catch a thief when burglars broke into her home -- >> two people in the house. here comes another. >> she found a high-tech way to fight back. how more and more people are rigging their place with do it yourself surveillance. and turning the tables on robbers. >> the trainer moving in with his 400-pound client, to help her slink to half their size. tonight we move in the extreme weight loss guru. >> and fair ret boot camp. these creatures who have forgotten how to make it in the

bield. teaching them how to hunt, kill, and even date? . this is "nightline," july 6, 2012. >> good evening. i'm terry moran. tonight, thieves be wear. at the height of the summer vacation season, comes a high-tech wave of do it yourself surveillance systems, allowing homeowners to ensure their safe is safe anymore by going online. from hidden cameras, provide victims with a way to strike back and get revenge, by helping police put criminals behind bars. here is abc's reporter. >> eric gilbert pulled up his home in california only to be greeted with a gun to his head. it's a near execution caught on tape. after two excruciating minutes,

gilbert managed to escape. it's caught on his home surveillance system. police hope catch the would be killer. homeowners trying to this wart thieves in the act. >> take this one woman's sting operation in florida. >> i'm watching my home online monitor and there's a man in my house and he's robbing it. >> jeanne was tired of being a victim. he had been robbed once before and vowed not to let that happen again. >> he's walking around and going in places and trying to rob us more. >> it all started months earlier when she came thoem a shocking discovery. >> i noticed that the house was missing a lot of the items that was there when i left in the morning. >> what's that moment like? >> total violation. >> not only did they do it, they got away it. >> unless we them in the act or catch them in possession, they get away with it. >> promising herself never to be

caught off guard nen, she took matters into her own hand. >> i want to know what's happening so i bought this surveillance system. >> all over the internet you can watch the battle. homeowners breaking out their own ars nel of do it yourself surveillance equipment. take a peak at this guy, partly motivated by a string of robererries in his apartment. he caught a coach potato crook live. the pictures sent straight to his e-mail box. >> the first image i got was this, okay, there's someone sitting on my coach. he basically came from the fire escape and opened the window and came in. it's like watching a reality show but it's directly affecting you. >> the police responded within minutes and the thief was nabbed. >> i'm behind the idea that people should try on their own. technology is becoming part of our lives really fast, so we

should learn how to do those things. >> back to jean, for 250 bucks she bought an off the shelf surveillance system, no wiring, a snap to set up, she says. and you can log on from anywhere. >> now, your husband, what did he think? >> he thought it was the silliest idea ever. this is a total waist of money. you're not going to catch anything happening. >> far long time he was right, unless you consider pet's criminals. >> i would log in see my dogs doing something. they leap on the sofa where they're not supposed to be. when she was sitting in her office, i had this feeling somebody was wrong. so i logged on. when i logged on there was this man standing in any living room. >> describe the moment. >> pure panic. i'm in a dream or nightmare because this isn't happening. >> oh, it's happening live. and suddenly jean finds herself doing play by play for the cops on that 911 call. >> he doesn't know i'm sitting here watching him.

>> he's walking next to my stereo. he picked up awe wii video game. >> they started heading right to that area. >> now with the cops closing in, jean discovers where once there was one, there are now. >> two people in the house. here comes another one. >> this is crazy. >> they have things in their hands. >> ma'am, it's okay. officers are surrounding your house. >> they're not going to get away with anything. >> ma'am, i need you to calm down. >> i'm sorry. >> moments late ter two men were arrested and the cops made a sweep of the house. >> pictures are worth a thousands words, so is videotape. >> police say only about one in ten home break ins are ever solved by idding the burglarers are so difficult. >> this new bit of technology, you might turn the tables on the crooks by turning on your web cam. >> when you think that nobody is watching, there could be somebody else watching. >> for "nightline," i'm jay in

new york. >> that's a good idea. thanks to jay shade ler for that. next up, he's a fitness superstar behind these astonishing weight loss transformations. extreme make over chris powell tells us about his own incredible journey. last season was the gulf's best tourism season in years. in florida we had more suntans... in alabama we had more beautiful blooms... in mississippi we had more good times... in louisiana we had more fun on the water. last season we broke all kinds of records on the gulf. this year we are out to do even better... and now is a great time to start. our beatches are even more relaxing... the fishing's great. so pick your favorite spot on the gulf... and come on down. brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home. like a ramen noodle- every-night budget. she thought allstate car insurance was out of her reach.

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unlike randy. how is this for dedication. a personal trainer famous for actually moving in wiz clients to help them lose weight. it may seem extreme, but in chris powell's case, that's the point. his clients weigh as much as 500 pounds. it's all part of their year-long extreme makeover transformation.

juju chang spent a day with him. >> reporter: behind each jaw-dropping transformation as people shrink to half their size, there's one man who orchestrates it all. >> i'm fighting through the pain. >> reporter: for extreme makeover weight loss edition. all total, he's helped 11 superobese people lose a ton of weight. but chris powell would tell you his secret as a hard-charging trainer has less to do with exercising people's bodies than exercising their demons. >> there is a tie to some kind of emotional trauma in the path of the people that i've worked with. that trauma is typically unaddressed. >> you deal with sexual abuse, you deal with alcoholism. are you qualified to deal with all these psychological issues?

