Lunsmann House News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

prisoners. a mother and son kidnapped by terrorists. >> we need 10 million u.s. dollars for the release of your family. >> 10 million? from me? are you losing your mind? >> a harrowing international hostage drama. >> it's a big operation, it's not this ragtag group of people. >> anything can happen, there are no guarantees. >> kind of father turned negotiator help bring them home. >> we prepared him for the worst. >> i am getting so worried. >> a lot of people were praying for them. a lot of people were. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ "dateline." ♪ ♪ ♪ >> hello, and welcome to dateline. t...

>> and this is dateline. >> i just can't imagine to be held in captivity. >> dad, just send the money. that's all they want. >> they have an american kid. a 14-year-old kid in the middle of the jungle. they're thinking they have the jackpot. >> they were vacationers turned prisoners. a mother and son, kidnapped by terrorists. >> we need 10 million u.s. dollars for the release of your family. >> 10 million, from me? are you losing your mind? >> a harrowing international hostage drama. >> this is a big operation, this is not just a drag tag group of people. >> anything can happen, ther...

Kidnap for ransom. abu sayyaf had taken american hostages before. some were released eventually, but some were beheaded. heiko was frantic, had no idea what to do where to turn. that very day, the cavalry came running in. >> my boss from work called, come on over to work, the fbi is here for you. >> what was it like to hear the fbi was actually paying attention to this? >> it is really real now. this is a real thing. >> we never know how families are going to react, obviously. but almost in every case, they are in a state of crisis. >> mark thundercloud was a leader of a special fbi hostage ne...

Here for you. >> what was it like to hear the fbi was paying attention to this? >> that it's really real now, this is the real thing. >> we never know how families are gonna react, obviously. but almost in every case, they're in a state of crisis. >> reporter: mark thundercloud was the leader of a special fbi hostage negotiating unit, formed precisely for an emergency like this. more than a dozen agents descended on the lunsmann house, covered the windows, set up a surveillance system in heiko's kitchen, and got ready for what they knew was coming, a demand for ransom. >> negotiating really wi...

In 1985. brought then 16-year-old gerfa with her, hoping to give her a chance at a better life. >> she was so excited about the opportunity. i remember she worked at little caesar's pizza and that was the greatest thing, to get a job. >> reporter: she had a son, josh, went back to community college to improve herself. and there she met a german immigrant named heiko. and from then on that was it. they were a family. she become a lab technician, heiko a maintenance man. they bought a house in a leafy neighborhood of lynchburg, virginia and had kevin. and the immigrants' son became an all-americ...