you know? where did she go? who did she see? i just want to know what happened to my sister. >> a young mother missing in a case gone cold. then, one detective's a-ha moment. >> why don't you establish a facebook aount? i thought, that could actually accomplish a great deal. >> that's when everything started to change. could facebook help solve this mystery? >> something happened to her. >> in court, it all comes pouring out. a hidden crime and a

heart-pounding revelation. >> this is a horrible crime. >> i'm glad we know the truth. >> secrets in the mist. but first, two other moms face the unthinkable. >> it was just chaos. lots of screaming. lots of gun fire. >> any bullet to pass through me first before it gets to these children. >> i just laid on them and prayed and just prayed and prayed and prayed. >> inside the mall attack that stunned the world. through the eyes of two moms and their kids. >> i just kept telling them to be quiet like a mouse. >> asked him not to cry. this is it. >> for one of the moms, even more terror. her two boys on their own somewhere else in the mall. >> she said she wanted her brothers and i told her we would

see them later. >> when things seemed hopeless, two heroes would appear. >> i told the lady, now. >> a little girl would show us all the meaning of courage. >> when porsche got up and ran, did you have a moment you thought, oh my god? >> i'm lester holt and this is "dateline." here's kate snow with "nowhere to hide." >> it's the modern-day town square. a gathering place that fulfills our every need, shopping, eating, socializing. a trip to the mall is an escape on weekends. and not just in america. in nairobi, kenya, the upscale and modern westgate mall was the place to unwind at the end of the work week. it was the last place you'd expect something like this.

gunshots, explosions, armed men taking over every floor, method methodically shooting anyone in their way. that was the unbelievably brutal scene that played out in front of a shocked world september 21st, 2013. just after the smoke cleared, "dateline" traveled to nairobi. tonight, we'll take you inside the mall attack. with never before seen pictures of how it unfolded and new details from those who lived through it. you'll hear from two mothers caught in the crossfire. >> pretty terrifying. it really was. it was very, very, very fearful. >> two mothers caught on camera. >> what's going to happen? i'm going to die. the kids are going to die. >> in a matter of seconds, these moms, an american and a kenyan, would go from strolling through the mall to being forced to make life and death decisions to save

themselves and their children. for katherine walton, it began like any other saturday, with her husband phillip away on business she took her five kids to the westgate mall. it was a place where all of them could be entertained. the teens and the toddlers. her kids like the chicken place, the canada store. >> just an opportunity to walk around, kill a couple hours and go home and have naps and everybody would be happy. >> the waltons chose to move to kenya two years ago from texas. for katherine and phlip, it was like going home. they were children of missionaries and grew up in countries in west africa. they met in boarding school in africa, married in the states and started raising their family. blez was born 14 years ago, and then porsche, g igi 2 and petra the baby 13 months old was born in kenya. their morning at the mall

unfolded just as any family's might. they had lunch together in the foot court. after lunch, the boys decided to race down to the first floor to a big department store, sort of like a super walmart. mom and the three young girls were still finishing up lunch so they lagged behind. as they were walking through the mall to catch up with the boys, with the baby in a sling and two toddlers holding mom's hands, it happened. an explosion. >> first thing that tellyou something's wrong is a huge bang. >> yeah. yeah. >> coming from where? >> it was the main entrance so it was off to my right and behind me. i remember turning around and looking at it and just seeing people screaming and running. >> in those first seconds, katherine was unsure what was happening. she thought it sounded like broken glass or something falling but she immediately grasped that she and her girls

were in danger. the chaos confused another mother, not far from katherine, on the main floor. faith was in the mall with her two children, 9-year-old daughter sigh and 21-month-old son ty. the agricultural researcher was shopping for an anniversary present for her husband. she was in a flower shop when she first heard the noise. >> it was so loud that i actually thought it must have been an earthquake and the building was collapsing so that's the point i just told my kids to lie down. of course, i'm scanning the area wondering where we are going to go. >> scenes captured on security cameras in the mall show how quickly the attack began. you can seema sheen gun bullets flashing down the main concourse as shoppers scramble and dive to the floor. >> and then i saw tracer rounds starting to hit the shops that were straight ahead. >> katherine's first thought, protect her kids.

