rest easy in their own homes. and that's -- that's the price i think they paid was security. >> your life can never be the same. it -- it -- it never will be, no matter how much i put on that face and tell everybody that i'm fine, i'll never be the same after this. i'm craig melvin. >> i'm natalie morales. >> this is "dateline." >> i was tied up and tortured. these people almost murdered me. >> i was terrified. >> the mother just fighting for her child. that's universal. >> yeah. >> she survived a harrowing ordeal in one of the most dangerous places on earth. >> tonight they have brought me out to kill me. >> then from across the world, her kidnapper found her again.

>> he reached out to me on facebook. >> did your heart stop? >> it was so scary that he could find me. >> for the first time, she shares her dramatic story. how she helped secret agents hunt down her captor. >> this all plays like a tom clancy thriller. >> absolutely. >> the setting -- a perfect island paradise. the plot -- a daring undercover sting. >> you were supposed to get some money. >> yes. >> what did they do? >> $10,000. >> we didn't think it would work. >> face to face with her kidnapper at last. >> i just broke down. >> it's still hard for you. >> this is real life like pain. >> would she get justice? >> i got the courage in that moment, and i said, "i'm ready." hello, welcome to "dateline."

amanda lynndow was a fearless young journalist willing to breathe the most dangerous hot spots. suddenly she became the story. kidnapped by rebels in somalia. what will she endured at the hands of her captors really destroyed her. what happened after she was freed was almost just as terrifying. here's kate snow with "the capture." >> mom? >> amanda? amanda, i love you. >> 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? >> your daughter a world away in the hands of kidnappers. >> amanda -- >> mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy. >> both mother and daughter traumatized in their own ways by a callous captor. >> understand? >> i understand.

>> their stories are intertwined. amanda -- >> my head is pulled back, and there was a serrated knife. >> it and her mother, lorinda stewart. did you keep it together? >> i did. i had to be strong for her. >> driven by strength, courage, and endurance, these women would not only survive this ordeal, but their determination in a completely new chapter of their story would ultimately lead them to triumph over one of the men who had terrorized them so brutally, and it would take an elaborate international sting. it sound like something out of a movie. >> it does. we refer to the operation as "the hail mary play." >> but before all of that, this story begins in a small town in western canada where a young woman named amanda lindout yearned for a world beyond her hometown.

>> one constant is i wanted to be a world traveler and go to every country in the world. >> she began realizing her dreams in the '90s. at 19 she was off to venezuela. >> we are driving in the back of a pickup away from the village back to the town. the whole world was open to me at that time. >> so wide open she kept moving, kept pushing forward. >> going from india into pakistan was something i wanted to do. and then i did it. and afghanistan is right next door. >> mom lorinda grew concerned, especially as her daughter trekked into active war zones. she tried to talk amanda out of those trips, but she says her daughter was headstrong, and the more amanda traveled, the more she began to see a path to something else. >> she thought, wow, you know, i would love to write about the people that i'm meeting.

>> she resolved to turn her wanderlust into a journalism career. she wanted to get more experience but also cover stories she cared about. you need to get out and go somewhere where you can get a break. >> i'm looking further out to the horizon. >> how far? one of the most dangerous places in the world. >> what other stories are out there that i feel passionate about? at the top of my list was somalia. >> amanda knew she had to tell her mother about her plans. and you're thinking what? >> i would really rather she didn't go. >> do you think maybe you were -- to yourselves mom's word -- headstrong? >> yeah, and i don't think i had spent enough time thinking about what would happen if something did go wrong. >> soon enough she would find out. on the plane to mogadishu she remembers a fellow passenger turning to her and her colleague

nigel with a stern warning. >> he said, your head -- your head alone is worth half a million dollars in mogadishu. be careful. >> as amanda left the airport, the capital city was chaotic. [ gunshots ] at home, amanda's mother worried about her daughter. >> i just made sure every time i talked to her that i told her i loved her. >> amanda managed to tamp down her nervousness and got to work . on her third day she was chasing a story. >> the welcome started to slow down, and i looked up. about a dozen armed men were emerging from where they had been hidden. all of them with ak-47s. 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. >> i asked is this about money?

