a stretch. plus, gary had driven tanks in the army. had he no trouble getting the big machine moving, and it went a short distance, but then he couldn't change gears. >> so the tractor wouldn't go any farther and it was getting dark. i said, well, we're going to have to find another way. we're going to have to do something different. >> reporter: but they were cold, and tired. they decided to go back to dee's place. never guessing what would happen next.

>> i'm not sure if i was asleep but it was so real. >> reporter: tamara small would give them a lead, the only one they had had. though it seemed bizarre at the time. tamara lives across the country near albany, new york. growing up she loved her cool aunt paula. when she heard she was missing, she was concerned. one night was especially bad. >> i was up all night one night crying and racking my brain. >> reporter: she finally went to bed, and perhaps the lane family bond was at work that night. because suddenly tamara says she felt her aunt paula in the room. >> all of a sudden i got this overwhelming sensation of warmth. i felt like she was right next to my nightstand. i couldn't see her, couldn't hear her. i knew she was there. that's when i started dreaming about her being in a big body of water, stranded. i couldn't really see her but i knew it was her. >> but during the dream she was --

>> very much alive. very much alive. >> reporter: tamara want an explanation so she decided to go to a psychic. >> she couldn't see if anybody was dead or alive but she did say that she saw a blue vehicle and water. >> reporter: the psychic was right about one thing -- rod's jeep was dark blue. tamara called her dad. >> what did you tell your father about this dream? >> i said dad, it is just a little dream that i had but i really have this strong instinct that you need to look near water. >> reporter: her dad immediately called gary who had just returned to the failed attempt to go up to burnside lake. >> she described that place to a tee going in there. then she described the jeep. >> you must have been thinking, come on. psychic? >> you know, i had nothing else to grasp for to point me in the right direction but that was enough. you know? >> reporter: but his mom didn't want him to go back that night. dee feared she might lose another child. >> i said, gary, it's dark, it's

late. wait until tomorrow. you can see what you're doing. >> what did gary say to you? >> i'm going, mom. >> reporter: and he did. he and brian headed back to burnside road but linda and dee weren't holding out hope they would be any more successful this time so they told paula's boys their mom might not return. sam still chokes up at the thought. >> our grandma's in her last years. she can't take care of us. so who are we going to go to? i mean our mom -- she hasn't taught us everything yet. >> reporter: little did they know the drama that was playing out just 20 miles away on the side of a mountain, because this time gary managed to get the loader working and he took it up burnside road. it was tough going. >> the snow was getting deep and the tractor wouldn't go anymore. i started picking it up, scooping it up. >> reporter: incredible as it sounds, gary was guided by the

tracks rod's jeep had left six days before, still visible even after the storms. >> did you catch a glimpse of the tracks first? >> know, in four, five fooft snow there's two tracks going follow me, boys. i mean like i couldn't have not followed themfy tried. >> reporter: as gary was maneuvering up the road, paula was crawling down. she remembers it began to rain about 7:00 that night. >> i started getting really scared because the coat i had on wasn't water resistant and i curled up in a little ball and i had a good cry. >> reporter: and then miracul s miraculously i heard noises. >> then i heard this tractor. then pretty soon i see lights. i'm like i'm near the road! oh, my god! i'm near the road, i can can make it! yay! i'm screaming and whistling. >> reporter: gary taught her that whistle when they were kids. but he didn't hear her at first.

until he turned the tractor off. then he knew. >> that was her. i knew it was her. >> reporter: he got the big machine moving again and he headed her way. >> i heard the tractor start again and i'm like, oh, my god, they're coming this way. i'm sorry. >> have you ever felt such joy in your whole life? >> no. never. coming up -- emotions catch up with paula's kids who came so close to losing their mom to the mountains. >> that would have just been so bad. >> and plau answpaula answers t who say you took too many many chances. >> you didn't feel reckless. coming up later on "dateline" -- kid nanappedkidna. >> it was heartache. i just want to bring her home, never let her go. >> a daughter in danger, a mother in action. see her incredible fight to save her child's life when "dateline" continues. if it doesn't work fa.

