tonight on "nightline" -- the game of love -- can a man be taught how to seduce a woman? we go behind the scenes of a controversial new approach to the dating game were men are taught to be hunters with women as their prey. kidnap nightmare -- she spent four days as a captive in the basement of this home. but what has happened to her mother, brother and a family friend? we join the police search in ohio. and power mowers -- they hardly ever take a break, they refuel on the go and do a fantastic job. how goelts became the newest lawn care accessory in tonight's

"sign of the times." good evening. i'm terry moran. we're going to begin tonight with a controversial company that claims it can train men to seduce women with just a few carefully supervised field trips to the nightclub reinforced by diligent hours in the classroom. the instructions tailor to what the men say they want. everything from long-term romance to extremely short-term romance. but is this any way to treat a lady? and is it for real? brian rooney has our report. >> reporter: blonde gives? >> yeah. >> yeah, let's try that. >> reporter: the scene in this

crowded club may not look for it but for a group of young men this is boot camp, boot camp for love. their training officers are right in there with them. >> here's the deal, ten good minutes of interaction and let's say five minutes of good interaction with the group. you know what? you girls are cool. come back to my table. >> reporter: these guys have been taught how to talk to women they've never met. in the target-rich environment of the nightclub in las vegas. there's the approach and the open. >> i love these, these glasses, they are awesome. it says you're smart. i love that about girls. >> reporter: it's a line but at least it's a new one. these men are students in a seminar conducted by a los angeles company called love systems. it's self-help for guys who are not quite lucky enough in love. some of them looking to the long term. a lot of them looking for

quickie. >> a thousand little things. learning to break the ice with things. confident body language. learning how to communicate on an emotional level. a lot of guys haven't learned that. >> reporter: that's the company's founder, nick savoie who came to a point in his own romantic life when he realized he had to figure a way to do better. it led to love and a business. >> i'm in a relationship now with a woman who i love very much, who i never would have been able to meet before love systems. and many of our former clients as well. >> reporter: why is that? how did you meet her? >> i just wouldn't have had the skills to break through the ice. i wouldn't have known how to approach her. i wouldn't have known how to get her initial interest. >> reporter: several of love systems three-day seminars cost close to $3,000. there's boot camp. three days of class work and eight hours in the field, as they say. day game. how to hit on that good-looking woman on the street or in the coffee shop. then there's the bluntly titled same night lays.

>> there's nothing wrong with that. love systems did not invent the human sex drive. before love systems came along, women and men would go out to bars, parties, restaurants and so on, and hope to meet somebody and often hoped that would lead to a sexual encounter. we're just teaching men how to do it. >> reporter: we met a couple of their clients in las vegas. kevin frazar, a 35-year-old professional skier. maybe looking for a stable romance. >> sure, there's a natural ability that you have, natural qualities, but if you really want to harness that potential, then, you know, you get coaches, you get people that can help you. >> reporter: and michael pitlock, a ucla senior who's not shy about what he wants out of this. >> i'm basically trying to hook up with chicks. that's what i'm doing. that's why i'm here. >> reporter: class work starts with female psychology and body language before moving on to the advanced topics of seduction and one-night stands. all is won or lost in the first few seconds of meeting. they instruct men to tell women a story, guess what she does,

even make a playful insult. but whatever they do, don't ask the deadly "come here often?" the training is dependent in part on hidden camera video. live action between the instructors and women they meet. they show their students how they hide cameras in their clothing before going into action. >> is that, like, in a slutty or -- >> reporter: they showed the same woman having a conversation over skype a few days later. >> if i come visit you and hang out with you, i mean, i doubt we're just gonna flirt the whole time and not kiss or anything. >> well, yeah, we'll fight and then we'll have crazy makeup sex. >> reporter: in some states, it is legal to record without one party's knowledge. it was not clear to us whether love systems gets permission from these women to use these uncounters as instructional

material, which is why we blurred her face. aren't you on touchy legal ground? >> no, there's -- we're filming in a public place. we're not talking about violating anybody's privacy. >> reporter: well, a nightclub -- >> i know that we consult pretty closely with our attorneys before we do anything like this. >> reporter: but there came a moment when our camera crew was asked to leave the seminar room. >> abc guys still here? i'm going to have to ask you to leave. >> that's me, i'm leaving. >> who else? >> three of us. >> thanks for coming, guys. our last segment -- >> reporter: whatever they saw, the students went out to the clubs to put it in play. by the end of the night, kevin had learned a few things. >> you've got to, you know, physically -- you've got to be touchy-feely. >> reporter: and met a girl he liked. >> about 4:00, there's a bachelorette party, so they came as a group, they left as a group. so it was just one of those logistical things that kill it