and he said to me, ah, it might be something like that. >> all the way back in canada, her mother lorinda stopped hearing from her daughter. she began to fear the worst. she knew kidnappings were common in somalia. you must have felt so helpless. >> i. like we were so far apart and didn't know where our daughter was. >> i think i would have been a collapsed puddle on the floor. >> i knew i couldn't. i couldn't. >> lorinda reached out to canadian officials who told her this was, in fact, a kidnapping by islamic rebels, and nay scrambled to set up a recording system in case the kidnappers called. >> the next morning, my cell phone rang. and it was adam who was negotiator for the kidnappers. >> canadian investigators had lorinda lead the negotiations,

but what she couldn't know then was just how much terror the man who called himself adam would bring into her life. >> when this adam called on day four, he had a surprise. >> proof that amanda was alive. >> after the first couple beaks, we realize -- weeks, we realized this might go on for longer than we hoped. >> on the other side of the globe, amanda couldn't know how long she'd be held but 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 -- the danger and terror escalate. >> tonight they have brought me

out to kill me. >> and later, a twist straight out of a hollywood thriller. >> you're an undercover agent. >> correct. >> can amanda help turn the tables on her captor? >> my heart started pounding, and i fell to my knees, and i started crying. ng ♪ ♪ they can finally come on over again. the covid-19 vaccines are here. it's up to you. pain? yeah. here. aspercreme with max-strength* lidocaine. works fast and lasts. keep it. you're gonna need it. kick pain in the aspercreme ♪ welcome to allstate, ♪ ♪are you down, d-d-down, d-d-down, d-d-down♪ where we're driving down the cost of insurance. ♪ ♪ are you down, down♪

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nearly a month after being

kidnapped, one morning the captors came for amanda and her colleague nigel. they were taken out of their room and marched outside. there he was -- the man known as adam. >> we were terrified. and a small video camera was brought out. and we were told to beg for our lives. >> september 17th, 2008,elorinda turned on the tv in canada and saw this -- a hostage video on al jazeera. she was crushed. it was the first time she had seen amanda, and she didn't look good. what are you feeling as you watch it? >> i just want to bring her home. and never, never let her go. >> weeks turned to months, and then their captors separated amanda and nigel. 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. >> amanda's mind ran wild. she feared she would be raped. one day a captor entered her room. it turns out your fears were justified? >> he did cross that line, and my worst fears were realized. and my whole experience in captivity really changed. >> somehow she held on and then one night amanda was jostled awake and driven out into the desert alone. what happened next was terrifying. >> they brought me over to a tree. they had me kneel. my head is pulled back, and then there was a serrated knife. >> the ruthless kidnappers told a desperate amanda she only had three minutes to plead for her life with her traumatized mother on the other end of the call.

>> if you guys don't pay $1 million for me by one week, they will kill me. okay? tonight thought have brought me out to kill me. >> amanda, amanda, stay strong. stay strong, hon. that phone call definitely made it harder. not to let me imagination go. >> did you keep it together? >> well, i just felt like i had to. that i had to be strong for her. >> canada does not pay ransom to kidnappers, so if lorinda wanted to buy amanda's freedom, she was on her own. a world away in somalia, amanda and nigel locked in separate rooms had discovered something -- if they each stood at their windows, they could hear each other. they began to hatch a plan. >> nigel realized that we might

have a chance to escape out that bathroom window. which at first seemed like an impossible idea. >> each time they used the bathroom, they chipped away at the mortar holding the bricks together blocking the windowment then they would replace the loose bricks until one day the hole was big enough and they made a break for it. >> from the moment that i dropped down out of that bathroom window and hit the sound below, i knew it was bad. >> they sprinted for a mosque. the one place where they thought they'd be safe. >> right before we stepped in, i looked back, and i saw one of our young captors. >> inside the mosque, one person stepped forward to try and help amanda. someone she'll never forget. >> 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 those five months that i felt something akin to being safe. >> that feeling would be fleeting. >> i just clung on to her, and i started pouring out my heart to this woman. and she began pleading with my captors to let me go. >> her pleas were ignored. they circled amanda guns drawn and began dragging her out of the mosque. >> that woman threw herself on top of me and was drug partway 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 saw her on the floor. she had tears pouring down her face and still had her hands outstretched to help me. >> you don't know whatever happened to that woman.

