Heart of Darkness

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Speaker 5 I just can't imagine to be held in captivity.

Speaker 6 Dad, just send the money.

Speaker 7 That's all they want.

Speaker 5 They have an American kid. A 14-year-old kid in the middle of the jungle.

Speaker 5 They're thinking they hit the jackpot.

Speaker 8 They were vacationers turned prisoners.

Speaker 10 A mother and son kidnapped by terrorists.

Speaker 11 We need 10 million US dollars for the release of your family.

Speaker 12 10 million for me. Are you losing your mind?

Speaker 10 Tonight, you're inside this harrowing hostage drama.

Speaker 5 This is a big operation. This is not just this ragtag group of people.
Anything can happen.

Speaker 14 There are no guarantees.

Speaker 10 Can a father turn negotiator help bring them home?

Speaker 14 We prepared him for the worst.

Speaker 6 I'm getting bored. I'm getting so worried.

Speaker 5 A lot of people were praying for them. A lot of people were.

Speaker 16 I'm Lester Holt, and this is Dateline.

Speaker 10 Here's Keith Morrison with Heart of Darkness.

Speaker 24 They lay in wait, unseen, under a thick green canopy, armed to the teeth, immersed in their defiant extremist belief, hunting, stalking, deadly in this particular Heart of Darkness.

Speaker 28 It was the summer of 2011, a jungle-clad island in the southern tip of the Philippines, where they prepared the place.

Speaker 31 And the news of the terrible deed committed here flashed halfway around the the world and came crashing down out of nowhere on a modest working-class family in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Speaker 5 I got a phone call from my mother. The first thing she said was Gerfa and Kevin were kidnapped in the Philippines.

Speaker 30 Kidnapped?

Speaker 27 Cherry Hunter tried to wrap her head around the inconceivable.

Speaker 33 Gerfa was her aunt.

Speaker 34 Kevin, Gerfa's 14-year-old son.

Speaker 17 They were due home from a Philippine vacation.

Speaker 28 Instead, they were in the clutches of something horrific.

Speaker 5 I felt like I was in a dream, like it wasn't real.

Speaker 36 I just was thinking, what?

Speaker 37 Jerfa's husband, Heicho Lunsman, had stayed behind in Lynchburg and was at work when he heard.

Speaker 39 He must have been terrified.

Speaker 32 Yes.

Speaker 26 It was impossible to think about it, but pictures don't lie.

Speaker 19 They didn't.

Speaker 40 There they were on Philippine television.

Speaker 34 Incomprehensible images.

Speaker 17 Jerfa and Kevin's passports, their half-packed suitcases.

Speaker 2 The stricken relatives had been visiting on Tictabon, a small island at the tip of the southern Philippines.

Speaker 34 Jerfa, Kevin, and one of Jerfa's young cousins, said the news reports, kidnapped by boat in the dead of night.

Speaker 22 And was thinking, no, that doesn't happen to us.

Speaker 21 Well, nobody thinks it's going to happen to us, right?

Speaker 36 Yeah, but

Speaker 45 my wife's heart is in the Philippines.

Speaker 36 That's her family.

Speaker 42 Jerfa was born in the Philippines, but always felt safe there. Her older sister married a U.S.

Speaker 46 Navy sailor and moved to America in 1985, brought then 16-year-old Jerfa with her, hoping to give her a chance at a better life.

Speaker 5 She was so excited about the opportunity.

Speaker 5 I remember she worked at Little Caesar's Pizza, and that was the greatest thing, to get a job.

Speaker 15 She had a son, Josh, went back to community college to improve herself, and there she met a German immigrant named Heiko.

Speaker 21 And from then on, that was it. They were a family.

Speaker 33 She became a lab technician, Heiko a maintenance man.

Speaker 34 They bought a house in the leafy neighborhood of Lynchburg, Virginia, and had Kevin.

Speaker 43 And the immigrant's son became an all-American kid.

Speaker 49 He was 14 that summer of 2011, smart, studious,

Speaker 35 and looking forward to the start of high school in the fall.

Speaker 5 He's his normal American kid who likes pizza and hot dogs and burgers. Hang out with his friends, play video games, ride on a skateboard.

Speaker 24 They lived frugally, saved their money, which is how eventually Heiko could afford his used Mercedes sports car and Jerfa and Kevin that vacation trip to the Philippines.

Speaker 2 Life was good, but now it was very bad indeed.

Speaker 5 When I first heard they were kidnapped,

Speaker 5 The first thing that came to my mind was, oh my gosh, it's Abu Saeef.

Speaker 24 Abu Saeef, a small but extremely violent militant group, over the years it claimed affiliation first with al-Qaeda, then ISIS, as it fought to establish an independent Islamic state in the southern Philippines, its bread and butter in its fight against the government, kidnapped for ransom.