but she's in town so i'll see her again. >> reporter: here's michael doing his thing. >> that's where i am right now. they make strong drinks over there. i can totally tell your, like, some kind of nurse. did you say you're a freak? >> sweet. >> reporter: michael, how should we put this, michael claim close that night. >> she was really sexy but unfortunately there was logistical problems. her friends were everywhere and she didn't want to go away from her friends understandably so we went out to a vending machine to see if we could do it there but there was no door so we didn't but it was a good night. >> reporter: so far, love systems has run about 10,000 men through their courses. there is a market for this. but there's a lingering question, whether this is a little skeezy. at times, it almost looks unfair to the women. >> are women's magazines unfair to men? is makeup? all of the women's magazines,

where women give advice to each other about how to meet the man of their dreams or how to seduce the one you want or, you know, where to meet rich men this summer -- >> reporter: so you're just doing the same for the guys? >> i think we're just giving guys the type of advice, you know, women have been giving each other for years. >> reporter: this is sort of based on the belief, though, that women do want to be picked up. >> they do want to meet these guys. well, if our techniques didn't work, we wouldn't teach them. >> reporter: in fact, they say, guaranteed to work or your money back. drinks not included. this is brian rooney for "nightline." >> $3,000, but can you really call it love? brian rooney with that report. when we come back, we're going to turn the page and take you to ohio. there's a heart-rending story there. police have freed a 13-year-old girl from captivity but the hunt goes on for two of her family members. and a friend. i can't believe i used to swing over those rocks...

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it was a bittersweet announcement. an ohio sheriff said yesterday that sara maynard, a 13-year-old girl who had been missing for four days, had been found alive. the circumstances were grim. the girl was found tied up in a home belonging to a convicted arsonist who was described by neighbors as unstable. tonight, the search goes on for three people still missing, sara's 10-year-old brother, her mom and a family friend. barbara pinto has our report. >> we have a disturbing update on the family missing from mt. vernon, ohio. >> we're following a major story in central ohio. >> there's a break tonight in the case of four people who went missing in ohio last week. >> reporter: the teenaged girl held captive for days in the dark basement of this home could be her missing family and law enforcement's best hope. >> not only is she assisting in the investigation but under the circumstances a 13-year-old girl

being held captive for four days by a total stranger, i would call her the epitome of bravery. >> reporter: sara maynard was found bound and gagged in matthew hoffman's basement, ten miles from where she, her 10-year-old brother kody, her mother, tina herman, and a friend, stephanie sprang, disappeared. hoff man is called the lone suspect so far in this baffling crime. today, just a block from his home, a desperate search. by air, on foot and by boat. even pulling two cars from a pond. >> you need to be optimistic because there's no evidence -- we haven't recovered anyone. >> reporter: this afternoon, a sobering acknowledgement. >> we have to be realistic that the nature of the evidence, the fact that only one person has been located, the sense -- since

last wednesday, you have to be realistic, that there's a possibility that these folks are dead. >> reporter: neighbors say hoffman's girlfriend and her son recently moved out and describe his behavior as odd. >> he really was a weirdo. like, he sat in the -- you look back there in the tree, there's a hammock where he would sit and watch people. he's just different. >> he's very -- i don't want to say paranoid. you could tell he was nervous around people and he wasn't very social. >> reporter: hoffman served prison time before in colorado for arson. convicted at age 19 for torching a town home complex to cover a burglary. >> we always stated he was kind of weird or odd but we never thought he was capable of actually being involved in this case. >> reporter: this began last wednesday. sarah and her brother went to school, came home, then disappeared. that same day, their mom didn't show up for work at this dairy queen. the following day, her boss called police. they found the family's home

littered with beer cans and blood. even the family dog was missing. >> detectives are interviewing family members, friends, acquaintances. those kinds of things. right now, there's no indication to say that they were abducted, if that's the path you're going down, but they're unaccounted for. >> reporter: tina herman's ex-boyfriend was clearly worried. >> the way things are going down, then having csi out here. something happened in that house. >> reporter: on friday, more grim news. herrmann's truck was found at nearby kenyon college. investigators locked down the campus and questioned a man in a car parked nearby named matthew hoffman. that encounter may have helped lead a s.w.a.t. team to hoffman's home sunday morning. >> i came out, lacking out the window, and there's two sheriff cars blocking the road here and pretty soon all kinds of sheriff cars just started pulling up and

s.w.a.t. team came and then the last i heard it was -- they blasted the door and they went in. >> we have some good news to report today. we have located and rescued 13-year-old sara maynard at approximately 8:00 a.m. this morning. she's been under the control of mr. hoffman since wednesday. >> reporter: so far, the 30-year-old hoffman's only connection to sara's family, his parents live within walking distance of her home. investigators say hoffman isn't talking much. >> they absolutely need him to talk for a lot of reasons. one, primarily, is he can fill in the blanks. assuming he was involved in the initial kidnapping. he can tell you other people involved, what happened in the house, are they dead or alive, if they're dead, where they're located, and where are the other players, and obviously, what everyone wants to know, what was the motive for doing this. >> reporter: even without his cooperation, hoffman's cell