>> no. i don't. >> after the escape attempt, adam and the gang clearly grew frustrated, and adam took it out on lorinda. >> if i had the money, i would pay you. we are not playing games. it's you that are playing games. >> i am playing a game? you should see -- >> the escape attempt made things much worse for amanda. they tied your arms and 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. >> after that, adam forced her on to the phone again. it's one of the hardest calls to listen to. >> amanda -- >> mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy. please. please listen, okay? >> amanda -- >> mom, i need to pay $1 million

now because they've started to torture me. >> the calls were agonizing. the families of both amanda and nigel desperate to have their children home eventually hired a private security company to help. months went by, and one night amanda's captors came to her room. >> they marched me outside and then had me sit down on the cement. they produced a small saw and began sawing through the chains that had been on my ankles for ten months. >> amanda and nigel hadn't seen each other for months, but now they were thrown into the back seat of a car and driven into the car into the dark night. >> there were guns surrounding the car we were in. and i think this is it. >> then a man appeared at the window. >> he says to me, why are you

crying? here, talk to your motherment she said to me,amanda, you're free. >> amanda's mother lorinda had never stopped negotiating, and adam had agreed to accept $680,000 for both amanda and nigel. the captives flew out of somalia and landed in nairobi, kenya. they were whisked away to a hospital. mother and daughter finally reunited. >> i barely recognized her. it was relief. it was joy. and it was hard, heartache to see her like that. >> i would not be here now if it was not for my mother. my mom gave me life, and she saved my life. >> amanda lindhout was finally safe. but adam, the man who tortured them so much, wasn't done with

them yet. a single word would bring it all back. coming up -- >> did your heart stop? >> it was so scary that he could find me. >> a facebook message from across the world and a daring undercover plan to catch a kidnapper. >> it sound like something out of a movie. >> we didn't think it would work.

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terminix.

♪♪

amanda lindhout was back home in canada struggling to move beyond the horrific events in somalia and trying to cope with the idea that the captors who so terrorized her might never be brought to justice. and as amanda tried to get her life back on track, there was an interruption. >> i had enrolled in a university program in eastern canada, and it was during a break between classes i was checking, you know, my emails and i saw that i had received a facebook message. >> one word "hello." it was from the last person she ever wanted to hear from. >> it was a message from adam. >> did your heart stop? >> it was so scary that he could find me even though i was safe and across the world and was at home. it was really disarming. >> that one simple message was about to launch a new and dangerous chapter of her story. the messages didn't stop there. lorinda heard from adam, too. but her communication with him extended beyond "hello."

>> out of the blue you get this facebook message from adam. it must've been shocking. >> it was a total shock. it was kind of terrifying, too, because it just felt like it was right in my space again. >> adam taunted lorinda. he said he was reaching out because he had journals amanda had written in captivity deeply personal writing that had helped her get through it all. >> what were you thinking when you saw that? >> i was hoping that i could get him to send amanda's journals. >> but if lorinda wanted those precious journals, adam said she'd have to pay. for lorinda, it was outrageous. her daughter's kidnapper had tracked her down with more demands for cash. that's when she reached out once again to the royal canadian mounted police in ottawa a staff sergeant got a call from his bosses.

>> we've become aware that adam's been in touch with her. and at that point my team was engaged to pursue that to the full extent. >> a 30-year veteran, he ran priority undercover projects for the royal canadian mounted police. his mission, find adam, if that was even his name. >> he reaches out on facebook, which means you have his facebook address, right? >> we do. >> you kind of know where he is. >> we know he's in somalia. we know we suspect that he's using an alias. so the principle course of action at that point is who is adam? and so to do that we have to engage him directly through an undercover operation. >> an undercover agent? >> correct. >> is he going to start trying to get in touch with adam? >> yes. >> that's where this man comes in. he's a canadian investigator who we've agreed to refer to by his cover name a.k.