>> it was, you know, just instinct to grab the girls and run. but we must not have gone very far and a kenyan woman came, scooped up porsche and we both ran right behind this display table, display cabinet. >> katherine, her girls and the kenyan woman took cover the only place they could. here they are crouching under a flimsy temporary display table. >> petra was crying because i was laying on her. and it was loud. it was very loud. very kchaotic. >> what was happening around you? what were you hearing? >> everybody was scrambling. the shooting was like coming from all directions. >> katherine knew her boys were headed to the department store amid all the noise and commotion, she managed to call them and cry out a quick warning. >> don't come out. they're shooting. go, run, hide. do not come out. >> katherine knew the situation

was dangerous, extremely dangerous, but at least she had some cover. faith and her kids were also trapped on the ground floor but cowering out in the open exposed to the gunmen stalking new victims. >> i'm telling the kids to lie down. then now there's a continuous loud sounds and that's when i knew they were shooting. then i thought, huh oh. wrong choice of hiding place. i remember my daughter at one point asked me, mama, was this a best place we could hide? >> the assault continued. you're not hearing one gunman? >> no. it sounded like it was all over and in the building it was just echoing and reverberating. >> you could look up and see other floors? >> where i was laying, i could see across and up the different levels. you know? it was just chaos. >> what's the smell like? >> the whole mall was cloudy and just smoke everywhere.

gun powder. burning. smell. >> did any of them come anywhere near you? >> i saw two of them that walked from the main entrance in front of the line of stores that were directly in front of us. >> hold on. what did you see? i mean, you saw their feet go by? >> no. i saw them. i saw two whole men, you know. they were 50 yards, 30 yards away. i don't know. >> what did they look like? >> they had tan and gray clothing and they cg very, very large weapons. very large guns. >> hearing the gun fire and screams echoing through the mall, both katherine and faith could tell the gunmen were spreading out. killing people as they went along. two mothers trapped with young children worried they'd be next and a growing fear seized katherine. her boys were no longer answering their phone. where were they? >> one of the worst parts of the whole ordeal was just that, the

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armed men stormed into the westgate mall in nairobi, kenya, firing round after fatal round. katherine walton was hunkered down near where the shooting had started, crouched in a small kiosk with a stranger and her three young daughters. she was desperately worried about her sons who were somewhere out there but she had to focus on keeping her dau daughters quiet so they wouldn't attract attention. were you hiding from the gunmen? >> yeah. we were laying down on the ground hiding. porsche kept her fingers in the ears.

gigi said she wanted her blanket and flashlight. she said she wanted her wro brothers. i told her that we would see them later. >> katherine could only hope that was true. half a world away a phone rang in a hotel room in north carolina. filip, katherine's husband, went back to the u.s. for business meetings leaving his wife alone in nairobi with the five kids. >> i was woken up by from paul wheeler who was the dear family friend and it was not good. >> do you remember what he said? >> there's an attack going on at westgate and your wife and sons are in there and they're separated. that's the call you don't want to have to make. >> yeah. paul weaver, the walton family friend was at home recovering from surgery getting an urgent text from katherine. >> what time did you first message come in? >> 12:52. she said pray. shooting in westgate. hiding.

>> that's a message. >> just blew me away. so i actually wrote her back really and she said, yes, i don't know where the boys are. she said, find blaise. >> paul texted blaise but he didn't answer. >> i started looking on the internet. somebody put 0 a statement on facebook saying don't call anybody. the people are shot when the phones are ringing. >> oh god. paul stayed in connection with katherine through text messages, the lifeline to the outside world. >> i sent a text, get me out of here. like i thought he could. i was desperate. >> my heart just sunk. >> katherine didn't text her husband filip because he was too far away to do anything. back in north carolina, all phillip could do is wait. it was 6:00 a.m. and news of the attack hadn't hit the u.s. yet. >> i'm trying to imagine the feeling of getting that phone call. and being so far away.

