Special Release: Abby Hernandez

Murder + Horrific = Murderific.

This special release of one of our older patreon episodes covers a kidnapping survivor named Abigail Hernandez. Though only 14 years old, her strength and courage is remarkable considering her nine-month ordeal, which started in 2013. This is her story.

Thanks to our executive producers Angie S, Heather B and Mike T

Sources:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/09/08/abigail-hernandez-kidnapping-survivor-talks-2013-abduction-captivity/1238053002/https://boston.cbslocal.com/tag/abigail-hernandez/

https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/crime/abby-hernandez-a-story-of-survival-in-the-face-of-evil/97-c396ac68-43ce-4c5a-9e96-50bbe014c74f

https://www.concordmonitor.com/Abby-Hernandez-survivor-story-ABC-20008084

https://people.com/crime/abby-hernandez-2018-interview-going-missing-kidnapping/

https://www.jacksonville.com/photogallery/LK/20140730/PHOTOGALLERY/307309960/PH/1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNC5h-l6NKI&list=LL10zfzn7lOMXhccvqpEunMQ&index=4810https://abcnews.go.com/US/kidnapping-survivor-abby-hernandez-reveals-stayed-alive-captivity/story?id=57651942

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Yeah, Welcome to a true crimeMurderific journey. I'm your host, Bernadette.
Stay tuned after the show for promos, patron shoutouts and phone calls.
Remember horrific in murder equals Murderific.Enjoyed the show. Content warning, The

(00:23):
Murderific True Crime Podcast contains offensive languageand we'll have information about kidnappings, torture
with murder, and sexual assault.It is inappropriate for children or the feints
of heart. Welcome Murderific patrons totwenty twenty one. We made it.
Murder Iffic is on hiatus in tilFebruary fourteenth, but you guys who are

(00:47):
my patrons still get content. Ido appreciate your continued support and the monthly
bonus content. This year will beinteresting. I will try to do some
different topics and if you ever wantto give me some ideas, then feel
free to email me at Murderific podcastat gmail dot com or also, we

(01:08):
have a phone number and that's onetwo oh seven two hundred eight eight one
three. You can always leave amessage and say why you like being a
patron or subjects you want me tocover and I would love to play those
on the regular podcast. The subjectwe will be talking about today, will
be a kidnapping survivor. Let's start. Her name is Abby Hernandez. Abby

(01:34):
was fourteen years old and she waswalking home from school in North Conway,
New Hampshire. It was October ninth, twenty thirteen. New Hampshire is a
very safe state in the United States, and Sarah and Abigail, known as
Abbe live for their mom, ZenaHernandez. She was a nurse. Abby

(01:56):
had a boyfriend named Jimmy. Sheloved classic rock. She loved animals.
She was a dark haired, friendly, athletic girl with brown eyes. She
had just started her freshman year.At two forty three, her boyfriend,
who was on a bus, textedAbbey. He said I love you and
then she sent him ahar emoji.Her cell phone went dark at that point,

(02:20):
and that was fourteen minutes after textingher boyfriend. Her mom was worried
what Abbey didn't make it home afterschool. Her mother went to the school
and checked for her at Kennett HighSchool by seven pm. She was very
scared and she filed a missing person'sreport with the North Conway Police Station.

(02:40):
None of her family believed that sheran away. The search was very involved
with Conway Police, State Police,FBI, her friends and family, neighbors
and concerned citizens. They were allon top of it. They were even
searching with helicopters very quick. Itwas very sad because three days after Abby

(03:02):
went missing, it was her birthdayand instead of a party for her,
it was a vigil and her familywas putting up missing person posters. The
searches were turning up nothing and therewere no leads. Her mother was beyond
devastated. Understandably, at the sametime Abby's family was going through hell,

(03:24):
Abby was going through her own typeof personal hell. Abby had been kidnapped
that October day by Nate Kibby.She had been wearing new black boots that
day and she didn't put socks on, and she got blisters on her feet.
During the school day. She wasupset that she didn't take the bus,

(03:44):
but a man stopped to give hera ride. Abby knew better,
and she had been told never todo this, but she thought that he
looked quote nice, and she madethe huge mistake of getting in. They
drove to the back of a homedeep where she knew something wasn't right.
Immediately, Nathan took out a gun. He handcuffed her and put a jacket

(04:05):
over her head. Abby could hearnoises of her kidnapper breaking her cell phone,
and that's obviously when her cell phonewent dark that fourteen minutes later.
She tried to look out under thejacket to see where they are driving,
but every time she tried, theman would taze her on her leg.