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after six days in the wilderness, paula lane finally heard signs of life. she kept moving, propelling herself forward, desperate to reach them, whoever they were. >> she come out of nowhere and looked like -- right in the middle of the road. just out of nowhere she just land there. >> reporter: gary's friend brian pick her up and bundled her into dry clothes. >> she was saying she was going to lose her feet. she was worried about that. >> reporter: but she still had no idea who was driving the tractor. and then she heard a voice asking, where's rod? >> and i said, he's dead. and i hear, what? and then i see somebody come around and i see it's gary. and i think i said his name a

million times gary, gary, gary, gary -- i mean i said it a million times and he pointed at me and he says i got you, i got you, i knew you were here. >> i was -- i don't know -- i was pretty happy. i was probably more out of control than ever, too. >> reporter: you somehow paula and brian got into the loader's bucket and rode down the hill. a short time later, gary called home. bau lapaula's sister linda pick up the phone. >> he says i have her, i have her. >> we could hear him say that he found her. we all came unglued. >> aunt linda was screaming and yell. when he finally said those words, everybody just jumped everything. >>. >> reporter: gary took her to this resort nearby and she managed to eat a few mouthfuls of soup. >> when gary came in on a cal

transtractor, you pretty much had only hours to live. >> i wouldn't have made it through that night. i was still four miles away from the road. i'd have never made it. >> reporter: she was whisked away by ambulance to this carson city hospital and treated for mild frostbite on her feet. doctors called her a lucky woman. >> she really looked pretty good, i thought. as soon as the boys walked in she just beamed. >> they said you survived off tomatoes and watermelon. >> no, just tomatoes. i wish it was watermelon. i don't think i'd be without those. i knew i wouldn't be here if it weren't for you guys, green tomatoes and uncle gary. look up the word joy in the dictionary and you'll see my face. i mean it was what i lived for. >> reporter: it was, they all agreed, a miracle. but both families mourned rod's death. his mother lois got the bad news in a phone call from gary. >> gary said i'm sorry, but

rod's dead. and i pulled over to the side of the road and just lost it. >> reporter: rod's sister got word at the hospital. >> and i just fell to the floor in the hospital. my kid's balling. >> reporter: and back on the mountain with "dateline," paula remembered her super man. one of the hardest things i would imagine about this spot is this is the last time you saw rod alive. do you think about that now you're back? >> i don't want to think about the day i saw him walking away. i want to think about him being okay. >> reporter: a report from the alpine county sheriff's department later showed rod died of hypothermia but it also revealed he had methamphetamine and thc, the active ingredient in pot, in his body.

paula insists they weren't doing drugs together during their ordeal. she knows there are critics out there, people who have accused of couple of being reckless. she readily cops to making a mistake, but nothing more. >> i can tell you this -- that if it was an area that we had never been to? i don't think you would have ever done that. but because we know it so well, there was an element of comfortableness. >> was there an element of recklessness? >> no. no. not at all. >> paula's boys still think about rod's death and how close they came to losing their mother. >> if mom was up there, too? that would have just been so bad. would have been really sad that they were both gone. but thank god she wasn't up there, too. >> how lucky do you feel to have your mom with you every day? >> very lucky.

>> reporter: paula lane has been enjoying f ining family and fri never before and she wants to make those six days in the wilderness count to be a better mother, daughter and sister, to live her life differently. >> that's a second chance to be whole again. because i was in such a dark spot. a second chance. >> so who is the paula going forward. >> i just want to have a normal, happy life. see my kid grow up and be successful and every day above ground is a good day. >> you came out here foreclosure. do you have it? >> i think so. i think so. it was our fault. not mother nature's. you know? a and, yeah. i just -- i'm okay.

now, our second hour of "dateline." a young woman locked in a harrowing survival struggle of her own. >> it was the moment that i had been fearing. devastating when it happened. >> she was a reporter who suddenly became a prisoner. >> tonight they have brought me out to kill me. >> held captive in a land of chaos. >> i was in chains. hanging on by a thread. minute by minute. >> now, her mother would become her best chance to survive. >> you're playing detective. >> i learned to analyze everything. >> she's amazing, what she did. she literally worked around the clock, 24/7. >> could she get her daughter zbhak. >> back? >> it was heartache. i just want to bring her home, never let her go.

