this is "nightline." >> tonight, mystery. this 15-year-old girl disappeared in broad daylight, on her way home from school. allegedly kidnapped by this man, who was charged today. so, how did she escape? the tantalizing clues and what happened when she faced him down in court. plus, they can be annoying. they can be threatening. >> this is your [ bleep ] wake-up call, man. >> now, how you could make money through robocalling revenge. it's happening again. >> and not again. >> you guys -- >> "sharkna"sharknado" is back. the campfest, that's become a

cultural -- >> jump the shark. >> -- phenomenon. we talk to a star that insists that "sharknado" has happened. first, "the nightline five." >> miles doesn't need to wander into the wild for the hunt. and even though this isn't real hunting, kelly knows miles craves meat, which is why she only feeds him iams. iams has two-times the meat as other brands, to keep up with his daily appetite for the hunt. iams, keep love strong. >> number un, in just 60 seconds.

good evening. and tonight, the mystery of abigail hernandez. the 14-year-old who disappeared on her way home from school, only to suddenly reappear nine months later. the today, the man accused of kidnapping her went in front of a judge, with abigail right there in the courtroom, staring him down. as we come on the air tonight, so many lingering questions looming over this strange case. who is the alleged kidnapper? why would he take abigail? and how did she finally escape? abc's ryan smith reports in tonight from new hampshire. >> reporter: 15-year-old abigail hernandez appeared in public for the first time since disappearing nine months ago. >> all rise. >> reporter: she sat poised and calm next to her mother, while the man suspected of kidnapping her was haggard, cuffed and shackled, facing felony kidnapping charges that could bring years in prison. the only words spoken by nathaniel kibby were to the judge.

leaving the mystery and questions about what abby endured over the last nine months. and how she managed to find her way home unanswered. it began last october 9th, when 14-year-old abby disappeared while walking home from school in conway, new hampshire. >> what really ticked me off at the very beginning when abby went missing, is she was originally designated a runaway. >> reporter: but everything changed when a letter from abby was sent to her mother in november. >> it was really numbing for the first, maybe, three weeks, four weeks. and then, i received the letter. and it was exhilarating. >> reporter: investigators have never disclosed the contents of the letter. but they were convinced abigail was in grave danger. >> someone may now be manipulating her. and her safe is still absolutely in question. >> reporter: meanwhile, 30 miles away in goram, new hampshire, a 35-year-old man named nathaniel

kibby was living in a trailer. >> i never knew he was capable of something like this. >> reporter: what did you hear? >> i felt he was creepy. >> reporter: according to court records, kibby has had at least a dozen run-ins with the law, including ten juvenile misdemeanors. >> he has a criminal history, including an incident that happened way back when he was in high school. >> reporter: in fact, in march, he was in the middle of a dispute. and actually asked the police to come to his trailer to remove his guns. this was during the time he was alleged to have been holding abby hernandez prisoner. this police report, also obtained by abc news, says back then they took possession of multiple guns from the property. abby's family and community never stopped looking for her. >> we investigated every tip, every lead, wherever it took us. >> reporter: or for the person who had taken her.

>> i'm amazed when people ask me what's the motivation for a child kidnapping. as if there's a good motive? obviously, you don't take a child away from her mother for a good reason. >> reporter: but then finally, ten days ago, abby hernandez came home. exactly how is still a mystery. did she escape? was she released? >> very often when a kidnap victim is held for a lengthy period of time, weeks, months, the kidnapper begins to soften towards the victim and give them freedoms as time goes by. i expect we will learn because of freedoms given to this 14-year-old abby hernandez, she managed to escape. >> reporter: on the website bringabbyhome, the family released this statement. abby is safely home with her mom and sister. thank you to everyone who has shared fliers and offered help

and support. with abigail home, there's more questions than answers. where has she been? and who had taken her. after abby came home, police released this sketch, looking for clues to a suspect. >> once you arrest somebody, it can make it more difficult to conduct some interviews, to seize some evidence. if you maximize that time, your odds of building a much tighter case with more evidence is greater because you did wait to arrest him. >> reporter: nine days after abby came home, kibby was arrested for felony kidnapping. >> we learned on sunday night that there was sufficient information at that time to seek and obtain an arrest warrant and a search warrant. the s.w.a.t. team was utilized, about 2:00 in the morning when the s.w.a.t. team first arrived. and they planned through the night. >> reporter:eighbors were shocked. >> i haven't noticed anything unusual. i would hope that she can't be that close and nobody knew it. >> reporter: that neighborhood

is now a crime scene. this is about 20 yards away from the residence of nathaniel kibby, the man authorities believe held abigail hernandez against her will. we're blocked by police tape. they're investigating what really happened on that property. >> law enforcement is trying to fill in a time line from the moment that abby disappeared until she reappeared. they'll take forensic swabs, samples, fingerprints, obviously looking for abby's dna. the details of each criminal element they're trying to prove. and my guess is, they're going to find additional crimes to charge him with. >> reporter: in court today, a poised and confident-looking abby watched as kibby was charged in her kidnapping. during the proceedings, kibby's attorneys asked the judge to unseal the indictment. >> i'm not sure, as a matter of constitutionally defendanting nathan, what he's being charged with because i don't know.

