By Leonor Ayala, Dateline Field Producer

At 8:45 in the morning, I found myself zipping down a lonely, long stretch of road.  State Road 62 in Florida wasn't much to look at in that hour, just lots of open space and farm land (of course this from my city girl's point of view). This led me to second guess myself. Was I going in the right direction?

My mind was racing. I was en route to Hardee Correctional Institution for my very first meeting with a first-degree murderer.

When I thought about stepping inside a prison for the first time, my anxiety wasn't for my personal safety. It wasn't about the pat-down everyone had warned me about, or being a few feet from a convicted killer. It was about getting to the prison on time.

We only had an hour or so to set up our cameras for the interview.  I knew we had lots of camera equipment and gear to get through security, and the prison had a laundry list of do's and don'ts. Being late could make the difference between the interview happening or not. I had to get to the prison by 10:30 a.m.

It was only when I saw a water tower on the side of the road that I realized I was going to make it.  Jason Kent's parents had told me about a week earlier that this was their landmark on their drive to the prison to visit their son. I felt a huge sense of relief.

It was then I started to really think about what my mission was. I was going to hear Jason Kent's side of the story. Kent, 33, is serving a life sentence for killing his wife's ex-husband. He has been in prison since his arrest in 1999 and this would be the first time he would talk to a national audience about the day he committed murder.

The idea that Jason had gunned down a man in broad daylight eight years ago perplexed me.  His parents, Gene and Carol, were good, upstanding, God-fearing people and their description of Jason just didn't fit that of a killer.  He was by all accounts a conscientious child and a determined student. A devoted Christian and a naval officer.

I arrived late at 11 a.m. with my head abuzz with all of these thoughts. But I quickly went to the task at hand: setting up the shoot. I greeted the prison officers, who were all very cordial and pleasant but are quick to remind me and my crew that, just like any one else, we will have to pass all of their security screenings.  I went first. I was told I'd have to leave my cell phone in my car, along with my keys. Even my pen -- until I argued that I needed it to keep track of the interview. The officers relented.

Then it was the crew's turn. They had arrived at the prison armed with cases and cases of gear. The clock was ticking down to our interview but the guards went through each bag with a fine tooth comb. They asked tough questions about pieces of equipment they thought could double as weapons, in particular our grip gear, which consists of lots of odds-and-ends items like metal hooks.

The crew and I look at each other and puzzled, "How do you really explain grip gear?" Chris Bull, our sound technician, described it as all of the "stuff" we needed to finalize the set.  Nearly two (painful) hours later, we were about to get in when we were told we would all have to go into a back room for a pat down, one-by-one.  It was actually pretty benign, especially after having experience with extensive airport security screenings.

At 12:15 p.m., we arrived at our location. It was the visitation room where prisoners get to spend time with their families. With its tiny chairs and tables and the drab concrete walls, it looked very similar to an elementary school cafeteria. But the loud buzzing and ominous clearance door clanking away in the background served as a reminder you were in a high-security building.

Our interview was scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. and for a minute, a short sense of panic came over me. Normally, it takes two hours to set up a two-camera interview. We had less than 45 minutes. But somehow Fred Schuh, our lead cameraman, got it all done, which even impressed the guards -- who finally understood why we needed all of that "stuff" to make it happen.

At 1 p.m., Keith Morrison arrived and Jason Kent was called from his prison cell. We waited for him to be escorted to us and to tell his side of the story -- the murder that changed the course of his life forever.

The story of Jason Kent's conviction for murder will be told in a very special Dateline airing Friday, March 21 at 9pm ET on NBC.

Click here to read producer Liz Brown blogging on Kent's family's adjusting to 'a new kind of normal'  at what Kent' mother calls 'the Church of the Razor Wire.'

By Liz Brown, Dateline Producer

Carol Kent grew up the daughter of a preacher. Religion has always been her touchstone. That and her love of family. But this devoted Christian doesn't go to church on Sundays anymore.