phone records and computer, along with surveillance video from neighboring businesses, could provide valuable answers. they can't come soon enough for anxious families and friends enduring another agonizing day. >> i just don't want her out there alone. whatever it is. i don't want her to be alone. >> reporter: tonight, the 13-year-old may have the key to finding her brother, mother and friend, is safe, staying with relatives while this town holds its breath. for "nightline," i'm barbara pinto in mt. vernon, ohio. >> pray for the missing family, for sure. we'll continue to follow this story. be sure to watch "good morning america" tomorrow morning for an update on it. thanks to barbara pinto for that report. we'll be right back with tonight's "sign of the times." if you fight to sleep in the middle of the night, why go one more round ? you don't need a rematch, but a rethink. with lunesta. lunesta is thought to interact with gaba receptors

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lawn maintenance. in some corners of america, it's up there with god and country, the focus of enormous time and energy. now there's a figure on the lawn care horizon that could change the game entirely. rental goats. lack of exhaust and engine noise are two reasons homeowners are going goat.

for neal karlinsky, that, for sure is a "sign of the times." >> lay down, girl. >> reporter: sure, everybody loves a cute dog riding in a car but when timmy drives through town, there's something more that makes people stop and stare, block after block. we're not kidding. there was some serious staring going on. yep. they're goats. goats in a truck driving through seattle. they're also tammy's employees, on their way to a gig and anxious to get there. as they rolled into a suburban neighborhood with million dollar views, you'd be more likely to find goat cheese at a wine party. >> easy, pearl. >> reporter: and the local canine population was agitated. >> come on. >> reporter: today's job -- >> it's all right, go ahead. >> reporter: the same as every day, eating. they are four-legged weed eaters. they eat a lot more than just weeds. they're eating like they're famished. >> i know, they always do.

>> reporter: it just doesn't slow down? >> no. they do this for about 12 hours out of a 24-hour day. with intermittent breaks. they'll just -- >> reporter: eat? >> -- gorgeous themselves. >> reporter: they can eat all this? >> they eat most of it. basically when it's done, it is just levels. >> reporter: the family who lives in this home, the jenkins, wanted to clear out a very steep overgrown section of their backya backyard. their options, men with power tools. or something called rent a ruminate. does it seem like a weird idea or were you just, let's try some goats? >> it seems weird, yet makes sense. why haven't we been using goats to do this work all along? >> reporter: it turns out these living lawn mowers are catching on. google and yahoo! are two in a long list of companies which have hired goats to clear their property in what is a new ecofriendly trend. tammy's goats even starred in a recent tv ad for an insurance company.

>> goat renter guy, you're one of us. >> reporter: this backyard is only a 15-goat job. she has 130 goats in all. and her herd is a busy bunch. they're also an oblivious bunch, dead set on eating, eating leaves, eating branches, even eating small trees. this one is eating between my legs right now. i'm standing here -- like i was here first. >> yeah, well, they don't care. >> reporter: who's that? >> that's sally. >> reporter: yep, they have names. >> the black one is burt. the white one is ernie. remember the the goats are thorough but not quick. this job will cost the jenkins family about $1,000 but it will take three days. tammy stays on site, sleeping in her truck at night. >> i have goat-mares. i dream about goats escaping. that's what i always dream about. i need to catch them. >> reporter: these round the clock jobs mean the goats wind up in some weird situations. ernie here was kidnapped once.

and the herd is a magnet for the post-bar crowd. >> i had a business man in a suit one night. he crawled in with the goats. >> reporter: he was just drunk and decided to -- >> he wanted to -- yeah, he was just all happy. like, i just want to -- pet your goats. >> reporter: the jenkins kids got a three-day petting zoo out of it and were planning to invite friends over. three days later, these pictures show the aftermath of the goat's devastating eating power. they ate pretty much everything but the dirt. >> who's my boy? >> reporter: tammy says she's on the verge of launching franchises as far away as australia. you think this thing can go global? >> i do. >> reporter: goat tripping, come on. >> i early on thought this could be just kind of -- i don't know, the starbucks of goat rental. >> reporter: let's just hope that doesn't mean a goat on every corner.

i'm neal karlinsky for "nightline" in seattle. >> they do nice work, don't they? thanks to neal karlinsky for that. when we come back, can sarah palin turn what's look like a hit reality show into real political capital? that's the subject of tonight's "closing argument." first, here's jimmy kimmel. >> tonight, "icarly" miranda cosgrove is with us. we have music from jason aldean, kathy griffin and the march to national unfriend day continues.

okay, time, now, for tonight's "closing arguments."