She survived a harrowing ordeal in one of the most dangerous places on earth. Tonight they have brought me out to kill me. Then from across the world, her kidnappers found her again. He reached out on facebook. Did your heart stop . It was scary that he could find me. For the first time, she shares her dramatic story. How she helped secret agents hunt down her captor. This all plays like a tom clancy thriller. Absolutely. The setting. A perfect island paradise. The plot, a daring undercover sting. You are supposed to get wet today give you . They didnt think it would work. Face to face with her kidnapper at last. I just broke down. Its so hard for you. This is real, lifelike pain. Which you get justice . I fought the courage in that moment. And i said im ready. Hello and welcome to dateline. Amanda was a fearless Young Journalist ready to brave the world and dangerous hotspots. Then suddenly, she became the story. Kidnapped by rebels in somalia. What she endured at the hands of her captors nearly destroyed her. What happened after she was freed was almost just as terrifying. Heres kate snow with the capture. Amanda. Amanda. I love you. Imagine being the mom on the other end of the call. If you guys dont pay 1 million for me by one week, they will kill me. Okay . Your daughter, a world away, in the hands of kidnappers. Amanda mommy, mommy, mmmy, mommy both mother and daughter traumatize in their own ways by a callous capture. I understand. Their stories are intertwined. Amanda my head was pulled back and there was a serrated knife. And her mother. Lorinda stewart. Did you keep it together . I did. I had to be strong for her. Driven by strength, courage and endurance, these women would not only survive this ordeal, but their determination in a completely new chapter of their story would ultimately lead them to triumph over one of the man who had terrorized than so brutally and it would take an elaborate international sting. It sounds like something out of the movie it does. We always refer to this operation as the hail mary plan. But before all of that, this story begins in a small town in western canada, where a young woman named amanda learned for a world beyond her hometown. One constant was that i wanted to be a world traveler. That i wanted to go to every country in the world. Amanda began to realize her dream of seeing the world in the nineties. At 19, she was off to venezuela. We are driving in the back of a pickup truck back to the town of santa elena. The whole world was wide open to me at that time. So might open she kept moving. Kept pushing forward. Going from india to pakistan. It didnt feel like a big deal to me. It was something i really wanted to do. And then i did it. And afghanistan is right next door. Mama, lorinda, grew concerned. Especially as her daughter tracked into active war zones. She tried to talk amanda out of those trips, but she says her daughter was headstrong and the more amanda traveled, the more she began to see a path to something else. She thought, i would love to write a book about the people im meeting. She resolved to turn her wanderlust into a journalism career. She wanted to get more experience, but also Cover Stories she cared about. You need to get there and go somewhere where you can get a break . Im also starting to look a little bit further out onto the horizon. How far . One of the most dangerous places in the world. While other stories are out there that i feel passionate about . At the top of the list with somalia. ,. And what we came . I was thinking i would prefer she didnt go. I was headstrong. I didnt spend enough time thinking about what would happen if somebody did go wrong . Cygna, she would find out just how wrong things could go. On the plane into mogadishu, she remembers a fellow Passenger Turning to her and her colleague, nigel brennan, with a stern warning. He said to me, your head, your head alone is worth half 1 Million Dollars in mogadishu. Be careful. As amanda left the airport, the capital city was chaotic. Back home, amandas mother, lorinda, worried about her daughter. I just made sure every time i talked to her that i told her i loved her. Amanda managed to tamp down her nervousness and got to work. On her third day in somalia, she was in a car with a nigel, chasing a story. The vehicle started to slow down and i looked up. About a dozen armed men were emerging from where they had been hidden. All of them with ak47s. Next thing i knew, my door was pulled open and i found myself lying feast out in the dirt, spread eagle with a gun held in the back of my head. Terrifying. I asked, is this about money . And he said to me, or, it might be Something Like that. All the way back in canada, her mother, lorinda, stopped hearing from her daughter. She began to fear the worse. She didnt want to be right that she knew kidnappings were common in somalia. You must have felt so helpless . I felt like we were so far apart and we didnt know where our daughter was. I think i wouldve been a Collapse Puddle on the floor. Well, i knew i couldnt. I couldnt. Miranda reached out to canadian officials who told her this was in fact a kidnapping, by islamic rebels. And they scramble to set up a Recording System in case the kidnappers called. The next morning, myself phone rang and it was adam, who was negotiator for the kidnappers. Canadian investigators had lorinda lead the negotiations, but what she couldnt know then was just how much terror the man who called himself