Carol and her husband have a new Sunday ritual. They still put on their best clothes and pile into their car, minds filled with anticipation for what is ahead. When they arrive, they might chat with their fellow congregants, and nod to the staff as they take their places. But instead of a church, their new Sunday destination is a Florida prison. Their pews are plastic chairs, the congregants are visiting families, and the staff pack guns. Carol calls it the Church of the Razor Wire.

Photo: Jason Kent with his parents Carol and Eugene Kent.

How do you keep your faith when your only child has been convicted of first-degree murder and there is no doubt that he did it? Carol says she and her husband faced a stark choice. "Gene and I both had to decide: Are we going to live," Carol told us in a heartfelt interview, "or are we going to curl up in a ball and die?"  She says they chose life and describes it as "a new kind of normal," which happens to be the title of a book she's written that came out last year

Carol's book got me thinking. Everyone ensnared in this terrible tragedy has had to adapt to "A New Kind of Normal." Whether it's the father of the victim, Doug Miller, who was gunned down in a parking lot by Carol's son in 1999 (he can still barely talk about what happened to his son without breaking down). Whether it's Doug Miller's daughters who lost both their biological dad and their stepfather in that single act of death. Or whether it's Jason Kent himself. Once a bright-eyed Naval lieutenant, he is now an immaculately dressed lifer at Hardee Correctional Institution. What does normal mean for him and does it include accepting responsibility for what he did?

Jason Kent's new kind of normal is a waiting game. He has a tedious daily routine. He helps the prison chaplain. He works in the library. He takes exercise in the yard. But above all the man who wanted to make a difference to the world is now dedicated, he says, to making a difference to his fellow prisoners.

"Recognizing that I can't fix the past," he told us, "what I try to do is try to be a benefit or a blessing or an encouragement to the guys that I come in contact with."

Jason says he mentors and tries to comfort prisoners who are not lifers. Men who will be getting out. Even if he never walks in freedom himself, he says, he will at least have had some kind of impact on the outside world.

But that doesn't mean Jason has given up on the outside world. Jason may have exhausted all his legal appeals, but in April 2006 his lawyer, Reginald Garcia, filed a clemency petition on his behalf with the Governor of Florida, arguing that Jason's sentence should be commuted. It's a longshot. Garcia says that in the last 27 years only 133 commutation applications have been approved.

Even Jason's own dad admits his son doesn't deserve a "get out of free jail card." He just wonders whether Jason deserves to be in prison for the rest of his life. Because of mandatory sentencing guidelines, the judge at Jason's trial didn't have a choice about sending him to prison for the rest of his life. His parents argue that there is something wrong with our justice system when a man who says he killed someone to protect his family is given the same sentence as a serial killer. But then again who really is the best person to make those kinds of distinctions? A life lost is a life lost. Doug Miller's father has said he would fight any move to release the murderer of his son.

Clemency petitions can take years to be processed and until then Jason will live with his new normal. As will his mother and his father. That means spending more time at the Church of the Razor Wire.

The story of Jason Kent's conviction for murder will be told in a very special Dateline airing Friday, March 21 at 9pm ET on NBC.

Field producer Leonor Ayala blogs about going to the Florida prison to interview Jason Kent.

A special Dateline on the murder of American businessman Adam Anhang, "The Pink Skirt Murder," airs on NBC Friday, March 14, at 10pm ET. Click here for the full story with video.

By Sara James, Dateline Correspondent

I only wish I had met Abe Anhang under different circumstances.  I only wish I had met his son, Adam, at all.

Abe Anhang is both razor sharp and resolute, a man crackling with integrity and brimming with love for his family. Adam Anhang was also known for his quick wit and equally ready smile, a magnet of a man. The kind of guy who would figure out the puzzle more quickly than you, but happily turn around and show you how he did it -- that uncommon blend of a brilliant mind and a gentle, generous spirit.

Like father, like son.  

But these days, Abe has no opportunity to see his own qualities reflected in his son, nor those uniquely Adam's own.  Abe has no opportunity to witness Adam's continued rise through the business stratosphere.  These days, Abe's sole mission is a brutal, solitary and devastating one, to answer the most terrible of questions: who took his beloved son's life?  What happened on that night in that darkened street near the Pink Skirt Restaurant in San Juan, Puerto Rico? 