>> here's kate snow with "kidnapped." plk. amanda. amanda, i love you. >> it is hard to imagine being the mother on the other end of this call. >> if you guys don't pay $1 million for me by one week, they will kill me. okay? >> her daughter was on the phone a world away. she'd been kidnapped in one of the most dangerous places on earth. >> i feel so awful. i can't believe they're doing this. i hate that i am doing this to you guys. >> reporter: this mother negotiated with kidnappers with her daughter's life on the line. >> did you keep it together? >> i did. i had to be strong for her. >> and the daughter faced unimaginable fears. >> my head was pulled back and

then there was a serrated knife. >> reporter: their stories are intertwined. amanda and her mother lorinda, both women driven by strength, courage, and most of all, endurance. a story amanda told in detail in the book she's written, and here on "dateline." it all begins here in western canada in the small town of sylvan lake, a place that looks and sounds idyllic but amanda's childhood wasn't. her parents divorced when she was 8. her mother worked mostly cashier jobs to raise three children. the family always seemed to be on the move. life wasn't easy for mother and daughter. amanda yearned, even at an early age, for a world beyond her hometown. >> one constant was that i wanted to be a world traveler, that i wanted to go to every country in the world. >> you're a kid. how old are you? >> 8 years old. >> and you had stacks of national geographic.

>> the images that i saw on the pages of national geographic were everything that my hometown wasn't. like something out of a dream really. >> reporter: amanda realized her dreams of seeing the world in the 1990 9 90s when she was 19. she saved up enough tips working as a waitress for her first big trip to venezuela. >> we are driving away from the village. >> the whole world was wide open to me at that time. >> reporter: so wide open she traveled to guatemala, then thailand, even the middle east. then on a trip to africa in 2006 she found not only adventure but something else -- love. >> i see an attractive man sitting on the porch out in front of the hotel and that was nigel brennan. >> reporter: nigel, an australian photo journalist, was drawn to her as well. >> what were those first weeks

of your relationship like? >> we certainly bonded. i felt very passionate about what he was doing. >> reporter: but the passion and adventure she experienced with nigel in africa. there he told her had he a girlfriend. that wasn't true. he had a wife. >> i received a phone call from a tearful nigel telling me he had something to disclose. i felt sort of devastated by that news. >> reporter: amanda and nigel went their separate ways. she moved on. all the way to india. >> it's the interesting thing about pushing boundaries. you cross one and the next is right there. so going from india into pakistan, it did feel like a big deal to me. it was something i really wanted to do, and then i did it. and afghanistan was right next door. >> reporter: her mom wasn't thrilled as her daughter trekked into pakistan and afghanistan, both active war zones. she tried to talk amanda out of

that trip, but says her daughter was head-strong and the more amanda traveled, the more she begran to see a path to a career. >> at first she bawas traveling just for the sake of traveling, seeing the world. and then she thought, man, i would love to write about the people that i'm meeting. >> reporter: amanda sold her first story and photos about the remote pucci people of afghanistan. soon after that she got an unexpected call. a tv station backed by the iranian government wanted her to cover the war in iraq for them. working for iran was less than ideal, but amanda hoped it was a stepping stone to a better job. >> this is -- >> to be paid to live somewhere exotic must have been really attractive. >> yeah. yeah, absolutely. >> reporter: but war reporting was more daunting than she had expected. amanda wanted to get more experience but also cover stories she cared about. you need to get out there and go somewhere where you can get a break. >> i'm also starting to look

like a little bit further out on to the who are done, what other stories are out there that i feel passionate about. at the top of my list was somalia. >> reporter: somalia. one of the most dangerous countries on the planet. so much so few reporters ever travel there. there's been no national government for more than 20 years. islamic rebels rule much of the country, but amanda on her own as a freelance journalist wanted to make a name for herself. >> she did tell me that she was going to somalia. she had sent me -- >> reporter: kelly cox was amanda's best friend. they'd traveled the world together. she remembers amanda's desire to go to somalia. >> she felt it was really important that she went there, that there was hundreds of thousands of refugees starving in the refugee camps and nobody was telling their story. >> reporter: as amanda was launching this new phase of her professional life, her personal life intruded. she unexpectedly heard from nigel. now divorced.

>> i get an e-mail from nigel which was kind of out of the blue. >> so you tell him where you're going. >> i tell him where i'm going. he's still interested in pursuing journalism. why not invite him to come with me? >> amanda e-mailed her mother about the risky trip. >> and you're thinking what in. >> i would really rather she didn't go. >> do you think you were, maybe to use your mom's word, a little headstrong? >> yeah, i was headstrong. and i was even a touch naive. i don't think that i had spent enough time throughout my 20s thinking about what would happen if something did go wrong. >> reporter: it was on the flight into somalia that another passenger warned amanda and nigel just how wrong things could go. >> he said your head alone is worth half a million dollars in mogadishu. be careful. coming up, a single terrifying moment that transformed amanda's life.

