>> none of you in this room have dna evidence, no police reports, sketchy memories. why should we believe you? >> the cosby accusers speak. but first, a "dateline" mystery. the kidnapping case straight out of the movies. >> the details are so crazy i just -- i couldn't make sense of it. >> a successful young couple ambushed, they said, in the dead of night. attacked, abducted. >> we're like, "wow, where is she?" i didn't have a clue what happened. >> but the real question, was their story even true? >> we were not able to substantiate any of the things he was saying. >> they branded the couple as liars. could this be some kind of hoax? who was really behind it all? >> normal people don't do things like this. >> this whole story could take another crazy turn. >> he said, "i know that i need to pay for what i did." >> i'm lester holt, and this is "dateline." here's josh mankiewicz with "twisted tale." >> i was asleep in bed. it was about 5:00 in the morning. >> reporter: frightening doesn't begin to describe what she went through. >> and the next thing i knew there was someone laying on top of me. >> reporter: she was instantly the losing player in someone else's game of power and control. >> their hand was over my mouth. >> reporter: if you're wondering, there was no way to fight back. >> i must've been screaming. >> reporter: this woman doesn't want us to use her real name. we're calling her samantha, and she's sharing with us things she has told to very few people. this was a man? >> a man. >> reporter: bigger than you? >> felt very big and strong. i couldn't move. >> reporter: september 29th, 2009. the sun wasn't up yet, and in samantha's bedroom a masked intruder was holding her down. she had no idea who the man was or what he was planning. >> he said, "well, this is going to take a couple hours. i was, you know, i was, i think, just in shock. >> reporter: the details of what happened to samantha are not only frightening but also deeply strange. she's come forward now because she believes that her long night of terror may shed light on a different case in a different town with victims she's never met. >> a strange twist in the reported abduction of a california woman. >> that search continues. >> it's the real-life abduction ripped from a hollywood script. >> reporter: it's a bizarre mystery that riveted california's bay area then rippled across the country and around the world. march 24th, 2015. a young woman was missing. >> miss huskins stands at 5' 7", 150 pounds, she's got blonde hair and blue eyes. >> reporter: her abductors wanted money in exchange for her return. >> we are treating this as a kidnap for ransom, and we're requesting the public's help in locating her. >> reporter: it happened 30 miles north of san francisco in the city of vallejo. henry lee was then a reporter at "the san francisco chronicle." >> i immediately was struck with the fact that you don't see these kinds of cases too often. and this crime victim did not strike me as someone who would usually be targeted. >> reporter: the kidnap victim, denise huskins, had been staying with her boyfriend, aaron quinn, at his house in vallejo. they don't come from rich families. denise was 29 years old with a ph.d. in physical therapy. she worked at a nearby hospital. aaron was 30, also a therapist at the same hospital, was the person who reported her kidnapping. >> we're doing everything that we can and then some to ensure her safe return. >> reporter: police dogs and dive teams were soon part of a huge search for denise huskins. across the country, denise's good friend ashley saw the news. >> there was an article posted online. someone sent it to me and said, "oh, my god. this is denise." and i started just texting everybody. >> reporter: including denise. >> i tried to text her. i figured better than not doing anything. >> reporter: there was no reply. she texted another friend, danica. >> i couldn't even believe what i was reading. it didn't even seem real. >> reporter: that was pretty much the reaction the vallejo cops had to the story denise's boyfriend was telling them. >> we have a lot of information still to sift through. we don't have all of the facts in yet. >> reporter: the story aaron told the cops that night, eventually spelled out in an fbi affidavit, would seem frankly preposterous, something invented by someone with too much imagination and too much free time. aaron said he and denise were asleep at his house when at about 3:00 a.m. he was awakened by a bright light and an electrical noise that sounded like a stun gun. then a man's voice telling them to lie face down on the bed. aaron said the man told denise to bind aaron's hands and feet. then he said his eyes were covered with swim goggles, which had been blacked out so he couldn't see. >> he's been blindfolded, zip tied. >> reporter: aaron said the intruder demanded his private banking and e-mail information and then put headphones on him that played calming music along with instructions to use denise's phone to text her work and say she'd be out for a couple of days and to let his work know the same. aaron also claimed he was given a mixture of nyquil and valium to knock him out and told to stay in one spot in his living room that was outlined in red duct tape and monitored by a webcam. then, he said, the intruders left with denise. his story sounded so implausible police wondered if he had made it up to hide something even more sinister. at first blush, when a woman is missing and her husband or boyfriend says, "oh yeah, she was abducted," well, certainly the first thing i think, maybe because of what i do for a living, is the guy had something to do with it. >> right. in these kinds of situations always look at the significant other. is he a suspect? is he making it up? what is going on here? what's the real story? >> reporter: the police treated aaron less like a victim and more like a murder suspect. they confiscated his cell phone and read him his rights. they were suspicious about why he waited 11 hours before calling 911. >> aaron quinn, it took him hours. wasn't till that afternoon that the vallejo police were able to talk to him after he came forward. >> reporter: aaron's mother later told us police polygraphed him five times. he was put in jail clothing, given little food or water and held in a small interrogation room for hours. across the country, denise's friends didn't know any of this. but they knew enough to be worried. >> i mean, someone being kidnapped, to be honest, a lot of those stories don't end well. and you don't want to think about those things, you think maybe they're not going to be alive. >> reporter: then, about 33 hours after denise huskins disappeared, reporter henry lee was standing outside aaron's home when his phone buzzed, an e-mail. >> what was chilling was that this e-mail came attached with an audio file, and this audio file, there was a woman's voice. >> okay, my name is denise huskins. >> reporter: the soft-spoken woman on the recording said she was denise. this very strange tale was about to get much stranger. >> what had happened to denise? when we come back -- >> we still don't know where denise huskins is. >> that cryptic recording. exactly what kind of message was it? >> she sounded absolutely calm, not terrified, not distressed. >> not like someone in fear for their life. >> right. as if she's sitting with a friend with a cup of coffee. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ geico motorcycle, great rates for great rides. shift without a disaster.a my bargain detergent couldn't keep up, so i switched to tide pods. they're super concentrated, so i get a better clean. 