Given that Adam was a man with thousands of friends and seemingly not an enemy in the world, it is a baffling, vexing, daunting question.  But Adam wanted to answer every question, even the hardest ones. And so does Abe.

Like father, like son.

In life, we do whatever we can for our children.  We love them, raise them, guide them.  We watch with pride as they step forward on their own, we long to be there if they stumble or falter.  But sometimes,  the only thing a father can do for a son is to find out what happened to him, and why.  

Adam was a man who stood up for his friends and for his family. The kind of man you could count on.  Just like his dad.  This gentle man has a fierce, innate determination honed by loss.  To meet him is to know that he will go the distance, surmount any obstacle, and never end his quest until his questions are answered.

Like father, like son. 

Producer John Block's blogged on meeting the Anhang family. 

Click here for the full story with video.

A special Dateline on the murder of American businessman Adam Anhang, "The Pink Skirt Murder," airs on NBC Friday, March 14, at 10pm ET. Click here for the full story with video.

By John Block, Dateline Producer

I have been tracking Adam Anhang's case for over a year and a half, along with the rest of the Dateline NBC team. In the course of it, I have come to know, like, and respect Adam's family as well as Adam himself. It may seem strange hearing that I feel as if I know and care about someone who has passed on, but I feel as if I do -- at least a little bit.

I've been introduced to him through his family's recollections as well as those of his many friends. I admire very much the kindness that he showed to them all, as well as many of his other strengths.

The family was initially very wary about telling their story to a television audience. They were, and continue to be, in a lot of pain. And like most of us, they are very private people. I think that they finally agreed to be part of our report because they hope it will somehow lead to more answers.

I think also it was a way to highlight some of Adam's substance.

From the beginning, however, I explained that our first priorty was to serve Dateline report and not them. I was not their producer. I told them that our agenda was to tell the story as best we could. All questions related to Adam and the murder were fair game, and we would track the facts wherever they would lead. To the family's credit, they did not back down.

Prior to the broadcast of any report, we screen it -- sometimes several times -- for various news executives. At the conclusion of the first screening of this report, I got a number of 'atta boys -- "good job," "compelling story." Certainly, that is music to this producer's ears. In this case, however, I nearly burst into tears. At that moment, I was just feeling especially bad for the Anhang family.

Dateline correspondent Sara James blogged about the similarities between Adam Anhang and his murdered son Abe.

By Luz Villarreal, Dateline Producer

It was an early Monday morning in late August 2004. I was the first one in the office that day. I warmed up some instant oatmeal and started reading some of our local newspapers.  One story jumped out at me. The headline read "Investigation into girl's disappearance leads to murder charges against mother."

The next day, I was sitting in Dick Pulsifer's living room. He's a simple, quiet man with a shy smile. He worked in security at a Las Vegas casino and also ran a karate school in town. He told me he grew up in San Diego and married young. I could tell he was trying to keep his emotions in check.

While we talked, his wife, Cathe, was fielding phone calls from media organizations across the country. I was the lucky one; when I knocked on their door that morning, they agreed to give Dateline the exclusive to their story.

The woman in the headline I read the previous morning was Dick's first wife and the girl was their daughter, Michelle Kelly Pulsifer. She was only 3 years old when she went missing in 1969.

During this meeting and all those that followed, I learned just how hard Dick Pulsifer tried to find Michelle after his ex-wife mysteriously fled California nearly 40 years ago. He contacted social services, the police and the district attorney's office. He said they all turned him away.

He searched on the Internet and telephoned a few people listed as Michelle Pulsifer. Every time Dick was in a crowd, he wondered if he could recognize the little girl who would now be an adult, possibly with kids of her own. He held out hope that someday she would walk up his home, knock on his door and surprise him.

But that would never happen. Investigators told him Michelle never left the state of California alive.