Speaker 33 Abu Sayyef had taken American hostages before.

Speaker 40 Some were released eventually, but some were beheaded.

Speaker 49 Haika was frantic, had no idea what to do, where to turn.

Speaker 50 And then that very day, the cavalry came riding in.

Speaker 36 My boss from work called,

Speaker 36 come on over to work, the FBI is here for you.

Speaker 29 What was it like to hear the FBI was actually paying attention to this?

Speaker 21 It is really real now.

Speaker 12 This is the real scene.

Speaker 14 We never know how families are going to react, obviously, but almost in every case, they're in a state of crisis.

Speaker 28 Mark Thundercloud was the leader of a special FBI hostage negotiating unit formed precisely for for an emergency like this.

Speaker 42 More than a dozen agents descended on the Lundsman house, covered the windows, set up a surveillance system in Heiko's kitchen, and got ready for what they knew was coming.

Speaker 37 A demand for ransom.

Speaker 14 He's negotiating really with someone who's selling his family.

Speaker 36 The FBI told me so

Speaker 36 that my wife and son are merchandise for them.

Speaker 28 That's kind of hard to hear.

Speaker 14 Yes. We try to be very transparent with the families in these cases and we try to prepare them as best as we can.

Speaker 29 Did you prepare Hancock for the possibility they would be executed?

Speaker 14 Yeah, we prepared him for the worst.

Speaker 25 Now there was nothing else to do except wait.

Speaker 21 Then

Speaker 21 the phone rang. Hello.

Speaker 21 Hello. Yes.

Speaker 11 This is Longistan from Philippines. Is it Dr.
Mr. El Plantsman?

Speaker 16 A terrorist on the line.

Speaker 10 When we come back, the life and death negotiations begin.

Speaker 11 We need

Speaker 11 10 million US dollars for the release of your family.

Speaker 12 10 million for me. Are you losing your mind?

Speaker 7 Chad!

Speaker 7 We need you some money.

Speaker 6 I'm getting worried. I'm getting so worried.

Speaker 11 Is it Mr. Elk Lundsman? Yes, that's me.
Okay, we would like to inform you that your family

Speaker 11 is here with us and our custody.

Speaker 48 Two days after his wife and child were kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines, Heiko Lundsman got his first ransom call.

Speaker 43 On the phone, a man who called himself Mr.

Speaker 15 So.

Speaker 12 He called me Mr.

Speaker 36 Lundsman, and so

Speaker 36 I want to know what I can call you. I don't want to call you kidnapper terrorists.

Speaker 36 Just give me a name.

Speaker 42 Mr.

Speaker 31 So was calm, businesslike, like he'd done it a hundred times before.

Speaker 28 In fact, he was the voice for a violent separatist group known for executing prisoners.

Speaker 22 Beheadings, usually.

Speaker 11 We would like to tell you that we need

Speaker 11 10 million US dollars for the release of your family.

Speaker 52 Can you hear me?

Speaker 36 And I just was thinking

Speaker 12 Are you losing your mind?

Speaker 26 We think you God

Speaker 12 Just couldn't believe it 10 million for me.

Speaker 32 Why would they think Heiko had 10 million?

Speaker 28 Perhaps they'd watch the internet in Lynchburg the kidnapping was big news TV crews set up shop across the street and captured Heiko driving his used Mercedes coupe.

Speaker 37 There you are in your fancy car.

Speaker 17 Yes, you must be worth millions.

Speaker 21 That was a long, long impression.

Speaker 54 I'm not a rich person, but I will give whatever I can get together.

Speaker 11 Okay, I got what we needed.

Speaker 48 Heiko was lucky in this.

Speaker 24 When Mr. Seoul made his demands, some of the most experienced FBI hostage negotiators in the country were right there, listening in, ready to point out the right way for Heiko to respond.

Speaker 26 Literally.

Speaker 14 These are for general visual prompts that we want Heiko to think about. We have other questions relating to Kevin and Jerfa that we think are important for Heiko to consider.

Speaker 14 And what we're doing then, we're going to write notes down and pass them to Heiko. He would read it and then hopefully introduce it to the conversation.

Speaker 51 Where's my wife?

Speaker 11 Can I talk to her?

Speaker 27 She's okay.

Speaker 11 Where's my son? Yeah, no.

Speaker 11 Can I talk to them, right? I want to know if they're okay.

Speaker 35 Mr. Sow didn't say.

Speaker 17 Meanwhile, FBI agents in the Philippines were working sources on the ground.

Speaker 42 Word was that Jurfa and Kevin had been taken to one of Abu Sayaf's strongholds, Basilan, a large island about four hours by boat from where they'd been kidnapped, to a base camp deep in what was nearly impenetrable jungle.