15% cleaning ingredients or 90%? don't pay for water. pay for clean! that's my tide. so you don't have to stop., tylenol® 8hr arthritis pain has two layers of pain relief. the first is fast. the second lasts all day. we give you your day back. what you do with it is up to you. tylenol®. it's the home of hunt's. when it's 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actually my birthday is not for another 5 months. i just wanted the new iphone, but now i'm feeling guilty because you went and got me an awesome network. actually, we offer that to everybody. even that guy? yep. you didn't even look. he's part of everybody. get the new iphone at at&t and the network with the nation's strongest 4g lte signal. and right now get $300 credit for every line you switch. denise huskin's boyfriend said she'd been kidnapped, but his story seemed hard to believe. police wondered if he'd murdered her and was now trying to cover it up. then a day and a half after denise disappeared, a reporter received a mysterious e-mail with an audio file attached. she talked about the day's biggest news, a german airliner had gone down. >> earlier today, there was a plane crash in the alps. 150 people died. >> she shared obscure biographical details. >> trying to prove that, a, she's denise, and b, she's the kidnap victim. >> and she's aware of events that happened that day? >> to prove, in fact, she was alive. >> clearly this wasn't a murder case, but was it a kidnapping as aaron claimed? we found it odd that denise didn't sound at all frightened. >> she sounded absolutely calm. not distressed at all. >> not someone in fear for their life. >> as if she was talking with a friend over coffee. i think the subject line was, wtf. what is this? >> it was sort of reassuring she was making an audio that clearly dated that day, but also still scary because you still have no idea if the person's safe, how they're being treated. >> and if denise isn't sound panicked, her friends say that made perfect sense. after all, the three of them had already lived through what should have been the most traumatic event of their lives. ashley, deneka, and denise went to watch the boston marathon in 2013. they say it was denise that remained calm that day. >> we were all scared and rocked by it, but of all of us, she was the best equipped to keep her cool. >> she was the one who was kind of my rock. she grabbed my hand and she was like let's go. >> sheryl hurd covered the cover. >> we still don't know where denise huskins is. we're really not sure what her boyfriend, aaron quinn, is telling police. all we know is they can't find her. >> then the story took another whiplash turn. about 45 hours after denise was reported missing, police made a dramatic announcement. >> approximately 10:30 this morning, ms. denise huskins was located safely. >> it seemed over. denise's cousin told knbc how thrilled everyone was. >> you never know. i was just happy to hear that she was alive and safe and home. >> but to police and reporters, all professional skeptics, this story hadn't smelled right from the start and denise's sudden reappearance did nothing to change that. >> she's alive. she's well and they found her. that was great, but there was still something funny going on because no one had all the answers. >> for one thing, denise turned up in huntington beach, which was 400 miles south of vallejo and which was also her hometown. she was dropped off by her mom's house. >> she was not released out of state. she was not released in the desert. she was not released in the middle of california. where did she show up? right near her parents' house. >> denise told police in her hometown the same story her boyfriend had told up north about the swim goggles, the nyquil, the threat of electric shock. but then when vallejo police wanted to question her -- >> denise huskins disappeared. >> after she was released? >> after she was released. >> suspicion was building. near denise nor aaron made any public statement, but they did hire separate attorneys. >> everyone's thinking why are they doing that. >> lots of questions and not many answers, but then less than 12 hours after denise reappeared -- >> then we get a tip that police are holding a news conference. so i jump in the car, the photographer and i, and we haul ass back to vallejo to be a part of this news conference and that's when the bombshell came down. coming up -- >> we were not able to sub stantuate any of the things that he was saying. >> was this all some kind of prank? >> was there some chance that denise and her boyfriend were going to be prosecuted? >> it was a very strong possibility. >> e-mails, some photos. some strange new clues are about to emerge from the shadows when "dateline" continues. low prices on everything you need to make every meal more memorable. walmart. cafeteria chaos. school lunch can be difficult. one little struggle... can lead to one monumental mishap. not with new ziploc easy open tabs. because life needs ziploc. sc johnson. ♪ don't let bad odors escape. continuously neutralize them with glad with febreze. new glad bags... now with the irresistible scent of gain. thank you so much. did you say honey? hey, try some? mmm that is tasty. is it real? of course... are you? nope animated you know i'm always looking for real honey for honey nut cheerios well you've come to the right place. great, mind if i have another taste? not at all mmm you're all right bud? never better i don't know if he likes that. yeah part of the complete breakfast introducing longhorn's great american steak dinner for $12.99. perfectly seasoned sirloin with your choice of side. plus, an appetizer, or a dessert. only at longhorn steakhouse. you can't fake steak. i didn't have a clue what happened. >> even denise huskins friends had to admit her sudden disappearance and reappearance seemed almost unbelievable. >> the details of the story are so crazy. i really couldn't -- i couldn't make sense of it. >> neither could the vallejo police department. a day after denise came home, spokesman kenny park held a remarkable news conference. >> the statement that mr. quinn provided was such an incredible story we initially had a hard time believing it and upon further investigation, we were not able to substantiate any of the things he was saying. as of right now, we have not heard from ms. huskins. >> and then finally this. >> mr. quinn and ms. huskins has taken valuable resources from our community while instilling fear among our community members. it is mr. quinn and ms. huskins that owes this community an apology. >> after a search and about 54 hours of investigation, vallejo police had concluded the whole kidnapping story was a phony. this was one of those made for california dramas. police seemed to think denise and aaron were for some reason only known to them seeking publicity and telling an elaborate lie. left unanswered is why anyone would want to become famous for fooling police. remember no ransom was ever paid. aaron told police the kidnappers took his bank information, but no one tried to access his accounts. someone did try to call aaron's cell phone a couple of times while denise was missing from a blocked number. according to aaron's mother, police suspected aaron had somehow programmed another phone to call his own cell while he was with investigators. >> was there some chance that denise and her boyfriend were going to be prosecuted? >> it was a very strong possibility based on those public pronouncements. >> denise's friends didn't know aaron, but they had every confidence denise was telling the truth. >> everyone that knew or knows her personally and cares about her believed her. >> the day after police branded the kidnapping a hoax, denise finally did show up at vallejo pd to tell the cops they were wrong. she said that not only had she been kidnapped, she had also been raped. that same day reporter henry lee received another e-mail. a long message soon followed by more supporting denise's claim that this was no hoax from a person claiming to have been one of the kidnappers. >> they were very articulate. clearly written by someone who was extremely intelligent. >> ms. huskins was absolutely kidnapped. we did it. we will provide incontrovertible proof. he claimed to be part of a group. >> he went into detail a serious of crimes they committed. >> some of us have a tech background. stealing late model cars, according to the e-mail, the group decided to try kidnapping because we wanted something with a