>> a dozen armed men were emerging. all of them with ak-47s. i had went into shock. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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>> narrator: it looked peaceful from above as amanda lindhout and her friend nigel brennan descended into the war torn country of somalia in august of >> i got my first look at somalia from the airplane window, untouched paradise from the sky.

it was more frenzied than any other place she had ever been. >> was it something in the air, was it something you were hearing? >> it was very palpable in the airport. a very chaotic environment. >> narrator: the pair went to their hotel and met their local staff and security team, the people they hired to protect their lives. those first few days they moved around somalia with ease. >> i feel like i kind of settled into the mogadishu experience. >> narrator: back at home amanda's mother lorinda was worried about her daughter. >> i just made sure every time i talked to her that i told her i loved her. i couldn't say it enough. >> narrator: amanda managed to tamp down her nervousness and get to work looking for stories. that's what she was doing in the car with nigel on the day that would change their lives. as you're going down the road, what are you doing? >> looking out the window and lost in thought. the vehicle started to slow down

and i looked up. about a dozen armed men were emerging from where they had been hidden behind that vehicle. all of them with ak-47s. pointed at ours. i went into shock. the next thing i knew, my door was pulled open and then i found myself lying facedown in the dirt, spread eagle with a gun held to the back of my head. >> terrifying. >> that was a line in the sand of my life, there was my life before that moment and there's my life after that moment. >> narrator: in that moment, she feared her life might end. but instead, she was picked up and shoved back into a car with nigel, three gunmen crowded into the front seat, several more in the back. she didn't know who they were or why they were being taken. >> we went on this wild desert drive, off road. and one of the leaders of the whole kidnapping operation was in the front seat.

i asked, is this about money? and he said to me, uh, it might be something like that. >> narrator: 9,000 miles away from mogadishu in sylvan lake, canada, amanda's father was sitting there risening to the radio. a radio journalist on the line called in and said he had had seen a report that amanda had been kidnapped. amanda's father called her mother if a panic. >> i still remember john's voice on the phone. >> he was just in a complete panic and saying i don't know what to do. >> you must have felt so helpless? >> i felt like we were so far apart and with we didn't know where our daughter was. >> narrator: lorinda was still in shock when she arrived at her ex-husband's house, she was desperate to figure out what to do next. >> i just knew from the moment i walked in the door that i needed to snap myself together. >> i think i would have been a collapsed pile on the floor. >> well, i knew i couldn't.

i couldn't. because if i did, who would she have? >> reporter: canadian officials suspected this was a kidnapping. they scrambled to set up a recording system. they told lorinda amanda was likely taken by islamic rebels. >> the phone kept ringing. it was the kidnappers. >> reporter: they had amanda and her friend, nigel. the ran some -- $1.5 million for each of them. the negotiators told lorinda as hard as it would be, every time she answered the phone, she had to stay calm. >> so the next morning, my cell phone rang and it was adam who was negotiator for the kidnappers. >> hello? >> hello. >> reporter: when he called on day four, he had a surprise for lorinda. >> okay, lorinda. >> yes. >> talk to your daughter. >> amanda? >> mom? >> amanda, i love you

sweetheart. >> narrator: that call was the first proof that amanda was still alive, lorinda being coached by investigators told her daughter how much the captors demanded for each life they held. >> what's the amount? like they're not -- i have no idea. >> okay, well, he has asked for $1.5 million. >> oh, my god. >> amanda begged her captors to understand that the ransom might never be paid. >> my government does not pay money to me. my family does not make money. i come from a poor family. >> hello? >> narrator: then the call disconnected. >> did you have that kind of money? >> no, i was a single mom, raising, you know, raising my children. and her dad certainly wasn't in a position to pay that kind of money. >> reporter: by then, canadian

officials had routed lorinda's phone to an operations center they had set up and kept covert. she lived there and always was ready for the next call. >> after the first couple of weeks, we realized this might go on for longer than we hoped. >> on the other side of the globe, amanda and nigel couldn't know how long they would be held, but amanda feared the worst. >> i was the only female in a group of about 16 men. so there was a lot of scary thoughts. coming up, a mother springs into action. >> you're playing detective. >> i learned to analyze everything. as the stakes for her daughter rise dramatically. >> tonight they have brought me out to kill me. >> i had to be strong. we knew that things had taken a change. >> reporter: when "dateline" continues. [ male announcer ] we all deserve a good night's sleep. thankfully, there's zzzquil. it's not for colds, it's not for pain, it's just for sleep. ♪

