to become jaynes very serious practical problem. >> i didn't have access to anything, really, beyond our what was in our checking account. >> reporter: the fact of the matter was the valsecas were house poor. they'd put everything they had into the ranch. and at recession prices, even if she could sell it, she'd get a smalalfraction of $8 million. there in the dining room, jayne showed the e-mail to her federal agent and realized he was not surprised. >> "you know, jayne, you have to realize that this is the way this works. you're going to be learning the ropes here. they hope to get that amount, but this is where we start negotiating." >> reporter: the kidnappers set the rules. jayne must respond to their e-mails in the want ad section of a specific newspaper. her first ad, they demanded, would gogon the "animals and pets" section and read -- "buy a chow chow dog austin, vaccinated with complete pedigree, 8,000 pesos." meaning, of course, $8 million totouy back eduardo. they started out at $8 million, what did you respond? >> basically went out saying we're very concerned for the puppy's wellbeing, we don't want any harm to come to him, mixed into the words. and your requ

eduardo and jayne valseca and their three children arrived at the country school not far from their ranch house outside san miguel de allende in mexico. >> as we pulled into the parking lot, i noticed that there was a small, compact car in the far corner of the parking lot. and there was a man at the wheel who had a fisherman's cap, khaki color on and glasses. >> reporter: a prospective parent, perhaps, for next year's class? jayne walked the children to their classrooms. she stopped at the school office. >> and asked the administrator if she knew who the gentleman was or if he needed help. and she looked over and looked across the parking lot and said, "i don't know who he is. >> reporter: eduardo was behind the wheel of the jeep, listening to the radio. the stranger's car was beyond it, at the back of the lot. >> as i walked to the jeep where my husband was, i looked across and made eye contact with them and actually smiled, and he smiled back. >> reporter: eduardo put the jeep in gear, pulled away. the strange car fell in behind them. >> a pickup truck comes out of nowhere. it catches

cellular. >> reporter: jayne valseca sat in the dirt by the highway on the outskirts of san miguel de allende. a cop helped her strip away the duct tape round her hands and feet. as he told her that her husband's kidnappers had escaped, she tried to staunch the blood from her injured finger, gashed on that barbed-wire fence. she tried to tamp down the terror that grabbed at her throat because she knew what had happened to others. >> my husband was kidnapped on 2001. >> reporter: this woman had already told her horrifying story. >> and every time that we would tell that we don't have the money, so, they cut a finger and they send us the finger. >> reporter: but that was mexico city, one of the kidnapping capitals of the world, where jayne had heard that thousands are snatched every year, wealthy and poor, from mansions, the backs of taxis, from taco stands. >> the kidnapping situation in mexico is outrageous. >> reporter: this woman, ana maria salazar, had been reporting it for years on tv. the breakdown of law and order, the mess in police forces. >> you don't have a criminal justice