>> i think helplessness is a pretty accurate word. you know there's nothing that you can do. i was so worried the girls woul uncontrollably panicking and drawing attention. >> exactly what katherine was trying to prevent the girls from doing. >> i just kept telling them to stay little, to stay very quiet. and that the kenyan lady that was with porsche kept patting her and soothing her and gigi just was curled up in a little ball. her breathing was so quiet and shallow. i kept rubbing her back and touching her because i was like maybe she's hurt and i don't realize it. >> cramped in the hiding spot, she was desperate to reach her boys. after trying and trying, she finally got through again. >> i was able to send a text and said are you okay? he told me that they were okay and that they were safe. >> you thought your boys had gotten out.

>> i did. when he told me they were safe, i thought they had gotten out. >> but they hadn't. the walton boys were hiding in the back of the store. this cell phone video captured the battlefield the store became. the aisles were a bullet-riddled maze. shoppers were stunned. some drawing fire. and now, there were gunmen headed towards katherine's sons. faith was the other mother trapped in the night mare. she had her two young children with her and worried about contlling her toddler son. >> i feel bad right now because i was lying on him trying to shield him at one point and i said, oh my goodness, laying on this ground and pressing down on his back. he must be so uncomfortable. that's when i put my fingers in his mouth you know?

hoping to give him something to suck on. >> they remained like that frozen in place first for minutes and then for an hour. she was terrified her son would start crying and give him away. >> i can see his face creasing into a cry. and i know my goodness, he is going to cry. this is it. >> coming up, faith makes a fateful choice. >> do it now. our cover has been blown. >> while our other mom katherine becomes terrified that she and her girls are moments away from being discovered. >> i knew that as those men came around behind us that they could see us. >> when "dateline" continues. how can you see yourself in new glasses...

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katherine walton was still in her makeshift hiding spot on the main floor of the mall. an hour into the attack, she was still trying to keep her three restless daughters contained under the flimsy table.

their only protection from the roaming gunmen. it was a job that got harder as the mall got quieter. >> there was a lull and petra picked up the phone and was playing with it. gigi was trying to take it away from her. then, the shooting started again. one threw the phone and it got underneath our body. i couldn't reach it. >> reporter: you couldn't text anybody? >> i couldn't text any body or get ahold of any body. >> for a couple hours i was texting her. no more texting from then. other people called saying this is really bad. we have seen pictures of people being killed. >> reporter: she is not responding to you now. >> no. >> reporter: just down the corridor, a mother struggled to keep her children quiet. >> i'm thinking about our survival. and will this stop and run to an area safe? >> reporter: but there was nowhere else for faith and her children to go. she told them being quiet wasn't enough. she made an incredible decision

they would all play dead. her 9-year-old daughter could understand how important it was to stay still. amazingly, her 2-year-old son seemed to sense it, as well. he didn't move except for an occasional blink. men with machine guns scoured every inch of the mall. >> we were right next to a corridor where we could hear them passing from time to time. but there was no way i was going to change my position. >> reporter: as the the minutes dragged into hours, knowing her son might stir at any moment, faith was relieved when he dozed off for a bit. >> he was lying there on the ground, you know, snoring away. i didn't know whether he was alive because when one eye was shut, the other was open. and it was hard to sleep. >> reporter: hot, cramped, with numb limbs, faith urged her kids to fight the need to move. >> my daughter whenever i felt like she was twitching or changing her position because my hand was on her arm, i would just, you know, squeeze a little bit. then she totally understood that

to mean to stay still. >> reporter: but then 2-year-old ty woke up. faith wondered how much longer he could hold on. she took a chance and played a game. she pretended glass and cement were insects to keep him distracted. >> tell him, there is an insect coming. he would watch it so fascinated. he really likes insects. >> reporter: the gunmen continued to brazenly troll the mall floors looking for victims. katherine was worried they would see her and the girls. after all, she was seeing the gunmen. when they walked by you were they shooting? >> no. they were walking very slow. they almost had a demeanor like they owned the place. look they knew they were in control. >> reporter: did they see you? >> they looked my direction. i knew that if the men came out of the store and came around behind us that they could see us. >> reporter: those men had already killed dozens of shoppers. in this video captured by a security camera, a wounded

