Abigail Hernandez was only 14 years old when she was abducted by Nathaniel Kibby while walking home from school before being held in a windowless storage container just 30 miles from her New Hampshire home.
A newcomer at Kennett High in North Conway , New Hampshire , Abby Hernandez was a potent student and gifted jock . She was mere days away from bend 15 years old when she vanished into slender breeze on October 9 , 2013 — and would be held wrapped in a computer memory container for nine months before she could scarper .
The hunt for Abby Hernandez was one of the largest in New Hampshire account .
Conway Police DepartmentAbby Hernandez come through nine months in captivity .
Conway Police DepartmentAbby Hernandez survived nine months in captivity.
Her face appeared on missing persons poster plastered on every block as speculation and raging hearsay glut the once - peaceful Ithiel Town . Several season come and went before she miraculously show up on her doorsill in July 2014 .
To the electric shock of her mother and investigators , Hernandez had been bear captive just 30 international nautical mile outside of town . The teenager had suffered repeat sexual ravishment by her captor , Nathaniel Kibby , but she also play tricks him into friendly relationship in hopes their bond would one day help her escape — a move dramatized in Lifetime’sGirl in the Shed : The Kidnapping of Abby Hernandez , star Ben Savage as Kibby .
“ If I were going to compose a textbook about how victim should deal with abductions … the first chapter would be about Abby , ” say former FBI profiler Brad Garrett . “ It ’s always about bonding to the bad guy . ”
New Hampshire Attorney General’s OfficeNathaniel Kibby was sentenced to 45 to 90 years in prison.
How Abby Hernandez Suddenly Vanished
Born on October 12 , 1998 , in Manchester , New Hampshire , Abigail Hernandez had a perfectly uneventful puerility until October 2013 . Adults who knew her remarked on her acrobatic artistry as a adolescent , and fellow classmates at Kennett High School described her as a form , positive , and joyful person .
That disposition would be brutally robbed from her shortly after entering the ninth grade . After graduating from middle school and enjoying the summertime of 2013 , Hernandez walk home from her new schoolhouse and disappeared .
last with her mother Zenya and baby Sarah , Hernandez never arrest home subsequently than agree . When she failed to do so by 7 p.m. on Oct. 9 , 2013 , her female parent filed a miss person ’s report . With no domesticated problems at home nor reason to run off , her family and constabulary reverence the worst .
Zachary T. Sampson for The Boston Globe via Getty ImagesThe red cargo container where Abby Hernandez was held by Nathaniel Kibby.
Their intuition leaven precise , as Hernandez had already been snatch .
New Hampshire Attorney General ’s OfficeNathaniel Kibby was doom to 45 to 90 years in prison house .
Her captor , Nathaniel Kibby , had mainly spent his days as a petty criminal who printed imitative money in his laggard . Without warning , he had release into a abductor . And with Abby captive , he would soon do much worse .
ABC/YouTubeAbby Hernandez was captured on her parents’ home security camera walking up to their front door after she escaped her kidnapper.
Inside The Brutal Kidnapping Of Abby Hernandez
On Oct. 9 , 2013 , Nathaniel KibbyforcedAbby Hernandez into his fomite at point and threatened to slice her pharynx if she did n’t abide by . He handcuffed her and roll a jacket over her head while give away her cellphone to foreclose the police from track its GPS . Hernandez managed to peer out the window , but Kibby tased her when he catch her .
The railcar came to a halt 30 miles later at Kibby ’s theatre in Gorham , New Hampshire . He aim Hernandez into a dark elbow room where a “ Do n’t trample On Me ” flag flow on the wall . Taping her eye keep out , he wrapped her heading in a t - shirt and put a motorcycle helmet on her . Then , he outrage her for the first time .
Zachary T. Sampson for The Boston Globe via Getty ImagesThe red cargo container where Abby Hernandez was confine by Nathaniel Kibby .
LifetimeLindsay Navarro and Ben Savage as Abby Hernandez and Nate Kibby inGirl in the Shed: The Kidnapping of Abby Hernandez.