high payout that we only had to do once or a few times. >> what is going on? why are you apparently confessing? >> the writer admitted that the reality of the kidnapping was much more upsetting than expected. we fancied ourselves a sort of ocean's 11 gentlemen criminals who only took stuff that was insured for people who could afford it. the horrifying reality of what we had become and what we were doing did not fit in until confronted directly with denise's suffering and humanity. >> one of the abductors seemed to sympathize with denise. >> and now the e-mail said they were angry that denise was being accused of making the whole thing up. we will not stand by and see the life of a really good person ruined. attached to the e-mails were photos. one showed a water gun spray painted to look more threatening, at least in the dark, with a laser point and flashlight duct taped to it. another showed a room with cardboard partially covering a window where denise was supposedly held. was this visual proof of denise and aaron's story or an elaborate deception? >> you thought legit or more hoax? >> my thought was certainly part of a prank. >> in fact, the e-mails were so cleverly written henry lee wondered if they might have been sent by an attorney for denise and aaron. reporters started referring to the case as "the gone girl" kidnapping. that reference infuriated denise's friends. >> when it is not accurate, it makes you mad. it was sort of like a fictional character created out of a good person. you start being labeled as -- >> the gone girl. >> the gone girl. >> that wasn't denise at all they said. but to the rest of the world, denise and aaron were portrayed as liars, schemers, maybe criminals themselves. that is, until the next big twist. coming up -- >> he said we have your daughter. >> another story as strange and eerie as denise and aaron's. >> terrifying? >> yes. they were terrified. >> had the mysterious kidnapper struck again? also ahead -- >> i really lost consciousness. >> i wake up in a room with no clothes. >> i knew i was raped. >> strong accusations. >> i can assure you people knew. >> 27 voices, 1 powerful interview. inside the bill cosby scandal later on "dateline." woman: my mom and i have the same hands. same eyes. same laugh. and since she's had moderate alzheimer's disease, i've discovered we have the same fighting spirit, too. that's why i asked her doctor about new once-a-day namzaric™. vo: new namzaric is approved for moderate to severe alzheimer's disease in patients who are currently taking, and can continue to take certain doses of both namenda and donepezil. new namzaric is the first and only treatment to combine 2 proven alzheimer's medicines into a single once-a-day capsule that works 2 ways to fight the symptoms of moderate to 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california. >> locked herself in the bedroom. >> an intruder was inside. by the time police arrived, the man was gone, leaving behind a shaken family with a frightening story. the woman told police that she and her husband woke up in the early morning hours to find a man standing at the foot of their bed, a flashlight shining in their faces. >> he told them that face down, get face down on your bed and don't look at me. >> terrifying? >> yes, they were terrified. >> he said, we have your daughter and she's okay. >> the couple's 22-year-old daughter had been sleeping in the next room. >> she tells the parents, i'm going to tie you up. father jumps on him, says i'm not going to let you tie me up. something's going on with my daughter. a struggle ensues on the ground. >> his wife grabbed her cell phone and locked herself in the bathroom to call 911. >> the husband yells out at her, honey, go get the gun. go get the gun. this was very smart on the father's part because they have no gun, but he said it to scare this guy away. >> in the struggle, he left some things behind. zip ties for run and what turned out to be the key to the case, a cell phone, which led the dublin detectives to a home near sacramento. they called the family there and the woman who answered said the phone belonged to her adult son, a man named matthew muller. >> he told me he lost it this morning. okay. where is he? he'd like to give it to him. >> he's on his way to salt lake. >> the dublin cops knew their next stop was south lake tahoe. first they put in a call to the local sheriff to ask if there'd ever been trouble at the cabin. there hadn't but, a stolen car had just been found right near it and in the car was a driver's license for 38-year-old matthew muller. >> i said, okay. you just kind of made my day now. now we have some more information to go on. >> with a search warrant and an arrest warrant, the dublin cops went to find matthew muller. the neighbors watched it happened. >> you know, i'm just peeking out my window, trying to get an idea what's happening. more cars are coming. my whole front area is filled with dark sedans, like something out of a movie. >> the neighbors were surprised, but maybe matthew muller was not. >> when we broke down the front door, it didn't open all the way because it was barricaded with chairs and just various household items. upon entry, i could hear my detectives screaming, get on the ground, get on the ground. your heart rate kind of jumps up. okay, he's there. >> this is muller just after he was arrested. he did not put up a fight. in the house the detectives found a room with cardboard on the windows blocking out the light. they searched that stolen car and found a few more items of interest. >> one was a bebe gun. one was a super soaker that was painted black with a flashlight taped to it. >> there were also swim goggles with tape covering the lenses. a long blonde hair stuck to the tape. when they traced the stolen car -- >> that vehicle comes back stolen out of vallejo. >> so the dublin cops called vallejo pd and started comparing notes. >> we're showing them pictures of everything covered in the search warrant and they're showing us the pictures they had. >> shots of spray painted water pistols and a room with cardboard on the windows. >> that's kind of when the light really clicked on and we all kind of went, uh-oh. here we go. coming up -- >> he is a master criminal and he's running circles around everyone else. >> ivy colleague, former marine, respected attorney. >> i would much more have expected matt to be sitting behind the desk in some elected capacity. >> who was this guy, when "dateline" continues. the all-new tacoma. toyota. let's go places. comeand save up to 60%mbus day mattress sale on top brands. and receive a $100 award card on qualifying models. up to one-third of your life is spent on a mattress, but the right mattress can make the other two-thirds that much better. sleep matters to sears 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calls made to aaron quinn's cell phone while he was being interrogated that night, calls that vallejo cops suspected aaron had somehow faked. they were made from this cabin right in southern lake tahoe. when law enforcement hacked into the car's navigation history, they found this address in huntington beach. the exact spot denise said she had been left by her kidnapper. as they continued to investigate, detectives learned their suspect was just as unusual as the crime he was implicated in. >> this is the type of stuff you typically see in movies. >> he attended college. >> i would much more have suspected matt to be sitting behind the desk in some elected capacity as opposed to sitting in a jail cell right now. >> he graduated sue ma cum la e laude. he graduated in 2006. then stayed on as a teaching fellow. andrea was a student of muller's. >> matt as i remember him at harvard was incredibly intelligent, hard working, and someone who was really dedicated to the work we were doing. >> after harvard, muller moved back to california and practiced immigration law in san francisco, but soon muller's life seemed to go off the rails. in 2013, he lost his privileges to practice law. he got divorced. stopped paying rent. in 