person is prodded by a terrorist. other parts too graph tubing broadcast show the gunmen callously shooting people throughout the mall even the injured. as the the siege dragged on the outside world was beginning to get some idea of how terrible it was. >> good evening. loud explosions were heard tonight in the kenyan capital of nairobi. >> reporter: those still trapped inside the mall couldn't know they were part of a terrorist attack. faith wamboa and their two kids remained absolutely still. it was their only chance for survival. but her mind raced. >> thinking about my husband. where is he? how will he get to know about the incident? and i am wondering will, will any of my children get shot? will i get shot and my children have no mother after this? >> reporter: faith was determined to protect her children at any cost. >> i remember at some point i was covering the children. my son's head.

my daughter's head. and i said any bullet would have to pass through me first before it gets through my children. >> reporter: faith and her children had been flat on the floor for 3 1/2 hours. when suddenly she heard something. >> we had heard voices from above us, on higher floors. asking us to get up. mother, mother with the children, you down there with the children. i knew they were now addressing me. but immediately we got up on to our knees and were trying to get up to go, the shooting started again. >> reporter: she thought by moving she had drawn attention to herself. >> we were scared first because now our cover has been blown. because now they know that we are really not dead. >> reporter: faith didn't trust anyone now. so when a man approached she was sure it wasn't good. >> now when i felt somebody touching me. i knew they had come for us. now they know we are alive. so we just laid down there. and i remember, shh, quiet. coming up -- faith has to

make a split-second decision. their lives depend on it. should she trust the man talking to her child? >> baby, baby, touching my daughter, baby, baby. >> and then, a fresh shock for katherine's husband. >> that was very traumatic to me. [ woman ] i've always tried to see things from the best angle i could. it's how i look at life. especially now that i live with a higher risk of stroke due to afib, a type of irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. i was taking warfarin but wondered, could i focus on something better? my doctor told me about eliquis for three important reasons. one, in a clinical trial eliquis was proven to reduce the risk of stroke better than warfarin. two, eliquis had less major bleeding than warfarin. and three, unlike warfarin there's no routine blood testing. [ male announcer ] don't stop taking eliquis unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke.

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including the x1 platform from xfinity. comcast was honored to bring every minute of every medal of nbcuniversal's coverage to every screen. so what's next? rio 2016. welcome to what's next. comcast nbcuniversal. for three and a half hours after armed gunmen stormed the westgate mall, two mothers had been trapped. katherine walton crouched two three young daughters. and faith wamboa, she and two young children played dead all this time, they moved once and were instantly shot at. as a man approached them, faith held her position but he wasn't

a terrorist. he was a police officer. >> baby, baby, touching my daughter, baby, baby. are you okay? are you okay? i said, wow. in my mind this must be a good person. not are we alive? are we okay? and then he said, it's safe. it's safe. it's the police. >> faith's 9-year-old daughter was the first to move. >> my daughter put up her head, hesitant and asked him, are you with the bad guys? because, i mean, i was looking down. i was scared. i thought they have come where we are. so my daughter put her head up and too late to tell her to go back down, engage the policeman in a conversation. are you with the bad people? mama, look up. >> and then, almost against the instincts, faith began to trust. >> when i looked up, i saw the civilian jacket. i didn't know who he was. not in a uniform.