>> right off the top i just want to acknowledge, we're hiding your identity. we've changed your look. >> yes. >> that's because you're an undercover agent. >> correct. >> a.k. reached out to adam first by phone. the undercover agent told him he was a media consultant for amanda's family. amanda didn't know about a.k. or what he was doing. all she knew was that adam's facebook messages had triggered some kind of investigation. >> i didn't really know what was going on. i knew that there was the hope to catch this guy. >> a.k. and adam communicated on and off for years. it was slow work, but a.k. knew pushing too hard could crater the operation, and patience paid off. >> one day i received an email from him, which was scanned copies of 16 letters. >> they looked like letters, but they were actually pages ripped from amanda's journals. adam had originally asked for thousands of dollars for them. but now -- >> i called him up and asked him

about this. and he says, yeah, i've sent you the letters, i don't need any money for them. our relationship evolved to the point where he trust me enough now. >> and then adam shared a new idea. he told a.k. he was a scholar and wanted to write a book, a history of somalia. as implausible as that sounds to investigators, it was an unexpected gift, a way to get adam on the hook. >> you're telling a kidnapper -- >> yes. >> who you believe was involved in this really major kidnapping and a lot of crimes that you're going to help him publish a book? >> yes. >> it sounds like something out of a movie. >> it does. we almost refer to this operation as the hail mary play. we didn't think it would work. and as it was continuing we surprised ourselves. >> you didn't actually think, yeah, i really want to write a book? >> no. >> and i want to pursue this with you? >> no. he convinced himself that he wanted to write this book and that he was able to write this book. that's our in.

we thought how are we going to move this forward. how are we going to gather evidence. because ultimately that's our goal. gathering the evidence and maybe one day bringing him to justice. >> money, fame, to amanda, it was just the kind of bait that could trap her kidnapper. >> it totally fits in line with what i knew of this man. he struck me as the kind of guy whose ego was so big. of course if somebody told him he's capable of writing a book, he would think that. >> the hail mary play was in motion. but investigators knew they needed more than phone calls and emails. their next move, get adam to meet in person. coming up. >> we need to see him. >> we need to see him to identify him fully. >> a meeting in a perfect island paradise. undercover agent and kidnapper dangerously face to face. >> can you believe he's saying all of this? >> it was amazing.

>> when "the capture" continues. y in a better place. except now you have uncontrollable body movements called tardive dyskinesia - td. and it can seem like that's all people see. some meds for mental health can cause abnormal dopamine signaling in the brain. while how it works is not fully understood, ingrezza is thought to reduce that signaling. ingrezza is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with td movements in the face and body. people taking ingrezza can stay on their current dose of most mental health meds. don't take ingrezza if you're allergic to any of its ingredients. ingrezza may cause serious side effects, including sleepiness. don't drive, operate heavy machinery, or do other dangerous activities until you know how ingrezza affects you. other serious side effects include potential heart rhythm problems and abnormal movements. shift the focus more on you. ask your doctor about ingrezza. it's simple. one pill, once-daily. #1 prescribed for td. learn how you could pay as little as $0

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hello, i'm dara brown. here's what's happening -- the trump organization is bracing for criminal charges as soon as next week from the manhattan district attorney's office. the charges are expected to be related to tax evasion schemes and could ensnare the organization's chief financial officer alan weisselberg. and the justice department is suing georgia over the state's new voting restrictions saying the law this claims it's harder to mail in ballots and denies black voters equal access to vote. now back to "dateline." ♪♪ welcome back. amanda lindhous was working to move past the trauma from her kidnapping. meanwhile, investigators hatched a noon snare one of her captors.

