Question Grew News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

her name is pepper. >> i lived a secret life. >> she was kidnapped at age four. >> we got in the car, and we never went back. >> she spent decades trying to find her way home again, and she finally made it. or, so she thought. >> i said, i think that i am rhonda patricia christine. i said, do you know her? and there was a long pause. >> her story had many ups and downs. >> when i looked at the email, i just could not even believe it. >> but after so many tears, so many years and so many turns in her story. >> i was like, wow. >> there are still more stunning twists to be revealed. >>...

four. >> we got in the car, and we never went back. >> she spent decades trying to find her way home again, and she finally made it. or, so she thought. >> i said, i think that i am rhonda patricia christine. i said, do you know her? and there was a long pause. >> her story had many ups and downs. >> when i looked at the email, i just could not even believe it. >> but after so many tears, so many years and so many turns in her story. >> i was like, wow. >> there are still more stunning twists to be revealed. >> it is amazing, the best gift ever. >> ♪ ♪ ♪ >> welcome to dateline....

Where did they go? the little girl had no idea. but she did know that from now on, she had a new name. they called her pepper. pepper smith. she was not yet 5 years old. >> we lived in cars and motels and going from state to state staying at salvation armies to get a meal here and there. just -- >> what's it like to live in a car? >> it's horrible. it's embarrassing. >> she was confused, of course, and terribly frightened at first. she begged, take me home. shirley ignored her. she imagined running away. >> i had nowhere to go. i was too scared. >> then as the weeks and months and then years w...

It was to be a one night sleepover and instead a woman named shirley simply didn't take her home again. where did they go? the little girl had no idea, but she did know from now on she had a new name. they called her pepper. pepper smith. she was not yet 5 years old. >> we lived in cars and motels and going from state to state staying at salvation armies to get a meal here and there. you know, just -- >> what's it like to live in a car? >> it's horrible. it's embarrassing. >> she was confused, of course, and terribly frightened at first. she begged, take me home. shirley ignored her. she imagi...

Powers of reasoning grew, the question grew, too. did her mother bobbie actually give her away? shirley told pepper that renee was her sister. the two girls listened wide-eyed as shirley explained to strangers that she was their grandmother. that their parents had been killed in a car accident. >> i knew that everything that was happening to us was completely wrong at a very, very young age. >> why had she been taken? she didn't know. not for money, certainly. there were no ransom demands. and without pepper's birth certificate, shirley couldn't use her to score public assistance. though she d...