2014 he filed for bankruptcy. it's not clear what went wrong. his defense lawyer says muller suffers from bipolar disorder. take a look at muller here in 2012 talking about the value of a liberal arts education for a company call eed think tank learning. >> i think it is more important to have general skills -- >> he is unimposing, merely forgettable. certainly not someone to fear. >> doesn't fit the profile of your typical guy that's doing home invasions. >> when you look at home invasions, it doesn't. but when you look at the crimes he's committing, it does fit more for the profile. >> it was done for the thrill of the crime, the thrill of the game. >> he has read those e-mails that were sent to reporter henry lee, e-mails that lee suspected at the time were written by a lawyer, a lawyer police now believe was matthew muller. >> what emerges from the e-mails is a complex picture of someone who needs attention, who needs to be perceived a certain way. >> for example, the way the writer of the e-mails was outraged when denise was accused of a hoax. >> so when he says, how dare you not believe ms. huskins, that she was kidnapped, what he's really saying is how dare you not believe i committed this crime and pulled it off? >> you can't see my handy work because you lack talent, because the police here are failing miserably and they need to recognize how flawed they are and how wonderful i am. >> he is a master criminal. ? . >> he is a master criminal, and he's running circles around everyone else. >> when aaron told them he took so long to call 911 because he was drugged and confined to a square of red tape and monitored by a webcam, they didn't buy it. and when denise wouldn't get on that plane to talk to vallejo pd, they thought it was because she had something to hide. she says it was because she was afraid the cops would treat her as they treated her boyfriend aaron, like a criminal. now everything was about to change. three months after vallejo police accused denise and aaron of concocting a hoax, the fbi announced that matthew muller was the prime suspect in denise's very real kidnapping. >> i was glad -- i never doubted there was someone who kidnapped her. >> shortly after matthew muller's arrest, the detectives who brought him in sent out a bulletin to other departments, asking if anyone else had similar cases. and soon law enforcement agencies from across the san francisco bay area were calling. at this point, police are looking at as many as ten incidents in which muller may have slipped into people's homes undete undetected. >> knowing the type person that we're dealing with, i don't doubt there's multiple, multiple other victims out there. >> you think there are other people that have never come forward? >> yes. >> yes. >> and now one has come forward. samantha, her story next. coming up -- >> my hands were handcuffed behind my back. my feet were zip tied. >> could matthew muller be behind this crime todo? we're about to ask him. >> he couldn't believe i was bringing this up. multi-purpose cleaning towels. long-lasting power of dawn. in an ultra-durable bounty? awesome. they're water-activated. one towel can clean your whole kitchen. whoosh! and the suds dry clear. do you think i can drive? sure! bounty with dawn multi-purpose cleaning towels. speed up your clean up. trick or treat!s) hello, don't you look so cute! happy halloween! 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"dateline" associate producer kayla ward spent 30 minutes talking with muller in jail through glass on the phone. no cameras, no recordings, no note taking allowed. >> what's his answer as to whether or not he's guilty of the crimes he's accused of? >> he wouldn't deny anything, but he wouldn't say he was guilty of anything. >> she asked him about samantha. >> recently interviewed a woman and her case matches the other cases. he couldn't believe that i was bringing this up. >> but he denied knowing anything about samantha's case or the one in palo alto. then kayla asked about denise huskins. >> he looked at me intensely and said can you imagine being woken up in the middle of the night, taken from your home, sexually assaulted and then you're brave and then it is used against you by the police. there was tears in his eyes. he was very emotional about it. >> putting on a show? >> he might have been putting on a show. he's very smart. very, very smart. >> and very eager to talk about his own troubles. >> he wanted to be very clear the last six years of his life have been spent in depression. he's had a few suicide attempts. he said he's in jail now and he's happy to be there because it's a safe place for him. a safe place for the community. >> muller did say in his professional life he'd always wanted to do good for others. >> he told me my home for my life was that my primary identifier would be helping people. i wanted to be the guy that helped people. >> so what went wrong? >> i asked him how do you feel now sitting here because you've done the opposite, you've hurt people? he stared at me for a minute in silence and he said, i don't even know where to begin with that. he put his head down and started to cry and he said i'm so sorry. >> exactly what he was sorry for he didn't say, but muller did say he thought he was exactly where he belonged. >> he said the facts are pretty clear. i think i'll spend a few decades in jail, and i'm fine with that. >> in mid september, muller made that point clear in court when he pleaded no contest in the dublin home invasion case. this past monday matthew muller was in court again this time for the vallejo kidnapping case. and this time his attorney says he's fighting the charges. muller's pleaded not guilty. there's plenty we still don't know. for example, denise and aaron are convinced there was more than one kidnapper. >> do you have any reason to believe there were other people out there? >> i don't, no. >> he used "we." i believe it was to instill more fear in the victims. >> denise may not have been the target of the kidnapping. the e-mail sent to henry lee claimed the kidnappers were after aaron's ex-fiancee who had previously lived with him, but then grabbed up denise instead. neither denise or aaron is speaking publicly about their ordeal, but they have filed a claim for damages against theva. >> they were innocent of their alleged crimes, yet they were claimed to the world as a hoax. >> vallejo has now clammed up. they sent denise and aaron each a letter of an apology, but has done nothing to correct the statements of denise and aaron as liars. saying it's an open case with pending litigation. lieutenant kenny park told "dateline" vallejo pd has no comment. friends and family say denise and aaron are still traumatized about what happened. >> he said this was going to mess you up. he was right about that, wasn't he? >> it messed me up for a while. >> why did you want to talk to us? >> if i can contribute in any way to make sure this is taken seriously, especially in denise's cases where they're not believing her and if they continue to say this was a hoax, this is not a hoax. i lived firsthand through this and i know for a fact that it's true. >> and now our second hour of "dateline." dozens of voices united in the scandal that surrounds an icon. >> he was the biggest entertainer in the world. the pillar in the black community. >> from pillar to pariah. bill cosby in a storm of sexual allegations. more than 50 women dating back almost 50 years. >> i'd like to look into the camera and say you didn't know we'd all find each other, did you? >> i've never done an interview this large. >> dozens of his accusers together. >> this, to me, says enough. stop. >> coming together here is going to make a difference. >> stand up and tell the truth. >> the stories are intimate with details you may find graphic and they're stories that bill cosby denies. are their claims true? if so, how many others knew? >> i'm incensed that there is nobody coming forward. i can assure you that people knew. >> here's kate snow with "the cosby accusers speak." >> how many of you