(04:26):
Abby told him that if he wouldlet her go, she wouldn't tell anyone,
but he refused. When Abby askedif he was going to rape her,
he only asked how old she was. Abby remembers thinking, Okay,
I've got to work with this guy. She knew it was the only way
she was going to survive, andthat's all she wanted. She wanted to

(04:48):
live. They drove thirty miles intothe mountains to this man's property in Gorham,
New Hampshire. Once they finally stoppeddriving, Nate Kibby took her to
a dark room where there was adon't tread on me flag on the wall.
He then put tape over Abby's eyes, a shirt on her head,

(05:08):
in a motorcycle helmet on her face, and then he began to sexually assault
the fourteen year old, so shehasn't seen him. At this point,
she was told to call him Masterduring the act. This was the first
rape of the daily sexual abuse thatAbby had to deal with over the next
nine months. She was put ina metal storage container and she was held

(05:32):
captive. The room she was heldin had lots of wires, and he
told her that if she tried toopen it, or if somebody tried to
break in, the room would automaticallycatch on fire. Abby saw news conferences
on TV with her mom pleading forAbby to come home. Abby said this
was the one time that she criedand broke down while she was in captivity.

(05:56):
The rest of the time, sheremained as calm and strong as she
possibly could. Kibby actually let Abbywrite a letter to her mother. This
letter was postmarked October twenty three,fourteen days after the kidnapping, but her
mother was so distraught about her daughterbeing missing that she did not get her
mail until November six. The lettersaid quote, dear Mom, I miss

(06:20):
you and love you so much morethan you can imagine. I'm sorry I
did this. I've seen the newspapersand TV news and to answer your questions,
yes I'm alive. I'm safe.And healthy. I really miss you,
mom, but I won't tell youwhere I am. I love you
so much. Please stay strong forme. I'm staying strong for you.

(06:42):
I've come to realize that along withlove and courage, hope can speak louder
than fear. Please don't lose hopehanging there for me. Mom, I
had a dream where I came homeand gave you the biggest hug ever.
Please don't forget that I love you. Please give Sarah a hug, and
that's Abe's sister, and tell herthat I love and miss her very much.

(07:02):
I pray that my dreams will cometrue. Love Abby. Just reading
that is like beyond devastating. Ican't imagine as a parent just getting this
message. And it also goes toshow that Abby did have hope for her
situation. And then people believed afterreading this letter that maybe Abby did run

(07:26):
away because it's sort of worded thatway like it was her fault. Abby's
mother never gave up hope, andshe left the light on on her porch
always and she left a note forAbby in case she was gone and Abby
came home. Investigators found some ofAbby's DNA in the letter, so they
did know that it was from her, but they didn't release it to the

(07:46):
public for a month out of concernthat Abby's kidnapper maybe didn't know that she
wrote it. Abby said she survivedby praying daily, but she never said
amen because she didn't want to endthe prayer and she didn't want God to
leave her. Abby tried to developa bond with her captor so that he

(08:07):
would trust her. Eventually, shesaid, quote, look, you don't
seem like a bad person, likeeverybody makes mistakes. If you let me
go, I won't tell anyone aboutthis unt Abby went along with anything he
wanted to do, which included helpinghim make counterfeit money in the house.
Her captor began allowing her to readbooks, and she read his name in

(08:31):
a cookbook. It said Nate Kibbe. Months went by. Abby's family didn't
get to spend Thanksgiving with her.Christmas went by, and then it was
a new year, two thou andfourteen. On May ninth, two and
fourteen, and eighteen thousand dollars rewardwas offered. Then the FBI added more

(08:52):
money. Then Abby's father up tothe reward to find Abby, and it
was sixty thousand dollars. Abby stilltried to remain hopeful, even though a
whole year had passed with daily sexualabuse and rape. The room Abby had
been in looked like there was asecurity light or a security recording, and

(09:13):
she always felt like she was beingwatched. She said. One night,
Kibby fell asleep next to her,and when she woke up, she saw
his face for the first time.She just covered up her eyes because she
didn't want him to know that hisface and she didn't want to get in
trouble with Nate. So this counterfeitingthat Nate Kibby was doing in the house

(09:37):
ended up being his undoing and ablessing for Abby. Nathan had been making
fake money to pay sex workers,and one of these women had gotten arrested
at a Walmart for using a fakefifty dollar bill. That person, Lauren
Munday, called Kibby and said,quote, whatever you were making your basement,
you better clean it upright nwal unquote. This woman had given them Nate