When police arrested the little girl's mother, Donna Prentice, they also arrested her former boyfriend, Michael Kent. Both entered not guilty pleas in Santa Ana, Calif.

I spent hours talking to friends, relatives and investigators trying to piece Michelle's life together. I also tried to interview Donna. Her attorney wouldn't allow it. I tried to interview Michael Kent, but he was in poor health and died in jail six months after his arrest.

Next, I turned to Michael's son, Jamie Kent. He was only two years old at the time of Michelle's death and had no memory of her but he did remember what his father told him in 2004 after he was arrested and charged with her murder.  Still, Jamie didn't want to share his story with us. He has a family of his own now and wanted to protect them. But he is the only person alive who could defend his father and speak on his behalf. After several calls, Jamie agreed to talk to us and tell us what he knew.

The case took nearly three years to work its way through the judicial system. Throughout the process, I kept reminding myself, "This is a story about Michelle."  To me, it's not about Donna Prentice, Michael Kent or even the people that loved her. It's about a little girl who never had a chance.

Dick never stopped loving his little girl. All he wants now are answers. Was it an accident? Was it malicious? How did it happen? He said to me once, "I have no clue what happened to Michelle.  That's the question, and that's the answer I'll probably never get.   I don't know what a three year old could possibly do to make this happen."

Dick Pulsifer hoped to find out in court. We all did.

A special Dateline on this case, 'The Girl in the Little Blue Dress,' airs on NBC Friday, March 14 at 9pm ET. Click here for the full story and video.

A brave high school girl was held hostage for ten days in an underground bunker and managed her own rescue (click here for more information). Below, one of the police officers writes about being inside the investigation while 14-year-old Elizabeth Shoaf was still missing.

By Captain David Thomley, Kershaw County Sheriff's Department

When I was asked to write this blog I was not sure how to start.  You have now seen her story and there is no way for me to relay the sheer terror that Lizzie and her family endured.

I have been in law enforcement for 19 years now. As a young patrol officer, I have dealt with family members being killed in automobile accidents, taking reports for assaults, and arresting suspects for every crime imaginable. I have witnessed firsthand how this affects the lives of the family members of all involved, not to mention the victims. 

One of the first lessons I was taught after becoming a criminal investigator is to follow the facts, keep an open mind, and don't get emotionally involved in the case. Over the years I have done my best to abide by these seemingly simple rules, even though at times it was very difficult. 

In this case, when I first met the victim's mother, I immediately saw the pain, concern, and frustration in her eyes. As the days went on, it only grew and my role as a protector, and a parent began to take its toll on these "simple rules." 

Looking back at this case I can only think of a small poster that hangs in most offices and cubicles everywhere I go. It's of a bird with a half-eaten frog coming out of its mouth.  The frog has grabbed the throat of the bird with the caption "never give up."

This family and this brave and courageous child never gave up, and neither did we.  Even after 10 days in captivity, living in a hell that mere words can not adequately describe,  underground, alone and afraid, and being violated in a way that no one should ever be exposed to, she never gave up. 

Not only was she very brave, she was also very smart and did several things that greatly improved her chances of survival.

• When she was walking home from the bus stop a man approached her and lead her into the woods.  She had the wherewithal to drop her shoes on the trail hoping it would lead us to her. 
• She was repeatedly told she would die and explosives were hung around her neck every time he would leave her. She was chained so that she could not runaway while he slept. Yet, she never gave up. She would talk with him about things that interested him, which in his eyes, made her a person, not just a captive. She began to gain his trust.
• Eventually she was allowed to leave the bunker with him. While she was out she would pull out strands of her hair and lay them on branches hoping search dogs might pick up her scent.
• Elizabeth did such a good job of gaining his trust she was able to get his cell phone, to "play games." That is how she was able to send text messages to her mother. 
• Even though she had no idea if her text messages were getting through, Elizabeth kept thinking and kept trying over and over to get the messages out.
• She was the captive but he became the victim of a reverse Stockholm syndrome.  Elizabeth pretended to care about him as a person. He fell in love with her and began to think that he would have a life with her.
• She paid close attention to her surroundings and to the dangers Vinson Filyaw said he'd planted around the bunker. The morning that she was found as officers from every direction was approaching her in the bunker all she was concerned about was letting us know that he had explosives hid around the bunker.  After she was taken to the hospital instead of worrying about her own well being, she continued to give us information.  She wanted us to know that he had taken a gun with him, and that he still had explosives with him, as well as night vision.  Her concern was for the safety of those officers still searching for Filyaw.