and then he as we sat up, i saw the shirt. i was able to recognize the uniform. and then, he said, it's fine. i'm going to lead you to safety. get up. >> desperately afraid to move, faith gree agreed it was time te a move. faith slowly got up and crept toward the exit with her children. >> i remember seeing a body lying there on the steps as we ran out but i said i'm focusing on where we are going. there was the policeman, the one carrying my daughter was running too fast and way ahead. the one with my son was lagging behind. i am thinking don't separate us. i kept saying, my son, my son. >> reporter: after all those hours, forced to keep her children quiet, they were finally out. >> i am crying now because i am free. you know? there is all these tears of joy. >> reporter: in his hotel room, 6,000 miles away in charlotte, phillip walton could only hope his story would have a happy ending. he was combing through kenyan news reports he saw on social

media. >> i remember one, specifically, where they said they were -- somebody had just seen them bring a child's body out in a shopping cart. they said it was a 5 or 6-year-old little boy. i thought to myself i don't think they could confuse one of the boys for being 5 or 6, but could they confuse one of our little girls for being a boy? that piece of news was very traumatic to me. >> reporter: in agony and alone, he prayed and started playing one song over and over in his mind. >> i think we do have a measure of grace that comes to us in very difficult times. for me, a u-2 song in the back of my head. it's called "40" from the 40th psalm.

♪ i will sing, sing a new song >> just started reading that psalm over and over again. it was exactly what i needed to hear. and so, i took a lot of comfort from that. >> reporter: it's got that great -- i know the song. >> it is an awesome song. ♪ how long to sing this song >> exactly. it became kind of the inspiration of hope, gave me something to pray about during the time that i didn't know what was going on. >> reporter: he was comforted by his faith, but it was impossible not to worry. by now, he knew what his wife didn't. >> she is injured. we hind us. >> reporter: that his entire family was caught in a carefully coordinated full-blown terrorist attack. >> you think the worst, you know. when you know that these are terrorists and you know that their intent is not to steal something and get out of there. but it is -- it is to kill people.

and you know that their intent is to -- is to hurt christians. you know that their intent is to try to disrupt our way of life in kenya. you know -- it's -- it's, the realities of what that could mean are very present. >> reporter: he had no way of knowing whether his family was alive or not. no way of knowing that soon some of his prayers would be answered. coming up -- phillip and katherine's sons are trapped in the most violent part of the mall. and a 14-year-old realizes it is up to him to protect his younger brother. >> i just thought -- ian first, save them. me second. >> what he did next when "dateline" continues. understands being at the corner of "looking for a good deal" and "sheesh, i should've looked some more." ♪

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three hours had passed since phillip walton was awakened by a call telling him his family was trapped inside the westgate he had been on his computer all morning checking for updates. then suddenly he received a sight. his two sons alive and outside the mall. >> my two sons standing with my business partner. a very big, noticeable man. >> paul weaver raced down to the mall area and confirmed the picture was real. the boys were out. >> just seeing them, i mean, i don't think there has any bigger hugs in the world. it was joy, at the same time, just seeing the anguish in their face. and blaise, we sat on the floor and he just laid his head down and all the emotions coming through him.

>> i remember thinking at that time at least i won't be alone. i remember thinking, however horrific this day is, at least the boys and i will have each other if it turns out worse than, we would -- than we would hope or imagine. >> reporter: his wife katherine was still trapped under that tiny table with her three girls. and now, things were looking worse. a man with a gun was headed their way. coming up -- just who was he? and then a daring escape plan from an unlikely hero. >> i told the lady now. >> what happened next amazed the world. coming up in our next hour. a "dateline" mystery. >> how hard is it for you to be here today? >> very. >> a son reveals a secret about the strange disappearance about ltonnd abdul haji quickly coordinated an exit strategy.

>> we opened fire toward the door to scare the terrorists away. >> reporter: then it was time. >> then we hold fire. then i told the lady now. and suddenly this young girl appears out of nowhere. and i just call to her to run toward me. she starts running. and immediately i am thinking, what a brave girl. >> reporter: when porsche got up and ran, did you have a moment where you thought, oh my god -- >> i think i realized it was precarious, but i was also trusting that if they were telling us to run that it was safe. >> reporter: for katherine it was a gigantic leap of faith. after shielding her daughters for 4 1/2 hours, she knew that to save them, she would have to let them go. the image of 4-year-old porsche, running to abdul haji, was one no one would soon forget. katherine wasn't far behind. they and carol lubon when it happened in march 1981.