(10:01):
Kibbey's address and the police were ontheir way. This was July twentieth,
twenty fourteen. Kibby made Abbey promisenot to say anything, which she did.
He then drove her and released herright near where she had been kidnapped
nine months before. Unbelievably, Abbywalked the mile home and she says,

(10:22):
quote, I remember looking up andlaughing, just being so happy. Oh
my god, this has actually happened. I'm a free person. I never
thought it would happen to me,but I'm free. Unquote. Abby opened
the front door of her home andcalled her mother. Abby could see the
months of stress on her mother's face, and she said it killed her a

(10:43):
little bit. Her mom was inshock and disbelief. Four days after Abby's
release, a sketch was released ofthe man who had kidnapped her. Nate
Kibby was thirty three years old,living alone in a mobile home in Gorham,
New Hampshire. He worked Conway,New Hampshire, where he had kidnapped
Abby. He worked in a gunshop and he was sort of a gun

(11:05):
nut and had many many guns.He had spent time in a psych ward
as a teenager for threatening to killhimself. During the time that he had
held Abbey hostage, he had gotteninto a minor car accident and he followed
the woman home who had been involvedin that car accident. He took photos

(11:26):
of her and her license. Sheasked him to stop, and he got
upset and pushed her to the ground. Because of this assault, he got
arrested for criminal trespass and assault.They took the gun that he had and
told him they needed all of hisguns while he was out on bail,
and again Abby is at his housestarting this time he called the police and

(11:48):
told them that he could get ridof all of his guns, and then
he waited for them at the curb. Of course, if police had just
gone into his home, they wouldhave found Abbey so much sooner. They
did notice a strange container on hisproperty. It did take Abby a long
time to say Nate's full name,as he had threatened to kill her dog

(12:09):
and family if she did, andthen eventually she finally gave them Nathan's full
name. Authorities surrounded Kibby's home andhe went into custody without a fight.
He had about two hundred charges.His bail was a million dollars. Kibby
ended up pleading guilty to seven feloniescriminal threatening, sexual assault, and kidnapping

(12:31):
in two thousand and sixty, andthis saved Abby from having to go over
the details in court. Luckily forher, she had been through enough anguish.
Nate sentence is forty five to ninetyyears in prison outside of New Hampshire.
The Department of Corrections will not releasethe whereabouts of which jail he's being
held in. Abby has said thatshe forgives him, and she did appear

(12:54):
at his sentencing and Abby said thisat the sentencing quote, I wish things
didn't happen the way they did.It was not my choice to be raped
and threatened. You did all ofthat yourself. Some people might call you
a monster, but I've always lookedat you as a human, and I
want you to know that even thoughlife became a lot hotter after that,

(13:15):
I still forgive you. It's sooutstanding and shows the type of person Abbey
is to forgive him. This mankidnapped her, taste her, She was
kept naked for two weeks with ashot collar. She was sedated with marijuana,
alcohol, and pills. He putgags in her mouth and tied her

(13:35):
up and raped her daily. Shewas held in a metal storage container,
and he kept her afraid and awayfrom her family. Yet she forgives.
I do not think I would beso forgiving, Abby does not take life
for granted. After her experience,she says, quote, every time I
go outside now, I really triedto appreciate sunlight and fresh air. It

(13:58):
really went in my lungs differently.I really try to never take that for
granted. Unquote. Abby Hernandez nowlives in Maine and has a baby boy.
She shares her story with others toinspire people to never lose hope,
no matter how bleak your situation is. Abby says, quote, hope is

(14:18):
something that nobody can take away fromyou. Just keep that and you'll keep
going. Unte. The story isvery similar to Caleb Brown, who was
also a held captive to Todd Colehepand Murderiffic did cover that in episode ten,
so if you miss that, youmight want to hear her amazing story

(14:39):
another survivor. Thank you for yourcontinued support my patrons. Until next time,
please stay safe. Thank you forlistening to the Murderiffic true crime podcast.
If you like what you hear andwant to support, go to Patreon
and look up Murderiffic. You canget monthly bonus content, merch and this

(15:01):
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episode. Until next time, Iwill be executing podcasts one crime at the

(15:24):
time. Craving is awful, raging, eating, feeling inside. I could
feel it consuming why inside this fantasticpassion. It was overwhelming me.