adam would bring into her life. There are two options. Only to say, i dont want to pay any money. Otherwise, to pay 1 million for your daughter. When this adam called lorinda on day four, he had a surprise. Okay, lorinda. Yes. Talk to your daughter. Amanda . Mom . Amanda. I love you, sweetheart. Proof that amanda was a live. After the first couple weeks, we realized that this might go on for a longer than we hoped. On the other side of the globe, amanda couldnt know how long shed be held, that feared the worst. I was the only female in a group of about 16 men. So, there was a lot of scary thoughts. Coming up the danger and terror escalates. Tonight, they have brought me out to kill me. And later, a twist straight out of a hollywood thriller. Youre an undercover agent . Correct. Can amanda help turn the tables on her captors . My heart started pounding and i fell to my knees and i started crying. When dateline continues. When dateline continues. luke so. I hear some of you are concerned about the fact that im taking over the company. Well, rest assured, companys in great hands. Marci, hit the vid. both lukes homesdotcom. 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A small video camera and he was brought out and we were told to beg for our lives. September 17th, 2008. Lorinda turned on the tv in canada and saw this a Hostage Video on all josie era. She was crushed. It was the first time shed seen amanda and she didnt look good. How are you feeling as you watched it . I just want to bring her home. Never let her go. Weeks turned two months. And then their captors separated amanda and nigel. Why was that so important . That day and the days that followed were among the very, very worst, because suddenly, im alone with my own thoughts and my mind. Amandas mind ran wild. She feared she would be right. Then one day, it kept or entered her room. It turns out your fears were justified . He did cross that line and my worst fears were realized. And my whole experience in captivity really changed. Somehow, she held on. And then one night, amanda was jostled awake and driven out into the desert alone. What happened next was terrifying. They brought me over to an a cache a tree. They had me neil. My hell had just was pulled back and there was a serrated knife. The ruthless kidnappers told a Desperate Amanda she only had three minutes to plead for her life. With her traumatized mother on the other end of the call. If you guys dont pay 1 million for me by one week, they will kill me. Okay . Tonight they have brought me out to kill me. Amanda. Amanda, stay strong. Stay strong, honey. That phone call definitely made it harder. Not to let my imagination go. Did you keep it together . I just felt like i had to. That i had to be strong for her. Canada does not pay ransom to kidnappers, so if lorinda wanted to buy amandas freedom, she was on her own. A world away in somalia, amanda and nigel locked in separate rooms, had discovered something. If they each stood at their windows, they could hear each other. They began to hatch a plan. Nigel realized that we might have a chance to escape out that Bathroom Window. Which at first, seemed like an impossible idea. Each time they used the bathroom, they chipped away at the mortar, holding the brings together, blocking the window. Then they would replace the loose bricks. Until one day, the whole was bring enough and they made a break for it. From the moment that i dropped down out of that Bathroom Window and heard the sound below, i knew that it was bad. They sprinted for a mosque, the one place where they thought theyd be safe. Right before we stepped in, i looked back and i saw one of our young captors. Inside the mosque, one person stepped forward to try and help amanda. Someone shell never forget. It was the first woman that i had seen in about five months. And when she hugged me and held on to me, it was the first time in those five months that i felt something akin to being safe. That feeling wouldnt be fleeting. I just clung on to her and i started pouring out my heart to this woman. And she began pleading with my captors to let me go. Her pleas were ignored. The kidnappers circled amanda, guns drawn, and began dragging her out of the mosque. That woman threw herself on top of me and was drug part way across the floor with me, until she couldnt hang on anymore. And right before they pulled me out the door of the mosque, i looked back and i saw her on the floor. She had tears pouring down her face and she still had her hands outstretched to help me. You dont know ever happened to that woman . No, i dont. After the Escape Attempt, adam and again clearly grew frustrated, and adam took it out on lorinda. If i had the money, i would pay you. We are not playing games. Its you that are playing games. I am playing a game . You should see my game. How my game is. The Escape Attempt made things much worse for amanda. They tied her arms and her legs and pulled your body up by ropes and leave you . Yes, its very hard for me to go back to that and think about what happened to me during those three days. After that, adam forced her on to the phone again. Its one of the hardest calls to listen to. Amanda mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy. Listen to me, please. Okay . Amanda mom, you need to pay the Million Dollars now, because theyve started to torture me. The calls were agonizing. The families of both amanda and nigel, desperate to have their children home, eventually