A young girl who was taken against her will and reappeared mysteriously at her family’s residence nine months later, dressed in the same attire she was wearing when she vanished, has shared that cooperating with her abductor was key to her survival.
Abby Hernandez was only 14 years old when she was abducted while walking home from school in North Conway, New Hampshire, leaving law enforcement authorities baffled about her whereabouts.
The search for Abby in 2013 became one of the largest operations in the state’s history as the local community grappled with the uncertainty surrounding the fate of the Kennett High School student. Unbeknownst to many, the person responsible for her disappearance was a local individual named Nathaniel Kibby.
The grim reality unfolded as it was revealed that Kibby had taken Abby and held her captive just 30 miles north of Conway, confining her in a storage container where she endured continuous sexual abuse and torment.
During an interview with ABC, Abby disclosed that her survival instincts immediately kicked in upon being taken: “I recall telling myself ‘Okay, I have to cooperate with this person.’ I told him, ‘I don’t judge you for this. If you release me, I won’t disclose anything about this.'”
“I remember I never completed my prayers in my mind,” Abby admitted. “I never wanted to finish my prayers because I didn’t want to be abandoned by God. I just desperately wanted to survive.”
By employing a strategic approach, Abby managed to build rapport with her captor. “I mentioned to him: ‘You don’t seem like a bad person. Everyone makes mistakes. If you let me go, I won’t divulge anything about this.'”
This tactic proved effective, leading to an increase in his trust towards her, even permitting her to engage in producing counterfeit currency in his residence. She remarked, “Part of how I gained his trust, I suppose, was… I went along with whatever he desired to do.”
Clinical psychologist Rebecca Bailey commended Abby’s extraordinary strategy, stating, “It’s remarkable that she was strategizing. It is, once again, very exceptional and demonstrates her ability to transcend her state of terror and engage in problem-solving.”
Abby’s decision was pivotal when her captor began providing her with reading materials, and one day, she stumbled upon her captor’s name inscribed in a cookbook he had given her. “I asked, ‘Who’s Nate Kibby?’ And he just exhaled and inquired, ‘How do you know my name?'”
Eventually, fearing that law enforcement was closing in on him due to a counterfeit money investigation, Kibby freed Abby several months later. Lauren Munday, who claimed to have interacted with Kibby online, mentioned that he gave her three counterfeit $50 bills to assist with a hotel room payment, only for one of the bills to turn out to be fake.
Munday recounted to 20/20: “So, I told him, ‘Whatever you’re doing in your basement, you better clean it up right now, because they are coming for you.'”
Kibby made Abby promise not to disclose his identity to anyone, then drove her back to North Conway, where she was initially taken nine months earlier. Clad in the same outfit she wore when she disappeared, she walked the remaining distance to her mother’s residence.
“I remember looking up and laughing, feeling immensely happy,” Abby shared. “Oh my God, this truly happened. I am a free individual. I never thought it would happen to me, but I am free.”
Abby provided authorities with Kibby’s identity and location, leading to his admission of guilt on seven felony charges, including kidnapping and sexual assault. He is currently serving a sentence of 45 to 90 years outside of New Hampshire.
“If I were to write a manual on how victims should handle abductions… the initial chapter would focus on Abby,” remarked former FBI profiler and ABC News consultant Brad Garrett. “It always involves establishing a connection with the perpetrator.”
Despite the profound impact of her ordeal, Abby has developed a newfound gratitude for life: “Every time I step outside now, I consciously savor sunlight and fresh air. It feels different in my lungs… I make a conscious effort to never take that for granted.”
“Just don’t lose hope… even when it seems like you have lost everything, hope is something that cannot be taken away from you. Hold onto that. It will keep you moving forward.”