Speaker 14 We traveled to Basilan to talk with the politicians there. They may have had some influence over this group.

Speaker 2 Heiko had the FBI to help.

Speaker 21 But government money?

Speaker 21 No.

Speaker 14 So you don't pay ransom. The government doesn't pay ransoms.

Speaker 14 Any decisions that are made regarding ransoms are really made by the family.

Speaker 36 But it was actually to me no choice. I know I want to pay something just to make sure they are safe.

Speaker 24 The week after the kidnapping, Heiko wired a ransom payment, close to $5,000, to a bank account in the Philippines.

Speaker 36 I also thinking I pay some money and it's over, but

Speaker 53 to start it one and more and more and more.

Speaker 22 More weeks went by.

Speaker 24 Mr.

Speaker 32 Sow reduced his demands from 10 million to 2 million, then 1 million.

Speaker 44 Still impossible, of course.

Speaker 42 So the kidnappers turned up the heat.

Speaker 17 They put Kevin on the line.

Speaker 7 Chad!

Speaker 23 Yeah,

Speaker 19 how are you doing over there?

Speaker 7 We need you to send the money.

Speaker 19 I know that and I'm ready. But all I have over here will send a day forward.

Speaker 7 Dad, just send the money. That's all I want.

Speaker 21 Heiko maxed out his credit cards, borrowed money from whomever he could, but it never seemed to be enough.

Speaker 56 As the incident grows from weeks into months, we end up with so many boards that we have to work our way down this hallway.

Speaker 24 Daniel Gersh was one of the hostage negotiators assigned to guide Heiko.

Speaker 56 And it gets to the point where we don't think that we're making progress. Heiko feels like we're not making progress.

Speaker 51 I just think you just hope. That's all what you have.

Speaker 41 Hope.

Speaker 33 But hope was hard to hang on to.

Speaker 24 The kidnappers kept threatening beheadings.

Speaker 21 Even worse, they put Gerfa on the phone and beat her while she talked to Heiko.

Speaker 6 Sweetheart, what are you doing over there?

Speaker 6 I know.

Speaker 6 Just tell them I don't have a million.

Speaker 6 Please do that.

Speaker 6 I know. I told them I didn't have anything, but they're just like asking.

Speaker 6 How are you doing, Jeff? I'm getting worried. I'm getting so worried.

Speaker 34 A few seconds later, the line went dead.

Speaker 45 Oh my god.

Speaker 23 I'm smoking a

Speaker 57 cigarette. I'm going to f ⁇ up.

Speaker 57 Heiko, you need to be ready.

Speaker 37 The frustration must be pretty intense.

Speaker 36 The frustration was immense.

Speaker 56 If he's not calm, then our hostage takers aren't going to be calm.

Speaker 56 So oftentimes I would have to tell Heiko to, you know, be quiet, let the hostage taker speak, and then we would have a chance to respond.

Speaker 23 And then what?

Speaker 21 How long before they tired of the game and killed the two great loves of his life?

Speaker 56 I've worked these cases that will last years instead of months.

Speaker 36 I'm not making it for years. I mean, there's no way.

Speaker 37 Heiko didn't have to wait that long.

Speaker 21 Three months after Jerfa and Kevin were taken, there was a very different phone call.

Speaker 47 And for Heiko, it was terrifying.

Speaker 58 Coming up.

Speaker 36 She called me really, really sad and crying.

Speaker 5 I felt her dark place, being a mother myself, and it was awful.

Speaker 10 When Dateline continues

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Speaker 33 It had been three months since an Islamic paramilitary group had kidnapped Heiko Lundsman's wife and son.

Speaker 21 He'd already sent the kidnappers more than $20,000, a fortune for him.

Speaker 21 And then the phone rang again.

Speaker 39 And it wasn't Mr. So.

Speaker 26 Instead,

Speaker 18 well, even veteran FBI agent Dan Gersh was astonished.

Speaker 56 We received that tremendous news that Jerfa was released. Obviously, Heiko's very excited.
I could see and hear

Speaker 56 just joy.

Speaker 9 Joy.

Speaker 34 Heiko could scarcely believe it as the news flashed across the Philippines and to Lynchburg, Virginia.

Speaker 21 His wife, Jerfa, was alive and free and safe.

Speaker 34 So, inexpressible joy.

Speaker 24 And then Jerfa called him, and Heiko realized the nightmare was just just beginning.

Speaker 36 She called me really, really sad and crying. So my first question to her was, where's Kevin?

Speaker 8 He could hear the terror in her voice. Abu Saef still had Kevin and her cousin.

Speaker 31 They could kill them at any time they wanted.

Speaker 5 And I felt her dark place, just being a mother myself, and it was awful.

Speaker 3 And before long, her terror deepened when she learned her cousin got out too, which meant that there in that awful place, her 14-year-old son, no one left to protect him, was all alone.