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>> reporter: amanda lindhout and nigel brennan were kidnapped and taken to a compound in mogadishu.

she had no idea where. >> nigel and i were shot inside of a room together. there were thin foam mattresses on the floor and a sheet on each one. >> reporter: that was amanda's new reality. her mother lorinda's reality, lead negotiator. family members don't usually participate in the negotiations, it is too emotionally draining. but because she developed a rapport with the kidnappers, the canadian officials asked her to keep talking. >> every phone call i had a list of objectives and we were trying to find out as much information as we could. >> reporter: did you have this in front of you when you were on the phone? >> yes. and i would also have a negotiator beside me. >> can you read some of these? >> i have to know if amanda and nigel are alive. >> you're playing detective. >> i learned to analyze everything. >> you put your entire life on hold. >> absolutely. i was scared to leave the phone at all.

>> narrator: lorinda's entire existence revolved around the negotiations. nearly a month after amanda was taken, there had been dozens of nerve-racking calls. she was constantly trying to lower the ransom. all the while knowing that aid workers and journalists had not only been kidnapped but had also been killed in somalia. lorinda feared her daughter might be next. desperate for support, she reached out to amanda's good friend, kelly cox. kelly traveled to lorinda's home and saw firsthand just how strong a mother's love can be. >> she really didn't have a choice. i'm not sure that i could do that. i have a whole new respect for lo loreinda and what she did and how strong she was. she literally worked around the clock, 24/7. >> reporter: by the third week of captivity, amanda's and nigel's existence were reduced to one room. her body was sore from the hard floor, the thing amanda missed the most was seeing the sky. some of their captors were nicer than others. some threatening.

she says abdullah was the worst. >> almost as soon as we had been taken, abdullah seemed to lay some claim on me. >> reporter: during their ordeal, amanda and nigel were moved house to house many times, some worse than others, mold on the walls, cockroaches and rats on the floors. they were always trapped indoors, but all that changed nearly a month after they were taken. they were rousted out of their room and marched outside. >> we were terrified and a small video camera was brought out and set down on the ground before us and we were told to beg for our lives. >> reporter: it was a pivotal moment. on september 17, 2008, lorinda turned on the tv and saw this, a hostage video on al jazeera. she was crushed. it was the first time she saw amanda and nigel and they didn't look good. >> we're just analyzing her, how she looks, how she's holding herself.

>> you take your negotiator cap off and put your mom hat on. >> it was terrifying. but to be honest, i couldn't keep my mom hat on very often because i couldn't function. >> reporter: the video was broadcast without sound so lorinda couldn't hear her daughter but the image of the masked heavily armed captors made the situation very real. what are you feeling as you watched it? >> i just want to bring her home. never, never let her go. >> reporter: weeks passed and each day grew longer and more desperate for both mother and daughter. and then after two months, their captors moved amanda and nigel into separate rooms and kept them apart. >> why was that so important? >> that day and the days that followed were among the very, very worst because suddenly i'm

alone with my own thoughts and my mind. >> reporter: amanda's mind ran wild. the only woman in a house with 16 men. she feared she would be raped. >> it turns out your fears were justified. abdullah starts coming to your room. >> yeah. this is very hard to talk about. he did cross that line and my worst fears were realized. and my whole experience in captivity really changed. >> locked in that room, a simple act gave amanda strength. >> i would just walk in circles in this room that i was held in. i would walk with the dreams of the life that i hoped one day i would be able to go on and live. and that's what helped pull me out of the slump that i went into immediately after abdullah

started paying those first visits to my room. >> then one night in the fourth month of captivity, she was jostled awake and driven out to the desert alone. what happened next was terrifying. >> they brought me over to an akay acacia tree. they had me kneel and my head was pulled back. and there was a serrated knife. >> i can't imagine the horror you must have been feeling. >> so many times in those first months i had feared that my head would be cut off because it was something that they threatened us with a lot. i was sure that that was it, that they were going to kill me. >> it must have felt like an eternity. >> it did. i felt despair because i didn't want it to be the end.

