dave hodgen asked john mccall to reconsider. >> i asked him to look into her eyes right now, because he's standing right there, and she's begging and pleading and crying. and it didn't matter. >> reporter: mccall's lawyer in tennessee told us despite repeated efforts by the foster family to terminate this child's father's rights, his parental rights have never been successfully terminated. and his daughter has now been returned to his care. this is sonya's home now. we came here to omaha, nebraska, hoping to get john mccall to answer some of our questions about his daughter sonya and his past. he had told me earlier by phone he'd be open to that and to check with his lawyer. but when i got a hold of his attorney, she told me that at least for now mr. mccall is forbid be by the tennessee department of children's services to speak publicly about the case and sonya. back to that heart wrenching phone call the hodgens recorded in january during their last conversation with sonya, this is how she described her new life. >> tell me how bad is that house? >> dirt everywhere. i think there's

dave hodges asked john mccall to reconsider. >> i asked him to look into her eyes right now because, ing right there and she is begging and pleading and crying and it didn't matter. >> reporter: mccall's lawyer in tennessee told us despite repeated efforts by the foster family to terminate this child's father's rights his pa rents rights have never been successfully terminated and his daughter has been returned to his care. this is sonya's home now. we came here to omaha, nebraska, to get john mccall to answer some of our questions about his daughter sonya and his past. he had told me earlier by phone he would be open to that and to check with his lawyer. but when i got a hold of his attorney, she told me that at least for now, mr. mccall is forbidden by the tennessee department of children services to speak publicly about the case and sonya. back to that heart wrenching phone call the hodgins recorded in january before their last conversation with sonya, this is how she described her new life. >> dirt everywhere! no clean water! no drinking water. i think there's even mold. it's so d

dave asked john mccall to reconsider. >> i asked him to look in her eyes right now. obviously she is standing right there. and she is begging and pleading and crying, and it did not matter. >> reporter: mccall's lawyer in tennessee told us despite repeated efforts by the foster family to terminate this child's father's rights, his parental rights have never been successfully terminated and his daughter has been returned to his care. this is sonya's home now. we came here to omaha, nebraska, hoping to get john mccall to answer some of our questions about his daughter, sonya, and his past. he had told me earlier by phone he would be open to that and to check with his lawyer. but when i got ahold of his attorney she told me that at least for now mr. mccall is forbidden by the department of children's services to speak publicly about the case and sonya. back to the heartwrenching phone call that was recorded, this is how she described her new life. >> tell me how bad is the house. >> there is dirt everywhere. even mold. there is no clean water. >> no clean water? no drink

sonya's birth father, john mccall, is a convicted criminal. he pled guilty to transporting firearms, a felony, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. under tennessee law his rights were automatically terminated because state law doesn't allow anyone incarcerated for more than ten years to have rights to a child under 8 years old. but before his daughter's adoption was finalized he cut a deal and got his sentence reduced to seven and a half years. that deal and lesser sentence allowed him to assert his parental rights and fight to reverse the adoption that was later finalized. >> she has never laid eyes on this man. he is a total stranger. >> reporter: that total stranger managed to convince the court to reconsider. in november, 2009, one year and 12 days after she had been legally adopted sonya's adoption was reversed. but she continued to live with the hodgens while both sides fought for custody. nearly five years later a juvenile court judge ruled sonya should be returned to her biological father. >> and sonya is crying her eyes out, just

months later her biological father, john mccall was sent to 15 years in prison under a firearms chargehe little girl. when his sentence was later reduced the adoption was overturned. a judge earlier this year ordered that sonya be returned immediately to mccall who lives in nebraska. >> packed her three du if. fel bags of clothes and toothpaste and all the stuff that little girls need. you knew she was gone. >> reporter: the case is now playing out online launching facebook pages andrecording a pe call. >> there's dirt all over and it's inside. it's so nasty. there's cigarettes everywhere. >> cigarettes everywhere? okay, sweetheart, calm -- i want you to calm down. i want you to calm down. is he being nice to you? >> yeah. >> john mccall and his family declined to speak to nbc news, siting the confidentiality of the juvenile court system. the judge ruled she'll stay in nebraska for now. officials in tennessee say she is checked on regularly, doing well in school and is seeing a therapist. and their view on mccall? >> he has fought for his daughter. doesn't have a perfect record. he is

and telling this story. >> thank you for having us on. >> thank you. >>> now, we did reach out to john mccall do an interview but his attorney told us this, that the parental rights involved have never been successfully terminated as well as the department of children's services, we reached out to them and told us, "the law is clear. both parents have a right to raise their children." certainly there will be litigation on this, kate. best interest rules, but what that means under the law can often get very complicated. >> absolutely right, chris. >>> coming up next on "new day," we are finally hearing from a colorado mom who endured an unbelievable ordeal. 's t trapped in an overturned car nearly a week and managed to survive. how? we will hear her story. >>> not a plane, not a bird, five people flying over new york city in a wing suit. incredible pictures to show for it. two of them in their wing suits joining us to tell us what it is like to take a solo flight like that over new york city. mine was earned in korea in 1953. afghanistan, in 2009. orbiting the moon in 1971. [ male announcer ]