the night of the slamming doors, the harsh words, the car roaring away. and it's an old story anyway. pretty girl gets pregnant at 125, marries the guy and then a 20-something wo kids and a hankering to live, really live for a change. and this particular pretty girl -- >> she was fun. she was outgoing. she had a lot of friends. >> reporter: she had these two sisters, terry was the younger one. gail the older. >> we were very close and made each other laugh all the time. >> reporter: carol wasn't laughing at the end of march '81. for one thing, she wanted to be somebody. her own somebody. >> i know that carol wanted to complete school and further her career and when she went back to study architecture. >> reporter: sure her husband was a nice kid and she loved him once with all the intensity of first love. he ote no foul play involved. >> i remember thinking about her

all the time. and i used to play records over and over she liked. just thinking, where is she? when is she coming back? >> reporter: mike started to date a 19-year-old named carrie. brought her into the fold. >> we were happy mike was going on with life. >> reporter: and so they did. all go on with life. and many years went by. until the morning in a whole new millennium when the torrance detective happened on the case of the missing young mother and somewhere in the back of his brain a little light turned on. >> i just had a hunch that this just didn't sound right to me. coming up -- doubts about carol's disappearance grow and others also would have suspicions about what really happened. later, they turned to a surprising source to help solve the mystery. >> why don't you establish a lubahn's background with ground-penetrating radar, even

dug up the ground. didn't find a thing. funny thing, though. about four months later, the local paper "the little breeze" did a little story, interviewed mike, and this time his memory was slightly different. he remembered that on that terrible morning when carol left, he heard the garage door go up before she drove away. just one more little detail, though nothing profoundly different. and, of course, no evidence whatsoever of any crime. case went away again. and then one day in 2002, a detective named walt delsigne was rummaging through some cabinets behind his sergeant's desk. >> i was just being nosy. i thought what is this? >> reporter: it was the carol lubahn case folder. over 20 years old and as cold as they come. >> i never heard of this before and i thought, this is what is the "it"? >> you gave that great

significance, didn't you? >> oh, absolutely. >> reporter: so they kept at mike. and at one point it seemed to them he was on the verge of confessing. >> listen. why don't you give me a few days to think about all of it? >> reporter: but when he came back, he didn't give them anything, and they were right back where they started. suspicion, sure, but no evidence of a crime. no way to even prove carol was dead. that is, until detective jim wallace hit on an idea. to use a tool that didn't even exist when carol lubahn fought with her husband on a march night in 1981. coming up -- the long arm of facebook. >> it's the kind of a place where we say here i am. it's also a place you can find people. >> the result, a dramatic turn in the case and fresh heartbreak for carol's family. she's not dead, and their

beloved son-in-law is not a killer. >> reporter: but of all mike sr.'s family members, perhaps no one was as torn as his namesake first born son, mike jr., who loved his father unreservedly. followed him into the family painting business. worked side by side with him for decades. and who had confessed to detectives that, like his aunt terri, he, too, had doubts about his father. doubts that had taken root shortly after mike sr.'s second wife left him. >> he talked about my stepmother constantly, for years, nonstop. >> and why was that so significant to you? >> because he never talked about my mother. >> at all? >> never. >> reporter: but mike never confronted his father. >> i just knew in the back of my mind that this could be a possibility, and i really honestly at that time -- i never wanted my father to go to jail. case but -- >> in the end, my job isn't to

make sure that the family members get what they want. my job is to make sure that, you know, carol's killer is held responsible. >> reporter: but was mike a killer? his attorney, kevin donahue. >> i think the police are just wrong. >> reporter: no forensics, no witnesses, not even a body. the defense might have stopped right there. instead, they decided to gamble. mike was a nice guy. the jury should see that. and if the details had been a little different each time he was asked to tell the story, here was his chance to straighten it all out for the jury. how odd then that mike, under oath now, amended his story just a little again. like when he added the detail that carol was in the bathtub when she said something mean to him. >> she said, you make my skin crawl. >> reporter: also slightly different, the way he discovered