>> and then they hand you a phone and who's on the phone? >> my mom. >> reporter: desperate, amanda had only three minutes to beg for her life. >> mom -- >> amanda, amanda, i love you. amanda, how are you? >> mom, listen, listen to me. >> okay. >> if you guys don't pay $1 million for me by one week, they will kill me. okay? tonight they have brought me out to kill me. but they have given me one more chance to call you guys. >> amanda, amanda, stay strong, stay strong, hon. >> that phone call definitely made it harder. not to let my imagination go. >> did you keep it together? >> i did. i did. >> how?

>> i just felt like i had to. i had to be strong for her. but after the call, we just sat there and cried. things had taken a change. they weren't going to be nice anymore. if you can call anything they did nice. >> coming up, a daring new plan -- >> we might have a chance to escape. >> armed with nail clippers and courage, the hostages make a dash for freedom. [ female announcer ] hands were made for playing. legs, for crossing. feet...splashing. better things than the joint pain and swelling of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. if you're trying to manage your ra, now may be the time to ask about xeljanz. xeljanz (tofacitinib) is a small pill, not an injection or infusion, for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well.

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>> reporter: amanda and nigel had been in captivity for five months, but it wasn't until she was taken out into the desert with a knife to her throat that she actually believed he was going to die in somalia.

the kidnappers had given an ultimatum -- your family pays up in a week or you'll be killed. >> as the day grew closer and then came and went, i realized that it was possible that was a fear tactic, but nor importantly, i just could not continue to let myself live in that dark place in my mind. i had to become stronger. >> reporter: amanda and nigel, in separate rooms, each with a window, had had discovered if they stood in just the right spots they could hear each other. they began to talk about getting out. >> nigel had done some investigating in the bathroom and realized that we might have a chance to escape out that bathroom window which at first seemed like an impossible idea. >> reporter: at their windows they plotted an escape straight out of a movie. >> that window was sealed. there had been bricks see meanted across the front of it. but as nigel had discovered, the mortar that held those bricks in

place was crumbling. and we had a pair of nail clippers that our captors had given us. >> nail clippers? >> nail clippers. >> little tiny things like that? >> yes. >> you used that? >> yes, to carve away at that crumbling mortar until the bricks disintegrated and the mortar crumbled. >> reporter: every day they chipped away, hiding their work by stacking the bricks up again. each brick loosened meant they were that much closer to freedom until one day the hole was big enough. they had heard the daily calls to prayer so they knew a mosque was nearby. their plan was to jump down and head there for safety. that was the plan, at least. >> from the moment that i dropped down out of that bathroom window and heard the sound below, i knew that it was bad. >> reporter: nothing outside looked like they thought it would. worse, a neighbor spotted them. they had to get out of there. >> we just ran and nigel started

screaming for help. we did find the mosque, and right before we stepped in, i looked back and i saw one of our young captors standing about 20 feet away. >> reporter: weak and winded from running for the first time in five months, amanda and nigel dashed into the mosque clinging to the hope that someone there would help. >> abdullah is coming? >> abdullah chases me around the mosque again. >> reporter: the kidnappers were desperate to seize their valuable prisoners, they would stop at nothing to get them back. >> it must have been crazy. >> people running and shouting and screaming, more people coming into the mosque with guns. >> reporter: amanda struggled to make sense of the chaotic scene. the men finishing their prayers were confused as well. then it was the unlikeliest person who stepped forward to try and help amanda.

someone she'll never forget. >> she came directly over to me and she embraced me and she called me her sister in english. it was the first woman that i had seen in about five months and when she hugged me and held on to me, it was the first time in that five months that i felt something akin to being safe. i just clung on to her and i started pouring out my heart to this woman. telling her about abdullah's sexual assaults and she began pleading with my captors to let me go. >> reporter: the captors circled amanda, guns drawn, they grabbed her and began dragging her out of the mosque. just then the somali woman made her boldest move. >> that woman threw herself on top of me and was drug part way

across the floor with me until she couldn't hang on anymore. and right before they pulled me out the door of the mosque, i looked back and i saw her on the floor, she had tears pouring down her face and she still had her hands outstretched to help me. >> you don't know whatever happened to that woman? >> no, i don't. >> reporter: after such a brazen attempt, her kidnappers would make sure she would never again have the chance to escape. >> coming up, negotiations get tough. >> we are not playing games. >> and for amanda, the darkest days are still ahead. >> i made a very calm decision to end my life. >> when "dateline" continues. [ coughs, sneezes ]

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>> reporter: amanda and nigel tasted freedom for a brief moment but they were violently recaptured and amanda plunged into the darkest depths of their captivity.