One of the most pleasurable moments in this ordeal was reuniting her with her family.  The joy in her eyes, that she was free and alive and back with her family, was unimaginable.  To see her mother hug her neck and not let go was an emotional experience that I had not fully understood until now.

If I could use one word to describe her it would be courageous.

The first court hearing after he was captured she was in the courtroom to face him. She has attended each and every hearing that was scheduled.  She was able to look him in the eye each and every time with the conviction that she won, she beat the odds and survived.

Many people ask the question, what did Lizzie do right during this entire horrifying ordeal?

The answer is she did everything right, she did what she had to do to survive, and survive she did. No one case that I have ever been involved with has affected me as this case has, and there are many other officers that would echo my sentiments.

A brave high school girl was held hostage for ten days in an underground bunker and managed her own rescue (click here for more information). Below, one of the police officers writes about being inside the investigation while 14-year-old Elizabeth Shoaf was still missing.

By Lt. Eric Tisdale, Kershaw County Sheriff's Department

Where do you start?  Who do you talk to? What assets do you devote to the investigation? Where do I look?  What happened?  Where was she last seen?  What was her state of mind?  What are the facts?

Facts dictate much of what we do in law enforcement.  Facts are not something you can make or generate. They are to be followed. Facts are something you look for, and that lead you to other facts, which in turn, we hope, lead to the truth.  This is true with any investigation.

So, where do you start?

Fact number one:  Elizabeth Shoaf was last seen just after she got off the bus walking toward her house.  Fact number two:  she did not make it home.  Armed with only these two facts, the investigation begins. 

Who do you talk to? We started by talking to the people that were closest to her including family and friends.  Typically, teenage runaways have a problem with a family member, relative, or boyfriend. By talking to these people we were able to find out that Elizabeth had a good relationship with her parents.  She had no problems at school that would cause her to run away. 

The day Elizabeth disappeared, our bloodhound-tracking unit was called to the scene and began to search the area. While the tracking team was searching, additional patrol units were called in to ride the area roads looking for her or any sign of her. Family members and volunteers began to search the area as well.

The local media was contacted with her information and flyers were distributed. The bloodhounds were unable to pick up Elizabeth's trail. Unfortunately, the scents the dogs found belonged to volunteers helping with the search.

We called in our volunteer helicopter pilot who flew a deputy above rural hunt club roads, four wheeler trails and wooded areas around the house.

We pulled video surveillance tape from local stores and conducted interviews with people who thought they had information about Elizabeth.

With no new facts to follow, our Mounted Patrol was called to the area.  They train monthly in search and rescue as well as event security.  The Mounted unit was broken up into teams and given blocks surrounding the last known place she was seen.  No new clues were found.

Trying to find Elizabeth was just like looking for a needle in a haystack -- so many acres to cover and no facts or clues to guide us.

Finally, we got the big break.

Her mom contacted Sheriff McCaskill to say she had received a text by someone claiming to be Elizabeth. The message?

"Hey mom, its Lizy I'm in a hole in the ground near charm hill its near that dirt road where those big trucks—get the police though because he has bombs hidden."

The text message described an area called "the pit" that was about a mile from Elizabeth's house.  It's part of the Hanson Brick mine that produces clay and is closed to the public.

Rain was coming down in buckets. Three members from the tracking team and their dogs walked the perimeter of the pit looking for any sign of Elizabeth.

The clay was so thick that it built up 6 to 8 inches on the bottom of our boots.  After covering the wood line surrounding the pit for six hours, the search was stopped at 11:00pm.  At least now we had the text message and a location in the message to guide us. This gave us all hope that she was alive and energized us.  Along with excitement came concern.  We now knew she was being held against her will, plus the text message said there were explosives. 