believe you were drugged by bill cosby? how many of you believe bill cosby raped you? 27 women together in one room for the first time sharing their accusations against bill cosby. >> he drugged me without my knowledge and raped me. >> he drugged me and violently raped me. >> their stories are harrowing. >> i was drugged and raped. >> he flipped me over and raped me. >> but are their stories credible? >> none of you in this room have dna evidence, no police reports, sketchy memories. why should we believe you? >> cosby's attorneys say these things never happened. >> he has vehemently denied the allegations. >> but women are still coming forward with allegations against bill cosby. there are more than 55 now. >> shame on you, mr. father figure of america. >> "dateline" nbc reached out to every woman who had gone public at the time of our interview. these women accepted our invitation and we brought them to a los angeles ballroom. >> i've never done an interview this large. >> they've come from all over the country. the youngest is 46. the oldest 80. >> this is an incredibly powerful group of women right here. >> absolutely. >> we're using our voices to say this isn't okay. >> this is about women taking power into their own hands. >> why this torrent of accusations now? we'll start with barbara bowman. she was one of the first to go public. >> i said i won't stop talking, and i will keep talking until somebody listens. >> barbara's story began three decades ago in denver, colorado. she was a theater arts major in college dreaming the hollywood dream. one day she says her agent surprised her. she said i have somebody i want you to meet who i think you would help you move on to the next level of your career. >> that somebody was one of america's biggest stars. he made his name on "eye spy" in the 1960s, was fat albert, became the face of jell-o. by the time barbara got that call, he was playing dr. huxtable on "the bill cosby show." he was the beloved and trusted bill cosby. as barbara tells it, bill cosby was performing in denver when she auditioned for him backstage at a nightclub. she was 17. alone with a megastar, a married m man. she says when he suggested she play a drunk, she followed his direction. >> he's going onto my shoulders. every time i would flinch, he would say, no, no, no, you've got to relax. then he started to go even lower onto my breast area. >> you must have thought this was weird. >> i thought this is very odd, but i was very nervous and afraid. >> too afraid, she says, to tell her agent. a year later, barbara says cosby and her agent moved her to new york, arranged an apartment for her, and paid for acting classes. barbara says she planned to repay them. one night she says cosby asked her to come to a scripting session at his home. >> had a couple of sips of wine, ended upstairs, not feeling good. i remember leaning over the toilet bowl throwing my guts up. and i'm wearing a man's white t-shirt that was not mine. i'm in my panties. they're a wreck. he's holding my hair out of the toilet so i don't throw up all over my hair. >> do you know how you got there? >> huh-uh. i just remember having this black out period. he puts me in the couch and starts explaining to me that i got drunk, that he had to wash my clothes, that's why i was not dressed. >> barbara admits she can't remember everything that happened, but she was certained that she was raped and drugged. >> whatever i was given, it was laced in my drink. it was like -- like having a lobotomy. >> if you were that hazy, people might wonder how do you know something happened. >> i didn't know show up in a man's t-shirt. i didn't show up with soiled panty, and i didn't show up scratched and bruised and dirty. i knew i was raped. >> this time barbara says she told her agent. >> what did she say? do you remember? >> she called me out. that's not true. nobody's going to believe you anyway. >> you never went to the police? >> i told my agent. i thought she would protect me. >> "dateline" contacted barbara's agent, but the agent declined to excellent. barbara says she continued to see cosby during a two-year period where he raped her more than once and she felt powerless to stop him. >> a lot of people would probably be thinking i'll just walk away, i'll just get out. >> i was completely dominated, controlled, and complete and utter brainwashed situation. >> in 1987 after what barbara describes as a violent encounter with cosby, she left new york. almost three decades later here in this room. >> i happen to be the "it" girl on this episode. >> another story triggered barbara's memory and tears. >> what is it? >> some of the language got me. >> the last thing cosby told her was that he never wanted to see her face or hear her name again. he didn't for decades, but then barbara says she found her voice. and the other women here say they did too. >> when we come back -- >> i was like stop. what are you doing? stop it. >> i knew that something had happened. >> we didn't know there were other people. >> meet the women who first came forward ten years ago. why weren't their stories heard then? >> we were all effectively silenced. get ready for kohl's columbus day weekend sale. thursday through monday take an extra 20% off. go to kohls.com to download your savings pass. plus, everyone gets $10 kohl's cash for every $50 spent. kohl's. wheall i can think abouthit, is getting relief. only nicorette mini has a patented fast-dissolving formula. it starts to relieve sudden cravings fast. i never know when i'll need relief. that's why i only choose nicorette mini. there are 27 women in this room but together they say they are one. >> i feel like i finally have company and i don't feel lonely anymore. >> aww. >> this is the safest, most accepted group of women that we can talk to. >> yes. >> and for me, it's powerful and it's beautiful, and i'm so glad that i have it. >> some of their stories begin with "the cosby show." super model beverly johnson said she got a call from her agent in the mid 1980s. beverly was overjoyed. >> who was he at that time? >> he was the biggest entertainer in the world. >> over the years, bill cosby became a philanthropist, a role model. in 2002, he was awarded the presidential medal of freedom. cosby also began speaking out to the african-american community criticizing lifestyle choices. >> the day is now for you to realize how important parenting is, how important love is, how important staying with your child is. >> talk of the cosby legend elicits raw anger here. >> he really duped america as far as i'm concerned. we were completely drugged, everybody, in america by bill cosby. >> they say it took a woman named andrea to break the spell. she's not in this room, but in 2005 she filed a criminal complaint against bill cosby accusing him of sexual assault the year before. >> bill cosby is the focus of a police investigation near philadelphia. it stems from an allegation -- >> cosby's attorney called the allegation preposterous. the authorities decided there wasn't enough evidence to press criminal charges and she then filed a civil suit, claiming assault, battery, and emotional distress. barbara bowman heard the news and called the woman's attorney. >> i believe you because it happened to me. >> i cried when i found out there were 13 women because i didn't think there were 13. i didn't think there were two. i thought there was one, me. >> all 13 agreed to tell their stories under oath anonymously. they became known as the jane does. "dateline" talked to a small group of them. rebecca cooper neil. kristina ruly. these women say bill cosby drugged them and sexually assaulted them or tried to. >> stop it. what are you doing? stop it? he's like, i'm not going to hurt you. just calm down. >> patricia says she was assaulted in 1978 and again in 1980. >> why would you go back knowing that something bad had already happened? >> i wasn't until the last time i was with him that i knew something what happened while i was unconscious. >> they say they felt compelled to act. >> we were doing what we thought was