Who is Abby Hernandez from Girl in the Shed on Lifetime?

Lifetime aired another movie based on a true story. This one is called Girl in the Shed: The Kidnapping of Abby Hernandez. It tells the story of a young girl, almost 15 years old who was kidnapped while walking home from school one day. It was another Lifetime hit. Since it was based on a true story, just who is Abby and what is her real story?

Who is the Real Abby Hernandez from Lifetime Movie?

Abby Hernandez just started high school in Conway, New Hampshire. She was an all around strong student and star athlete. She was only 14 years old at the time of her kidnapping. Abby lived with her single mom Zenya and sister Sarah in the northeast.

How was Abby Kidnapped?

On October 9, 2013 Abby Hernandez vanished. She was on her way home from school when she accepted a ride from a stranger. That stranger turned out to be her captor, Nathaniel Kibby.

Nathaniel forced the almost 15 year old high school student into his car at gunpoint, threatening to hurt her if she screamed or tried to get out of the vehicle. His anger led him to handcuff her and break her cell phone so she had no way of reaching anyone. It also prevented the police from tracking her via GPS.

Kibby took the young girl only 30 miles away from where she lived with her mother and sister. There, he led her into a dark room where he taped her eyes shut and assaulted her. This went on for nearly 9 months.

How She Handled Her Kidnapping Like a Pro

Abby Hernandez young — A young Abby Hernandez | ABC News

Abby continuously prayed and was quoted as saying that she didn’t say amen because she didn’t want God to leave her.

The FBI praised her for how she handled her captor and situation. The FBI profiler said if he had to teach others how to handle a kidnapping, he would tell them to do what Abby did. “It’s always about bonding to the bad guy,” he said.

She told him, “I don’t judge you for this. If you let me go, I won’t tell anybody about this…’ I told him, ‘Look, you don’t seem like a bad person. Like, everybody makes mistakes… If you let me go, I won’t tell anybody about this.’

How Abby Made Her Great Escape

Looking for opportunities to escape constantly, after 9 months of trying to bond with her captor, it eventually started paying off.

During the summer of 2014, Nathaniel was informed from a woman he met online that she had been arrested. Why? For passing the counterfeit bills he printed. This was the chance Abby had been praying for all along.

In a panic, Abby’s abductor drove the young high school student near her home in North Conway. There he dropped her off, pleading with her to not tell anyone who he was. She was beyond happy and walked that next 1 mile back to her family home.

Hernandez thought, “Oh my God, this actually happened. I’m a free person. I never thought it would happen to me, but I’m free.”

Where Are They Now?

Nathaniel Kibby is serving a sentence of 45 to 90 years in prison.

Abby Hernandez feels very blessed to have been given a second chance at life. She enjoys the little things like going outside in the fresh air and breathing it in. She said, “I really try to next take that for granted.”

Abby now works as a hairdresser and is the mother of a young son.