“ I think think to myself , ‘ Okay , I got to knead with this guy , ' ” recalled Hernandez . “ I said , ‘ I do n’t approximate you for this . If you let me go , I wo n’t tell anybody about this … ’ I told him , ‘ Look , you do n’t seem like a unfit someone . Like , everybody makes mistakes … If you let me go , I wo n’t tell anybody about this . ' ”
Her efforts to relent Kibby initially prove stillborn . He confound her into a memory board container in his yard , where she have daily ill-usage and unremarkable intimate ravishment . In her muted moments , she recalled omitting “ amen ” from her prayers because she “ did n’t require God to leave me . ”
“ I just really wanted to live , ” she said .
Kibby finally allowed Abby Hernandez into his trailer to help him print his imitative money . The lunar time period was n’t turn , however , as he soon demanded she call him “ Master ” and present her with a raw torture tool .
“ He suppose , ‘ You know , I ’m recall of find out something a little more humane for you to keep you quiet . ’ He say , ‘ I ’m thinking of a shock leash . ’ I think he put it on me . And he told me , ‘ Okay , try and holler . ’ And — I just slowly started to raise my voice . And then it shocked me , ” Hernandez hark back .
“ So , he ’s like , ‘ Okay , now you know what it feel like . ' ”
How The Girl In The Shed Finally Escaped
But over Abby Hernandez ’s nine month with Nathaniel Kibby , he did begin to bond with her . And finally , he gave Abby Hernandez some reading material in the form of a cookbook . At that point , Hernandez still did n’t roll in the hay her snatcher ’s name , but there was one pen on the inner natural covering .
ABC / YouTubeAbby Hernandez was fascinate on her parents ’ home security camera walking up to their front door after she escaped her kidnapper .
“ I said , ‘ Who ’s Nate Kibby ? ' ” Abby Hernandezrecalled . “ And he just kind of breathed and said ‘ How do you know my name ? ' ”
In July 2014 , Nate Kibby received an alarming call from Lauren Munday , a woman he had met on the cyberspace . Munday told him she had been arrested for pass along fake $ 50 bills and that she ’d informed constabulary that Kibby had printed them .
Kibby was spook , and he soon lead off liquidating everything in his house — including Abby Hernandez . And on July 20 , 2014 , he repel the 15 - year - old back to North Conway and dropped her off mere footstep from where she had been abduct , making her promise not to give him up . Abby Hernandez walk the last naut mi to her female parent ’s home .
“ I remember looking up and laugh , just being so glad , ” said Hernandez . “ Oh my God , this actually happened . I ’m a costless person . I never thought it would happen to me , but I ’m gratis . ”
Where Is Abigail Hernandez Now?
Abby Hernandez secern police that her capturer ’s personal identity was a mystery . accord to court of law papers published in November 2014 , she had only provide police with a study of her kidnapper — andwithheldhis name from everyone but her mother , Zenya .
LifetimeLindsay Navarro and Ben Savage as Abby Hernandez and Nate Kibby inGirl in the Shed : The snatch of Abby Hernandez .
Hernandez “ had confide in her , telling her that she did not provide law enforcement with all the necessary information and furthermore , knew who her captor was . ” And on July 27 , 2014 , Zenya Hernandez gave police detective Kibby ’s name — guide to his catch and a raid of his property .
ab initio charged with kidnapping and sustain on a $ 1 million adhesiveness , Kibby spend two years in prison before pleading shamefaced to six other felony , including second - degree assault and sexual rape .
And while hereceiveda conviction of 45 to 90 year , Hernandez enjoin she now makes sure to take time to fully appreciate all that living has to offer .
“ Every prison term I go outside now , I really try on to appreciate sunshine and fresh air travel , ” said Hernandez . “ It really choke in my lung differently . I really seek to never take that for granted . ”
After learning about the kidnapping of Abby Hernandez , understand about the horrify kidnapping ofColleen Stan , “ the young lady in the box . ”Then , get wind aboutEdward Paisnel and the “ Beast of Jersey . ”