Speaker 5 I remember seeing that picture of her that was in the news, and she just looked so sad. Like she just looked so sad and helpless.

Speaker 27 This is Jerfa.

Speaker 42 And here, even five years later, the memory is brutal.

Speaker 49 We brought her back here to the Philippines and asked her to tell us her story.

Speaker 33 The story that began at two o'clock in the morning at the end of a happy family reunion on a beach just about like this one.

Speaker 57 It does take you back. You know, you can hear the water, the waves, you can feel the wind.
You see the evening sky, the stars.

Speaker 55 It was a beautiful thing.

Speaker 57 It was a beautiful morning.

Speaker 57 Suddenly I saw from the left side two men running really fast like on the sand with some kind of rifle. My first impression it was some kind of robbery.
I screamed for help. I was terrified.

Speaker 57 I've never screamed that loud in my life.

Speaker 8 Jerfa rushed back to her hut, grabbed Kevin.

Speaker 42 Together they ran toward the beach.

Speaker 24 But they didn't get far.

Speaker 42 In an instant, they were surrounded by several armed men in military fatigues.

Speaker 57 Kevin was looking at me, he was in front of me, and when suddenly someone kicked him from behind. That violence right there, they were rough right away.
It's like

Speaker 57 why did they kick my son?

Speaker 21 A motorboat suddenly appeared.

Speaker 37 The men pushed Kevin and Gerfa into it.

Speaker 24 Shocked and frightened, Jerfa looked up to see her cousin, not quite 22 years old and the father of a newborn, holding onto the boat, trying to prevent it from leaving.

Speaker 57 He didn't care about his safety, he didn't care about his life, and he was begging him and begging him to let him in. He said, this is my family, I want to be with them.
My fate will be the same.

Speaker 15 Though they took her cousin too, Jerfa watched the shore disappear into the darkness.

Speaker 33 In a matter of a moment, you went from a feeling of incredible peace to the worst nightmare you could ever imagine.

Speaker 57 Chaos, complete chaos. And you tried to control yourself, trying to stay calm.
And how do you do that?

Speaker 33 It was early morning, right after sunrise, when they arrived arrived in an island. They were made to sit hidden in the mangroves.

Speaker 35 Take me, Jerfa pleaded with the kidnappers.

Speaker 15 Let the boys go.

Speaker 25 But in response, one of the men raised his machete.

Speaker 57 He looked at me and he said, did you want me to cut your son's, your infidel son's head? Behead him. Already.
Behead him. I knew right then it was religious.

Speaker 38 Yeah, though, these are the best.

Speaker 6 It's more serious.

Speaker 57 This is more hostile.

Speaker 41 You can see the hatred in their eyes.

Speaker 57 I've never seen so much hate.

Speaker 42 Jerfa had heard about Abu Saeef and their kidnappings, but she never thought for a moment that she could be a target.

Speaker 57 So we sat there, just shaking, and I couldn't stop it. The fear of death is so strong.

Speaker 57 We were surrounded by this armed men. There was no rescue.
There was no sign of rescue.

Speaker 57 We were on our own.

Speaker 21 Night came.

Speaker 37 They were prodded at gunpoint to their feet and into the jungle and his own particular darkness.

Speaker 57 I constantly followed Kevin. The minute he's like three feet away from me, he's gone.
It's like he's gone in the dark.

Speaker 27 And then a light, just a flash really, a car in the distance.

Speaker 15 The kidnappers seemed terrified by it.

Speaker 33 And Jerfa was gripped by a fear more terrible than any in her life.

Speaker 57 Immediately,

Speaker 57 someone stood really close to Kevin and

Speaker 57 I saw that silver rifle, rifle, the tip of it, just went close to his forehead. And at that point, I just realized: I was like,

Speaker 57 Oh my gosh, I might lose my son that night.

Speaker 9 Coming up, were you ready to die?

Speaker 57 I was ready.

Speaker 57 I said, Lord, thank you for the beautiful family you gave me.

Speaker 57 I said, If you want me to come home, I'm ready.

Speaker 37 In the dark of the Philippine jungle, surrounded by men with hate in their eyes, Jerfa Lundsman looked terrified at her 14-year-old son.

Speaker 31 An approaching car had put the kidnappers on alert, and now one of them held an automatic rifle to Kevin's head.

Speaker 57 I just said, don't move, son.

Speaker 57 While my entire body was frozen.

Speaker 24 And then the car passed and they kept walking. And several hours later, they arrived at Abu Sayyev's base camp.

Speaker 41 And this is where they were brought to a cage in the jungle. Not this cage, we actually built this one, but to the exact specifications given to us by Jerfah.