a man who called himself adam. after years of phone calls and emails, an undercover investigator had earned adam's trust. now it was time to tighten the net. continuing with the capture, here's kate snow. as the hunt for her kidnapper progressed, amanda continued to recover and heal. part of that journey included sharing her story with the world four years after being freed, she released her memoir "a house in the sky." it became a best seller. >> in my own life, friends, family, book club people say to me, have you read this book? you've reached a lot of people. >> most people will never be kidnapped. but people know pain and loss and adversity that they don't think that they can get through. and so what i feel people find in the pages is inspiration and a reminder that they are strong, too. >> her strength would become

crucial to the operation now underway. investigators knew they had her kidnapper adam on the hook. they also knew that in order to get justice for amanda, they needed more than long-distance conversations. >> we need to see him. >> we need to see him to identify him fully. >> whose idea was it to meet face to face? >> it was his idea. >> imagine the opportunity to meet with one of amanda's kidnappers face to face. but where in the world to do it? somalia, too dangerous. canada? too risky. how about paradise? mauritius four hours away from the kidnapper's homeland of somalia, this island gem with its pristine beaches, crystal clear water, beautiful mountain vistas, and luxury resorts. a.k. convinced the kidnapper that he would serve as his book agent and invited adam here to talk about the project. >> adam lives in mogadishu in a really difficult place to live.

and you're bringing him to a place where europeans come on vacation? >> i think what it did do though was it solidified my status as an international business person, somebody who had the means to get him what he wanted, which was essentially a book contract. >> adam took the bait. here he is in mauritius with a.k. >> did you ever get nervous that adam was figuring out who you were? >> i did initially. and then we were walking around the resort. he turned to me, and he said what did you think of me? and so i buttered him up a bit. i said your english is great. you've come a long way from such humble beginnings. and i turned it back on him and said what did you think of me. >> he said first i thought you were intelligent. -- were intelligence. but now, now we are brothers. >> against a backdrop of serene stillness and beauty, the brothers continued to talk and even relaxed. they each had something to gain in this face-to-face meeting. he had one objective, getting that book deal. >> he did. >> and it seemed like you had

one objective. >> definitely we had one objective. >> the objective was to see him, confirm that adam was indeed the man who had terrorized amanda and lorinda. next, they wanted him to admit his involvement in the kidnapping. that's where the phony book deal came in. >> we knew that he was interested in writing a book. we brought props and one of them was a book cover that we had designed. and i was going to sign a contract with him that laid out his and my relationship vis-a-vis the publisher. >> the contract had a trap buried in it. adam would have to disclose any wrongdoing in his past. >> we had a special paragraph in it that we had inserted, a disclosure paragraph to encourage him to tell us his story. >> he signed and incredibly he told his story including details of his involvement in the kidnapping. >> can you believe he's saying all of this? >> in my head i was dancing. it was amazing. you couldn't ask for better evidence.

>> he even described his role in one of amanda's worst days, that hostage video on al jazeera. >> i showed him a video that had aired on al jazeera television. he pointed to himself as if he was really, really proud of this, and he said i'm the one that shot that video. >> amanda vividly remembers that video and adam that day. >> adam was now manning this and setting the stage for this video. i would say there was a great deal of excitement among all of them that they were going to be doing this little video. and in their minds it would get attention and money. >> in mauritius, investigators accomplished two big things. they'd identified adam as the kidnapper and got him to admit his crimes. but after all that work, it still wasn't enough to arrest adam. mauritian law prohibited a.k. from recording the confession. >> so you have no video or audio of what he is saying?

>> correct. >> investigators wanted to have the strongest evidence they could against adam in order to prosecute him under canadian law. >> you're leaving mauritius with a success, but you need more. >> yeah, we do. >> how did you feel when you left here? >> conflicted. >> you're leaving him watching him go back to somalia. >> yeah. as investigators, we had succeeded in getting the evidence. we had succeeded in getting the identity. but we had to let him go. it was like a catch and release program. >> in order to catch adam and bring him to justice, they were hoping they could lure him even farther from home. a place where they could control the setting all the way to canada. but how on earth would they convince adam to do that, and how long would it take? >> while you want justice, this is dragging on for years. >> and as the years passed, i started to think the likelihood of that would diminish. coming up.

investigators set a trap. >> it played out like a movie. >> i answered the phone and my heart started pounding. >> when "the capture" continues. (brad) apartments-dot-com has the most pet-friendly listings for pet loving renters. so you might say that we've brought more joy to more sweet, innocent and adorable little creatures than any other site. (employee) ow, stop it. (brad) apartments-dot-com. the most popular place to find a place. you've been taking mental health meds, and your mind is finally in a better place. except now you have uncontrollable body movements called tardive dyskinesia - td. and it can seem like that's all people see. some meds for mental health can cause abnormal dopamine