>> we had crossed the line with our kidnappers and it was like everything that followed was punishment. i was alone and locked up in a room that i named the dark house. it was a room that was pitch black. >> no light? >> no. >> no windows? >> no. >> that's enough to drive somebody crazy. >> it was terrifying. >> reporter: amanda was sexually assaulted that day by her captors. some acted, some watched. there was no one to help, nigel was still held separately. it feels like that's a pivotal point where they do pretty terrible things, but they're all in it together now? >> the abuse that happened to me after the escape united them in my suffering. that prevented any one from judging the other.

where severe beatings followed, they kicked and punched her, leaving her with bruised ribs and broken teeth. amanda was not even allowed to move off the mat, let alone around the room, something that had once given her solace. >> my prison was now the mat on the floor and i was in chains. >> do you remember what you were saying to yourself in the dark to get through every hour, every minute, every second? >> in the dark house it was very often minute by minute. i felt like i was hanging on by a thread. but the dark house was also where i found my house in the sky. which is the place that i would go to a safe place that was in my own mind where i could escape my reality, this brutal, violent existence. >> reporter: amanda didn't suffer in the house in the sky. the hardest part was knowing it wasn't real.

but this imaginary place was a tool she used to make it through the darkest days. back in canada, her mother lorinda searched for strength too. ten months passed since the kidnapping. all that time lorinda had the canadian officials to guide her through the negotiations. but now, feeling they'd reached a stalemate, they shut down the operations center. you're all by yourself now. no negotiators sitting next to you, just you on the phone. that's an unbelievable amount of pressure. >> you do what you have to do. and i had to do it. i didn't have a choice. >> are you healthy at that point? >> i wasn't eating, i wasn't sleeping, i was just running on adrenaline. >> amanda and nigel's family realized they needed help and hired a private security company with expertise in getting hostages out. lorinda held secret fund-raisers to help cover the expenses and raised the ransom money. by then it had been almost a

year since amanda and nigel were taken, their health deteriorated, their food was scarce. amanda also saw how frustrated her captors were getting while they waited for their payday. >> they felt like if only my family could come up with this money then they would have their lives back and they took that growing frustration out on me. >> reporter: at home in the canadian rocky mountains, the private security company suggested that lorinda who remained the point of contact with the kidnappers be firm with the captors. amanda's friend kelly advising lorinda agreed. >> did we feel that this was going to get us one step closer to help secure amanda and nigel's release? yes. so she was a little bit firmer. >> if i had the money i would pay you. we are not playing games, it's

you that are playing games. >> reporter: things got much worse for amanda after that phone call. >> they tied your arms and your legs and pulled your body up by ropes and leave you? >> yeah, it's very hard for me to go back to that and think about what happened to me during those three days that i was tied up in that room. yeah, the three longest days of my life. >> after three days, they let her down, but told her they would be back. >> when they left the room and i lay there on my mat alone, every single part of my body screaming and throbbing and absolute agony, i made a very calm decision to end my life. r rsh.

>> reporter: amanda had a small razor blade allowed for hygiene, she was going to use it. >> at the moment i was going to slit my wrists, i saw a movement out of the corner of my eye, a small brown bird hopping around this little square, in the sunlight, curious, looking at the room, looking at me. and then he flew out. and what i felt next was this almost overwhelming desire to live and to be part of the world. >> narrator: amanda couldn't know how close her mother was to making that a reality. >> coming up, a mother, a daughter, a moment 15 months in the making. were they prepared for what was about to happen? >> it was heartache to see her like that. [ rock music blaring ] and after we get sarah some headphones, it'll be perfect. honey... thank you for making our home his home.

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>> reporter: almost a year and a half into captivity, amanda's desperate captors begin to talk about other options, the one amanda feared the most, being sold off to a more violent islamic group, the same group responsible for the december 2013 mall attack in kenya. >> my fear was of being turned over to a new group and that unpredictability of what might happen to me was so terrifying. >> narrator: one night they came to her room guns drawn, she thought that was it. she and nigel would be passed off to the more dangerous group. >> they marched me outside and they had me sit down on the cement and they produced a small saw and began sawing through the chains that had been on my ankles for ten months. >> nigel and amanda were thrown into the back seat of a car and