right. we were standing up for our fellow women. >> as they prepared to testify in 2006, they got word that bill cosby and andrea had settled out of court. she signed a confidentiality agreement, which prevents her from talking about the case publicly. for the jane does, the settlement was a mixed blessing. >> i was simultaneously d disappointed and relieved. >> i was relieved, but happy for her. >> we were all effectively silenced. >> you think you turned this story in a way in 2005? >> i believe the jane does did have an impact on that suit in 2005. >> absolutely. >> it scared him to the point of settling out of court. >> some of the jane does decided to go public. beth did. so did barbara. but the story lost traction until 2014. bill cosby was making a comeback. there was a flattering new biography. nbc was developing a new cosby sitcom. netflix had taped a special. then along came a comedian named hannib hannibal burr. he had been killing it on the comedy circuit for years. at some point, he worked in a bit about cosby. when burress called cosby a rapist on a philadelphia stage, somebody in the audience recorded it, posted it online, and it went viral. weeks later, barbara wrote a piece for "the washington post" that got international attention. >> why did it take 30 years for people to believe me? >> why did it? >> he had such a strong bubble of protection. >> cosby's attorneys put out a statement saying decade old discredited allegations have resurfaced. the fact that they are being repeated does not make them true. but this time the story wasn't going away. barbara says she knows why. >> people were listening. finally people were listening. >> listening and reaching out to her. women in this room with stories like hers. women like jewel alison. >> i was one of those people that contacted barbara. i did not know barbara at all. for me, seeing her having the strength to come forward helped me tremendously. >> i love you, jewel. thank you, honey. >> late last year after barbara's essay and the burress video, it seemed like the floodgates opened. dozens of women began stepping out with similar allegations. hard for some in this room to hear. coming up -- >> i went into shock. i went into bad shock. >> four decades later, the pain is still fresh. >> it was his gloating over my humiliation that stayed with me more than anything. he let me know you think you're going somewhere in this business? you're a loser. >> when "dateline" continues. can this much love be cleanedrlin' by a little bit of dawn ultra? oh yeah. one bottle has the grease cleaning power of two bottles of this bargain brand. a drop of dawn and grease is gone. for every trip taken, there's a story waiting to be told. now imagine 500 trips, to 500 cities. oh, the stories. by those who want a downtown stop, and non-stop productivity. by dreamers and adventurers... the curious and the carefree. see where the train can take you. don't go it alone.e on a washing machine? ♪ this columbus day event, sears' experts will help you save up to 30% off appliances. plus free delivery on appliances over $399 when you use your sears card. sears. house experts for home owners. raise your hand if you need a tissue? beverly johnson said she was drugged by bill cosby in the late 80s. >> when these women came out and i realize how grateful i am that i wasn't raped, i had to tell my story. i just had to. >> for all these years you didn't. >> he was this black man who was a pillar in the black community. i'm going to participate in knocking this man off his pedestal. >> why didn't you do it? >> my conscious and my principles. >> it's a difficult subject. ladies don't discuss these things openly. they don't discuss it with each other. maybe that's why these things keep happening. the conversation needs to be had. >> their stories span decades. in some cases memories are murky and details like dates are elusive. the allegations vary widely from harassment to groping to rape. but there are many similarities. >> i got to know him a little bit. marcela tate was a 27-year-old model when she met cosby in chicago. it was 1975. one day he invited her to the playboy mansion and handed her a drink. >> i took really no more than two or three sips of it. and i really lost consciousness. >> you lost consciousness? >> i lost consciousness. i was struggling to get to consciousness. he was in a bed next to me. he didn't have anything on from what i could tell. i was groggy. i had no experience with drugs, so i didn't even recognize what was wrong with me. i was just holding my head because i didn't know what was happening. that was what was so terrifying. >> in this room of all of you that say you were drugged or took a drug, do you know what you took? >> no. >> not any idea. >> these women say if cosby wasn't offering drinks or dinner, he'd offer something else. career advice. >> how many of you thought bill cosby was going to be your mentor? that's a lot of hands. can i go to you, lily? you thought bill cosby was mentoring you initially. >> i didn't think that. i knew that. >> lily bernard appeared on "the cosby show." lily says cosby earned her trust. >> he said drink it, bernard, drink it. very quickly the room started spinning. >> lily says she became in incapacitated and cosby raped her. >> the next memory i'm on the floor, on the carpet. i remember the sensation of the carpet against the flesh of my back. like velcro. like this. i couldn't move because of the drugs. i remember him on top of me. then there's cold water splashes me on my chest. he was bathing me. i woke up to the cold water splashing me on my chest. i was still groggy like a wet noodle. he was pulling up my stockings very quickly and took me to a car. >> their accounts are so intimate, so disturbing, and many here still say they weren't sure what happened to them. but this summer, long from the constan deposition came out. >> i knew in my heart that he gave me something. >> linda brown was a 21-year-old model when she says she had dinner with bill cosby. she says he raped her later that night after drugging her. >> i don't know if it was quaaludes, but i know i was drugged. >> it was refreshing. okay, he's basically admitting that he did that to us. >> linda ridgeway white deer tells a different story. she says there was no drugs involved when cosby assaulted her. linda, an actress, says she met cosby for an interview. minutes into the meeting, he did something to shocking this grandma struggles to describe it. >> he came around and gently got ahold of my hair. when i looked up, i was staring at his genitals. he shoved his penis in my mouth and it was over in seconds. i was in shock. i was in bad shock. it was his gloating over my humiliation that stayed with me more than anything. he let me know you think you're going somewhere in this business? you're a loser. >> many of these women say they also felt humiliated, stayed quiet, and they say there were others who helped build a wall of silence around cosby. others who knew. >> let me be really precise. do you think that people knew he was in your words attack ing women? >> yes. >> absolutely. coming up, who else might have known? >> stories from the set. >> he was yelling. he was rageful. >> i can assure you people knew. 3 f2 era muy ingenúa y confiaba, i never had any reason not to be. >> it's a snapshot in time. a wall of photos capturing the youthful ambitions of the 27 women. photos from 20, 30 or more years ago. many are the faces of aspiring models and actresses who say their lives changed forever when they met bill cosby. >> that man took that girl and he killed her. there's a part of me inside that's dead. >> former playboy bunny p.j. had another photo to show us. she says she first got to know him while working at a playboy club. a few years later, he drugged and raped her. >> i woke up in bed, naked. i looked next to me and he was there naked. i got out of the bed. i slivered to not wake him. i was afraid i was going to wake him. blood was coming down my legs. i collected my clothing. i was completely freaked out. >> did you