The state law enforcement division sent in a special helicopter equipped with a heat-sensing device. Any sign of movement or body heat could be detected in the 200-plus acre mine site. Next, phone records began to come in, which gave us more facts.

The text message came from a phone belonging to Vincent Filyaw.

Filyaw had an outstanding warrant for criminal sexual conduct. Phone records also led us to Cynthia Hall, Filyaw's girlfriend, who lived in a mobile home near the Hanson mine area. We searched the mobile home and grounds around it.

In a shed out back, a piece of plywood was covering a hole dug into the floor. Was this the one mentioned in the message? Unsure how deep the hole was an officer checked and found no one to be in it.

Investigators interviewed Filyaw's girlfriend throughout most of the night.  She stated that she had hidden Filyaw for several months. She also stated that she had contact with him and that she had dropped food and supplies off in an abandon car across near the mine. Cindy said that she had no idea of where he was; she just knew he was living in a bunker in the woods.

The helicopter flew well into the night, searching the area around Filyaw's house and the pit area. The helicopter detected no human movements in the woods near the mine. With the text message's warning about explosives and a possible hostage situation, we decided a ground search in the daylight would be our best option.

The next morning, only 20 minutes into the search, a radio call came into the command post. An officer could hear a female voice calling for help. The deputies kept talking to her and approached the area with caution. She kept telling officers to be careful he had explosives planted all around the bunker.  On the radio, Capt. Thomley said, "We have her." 

"He is not here, but we have her."

The tracking unit was sent into the bunker area to being the search for the suspect. Vinson Filyaw was captured the day after in an attempted carjacking.

Filyaw was unwilling to give a statement as to the facts of the case.  He only wanted to talk about the original CSC case against him.

Click to read Elizabeth describing how bunker was 'hell.'

For those interested in communicating with the Shoaf family, e-mail shoafs5@gmail.com.

Click here for complete coverage of this case.

Elizabeth Shoaf, the brave high school girl who was held hostage for ten days in an underground bunker and managed her own rescue, speaks out in great detail for the first time to "Dateline's" Keith Morrison in "Into the Woods," a very special two-hour Dateline, airing Friday, March 7, at 9pm on NBC. Below she writes about the experience.

By Elizabeth Shoaf

Down in the bunker was hell.   When I first went in, it was very dark and cold. I couldn't see anything and everything looked creepy.  After Vinson turned on the lights, it was even creepier. It looked unreal, almost like I was in a really bad dream.

I saw a bunch of shelves made out of trees and rope, with food on them. Tables were made of coolers and plastic mini tables, along with a strange bedlike thing literally made out of trees, swimming floats and comforters. The toilet was made of a nasty bucket and a broken plastic chair over it with a hole in the middle.  Later on, I noticed more shelves with things like batteries and a lot of electronic stuff that I still don't know what they were. There was also a chimney made out of aluminum that went out to the ground that he would actually use to make fires.

When I was first down there it was chilly. It was always like that at night, but in the mornings when I woke up it was dreadful. It was muggy and hot and I had to sleep in a single person bed with him and me in it and I could never get comfortable. Down there it was very dirty.  No matter where you went in the bunker you would get dirt on you, so you couldn't stay clean.

While I was down there in the bunker I prayed all the time. Of course at first I prayed for him not to kill me. After a few days, when I had the feeling he wasn't going to, I started to pray about my family and for them to somehow know that I was OK.

When I started to try and escape I prayed for God to help me find a way to get out. Also I prayed for God to forgive me for whatever I did because I kind of thought I was being punished. I wanted God to forgive me and help me to get away and take me safely back to my family, boyfriend and friends. I also prayed a lot to God for him to help me to calm down and pretty much stay cool. When Vinson found out on the news that I sent a text message I of course prayed that he wouldn't kill me.  After he left I thanked God so much for everything and I still do a lot.  When I prayed it helped me to calm down more and to have hope. At the moment though, I sort of didn't believe that my prayers were being answered , because every time I prayed nothing would happen until finally the day Vinson left.