Speaker 41 Five feet by five feet, some old broken boards for a floor, jungle sticks lashed together with bark,

Speaker 41 no roof, no protection from the elements, but a cage as secure as

Speaker 41 any cage in any prison.

Speaker 35 There were guard tents on either side of the cage, a sniper on a hill above watching them, and right beside the cage, a seemingly bottomless cliff planted with landmines, said their captors.

Speaker 41 I know you'd been walking for like 36 hours or something.

Speaker 38 How did you feel?

Speaker 57 Well, exhausted physically, spiritually, mentally.

Speaker 53 And then they present you.

Speaker 57 Exhausted. And you see this piece of crap.

Speaker 57 And this guy told us,

Speaker 57 get in.

Speaker 57 And you want to resist. You want to fight it because you know you're not an animal.

Speaker 41 This is Jerfus's cousin, the young man who forced the kidnappers to take him so he could protect her and Kevin.

Speaker 57 He takes the shorter place here. I will sleep here, and Kevin will take the longest area of the cage because he is taller.
We cannot move. We take one spot, and that's it.

Speaker 53 They sat in silence, forbidden to speak.

Speaker 18 They were, bit by bit, starved.

Speaker 35 fed a little rice and dried fish, a single plate per day to share.

Speaker 28 And then one night, about a week after they'd been taken hostage, the group's leader told Jerfah about the price Abu Sayyaf had put on her head, that 10 million they demanded from Heiko.

Speaker 57 I felt like my whole body just collapsed. I knew if I cannot convince him that I don't have that money, I will never see my family again.
So I look up toward heaven.

Speaker 57 and there was this one star just blinking.

Speaker 57 I pointed at the star, this one star

Speaker 57 up in that sky, and I told them to, if they can get that star,

Speaker 57 my husband can give them $10 million.

Speaker 24 Jerfin knew Heiko would have sent all the money they had, even as the kidnappers squeezed him by putting his terrified son on the phone.

Speaker 7 Dad, just send the money. That's all they want.

Speaker 10 Maiko didn't realize that the kidnappers were beating Kevin as he spoke.

Speaker 39 Jerfa was forced to watch, helpless, full of rage.

Speaker 57 He got hurt from head to toes, even though he fell on the ground.

Speaker 30 They continued to abuse him.

Speaker 57 But all he was doing, it was just listening to his dad

Speaker 57 because that was the safety zone.

Speaker 37 Jerfa's cousin threw himself on Kevin, tried to shield him.

Speaker 57 What I want is to

Speaker 57 hug Kevin, protect him, and I want to take the beating.

Speaker 57 But they tried to keep me away from Kevin. I cannot fight back.

Speaker 24 When it was over, Kevin and Jerfa were forced back into the cage, battered and horrified.

Speaker 27 And there was her cousin lying in the corner, crying.

Speaker 57 So we were just like rubbing his back, trying to console him, because it was just three of us. No one cared about our feelings, how hurt we are.

Speaker 23 The world was not there for us.

Speaker 57 No one was there.

Speaker 39 And if no one was coming to rescue them, well, then they had no choice.

Speaker 43 They had to try to escape, come what may, down that cliff.

Speaker 31 And then, two months into their captivity, the moment came.

Speaker 24 Gunfire pierced the silence.

Speaker 37 The kidnappers grabbed their weapons and ran toward the front of the camp.

Speaker 28 And the captives, impulse in unison, squeezed through the cage and slid off the edge of the cliff.

Speaker 57 There was no time to think what happened. No, we got to go now.

Speaker 41 Down a slope like that.

Speaker 57 Yeah, we're trying to. Head first.
Yes, headfirst, holding on to the roots and the bushes.

Speaker 24 But then they heard a shout.

Speaker 42 One of their kidnappers had seen them.

Speaker 57 Vinny was screaming, they're escaping, they're escaping, they're getting away.

Speaker 57 And by the time I got a look again, they they all line up. It's like, really, I cannot believe they caught us.
We march back into

Speaker 57 that cage.

Speaker 41 That tiny little cage, which must have felt like a tomb to you.

Speaker 57 We know

Speaker 57 we're going to die in that cage.

Speaker 35 But their captors were on edge for a reason.

Speaker 24 This is NBC News footage of military exercises on the coast of Basilan that September of 2011, about two months into Jurfa's ordeal.

Speaker 46 The Philippine military, supported by American advisors, was launching an offensive against Abu Saaf, which in turn became so nervous, they decided to move Kevin, Jerfa, and her cousin out of that cage and into a windowless room in a farmhouse about a day's hike away.

Speaker 27 And then, one of them pulled Jerfa from their cell.

Speaker 17 They were taking her away.

Speaker 57 And at that point, I was like, oh my god, they're going to separate me from my son.

Speaker 35 They told her she'd be back the next day, but she was convinced her time was up, that she was about to be executed.