tell anyone? >> i told my boss. i told her and she said, well, nobody's going to believe you. i suggest you shout your mouth. >> many of the women we interviewed suspected bill cosby's behavior was an open secret in hollywood. >> let me be really precise. do you think that people knew he was in your words attacking women? >> yes. >> yeah. >> oh, yeah. >> absolutely. >> former playboy bunny butterfield says bill cosby invited her to christmas dinner in 1977. >> after the dinner, later that evening he assaults me. corners me, gets me alone in the guest house, and sexually assaults me. i was so embarrassed. i just wanted to be invisible. then i was ashamed. then i'm thinking did they know. >> can anybody think of a very specific example of an eyewitness or a person who was where you were with bill cosby? >> i had a handler. >> after beating bill cosby in a tennis tournament, linda kirkpatrick claimed her prize, tickets to her show. linda said she was taken backstage before the performance. >> there was a group of people milling about. i was assigned to a handler, a tall, beautiful blonde woman from beverley hills. >> who worked for bill cosby? >> i don't know. i was with my handler where the spotlight shone down on the stage. i said why are we up here. she said this is where he wants you. >> the woman she calls a handler took her back to cosby's dressing room. she says that's where he sexually assaulted her. >> do you think she knew you were drugged? >> she certainly well knew i was incapacitated. >> linda says she has no idea how she got home. charlotte fox told us the same thing. >> i don't know how i got home. i'm at the playboy mansion after a jazz set. i come back from the bathroom. the next thing i know i wake up in a bed. i don't know how i got home. >> charlotte, if so many people saw things or were handling you, taking you around, why would none of them have said anything for the past 40 years? >> money trumps everything. people have jobs. they have families. they see it. they know it, and they don't say anything. >> a former model says she experienced that silence firsthand when she scored a small part on "the cosby show" in 1989. cosby's assistant plucked her out of rehearsal to take her to cosby's dressing room. the star didn't show up, but eden says she told production staff she didn't like being singled out. >> they all told me not to worry about it, that this happens all the time. i said, well, this does not happen all the time with me, and i'm not comfort with it. >> but eden says it happened two more times and the last time cosby did show up. she says he locked the dressing room door behind him and asked her to do an exercising act with him. >> he wraps his arms around me and nuzzled himself into my neck. he said, see, this is making love. this is all we were going to do is making love. >> who did you tell about that experience? >> i went back to the person i talked to earlier in the week on the set. i am incensed that there is nobody coming forward. i can assure you that people knew. >> she says in full view of the crew she confronted cosby. both nbc and carsey werner declined to comment on lily and eden's stories, but last year the show's executive producers said, quote, these recent news reports are beyond our knowledge or compression. playboy enterprises sent this statement. bill cosby has been a good friend for many years and the mere thought of these allegations is true saddening. i would never tolerate this kind of behavior regardless of who was involved. we spent five hours interviewing these 27 women with their stories of betrayal. cosby supporters point out there are always two sides to a story and sometimes, they say, stories simply aren't true. >> how many of you reported anything to police at the time of the incident? nobody. coming up -- >> he has vehemently denied the allegations. >> a closer look at the story. >> none of you in this room have dna evidence, witnesses who have come forward, no police reports, sketchy memories. why should we believe you? 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(vo) change your sleep, change your life, change to tempur-pedic. thursday through monday take an extra 20% off. go to kohls.com to download your savings pass. plus, everyone gets $10 kohl's cash for every $50 spent. kohl's. iand sometimes, an even longer night. helping with homework before doing your own. and you may think no one notices... but she does. she sees more than "mom," she sees determination. we do too. for nearly 40 years, we've designed an education for people just like you. learn more at phoenix.edu. their stories are so wrenching, so personal. >> then i wake up in a room with no clothes and cosby is crawling up the bed. >> but for now, that's all they are. stories. and one side of the story at that because for every woman finding her voice -- >> i believe it's healing and it's cathartic to be able to talk to each other, to look around and be together. >> bill cosby has said very little. he did not respond when asked about the allegations last year during an interview with the associated press. >> there's no response. >> cosby later told a florida newspaper a guy doesn't have to answer to innuendos. people should fact check. the person who perhaps knows bill cosby best his wife of 50 years has issued a public statement of support. so did members of cosby's other family, his tv one. >> all i can speak to is the man that i know and i love. the fact that he has been such an example. you can't take away from the great he has done. >> monique pressly is one of bill cosby's attorneys. she told thomas roberts in july that the star adamantly denies doing anything wrong. >> he has vehemently denied the allegations that he, one, without consent gave anyone a drug, and that he, two, had a relationship or had sexual interaction with another adult. >> as bill cosby's legal team has repeatedly pointed out, he's never been charged with the crime. >> let's talk about what his side has said. how many of you reported anything to police at the time of the incident? nobody. did any of you go to a hospital for a rape kit exam? cosby's attorney has said, quote, it is a completely illogical that so many people would have said nothing, done nothing, and made no reports. >> when it happened to me, there was no such thing as date rape. i never even heard of someone being drugged and raped. >> wife of hollywood producer alan lad said bill cosby assaulted her in 1969. >> i never even thought of going to the police. i wasn't even a thought in my mind. rape was done by somebody in the street. >> i didn't report my sexual assault because i blamed myself. >> many of the women, like janice baker kenny, said they felt too ashamed to come forward sooner. >> i one of the few that did accept pills from him. when i woke up the next morning, i apologized to him for passing out. when i think about that i apologized to him knowing what i know now, it makes my skin crawl. >> the drugs were a big part of this. we did not know what had happened to us. >> but the mention of drugs does raise questions. >> how can you be sure if you were out of it? how can you be sure what happened? >> if you know anything about your mind, you know something is not quite right. you wake up with no clothes on. you know you're not at the beach. you don't say anything to anybody because who's going to believe you. >> that's right. >> there is another reason lily bernard says she didn't report bill cosby. she says she was afraid of what he would do to her if she did. >> when i confronted him about it and told him i would call the police, he said as soon as i left the police station, he would go to the police station and file a report against me for false accusation. >> cosby's attorneys have not commented publicly on lily's story, nor on the stories of any of the other women we interviewed, but they have suggested some of the aspiring actors cosby mentored might not be as innocent as they claim. >> an attorney for cosby said quote, how many women and men have been willing to exchange sex for favors, had