>> i find it very intriguing that kibby's defense lawyer says he cannot explain to his client what he's charged with. well, i can do that, in case they're watching tonight. right now, he is charged with kidnapping class "b," as in brother. it carries about seven years. there's a range. but about seven years behind bars. it is a felony. >> reporter: it will take months to unravel all the mysteries around abby hernandez's disappearance. but tonight, friends of the hernandez family happy her alleged captor is behind bars. >> the biggest thing is the sense of relief. that he's not out there anymore. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm ryan smith, in conway, new hampshire. coming up on "nightline," we all get those aknowing telemarketing calls. meet the family that turned the tables on the robocallers and made real money in the process. plus, "sharknado" star,

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tonight, robocalling revenge. if you've ever found yourself annoyed by the automatted corporate phone calls, you'll find the next story deeply satisfying. it's about people that not only got the robocallers to stop. but also got them to shell out serious money. and you might be able to do this, too. here's abc's matt gutman. >> reporter: the calls come in by the millions every day. >> i generally get anywhere from five to six per day.

>> reporter: to people like sherri, from michigan. >> it's extremely annoying. and i don't know how to get them to stop calling me. >> reporter: and jean from new mexico. >> she seems to find us from every state in the union. >> reporter: and to the waits of bellville, florida. >> you called this number about 200 times. >> reporter: how does it make you feel? >> very aggravated. >> reporter: they're robocalls, prerecorded messages that come to your phone via computer software. frustrating. and under federal law when they hit your cell phone, also illegal. 17-year-old heather waites was bombarded with 17 of these calls. a debt collection company called her cell phone two and three times every day. 204 calls in total over a few months. >> they would call her during school hours. that's why she would leave the phone off. >> reporter: the thing is, heather, a high school student,

has no debt. zero. plus, the computer-generated voice wasn't even looking for her. the robocalls mechanically asked for marcy rodriguez. who is marcy rodriguez? >> i don't know who she is. >> reporter: the only way you could have possibly ended the phone calls earlier is by saying that you're someone that you're not. go to press one 100 phone calls before. >> but they still kept calling after we told them we're not marcy rodriguez. >> let's fight back. >> reporter: that's when they say they lawyered up. >> we're bombarded with unwanted calls and text messages. >> reporter: not only are unwanted robocalls to cell phones illegal under federal law, but companies that place these calls can be held liable. >> it's a $500 violation for every, single unwanted phone call to your cell phone. and could be worth up to $1,500 per call. >> reporter: each unwanted call could worth up to $1,500.

according to a 1991 that restricts telephone solicitation. and it's not just an isolated case. >> there are hundreds of thousands of people that are going through this exact same thing. and they just don't know their rights. >> reporter: but diversified consultants inc., says it's just an honest error. this happens a lot. what do you say to them? >> although there is human error, we do our best every, single day, to make sure things like that do not happen. >> reporter: he says that human error, due to sheer volume. >> we make anywhere from 1 to 1.3 million calls a day. >> reporter: 68% of cell phone owners receive at least some unwanted calls. a quarter of them says it happens several times a week. and the biggest complaint, 34% say they get calls for collection of debts they don't owe. wrong calls often stem from cell phone numbers being recycled. but they're a tiny fraction of the total calls. what if you were called three

times a day. >> if i was phoned three times a day, i would say please stop calling me. >> reporter: harassment is another problem with debt collection. repeated robocalls to cell phones are illegal. but there can be a big price to pay when debt collectors go too far. take diana may, who was awarded $10 million after receiving calls like these. >> i'm trying to reach diana. >> this is diana. >> the [ bleep ]. >> who? >> the [ bleep ]. >> it was a word so vulgar, i was just stunned. >> reporter:ma57z allen jones, k of america customer, received racist messages like these when he failed to pay an $81 debt. >> get your mother [ bleep ] ass up and go pick up some [ bleep ]. >> to hear somebody talk about my kids or the things they were going to do to me.