Speaker 33 Were you ready to die?

Speaker 57 I was ready.

Speaker 57 I said, Lord, thank you for the beautiful family you gave me.

Speaker 57 I said, if you want me to come home, I'm ready, but I want you to let these two boys. Guide them out of that jungle.

Speaker 57 It's in your hand now.

Speaker 17 They put Jerfa on a boat, put a bag over her body.

Speaker 27 But to her complete surprise, they didn't kill her.

Speaker 39 Instead, they dropped her off on a footbridge near a village and told her they'd be in touch soon.

Speaker 57 They started to disappear in the dark ocean.

Speaker 57 And I knew right then that my connection to Kevin is gone. It was worse than being in prison.

Speaker 57 There was no freedom for me.

Speaker 35 She got in touch with the Philippine military, was evacuated to Manila, the Philippines' capital.

Speaker 47 Back in Lynchburg, lead FBI negotiator Mark Thundercloud thought he knew why the kidnappers released Jerfa.

Speaker 14 Their intent was to let her go to help raise more money.

Speaker 14 Now she's out, and now she's got to talk to these people.

Speaker 14 Someone needs to be there with her.

Speaker 35 Heiko decided he should stay in Lynchburg, try to find the money.

Speaker 43 And Mark Thundercloud moved his operations from the family's kitchen to a hotel room in Manila. And there, as one month passed and then another, they tried to help Jerfah deal with Mr.

Speaker 29 So.

Speaker 14 December 6th was the last day that we talked with Mr. So.
Basically, he was saying, look, what you're offering is not enough. This might be the last communication that we ever have.

Speaker 55 We still expected calls, but on the seventh, nothing.

Speaker 35 On the eighth, nothing.

Speaker 14 On the ninth, nothing.

Speaker 40 Oh, Oh, they would hear what happened to Kevin soon enough.

Speaker 25 A shock in waiting.

Speaker 58 Coming up.

Speaker 57 When I opened the door, everybody was looking at me so quiet. I was like, oh, something happened.
Something happened to Kevin.

Speaker 10 When Dateline continues.

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Speaker 42 On the night of December 2011, Heiko Lundsman sat in his barren kitchen in a sinkhole of despair.

Speaker 17 His FBI friends with their notes and equipment were long gone, in a Manila hotel room now with his wife, who had no news about Kevin at all.

Speaker 55 It's just a terrible feeling.

Speaker 36 You're feeling helpless, totally helpless, useless. I'm just sitting here and hope for the best.

Speaker 40 That very day, halfway around the world, Jerfa got word that the FBI wanted to see her immediately.

Speaker 42 She rushed to the hotel room.

Speaker 57 When I opened the door, everybody was looking at me so quiet, just stare at me. It was like, oh, something happened.
Something happened to Kevin.

Speaker 17 An FBI agent was holding a phone.

Speaker 22 On the line, the mayor of a small town on Basilan Island.

Speaker 20 It's for you, the agent told Jerfah.

Speaker 5 The mayor said,

Speaker 57 Mrs. Lunsman.

Speaker 30 I was like, yeah,

Speaker 57 Kevin is out. And I said, what, what? It was just like chaos after that.
And then when I talked to him, I said, Kevin, hi, mom, this is Kevin. You know, it just sounds so good.

Speaker 57 It was just so beautiful. It sounds like my son.
It's my son.

Speaker 39 Kevin was free.

Speaker 30 but how?

Speaker 54 That's the craziest turn of my life, probably. I didn't think it was ever going to happen.

Speaker 31 Here he is, Kevin Lundsman.

Speaker 37 And this is his amazing story, which began a moment before the kidnappers took his mom away, when she leaned forward and whispered in his ear.

Speaker 54 I remember her words exactly. She said,

Speaker 54 You have to get home to your father. You have to get back home.

Speaker 54 And it made me realize that she she might be thinking that she may not make it tonight.

Speaker 33 That she might be being taken away to be killed.

Speaker 21 Yes.

Speaker 54 I just wanted to cry.

Speaker 54 And

Speaker 54 I didn't want to lose her.

Speaker 49 Soon after that, they took his cousin away, too.

Speaker 54 After he left, I was alone.

Speaker 54 There was nothing more. It was just me.

Speaker 15 14 years old, all alone.

Speaker 50 In that dark room in the jungle.

Speaker 31 When he finally slept, he had a dream.

Speaker 54 We're in a two-story house, and I turn to my side, and my mother's there, and my cousin's there. And then all of a sudden, a barrage of bullets goes through the walls.

Speaker 54 All these bullets are flying through, and yet we're not getting hit.

Speaker 54 All of a sudden, I turn around, and

Speaker 54 my mother's gone, and my cousin's gone, and the barrage of bullets has stopped. Everything has ceased.
And I just realize

Speaker 54 I'm alone again. Even in my dream, I was alone.