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pain? yeah. here. aspercreme with max-strength* lidocaine. works fast and lasts. keep it. you're gonna need it. kick pain in the aspercreme ♪♪ amanda lindhout knew investigators were doing their best to bring her kidnapper to justice. and she did her best to help them. >> every couple of months i would have in-person visits with

the rcmp. and during these meetings they could never tell me very much. but enough to give me at least a little bit of confidence that they might be able to pull this off. >> a.k. and his team considered the undercover operation in mauritius a success. but it wasn't enough. they wanted to get amanda's kidnapper to confess his crimes on canadian soil. >> why did you need him to go to canada? >> we didn't want him to be arrested overseas. so we wanted him in the country so we could deal with him in the most efficient way possible. >> in order to grab adam in canada, they had to get him there. a.k. truly had to convince him the fake book deal was real. >> so he thinks you are his book agent? >> i'm his book agent. so we have now got to the point where he was going to meet the publisher. so it was my job then to send him a plane ticket, which is difficult if you want to do if you want to fly somebody out to somalia.

>> difficult would be an interstatement as it turned out. you're going to bring an international kidnapper into canada? >> correct. that doesn't sound easy. >> the dichotomy is that we're usually in the business of keeping terrorists outside the country. >> coordinating and planning an itinerary for a kidnapper would take time and threaten the operation. once again, a.k. played the long game. >> i kept on putting him off saying we'll be meeting with the publisher soon. and at one point i had to fake a heart attack. >> i'm sorry. you had to fake a heart attack? >> i faked a heart attack, and that was the way we were able to put him off for a while. >> yeah, in real life you were actually doing other cases? >> yes. >> finally after years of hard work and delays for amanda and her mother, everything was in place, and adam was on a plane to canada. >> he arrives at the airport in ottawa. and he comes in and we sit down and we talk about the impending book deal, the publishing deal that is about to be signed.

>> adam was looking forward to a different kind of future. little did he know, that is precisely what he would get out of this deal. >> i go into the room with adam. first we have a board room set up for our meeting and then the book publisher arrives, knocks on the door, comes on in. him and i are allegedly old friends. >> this is my star. nice to meet you. >> you're actually both undercover agents? >> both undercover agents and we have a bit of chitchat and we sit down and we go over the contract. and adam as we had done in mauritius, he goes over everything that he had done. >> so you would be the negotiator between people who had amanda, and who else? it played out like a movie. it was excellent. >> he's actually confessing to

you his crimes? >> yes. >> so after the three months, as far as i understand it from what lorinda and amanda have told me, you were still the person on the phone? >> yes. i'm working. i want to get the benefit. >> you were supposed to get some money? >> yes. >> do you know how much? >> no, i don't know, but i was expecting more than, uh. >> what did they give you? >> 10,000. >> after that meeting, you walk out. >> we signed the contract, everybody's very happy. we were walking out because i had told him we were going for a tour of ottawa. but that didn't happen. >> you were both arrested. you were arrested too because you're still undercover? >> yeah, uniform police handcuffed us both. >> adam must've been totally shocked. >> he was. you could see in his face that he was clearly thrown by this. and i had to play up, get your hands off my client, what are you doing here, this is ridiculous. and they handcuffed us both, led us off in different directions. i went for a beer, he went to jail. >> it had been seven years since

amanda lindhout had been chained in a squalid cell in somalia terrorized and tortured by her kidnappers for 460 days. now, adam was in chains himself. amanda was home when she got the news. >> i answered the phone and i was home alone. and my heart started pounding. and he said, we've arrested adam. and i fell to my knees, and i started crying. and the next day i woke up and it was my 34th birthday. and on the front page of every newspaper in canada was his face. a face that i hadn't seen in over five years. >> i came in right after and she was crying, and she was saying "they got him, they got him, they got adam." >> and what were your feelings? >> i was crying. i couldn't even speak. >> and immediately my mind went

to, well, there's going to be a trial. >> yeah. >> and i will have to testify in that trial. and the weight of that and what that really meant to me and would mean to my life became w real. >> amanda is about to take the witness stand and come face-to-face with her captor at last. coming up -- >> she was crying. she was upset. >> i was so afraid to see this man again. >> what would happen inside that courtroom? >> i wondered if i could do it. >> when "dateline" continues. es

