[ bleep ], i'm smoking, i got have a [ bleep ] cigarette, or i'm gonna [ bleep ] -- >> heiko, heiko -o be ready. >> your frustration must be pretty -- >> frustration was immense. >> if he's not calm, then our hostage takers aren't going to be calm. so oftentimes i would have to tell heiko to, you know, be quiet, let the hostage taker speak and then we would have a chance to respond. >> reporter: and then what? how long before they tired of the game and killed the two great loves of his life? >> i've worked these cases that will last years instead of months. >> and i was thinking, "no, i'm not making it for years. i mean, there is no way." >> reporter: heiko didn't have to wait that long. three months after gerfa and kevin were taken, there was a very different phone call. and for heiko it was terrifying. >> coming up -- >> she called me really, really sad and crying. >> i felt her dark place, being a mother myself. and it was awful. >> when "dateline" continues. [brad] new in town? [man] witness protection program... [brad] i guess you need relocation consultation. with apartments-dot

heiko lunsmann?that's me. >> okay, we would like to inform you that your family here with us, under our custody. >> reporter: two days after his wife and child were kidnapped by abu sigh yaf in the philippines, he got his first ransom call, a man who called himself mr. so. >> just give me a name. >> reporter: mr. so was calm, business-like, like he'd done it a hundred times before. in fact, he was the voice for a violent separatist voice known for executing prisoners, beheading, usually. >> we would like to tell you that, uh, we need 10 million u.s. dollars for the release of can you hear me? >> and i just was thinking, are you losing your mind? who you think you got? just couldn't believe it. $10 million. from me. >> why would they think he had 10 million? perhaps they watched the internet. in lynchburg, the kidnapping was big news, with tv crews across the street and captured him driving his used mercedes coupe. >> there you are in your fancy car. you must be worth millions. >> that was a wrong, wr