driven into the dark somali night. the car stopped and they were forced into yet another car. >> we're both crying, we're both certain that this is our new crew. then that car drives for five minutes. then it stops. then about 40 men with guns surround the car that we're in. and i think, this is it. >> reporter: what they couldn't know was what had been engineered back in canada. for more than a year, amanda's mother had negotiated the ran some. the families continued to hold those secret fund-raisers. finally adam, the leader of the kidnappers, said they would accept $680,000 for both amanda and nigel. >> he phoned me and said, the gang has agreed. oh, my god, i think i started screaming. and i was thanking him. i was like yes! >> reporter: lorinda and nigel's

family flew to kenya to coordinate the release. the private security company sent three special operations officers into mogadishu with bags full of cash. >> three days later, they're still there, it's dangerous for them, they've got all this money. >> reporter: at the last minute, the deal had hit a snag. the kidnappers wanted more money than they had agreed to. the families made a difficult decision. call off the deal and bring the security team back to kenya. >> we need the kidnappers to know that we were serious. we're not going to leave our money just sitting there. >> reporter: from nairobi, lorinda was forced to renegotiate with the kidnappers. >> we keep negotiating, come to an agreement again, send our team back in with the money. >> that was the very same night amanda and nigel found themselves crying in that car with no idea what was happening. >> and then i smell cigarette smoke. >> why does that register with you? >> because al shabab is a group

of extremists. i'm pretty certain none of them would be smoking. >> tobacco is forbidden? >> yes. >> you're smart enough to go, wait a second, maybe it's not what i think. >> yeah. and then a man appears at the window. >> reporter: what amanda didn't know was this man was a somali middleman sent in to broker their release. >> he says to me, why are you crying? here, talk to your mother. then he hands me his phone and my mother was on the other end and she said to me, amanda, you're free. >> amanda and nigel flew out of somalia and landed in nairobi, kenya. they were whisked away to a hospital and lorinda finally got to see her daughter after 15 1/2 months. >> people often ask me what that was like the first time i saw her. and i know what they're envisioning, like us running in

slow motion and, you know, laughing and crying. but i barely recognized her. it was relief, it was joy and it i was hard heartache to see her like that. >> we took a moment to just look at each other. she's never looked more beautiful to me than she did in that moment. >> reporter: amanda and lorinda went home to western canada, she took time to heal her body and mind and to reconnect with friends and family. >> i feel like i had a long time to re-evaluate the life that i had lived and to think about what really matters to me in life. >> reporter: amanda still struggles to forgive herself the pain the kidnapping caused her mother. >> one of my big regrets was itches always wanting to be out in the world, not maybe taking care of my family.

could i have given more thought to who would be affected by the choices that i was making? absolutely. >> reporter: in her darkest hours in captivity, she made a promise to herself. if freed, she wanted to help others. to fulfill that promise, she started the global enrichment foundation, an organization that focuses on educating somali women and children. her best friend kelley is proud. >> amanda has gone on to do incredible things since she was released. i think that's a key part of her healing. what happened to amanda, being raped and not having a voice, she was that much better able to help the women of somalia. >> narrator: amazingly, just a year and a half after her release. she did the one thing no one thought she would -- she went back to somalia on a relief mission.

>> what are you feeling? >> honestly, i feel ready. i feel ready for this. >> reporter: we melt up with her on her way over the border. somalia was still a dangerous place still in august of 2011. we saw men with guns on every corner. >> you look at the little kids here. and that's the whole reason. >> reporter: as difficult as it was going back, it's been part of her healing. >> when you were in captivity, you said you always thought about the sky. this is a sky. >> yeah, this is a sky. >> narrator: amanda still travels, but she no longer feels the pull to get away. in fact she now lives just a stroll away from her mom. >> i would not be here now if it was not for my mother. she devoted her entire life for those 460 days to bringing me back home. so there's a really special and new bond that we have because of that. my mom gave me life and she

saved my life. >> what would you say about her? >> she is the strongest person that i have ever met in my life. her strength is inspiring. >> reporter: amanda is sharing her inspiring story with the world. she's written a book "a house in the sky" the title a reference to how she survived. >> there's been this theme in my life, it seems, of houses and moving houses, i moved around so much as a child and then as a captive in somalia and now i have found my house, my place in the world. this is my house in the sky. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." we'll be off the next few weeks. then nbc can bring you special coverage of the winter olympics in sochi. i'll be reporting from sochi and i hope you'll join us. we'll see you again for the next "dateline," friday, february

28th, at 8:00, 7:00 central. i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, goodnight. .