>> absolutely not. i will handle them as a friend would. i know it's outside of my scope of practice. with some of these deep-rooted psychological issues, that's why we have therapist on board with us. >> learning to love yourself may sound like psycho babble, but time and again, powell points to stories like ryan. he's in the boot camp in the arizona dessert with powell's wife hide di who is a also a trainer. losing his ample is the most visible damage from a car accident, but ryan says his psychological wounds are much deeper. >> i'm dealing with stuff that i've shoved under the rug. >> ryan's grueling year-long quest requires total commitment. powell was known for moving in wiz his clients to make over their lives, to break bad has been its. >> this is the man cave right here. >> nice. the powells let us move into their home, to a place cameras

don't get to peak inside. even the expert motivator is ham strung by his 7-year-old. >> what do you want for breakfast? it's time to wake up, bud. >> given his rock hard abs and intensity, you would never guess this 34-year-old was the scrawny kid who failed to make the football team. >> i was just over 100 pounds about 5'3" at the time. >> his parents refused to let him go into despair and did something radical. >> there's a weight set sitting in the middle of living room floor. i was so weak and vulnerable at that time, i felt empowered. what gave it to me was fitness. eights, just iron. i was hooked. >> he became a trainer. bhu after some bad business deals, powell found himself homeless, living out of his car. >> i felt like a fraud. i felt like a total fraud.

i had made poor business decisions. i was in debt. i was losing everything. >> this is it, guys. until he found hide di, a single mom of two. >> they're now raising three kids together. >> we really met at the deepest, darkest place in both of our lives and it gave us a wonderful foundation to open up and say, here is who i am. >> it was in that deep, dark moment that powell learned to overcome his fear of failure. he also vowed to teach others. even sering it into hisskin. >> so this is one, 100, 50, and million. and as i make a positive change in people's lives and as they thank me, i cross them off. >> where does a guy like you come up with such dreams for yourself? >> i think we all have a desire

to feel significant in the world. it's not about me doing nice things for other people. i get something out of this and it's fulfillment. this is the best addiction in the world. >> for powell, the path to helping others find fulfillment still involves plenty of sweat along with the tears. >> most of the time people don't think about it, but it's so kbhon to simply pick up an object and lift it over your head. >> it's like therapy on steroids. >> exactly. his unconventional training sessions are designed to keep things interesting. >> you know it's 110 degrees in arizona right now. >> welcome to arizona. good for conditioning. get down into it and push. this is all about hip drive build a lot of strength through those legs. >> stand by to call the paramedic. >> go, go, go. there you go! that's it. beautiful. keep pushing. great job! >> and that great feeling is

precisely how powell gets people hooked. for "nightline" i'm juju chang in phoenix, arizona. >> extreme makeover weight loss edition airs sundays here on abc. thanks to jew jew for that inside report. just ahead endangered ferrets. who forgotten how to be ferrell beasts. and the boot camp, yes boot camp, reteaching them the ways of the wild. how do you know it's summer time? well, i'm flipping burgers and talking about the ford summer sales event. "oh, wow." "now this would definitely be the car i would want to get."

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some people think ferrets are cute, others find them

nasty. they almost becamics tingt with the help of a few dedicated conservationist, they are making a come back and so we send abc's clayton sandell to the ferret boot camp. >> reporter: it's well after midnight on the south dakota prayerry. >> this can be extremely elusive creatures. >> traviss is on the hunt. >> it's like searching for a needle in the hay stack. >> then about 100 yards away, shiny green eyes give away one of the most endangered animals in the world. it used to be that finding a black footed ferret in the wild was impossible. they thought they had gone extinct. >> in 1981, someone found it, kill kd it, brought it to its owner, oh my gosh, that's not

extinct. their rediscover kicked off a second chance to bring a species back to the brink. at the mountain zoo in colorado springs is a building off limits to the public. here doctors are ferret match makers. we met them just as they were pairing up males and females for three days of rough ferret sex. >> sometimes we see motion of the boxes rocking and we don't go knocking. >> if everything goes right, exactly 42 days later the kits arrive. >> they weigh about 5 grams, that's act five pennies. >> they must tern these adorable animals into killers. so these 20 day olds eyes not open yet, are getting their first taste of meet. >> they're just gang busters for meet. they are strict carnivores. >> in just a few weeks, their

new diet transforms the kits from zoo zoo pet cuteness to loud mouth adolescents. >> 18 wild animals, that tiny gene pool has ruined their immup season. >> they're prone to flu, any disease that walks by they may die from. >> the ferrets fate is closely tied to their natural enemy prayerry dogs. but poisoning and plague have wiped them out. >> they cannot survive without prayerry dogs, that's what caused the near extinction of blook footed ferrets. >> at three monthst old it's moving day. they are shipped to the sue to the con ver investigation center in wellington, colorado. here paul runs a sort of ferret food camp. >> it's a big day for them. it's like sending your kids off to school. >> the ferrets will learn

critical survival skills here how to kill and eat live prayerry dogs. >> the best question can to take them off of the endangered species list. >> off after a few days inside t ferrets get a taste for the outdoors. >> first time they're smelling fresh air. >> that's mom sticking her head out. >> soon they begin to explore. and even dance. >> we call it the ferret happy dance. just happy to be around. >> ferrets that make it around this boot camp get the ultimate graduation present. >> a road trip to freedom. >> we're heading up to wyoming and heading into south dakota. >> the animals arrive at their new home, bad lands national park, south dakota. they're greeted like celebrities. >> he's anxious to go and get some dinner. >> one after the other the ferrets go free.

>> the springtime, hopefully male meets female, 42 days later we have babies. >> 18 to about 1000. >> the green eye shining gets your heart rate up a bit. >> ferrets will sustain themselves here on the prayerry is the hope. >> your air will not be any purer to breathe with black footed ferrets exist on this planet, why should we save them. >> we were one of the causes for the endangerment of the ferrets. because we were a part of it, we owe it to the species to try to recover it. >> i'm clayton sandell, in south dakota. >> the ferret come back. thank you for watching abc news. i'll see you sunday morning when i'll be sitting in for george