The true story of 14-year-old student Abby Hernandez (Lindsay Navarro), who went missing while going home from school in North Conway, New Hampshire. Abby’s abduction sparked the state’s most extensive search, leaving her family, particularly her mother Zenya (Erica Durance), investigators, and the community unsure of her whereabouts. Abby Hernandez was taken by Nathaniel Kibby (Ben Savage), who confined her in a soundproof container and forced her to wear a shock collar while subjected to psychological, sexual, and emotional abuse. Despite the daily pain, Abby maintained optimism that one day, she would be able to see her family again. (2022)
2013 kidnapping of Abby Hernandez
Prior to her kidnapping, Abby Hernandez was a 14-year-old freshman at Kennett High School in North Conway, a small New Hampshire town of 2,000 people. She walked to and from school every day, and October 9, 2013, was no exception. Hernandez left college around 2:30 p.m., and she walked her regular route home.
Hernandez was wearing new boots the day she went missing, which bruised her feet as she broke them in. A man driving a pickup truck approached her on the road after school and asked if she needed a lift home. Abby Hernandez consented to take the man’s vehicle for a short ride to her mother’s place in order to relieve her aching and scorching feet. However, the supposedly lovely stranger, a resident named Nathaniel “Nate” Kibby, revealed his actual intentions within minutes of picking her up.
Kibby promptly drew a gun on Hernandez and threatened her, stating, “If you scream, try to escape, or make any effort to escape, there will be consequences.”
Hernandez claims she recognized she needed to work with her kidnapper to gain his trust. She told Kibby that if he freed her, he would not be arrested and could still do the right thing.
“I told them, ‘I don’t judge you for this. In a 2018 interview with 20/20, she recounted telling Nate Kibby, “If you let me go, I won’t tell anyone about this, and you actually seem extremely smart.
Three days after Abby’s disappearance, Zenya stepped on the steps of the Conway police station with her second daughter, Sarah, and made a tearful plea to TV cameras.
“Happy birthday, Abby,” she announced. “Please come home.” We miss you very much.
When the plea went out, Abby was being held captive in a storage container some 50 kilometers from Conway. Nathaniel Kibby kidnapped her and was repeatedly raping her. Kibby, who had a criminal record for assault and other offenses, was a gun enthusiast and conspiracy theorist known to his neighbors as ‘Crazy Nate.’
He instructed Abby to call him “Master” and secured a shock collar around her neck to prevent her from calling for aid. And he said, ‘Okay, try to scream,'”Abby later disclosed 20/20. “And I gently began to raise my voice. Then, it stunned me. So he says, ‘Okay, now you know what it feels like.'”
But Abby never stopped thinking about ways to flee. She discovered a book in the storage container with “Nate Kibby” scribbled on the front and realized it was her kidnapper’s name. She attempted to create a bond with him.
“I said to him, ‘Look, you don’t seem like a bad person. Like, everyone makes errors… “If you let me go, I will not tell anyone about this.”