hired a private Security Company to help. Months went by and one night, amandas captors came to her room. They marched me outside and then had me sit down on the cement and they produce a small saw and began sawing through the chains that had been on my ankles for ten months. Amanda and nigel hadnt seen each other for months. But now, they were thrown into the back seat of a car and driven into a dark, somali night. Were both crying. Guns surround the car that were in. And i think, this is it. Then, a man appeared at the cars window. He says to me, why are you crying . Here, talk to your mother. And she said to me. Amanda, youre free. Amandas mother, lorinda, had never stopped negotiating and adam had agreed to accept 680,000 for both amanda and nigel. The captives flew out of somalia and landed in nairobi, kenya. They were whisked away to a hospital. Mother and daughter finally reunited. I barely recognized her. It was relief. It was joy. And it was hard, heartache. To see her like that. I would not be here now if it was not for my mother. She gave me life and she saved my life. Amanda lindhout was finally safe. Back with her family. But adam, the one who tormented them so much, wasnt finished with them yet. A single word from him would bring it all back. Coming up did your heart stop . It was so scary that he could find me. A facebook message from across the world and a daring undercover plan to catch a kidnapper. It sounds like something out of a movie. We didnt think it would work. When dateline continues. Rk. When dateline continues. I am every opponent youve ever faced. Lets dance lizard. I can take any form i desire. Awesome i mean its disturbing, but its awesome. Kate snow voiceover Amanda Lindhout was back home in canada, struggling Amanda Lindhout was back home in canada, struggling to move beyond that horrific events in somalia. And trying to cope with the idea that the captors who so terrorized her might never be brought to justice. And as amanda tried to get her life back on track, there was an interruption. I had enrolled in University Program in eastern canada, and it was during a break between classes i was checking my emails and i saw that i heard received a facebook message. One word. Hello. It was from the last person she ever wanted to hear from. It was a message from adam. Did your heart stop . It was so scary that he could find me, even though i was safe and across the world and was at home. It was really disarming. That one simple message was about to launch a new and dangerous chapter of her story the. Messages didnt stop there. Lorinda heard from adam too. But her communication with him extended beyond hello. Out of the blue you get this facebook message from adam. It must have been shocking . It was a total shock. It was kind of terrifying too, because it just felt like he was right in my space again. Adam taunting lorinda. He said he was reaching out because he had journals amanda had written in captivity. Deeply personal writing that had helped her get through it all. What were you thinking when you replied back . I was hoping that i could get him to send amandas journals. But if lorinda wanted those precious journals, adam said, shed have to pay. For lorinda, it was outrageous. Her daughters kidnapper had tracked her down with more demands for cash. Thats when she reached out once again to the Royal Canadian mounted police. In ottawa, a Staff Sergeant name larry got a call from his bosses. We become aware that adam has been in touch with her and at that point, my team was engaged to pursue that to the full extent. A 30 year veteran, He Ran Priority Undercover Projects for the Royal Canadian mounted police. His mission, find adam. If that was even his name. He reaches out on facebook, which means you have his facebook address, right . We do. You know, you kind of know where he is. We know hes in somalia. We know we suspect hes using an alias. So, the principal course of action at that point is who is adam . To do that, we have to engage him directly through an undercover operation. An Work Undercover Agent . Correct. Is it trying to get in touch with adam . Yes. Thats where this man comes in. Hes a canadian investigator who weve agreed to refer to by his cover name, a k. Right off the top i just want to acknowledge were hiding your identity. Weve changed your look. Yes. Thats because youre an undercover agent . Correct. Ak reached out to adam, first by phone. The undercover agent told him he was a Media Consultant for amandas family. Amanda didnt know about ak or what he was doing. All she knew was that Adams Facebook messages had turned to some kind of investigation. I didnt really know what was going on. I knew that there was the hope to catch this guy. Ak and adam commuted on and off for years. It was slow work, but ak new pushing to hardwood crater the operation. And patience paid off. One day, i received an email from him which is a scanned copy of 16 letters. They looked like letters but they were actually pages ripped from amandas journals. Adam had originally asked for thousands of dollars for them. But now . I call him up and ask him about this and he says yes, ive sent you the letters. I dont need any money for them. Our relationship evolved to the point where he trusts me enough now. And then adam shared a new idea. He told he ak was a scholar and wanted to write a book. A history of somalia. As implausible as that sounds, to investigators, it was an unexpected gift.