Without my family and boyfriend and friends and prayer I wouldn't have made it. I never really prayed a lot. I would only pray every so often whenever I was in need. And now it isn't any different I still pray the same, I also feel the same about God, too. I still worship him and believe in him like I always have.

I think that Vinson, the man that kidnapped me, is just stupid. He isn't crazy because if he was, he would have killed me or done something worse.  He knew what he was doing and he got outsmarted. Not to be snobby, but he thought he could get away with kidnapping and raping me for 10 days and I, 14 years old, outsmarted him -- a 36-year-old man.

He is a sore loser to me and I will never forgive him ever in my life. He doesn't deserve it. He changed sooo much that will never be fixed again.  He took my innocence. He took my trust in people. Now I get depressed. At one moment for a few months, I couldn't sleep. I had panic attacks and I still think about it all the time.  I can just walk around and see something and it will remind me of when I was down there, and sometimes it can make me sad and some times it can even put me into a panic attack. He pretty much scarred me and I will never forgive him for it.

I hope this haunts him the rest of his life. He deserves worse than he is getting and he better be thankful that the cops caught him and not the public. I haven't written him yet and I don't plan on it. I don't care for him and I couldn't care less if he knew about how I feel about what he did to me.

Click to read Elizabeth's mom telling how she first heard her kidnapped daughter was still alive.

For those interested in communicating with the Shoaf family, e-mail shoafs5@gmail.com.

Keith Morrison compared the relative strength of Elizabeth Shoaf and her captor Vinson Filyaw.

Click here for complete coverage of this case.

Elizabeth Shoaf, the brave high school girl who was held hostage for ten days in an underground bunker and managed her own rescue, speaks out in great detail for the first time to "Dateline's" Keith Morrison in "Into the Woods," a very special two-hour Dateline, airing Friday, March 7, at 9pm on NBC. Below, her mother writes about the experience.

By Madeline Shoaf

After seven sleepless days and nights, we finally got a lead in the case. My family and I were to attend another vigil for Elizabeth at the state capitol. My husband would stay behind just in case there were any phone calls. As I was leaving, I grabbed my cell phone and there was a text message on it. I looked at it and about fell to the ground.It was a message from my daughter. I knew it was from Elizabeth, yet it was the scariest message I ever received. 

Investigators told my husband and me that there were two scenarios. One, it was a prank message from someone who wanted to hurt us; or two, she was just making an excuse to come back home. My husband and I were in disbelief. We could not understand why they kept thinking she was some type of troublemaker and would put us through this heartbreak.
Deputies searched the area where the message said she was, but found nothing. They told us that the phone was bought in Georgia but the message was received within a ten-mile radius. 

The next day, my husband, my family, friends and I started searching again. We knew Elizabeth was close to us, and that made everyone more desperate to search everywhere.

On Friday, the ninth day, I was getting even more desperate to know where my daughter was. I saw the police had an area blocked off near my house and I went to check to see what was going on. The sheriff's captain told us they had a person of interest. They intercepted a message from the phone that Elizabeth used to text message me and another phone in the area. That person who owned the other phone was in custody. This was the first deep breath my husband and I took for nine days.

The person of interest was a man they had been tracking for nearly a year. He lived near the same area Elizabeth had described on the text message.

Early Saturday morning, I was just about to go where the police were, when I saw a truck come up our road. As the truck got closer, we saw it was Captain Thomley. He jumped out of his truck and yelled," We got her and she was safe." I dropped to my knees. My heart was back in place and I ran to him and hugged him. I looked at him and could see tears in his eyes. He told me to get my husband and he would take us to the hospital. 

The whole world seemed brighter when I looked upon her face. My life was whole again and my family complete. She looked at me shyly at first, not knowing what to say. All I could tell her was that she did not need to say anything. I loved her and was the happiest mother alive. She was safe and I would be here for her no matter what. One by one my family members came up to her to give her a hugs, kisses and to tell her they loved her. When she saw her father, she ran into his arms and started to cry all over again. After all the excitement, we went to my parent's house to lie down. This was the first time that any of us had a good sleep for ten days.