remorse after doing so, and then accused anybody they could get monetary gain out of? >> you said a lawyer said that? >> those are his attorneys. that's what they are paid to do is to throw it back on us. >> many of these women never set eyes on bill cosby again after the alleged assaults, but like barbara bowman a handful did accept other invitations from him. sunny wells was just 17 when she says cosby took her to a jazz club. she said after drinking a glass of soda she woke up in an apartment. >> naked, alone, no note. nothing. i had no idea what was going on. i went back to my mom's apartment. i called her up at the office. and i said i think that bill cosby raped me, mom. and she said, oh, my god, no. are you kidding? no. >> your mom? >> yeah, my mom. >> she says she knew she'd been raped, could feel it, but even when her own mother didn't believe her, sunny says she went into denial. that's why she agreed to see the star again. even though i had physical manifestations of being raped, i disputed what i felt. i stuffed my feelings because he was bill cosby. >> we reached out to bill cosby and his legal team repeatedly over the past six weeks for comment. both he and his attorneys declined to talk to us. while reporting this story, we did look into the backgrounds of the women. we found out some of them had been in trouble with the law, but all of the women stand by their stories and ask how all 27 women in this room could be lying. >> victoria valentino. >> we never met until this all broke. what did we do? create this whole fantasy individually and then communicate with each other say meet us in 45 years, big reunion? >> bill cosby has never been charged with any crime as you well know. none of you in this room have dna evidence, witnesses who have come forward, no police reports, sketchy memories. why should we believe you? >> it's insane that people actually think that any of us would have come together to bring down some celebrity, whose celebrity already started to fade long before we came forward. we're using our voices to say this isn't okay. >> amen. coming up -- >> i'd like into the camera and say you didn't know we'd all find each other, did you? >> our client wants justice. that's all she wants. justice. >> could this woman have a case? comeand save up to 60%mbus day mattress sale on top brands. and receive a $100 award card on qualifying models. up to one-third of your life is spent on a mattress, but the right mattress can make the other two-thirds that much better. sleep matters to sears because dreams matter to you. ♪ ♪ take a look at these bbq best cracked pepper sauce... most ribs eaten while calf roping... yep, greatness deserves recognition. you got any trophies, cowboy? 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who's your favorite team? he texts, he doesn't talk. that would be weird. get an iphone at at&t and get 50% more data. and right now get $300 credit for every line you switch. during our five-hour interview, we saw the women cry and reach out for each other. we saw them get angry, stare down at the floor, shake their heads in disbelief. we also saw them find comfort in being together. >> i'm not afraid anymore. >> amen. >> i refuse to be afraid anymore. i refuse to give him that. it's been a pleasure meeting everyone. it's been a pleasure to know that i'm not the only one anymore. >> since our interview, the number of bill cosby's accusers has continued to grow. >> so i pushed him away and i said, what are you doing. just last week, three more women appeared at a press conference accusing cosby of inappropriate behavior. >> we believe the women. we believe the women. >> it seems like the public is paying attention. earlier this year, hecklers and protesters disrupted bill cosby's stand-up tour called "far from finished." business deals have soured too. nbc scrapped that sitcom series. >> what would you say to bill cosby if you had the opportunity right now? >> i'd like to look into the camera and say you didn't know we'd all find each other, did you? i >> i'd like to say to karma is a bitch. >> none of the women we interviewed have sued the comedian, but four other women have signed on to two defamation suits against them. these women say cosby's side ruined their reputation by branding the women liars. cosby's attorneys say the suits are meritoless. then there's this woman. >> she alleges she was 15 years old when she became the victim of sexual misconduct by bill cosby at the playboy mansion. >> the statutes of limitations have run out for most of the women accusing bill cosby of assault, but this woman may be an exception because of her age at the time. last december, she sued cosby for sexually battery and inflicted emotional distress. >> she's one of the few women who have been able to pursue a civil case. why is that? >> in california, we have a longer time period for individuals who allege they are adult survivors of child sexual abuse to file a lawsuit? >> cosby's attorneys say that interpretation of the law is wrong. they say it is too late for huff to file a claim. they stated huff's allegations are absolutely false and that she has changed her story over time. they have also challenged specific details of her story and have accused huff of engaging in extortion. >> our client judy huff wants justice. she wants her day in court, and that's all she wants is justice. >> and it turns out huff's lawsuit could force cosby to answer questions about some of his other accusers too. just today, bill cosby was scheduled to give a deposition in huff's case. >> does that mean you can ask about other women? >> i know it is no surprise to his attorneys that we would like to ask about the accusations of other accusers where it might be relevant to demonstrating a pattern of mr. cosby's. >> whatever next, all the women say they have no regrets about coming forward. they hope their stories will inspire change. >> this, to me, says enough. stop. that's it. we're coming forward to say that we're not going to be oppressed and we're not going to be abused and we're not going to be treated in an unfair way. >> this body of women are moving the needle. >> that's right. >> not much, but we're still moving it and that's the power we all feel. >> some of the women are working to extend the statutes of limitation in sexual assault cases. lisa lubin has helped change the law in nevada. these women met with their state representatives in colorado. barbara bowman, who kept her story secret for so long, now tells it publicly at part of her work with pave, a nonprofit group devoted to raising awareness of sexual assault. >> i feel very honored and blessed to be in this position now. it's very gratifying and vindicating to watch lives be restored. that's powerful. >> these women, mothers and grandmothers themselves now, say they can't the past, but they can change the future. >> i have a 9-year-old daughter, and i wonder what you all think we should be saying to our daughters. >> never be afraid to speak. >> i think for me if i feel like i can be of service to another generation by standing up and showing how important it is for everyone to sand up and tell the truth and that it's okay and look at what we've created here. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." we'll see you again next friday at 9:00, 8:00 central. of course, i'll see you each weeknight for "nbc nightly news." i'm lester holt. nbc 10 breaking news. right now at 11:00, skyforce 10 over breaking news in wilmington new castle county. crews are searching the brandywine creek after someone saw a stroller tossed off the bridge there. keith, what are police saying about this report? >> reporter: jim, they are taking this very seriously, let me show you what's happening behind me. take a look at the water behind me, the boat in the brandywine creek. there is one diver in the water. this is the east street bridge and it's shut down and police are looking in the water for the past two and a half hours and that's when a woman allegedly saw a woman throw a stroller into the water. take a look a