Speaker 43 He woke up, remembered his mother's words, get home to your dad.

Speaker 25 And he made a choice.

Speaker 54 I was going to get home, one way or another.

Speaker 27 How the heck would you do that?

Speaker 54 I was still unclear of that myself. I just had to wait.

Speaker 54 Maybe one day they'd get careless.

Speaker 2 You'd escape?

Speaker 23 Yes.

Speaker 27 Bit by bit, he prepared.

Speaker 54 Physically, I tried to maintain. I tried to get as much food as I could when they'd give it to me.
sometimes do sit-ups, push-ups, because if I ever did have to run, I'd have to be somewhat in shape.

Speaker 37 And then he had an idea.

Speaker 20 The kidnappers allowed him to wash his clothes and hang them to dry on a line outside the house.

Speaker 35 Maybe, if they were distracted somehow, he could make a run for it, get to the ocean, catch a boat to the mainland.

Speaker 2 Wishful thinking, of course, he was guarded around the clock.

Speaker 24 But then, one morning, almost six months after he was taken hostage.

Speaker 54 I woke up in the morning and I could hear no sounds whatsoever. I looked at the trails and I couldn't see anyone walking around.
And it was sort of like a light bulb moment.

Speaker 21 This might be it.

Speaker 35 He washed his clothes, hung them up, eyes darting, two little voices working in his mind.

Speaker 54 One that was saying you should run, another one saying you should stay. One was terrified, the other one knew what was waiting for me out there was much better.
My own freedom.

Speaker 54 I proceeded to walk to the edge of the house. And I looked at the creek and around the side, and I could see no one.
Nothing, no movement. And after that, I just bolted.

Speaker 41 Kevin knew, as many 14-year-olds do, that water obliterates footprints, might hide his route of escape.

Speaker 41 And so, with his heart pounding and his ears straining for the sounds of pursuers, he picked his way down the creekbed and into the jungle.

Speaker 13 And then he heard it.

Speaker 15 The bird call.

Speaker 54 It wasn't just a bird. This was more of like an alert call that

Speaker 54 the terrorists used to communicate with another. So I knew that the signal had been put up that I had escaped.

Speaker 49 What'd that do to you?

Speaker 54 As soon as I heard it, I knew I had to get out as fast as I could. I had to run.

Speaker 33 I guess it's one of those moments in life where you either grow up and deal with it or you decide to give up and stay a little boy.

Speaker 54 Those are my two choices. Are you going to panic or are you going to

Speaker 54 man up and are you going to try and get out of here? And I chose option two.

Speaker 34 And so he ran all day into the thick black of a jungle night, his feet raw, his clothes ripped by unseen hazards, bloodied now by a thousand thorns that tore into his flesh.

Speaker 13 Meadows, marsh, brush, thick thorns, anything.

Speaker 17 I would get through it.

Speaker 54 At any cost.

Speaker 54 Even if it cost me my life, at least I tried.

Speaker 2 Toward morning, exhausted, he searched for a hiding place so inhospitable his pursuers wouldn't think to look there.

Speaker 20 And he fell asleep in a mosquito-infested swamp.

Speaker 2 And when the sun rose and he opened his eyes.

Speaker 54 I remember waking up and not smelling the aroma of the coffee that they had brewed or maybe the types of food like fried rice. I didn't smell any of that.
I smelled fresh air. I smelled

Speaker 54 freedom.

Speaker 33 At least for the moment.

Speaker 15 But where was he?

Speaker 54 At a point I couldn't keep going through brush because

Speaker 54 I didn't know my exact location.

Speaker 41 I had to keep walking and uh possibly get on the road maybe i can find a different way but there was a danger because people might see you because people might see me yes well on this island you don't know who's with them and who's not right right but it was a risk he had to take

Speaker 33 and soon regretted walking down the road he heard a voice behind him a man was approaching

Speaker 2 and he had a rifle

Speaker 58 Coming up.

Speaker 54 I had escaped and walked through all of that terrain and it was for nothing.

Speaker 55 He could take you away, take you back to those guys.

Speaker 54 I froze and I just thought,

Speaker 54 is this it?

Speaker 38 For two days and one long night, Kevin Lunsma could practically feel his captors' breath on his neck, their guns in his back, as he ran, and somehow eluded them.

Speaker 54 All my clothes were almost covered in mud, black blood, everything. My hair was ruffled.
I smelt terrible. I probably had

Speaker 54 over a hundred or more lacerations on my body, blood all over my arms as well, so I didn't look too good.

Speaker 42 And then he took that one necessary risk, emerged to a public road, and there it was.

Speaker 21 The end.