Around four in the morning, I received a phone call from the captain at the sheriffs department. When I answered the phone, he yelled out "We caught him; tell Elizabeth she will not have to worry about him anymore." I went to wake Elizabeth up to tell her the good news. All she said was "Thank God." and lay back down to sleep.

Elizabeth and mother Madeline Shoaf

Click to read Elizabeth recounting how bunker was 'hell.'

For those interested in communicating with the Shoaf family, e-mail shoafs5@gmail.com.

Keith Morrison compared the relative strength of Elizabeth Shoaf and her captor Vinson Filyaw.

Click here for complete coverage of this case.

By Keith Morrison, Dateline correspondent

People often ask me what it's like to talk to men and women accused --  and often convicted -- of horrendous crimes. Is it frightening, they'll ask, to interview such people? Can you tell if they are innocent or guilty? Can you sense evil in the room?

And usually, to such questions, the answer is.. no. A person capable of doing something quite terrible will frequently arrive for an interview well scrubbed and thoroughly prepared, and will prove to be intelligent, funny or charming. And almost always, such a person will present a reasonably believable argument for innocence. Skepticism is an important companion during prison interviews; truth is rarely easy to pin down.

And then there is Vinson Filyaw. 

For one thing, what Vinson did to Elizabeth Shoaf is almost beyond description. In court he finally admitted it was all true: he kidnapped her, held her in truly dreadful conditions for ten days, raped her several times a day, chained her by the neck to the ceiling of his underground bunker, and gave her every reason to believe he would eventually kill her. 

But the man who sat down for an interview in the prison library was no longer the least bit terrifying, not anymore. Vinson seemed almost needy in his desire to explain how he had been victimized by law enforcement, that his attempt at revenge -- sexually abusing a young girl -- was somehow reasonable. Did he do those awful things to Elizabeth?  Well, yes, but she was really only "collateral damage" (said Vinson) in his own struggle for justice.  And then, a little later, he tried out a  new (and quite monstrously untrue) claim, suggesting that his victim actually enjoyed the experience and that it was her idea. Among prison interviews, Vinson's was, shall we say,  unique.

As is, in her own way, the remarkable young woman he attempted to destroy.  I'd been eager to meet Elizabeth. What sort of girl, I wondered, could survive the sustained attacks of a predator such as he, and then in the end somehow outwit him? Would she be tough, cynical, somehow hardened? 

Well, no, she wasn't.  This quiet, rather shy, teenager was obviously bright, even wise, about her circumstances in life.  But during the hours and hours we talked in the course of taping her story, she never once strayed into anything like the worldly cynicism you can see on TV or read in gossip magazines every day.   

When Vinson snatched Elizabeth, just 14 years old, she had never dated a boy, had never once spent even a single night away from home without a family member.  She was taken by a wiley wolf of a man who had just spent the better part of a year eluding the efforts of law enforcement.

She endured unspeakable horrors, faced what seemed to her certain death.  And she prevailed. 

The contrast -- Vinson to Elizabeth -- was quite remarkable.

Where his story was self serving, claims shifting back and forth to suit whatever version he was trying to sell, Elizabeth was open and brutally candid.  Where his fearsome behavior wilted in the presence of a television crew, Elizabeth seemed to gain strength from telling the experience.  And having come through it with her dignity and humanity fully intact, she smiled a smile to light up the room.

Every once in a while, a dark tale turns out well, and the worst in human behavior is overcome by the best.  Which is why it was quite an honor to tell the story of Elizabeth Shouf.

"Into the Woods," a very special two-hour Dateline on this case, airs Friday, March 7, at 9pm on NBC.

Click to read Elizabeth's mom telling how she first heard her kidnapped daughter was still alive.

For those interested in communicating with the Shoaf family, e-mail shoafs5@gmail.com.

Click here for complete coverage of this case.