tear me a new a-hole. all the things over $81. >> reporter: a jury awarded allen $1.5 million for the abuse. diversified consultant coo, beck, says his company never practices those aggressi ivive methods. suing robocalling companies has become big business. 98 so far this year have sued your company. >> a lot of people are learning that it's a cash cow for lawsuits. >> reporter: for heather and patricia waitwaites could bring something else. >> we're both excited. >> reporter: now, it could be their turn to try to collect from the debt collectors. for "nightline," i'm matt gutman, in bellevue, florida. up next on "nightline," a

tornado filled with sharks bears down on a major american city. yes, this is the plot of an actual movie. now, why is everybody talking about "sharknado 2"? you got a little something on the back of your shoe there. a price tag! danger! price tag alert! oh. hey, guys. price tag alert! is this normal? well, progressive is a price tag free zone. we let you tell us what you want to pay, and we help you find options to fit your budget. where are they taking him? i don't know. this seems excessive! decontamination in progress. i don't want to tell you guys your job, but... policies without the price tags. now, that's progressive. ♪

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finally tonight, "sharknado." the tv so unabashedly bad that it reminded us of a "b" comedy from the '80s that was pitched to theatergoers with the following tag line. if you see only one movie this year, see this one also. why has "sharknado," a film of a

sealess celebrities battling sharks become such a phenomenon? here's nick watt. >> reporter: it's the most unlikely plot in history. >> there's sharks in the street. >> reporter: a tornado scooping man-eating sharks out of the ocean. domping them on l.a. it's something that a 6-year-old kid would come up with. >> exact flip. >> reporter: even more unlikely, the outcome. that movie was so successful, they made a sequel. "sharknado 2." the same thing happens, this time in new york. >> the big apple. something bites us, we bite back. >> here's a formula. it worked in the first one. we don't want to mess with that one. >> reporter: tara reid is back for more. better than the first? >> in my opinion, yes.

>> reporter: ryan ziering is also back. >> they're sharks. they're scary. no one wants to get eaten. >> reporter: the chain saw comes back. >> what he does with it is going to be the fun part. >> let's go kl some sharks. it's happening again. >> it's really one of the shark storms here? >> yes. >> reporter: it doesn't really make sense. >> it doesn't. but that's"sharknado." >> reporter: the first movie, so bad that it's good. generated 5,000 tweets a minute. >> social media is almost the reason for existence of a movie like this. >> reporter: he's one of the cameos in the sequel. is billy ray cyrus in this? >> yes. billy ray's in the movie. >> reporter: what's he doing? >> he plays a doctor. >> reporter: other cameos include kelly osbourne.

they were lining up. but the first movie, they had to lie to get anyone involved. >> are you okay? >> my mom always told me hollywood would kill me. >> reporter: in the beginning, it was called "dark sky." i thought, okay. doesn't sound so bad. and then, like, three days into the movie, they started calling it "sharknado." we can't call it "sharknado." it's going to look horrible on my resume. i'm going to never work again. >> i said, trust me. they call it "sharknado," it's going to be a good thing. >> when the movie came out, i was in mexico. and the next day, i was on a plane back to l.a. and the stewardess came up to me and said, i love "sharknado." what are you talking about? it got me out of being the girl from "american pie." and i'm in "sharknado." >> reporter: "sharknado 2" premieres tomorrow night in 90 countries. "sharknado 3" is in the pipeline. as vanessa williams once said,

isn't this world a crazy place. >> let the fireworks begin. >> reporter: i'm nick watt for "nightline." >> wholly shark. >> reporter: in los angeles. >> we're awaiting "sharknado 3" with bated breath. tune into "gma" first thing in the morning. and as always, we're online 24/7 at abcnews.com. thanks again for watching. good night.

ally, why don't you go to the park with grandpa? no, thanks. raymond... why don't you take him to one of your sports games? i'm not taking him tony of my sports games, okay? besides, the e only football around is hofstra and northeastern. they're both 0-7-- it's like watchin' the kids have a tickle fight. well, your father already has his outside pants on,

so i'm sending him over. no! come on, ma... hey, hey. what's shakin', everybody? hey, robert. who do you like in the big game today? what big game? hofstra and northeastern-- where ya been? tss..... huh? what's with that? ha ha. i really haven't been following hofstra. what, are you kidding me? this is their year. and northeastern? it's like clash of the titans today. yeah? you want to go or not? really? he doesn't want to go. no, no, no. i'll go, i'll go. i want to go. all right. okay, great. go get dad and go. whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. wait. me and dad? that's right, dear. there's gonna be a big tickle fight.