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as unlikely as it may have seemed, authorities had their man in the kidnapping of amanda lindhout, and they got him in canada. it was announced to the world. >> this arrest is a testament to the team's perseverance and i wish to thank them for their investigative work. >> with the investigation over, it would be up to amanda herself to keep adam behind bars. it would take everything she had to do it. >> i'm going to have to testify and i'm going to have to face this man in court. >> you're going to have to see him. >> yeah. >> before that could happen, amanda would have to assist the prosecution team in building its

case against the kidnapper. >> a group of us would meet every couple of months for 2 1/2 years. >> wow. that's exhausting. >> it was exhausting. this was such a difficult story for me. there was still so much real active trauma in the telling of this story, and i just so appreciated the time they took with me, guiding me through the process. and as the trial date was getting closer, i can't even say that it became easier. the idea facing him caused me a lot of pain. >> reporter: kroft michaelson was the lead prosecutor. >> what were the biggest challenges? >> one was the magnitude of the file. my recollection is there were more than 700 emails between adam and him alone. the second was amanda going to be able to testify.

>> the man was actually a 40-year-old somali national named ali omar ader. he pleaded not guilty of the kidnapping. in 2017 the trial began in the kidnapping of amanda lindhout. "dateline" was with her the day she went to the courthouse. >> what was going through your mind? >> in the moments heading into the courtroom, i wondering if i could do it. i was so afraid to see this man again. the thought of seeing his face -- but i gathering myself. i needed to do that for myself more than anything. >> i saw you gathered yourself just then. >> i still am. this is real live pain. the doors opened, and i walked

into the courtroom, and adam was sitting directly in front of me, and i kind of crumbled. >> now came for the moment for amanda to testify against her kidnapper. >> can you describe it for me? >> she was crying. she was upset. she was afraid. and then she swung her head over and she looked at adam in the box and she stopped crying and gave him a look like i would never want anyone looking at me like that. >> what kind of a look? >> it was a firm resolve. >> seeing him sitting across from me as a prisoner in that box, that was also the truth now. >> it's a reversal. >> exactly. and he looked so small in a way sitting in that box. >> in her testimony, amanda spoke openly about how adam terrorized her. she was on the stand for one long day. >> okay, whatever. >> her mom lorinda spent three

days in court listening to the phone calls that would prove crucial to the case. >> i am not lying to you. >> you do not want amanda to be harmed, because if you want her, you should pay the money. >> again, you have to relive it. >> yeah. it was empowered. the truth was being told. and there was a small part of me that actually felt sorry for him. >> compassion for him. >> yeah. >> adam's defense was that he himself had been taken hostage, and they had threatened him. >> in the end, his defense didn't work. the man known as adam was found guilty of kidnapping. for his crimes, he was sentenced to 15 years in a canadian prison, victory for amanda lindhout.

amanda read a victim's impact statement at sentencing. in it she addresseded a. a i am the victim. i am also the survivor. i'm the one who will go out and learn the lessons in this. i will lean in and learn the challenge of the less on and find compassion and piece. those words bringing to a close not one, but two improbable stories, amanda's kidnapping and the years spent in pursuit of justice. >> ten years of your life. >> yeah. >> worth it? >> absolutely. >> he's sitting in prison right now in this country. do you think about that ever? >> it's justice. i don't take joy in suffering of any human being. >> have you forgiven adam? >> i can't say yes or no to that question.

it's not because he deserves to be forgiven. but i deserve the freedom in my life to not keep being angry and keep pointing my feet toward forgiveness. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. first up on msnbc, demand for answers this morning after a partial collapse of a 12-story condo in miami beach. efforts to find missing are now entering their third day. >> we will continue search and rescue because we still have hope that we will find people alive. trump's never-ending legal woes growing even bigger, the