Kidnapper found her again. He reached out on facebook. Did your heart stop . It was so 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. What did they give you . 10,000. We didnt think it would work. Facetoface with her kidnapper at last. I just broke down. Its still hard for you. This is real life like pain. Would she get justice . I got the courage in that moment, and i said im ready. Hello, and welcome to dateline. Amanda lindhout was a fearless Young Journalist willing to brave the worlds most dangerous hot spots. 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. Mom. Amanda. Amanda, i love you. Imagine being the mother on the other end of this 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, mommy, mommy. Both mother and daughter traumatized in their own ways by a callous captor. I understand. Their stories are intertwined, Amanda Lindhout. My head is pulled back, and then 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 men who had terrorized them so brutally, and it would take an elaborate international sting. It sounds like something out of a movie. It does. We always refer to this operation as the hail mary play. But before all of that, this story begins in a small town in western canada where a young woman named Amanda Lindhout yearned 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 dreams of seeing the world in the 90s. At 19 she was off to venezuela. Were 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 wide open she kept moving, kept pushing forward. Going from india into pakistan, it did feel like a big deal to me. It was something i really wanted to do, and then i did it and afghanistan was right next door. Mom lorinda grew concerned, especially as her daughter trekked 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, wow, you know, i would love to write about the people that 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 out there and go somewhere where you can get a break. Im also starting to look like a little bit further out onto the horizon. How far . One of the most dangerous places in the world. What other stories are out there that i feel passionate about . At the top of my list was somalia. Amanda knew she had to tell her mother lorinda about her plans. And youre thinking what . I would really rather she didnt go. Do you think maybe you were to use your moms word a little headstrong . Yeah, i was headstrong, and i dont think that i had spent enough time thinking about what would happen if something did go wrong. Soon enough, 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 a Million Dollars in mogadishu. Be careful. As amanda left the airport, the capital city was chaotic. Back at 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 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 then i found myself lying face down in the dirt spread eagle with a gun held to the back of my head. Terrifying. I asked is this about money . And he said to me, 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 worst. She didnt want to be right, but 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 would have been a collapsed puddle on the floor. Well, i knew i couldnt. I couldnt. Liquorinda reached out to canadian officials who told her this was, in fact, a kidnapping by islamic rebels, and they scrambled to set up a recording system in case the kidnappers called. The next morning my cell 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. Im calling 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 alive. After the first couple of weeks, we realized that this might go on for longer than we hoped. On the other side of the globe, amanda couldnt know how long shed be held but 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 escalate. 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. It happens to all of us. We buy a new home, and we turn into our parents. What i do is help new homeowners overcome this. What is that, an adjustable spanner . Good choice, steve. Okay, dont forget youre not assisting him. You hired him. 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Weeks turned to 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 in my mind. Amandas mind ran wild. She feared she would be raped. Then one day a captor 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 acacia tree, they had me kneel. My head is pulled back, and then 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, hon. That phone call definitely made it harder not to let my imagination go. Did you keep it together . Well, 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 bricks together blocking the window. Then they would replace the loose bricks until one day the hole was big enough, and they made a break for it. From the moment that i dropped down out of that bathroom window and hit the sand below, i knew that it was bad. They sprinted for a mosque, the one place that 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 onto me, it was the first time in those five months that i felt something akin to being safe. That feeling would be fleeting. I just clung onto 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 what ever happened to that woman . No, i dont. After the escape attempt, adam and the gang 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. You should see my game. The escape attempt made things much worse for amanda. They tied your arms and your legs, and pull your body up by ropes and leave you. Yeah, 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 onto the phone again. Its one of the hardest calls to listen to. Amanda mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, please, please listen, 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 produced 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 backseat of a car and driven into the dark somali night. Were both crying. Guns surround this 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 heart, heartache to see her like that. I would not be here now if it was not for my mother. My mom 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. upbeat music [narrator] we are boomer natur. Our neck gaiters, face masks, and onepiece shield masks are certified 99. 99 antimicrol with nanosilver technology. Boomer naturals, you and your family deserve the best. Available at boomernaturals. Com, cvs stores, and cvs. Com. Boomer naturals, weve got you. upbeat music robinwithout the commission boomefees. So, you can startou. Investing today wherever you are even hanging with your dog. So, what are you waiting for . Download now and get your first stock on us. Robinhood. Amanda lindhout was back home in canada struggling to move beyond the 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 a University Program in eastern canada, and it was during a break between classes. I was checking, you know, my emails, and i saw that i had 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 taunted 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 named larry laren got a call from his bosses. We become aware that adams been in touch with her, and at that point my team was engaged to pursue that to the full extent. A 30year 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. Right. We know we suspect that hes using an alias, so the principal course of action at that point is who is adam. And so to do that, we have to engage him direct will youly th undercover operation. An undercover agent. Correct. Is going to start trying to get in touch with adam . Correct, 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. A. K. Reached out to adam first by phone. The undercover agent told him he was a Media Consultant for amandas family. Amanda didnt know about a. K. Or what he was doing. All she knew was that Adams Facebook messages had triggered some kind of investigation. I didnt really know what was going on. I knew that there was the hope to catch this guy. A. K. And adam communicated on and off for years. It was slow work, but a. K. Knew pushing too hard could crater the operation, and patience paid off. One day i received an email from him, which was scanned copies 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 i ask him about this, and he says, yeah, 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 a. K. He 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. A way to get adam on the hook. Youre telling a kidnapper yes. Who you believe was involved in this really major kidnapping and a lot of crimes that youre going to help him publish a book . Yes. It sounds like something out of a movie. It does. We always refer to this operation as the hail mary play. We didnt think it would work, and as it was continuing we were surprised ourselves. You didnt think he would actually say, yeah, i really want to write a book. No. And im going to pursue this with you. No. He convinced himself that he wanted to write this book and he was able to write this book. Thats your in. Thats our in. We knew we wanted to talk to him. How are we going to move this forward, how are we going to gather evidence because ult