Speaker 24 Clearly, a local on this Abu Sayaf-infested island.

Speaker 35 And he had a very big gun.

Speaker 54 I thought that was, um,

Speaker 54 it was all over. I had escaped and walked through all of that terrain, and it was for nothing.
They had found me, and they were going to bring me back.

Speaker 34 And then the man spoke, and the words startled Kevin.

Speaker 15 He was speaking English.

Speaker 54 And he was asking, do you need help? You know,

Speaker 41 were you kidnapped?

Speaker 54 And I froze at that question again. I just thought,

Speaker 54 is this it? Should I just tell him?

Speaker 41 He could go either way still.

Speaker 55 He could take you away, take you back to those guys.

Speaker 54 And I knew those risks, but at this point I felt like I was going to put my trust in him.

Speaker 38 So how did he react?

Speaker 54 He proceeded to say,

Speaker 54 I'm going to get you out of here. I'm going to get you home.
And my name's Kenny.

Speaker 54 I'm here to help. My name's Kenny? My name's Kenny, like Kenny Rogers.
That's exactly what he said. And it gave me a laugh.
It was actually one of the first laughs I had in a long time.

Speaker 35 Kenny got in touch with the mayor of a nearby village.

Speaker 18 The mayor called the Philippine Army.

Speaker 50 And the army arrived in Humvees.

Speaker 54 Seen like hundreds of them. And

Speaker 54 I was just like, this is all for me. And I just couldn't believe it.
I realized that I'm really going to see my family again. I am going to see my friends.
I'm going to have my life back.

Speaker 40 But would he have his mom?

Speaker 39 For months, Kevin had been grieving, afraid she'd been executed by the militants.

Speaker 35 But then the mayor gave him him the phone and Kevin heard a familiar voice.

Speaker 54 Hey mom, is that really you?

Speaker 54 I had no clue for months what happened to you. Once I heard her voice, I knew that was her and I think at that point I felt alive again.
There was a color in my life again.

Speaker 46 After that 14-year-old's amazing escape, the U.S.

Speaker 42 military put him on a plane to Manila where his mother was waiting on the tarmac.

Speaker 57 The door was too slow to open. I was ready to climb that plane and open that door.

Speaker 57 And he stood there on the plane, right there, looking around, like, I'm right here, you know, it's like, I'm right here. But he's just like, look, and I was like, you don't recognize me.

Speaker 57 I was like, okay, it must be the lung. I gotta stop crying, right?

Speaker 54 And I see this woman, and I could see tears.

Speaker 21 And as I got closer and closer,

Speaker 21 I realized I knew who that was.

Speaker 54 We just ran up to each other and we just hugged each other.

Speaker 54 And it was just incredible.

Speaker 25 Back in Lynchburg, Kevin's dad, Heiko, was delivering Christmas turkeys to a hospital when somebody found him and gave him the news.

Speaker 30 I was so happy.

Speaker 36 Your mind gets clear again, so you don't have to be not more worried.

Speaker 45 And I will have my family back.

Speaker 27 It just is a great feeling. It's a great feeling.

Speaker 43 On December 14th, 2011, six months after they were taken hostage, Jerfa and Kevin finally came home, returned to Lynchburg, to Heiko, and to Jerfa's niece, Sherry.

Speaker 5 It was awesome.

Speaker 5 The first thing we did was put on Christmas decorations.

Speaker 5 Kevin and Jerfa were so happy. I didn't know what to expect because of what they'd been through, but they were just so grateful to be back with their family.

Speaker 48 In 2012, the Philippine Army caught three of Jerfa and Kevin's kidnappers.

Speaker 28 Jerfa returned to the Philippines to to testify at their trial and helped send her captors to prison.

Speaker 41 Kevin was honored for his bravery by the Virginia General Assembly and met President Obama.

Speaker 57 He was there, you know,

Speaker 57 as a boy, and now he came out as a man. The whole maturity is just unbelievable.

Speaker 34 You must be pretty proud of that boy.

Speaker 57 Very proud.

Speaker 15 The five years that separate their ordeal from this evening on the beach with us have erased not a moment of the memory, the terror they shared, the pain, the deprivation, sorrow, and finally joy.

Speaker 20 But we look on and see a bond only they can fully understand.

Speaker 41 Did you ever think you'd actually be in this situation where you've got your arm around your mother and the two of you are talking about this in the past tense with smiles in your faces?

Speaker 57 Never.

Speaker 54 Not at that point, no.

Speaker 54 We didn't think it was going to ever be possible. Yeah.

Speaker 54 But here we are.

Speaker 41 And we're very glad to see you safe. Thank you.

Speaker 21 Glad we're back.

Speaker 33 Wonderful. Wonderful.

Speaker 16 That's all for now. I'm Lester Holt.
Thanks for joining us.

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