14 Year Old Abigail Hernandez Missing Since 10/9/13 in Conway, NH

[Samantha]

(No publish/post date)

SWAT team surrounded home in Gorham and moved in with armored vehicle

 
 After the arrest, residents said law enforcement officers were seen removing items from the home.

Kibby has lived in the trailer park for five years and neighbors described him as a loner and many admitted they were uncomfortable around him. He was known to keep guns and several people said he was physically abusive to his former girlfriend.
 
Park co-owner Janet Corrigan said Kibby moved into the park in July 2009 with a girlfriend who had grown up there. After the couple broke up several years ago, she said Kibby kept the trailer and remained in the park.

“He comes up and pays his rent. I have had no problems with him,” Corrigan said.

Corrigan described Kibby as quiet but said he seemed more sociable lately and actually sat down and chatted when he stopped to pay his rent recently.
 

http://www.conwaydailysun.com/newsx/local-news/115511-neighbors-describe-kibby-as-loner

[Samantha]

Kibby was 'rotten to the core,' according to former classmate
Published Date: Tuesday, 29 July 2014 07:40

CONWAY — Former Kennett High classmates of Nathaniel Kibby were not surprised when they learned Monday that he was arrested as a suspect in the alleged kidnapping of Abigail Hernandez, a case that has drawn national attention. They actually remembered Kibby starting a gang while a student at KHS, and some believe he may have been linked to a number of called-in bomb scares during the 1998 school year.

One of Kibby's former classmates, Randy Waldron, Class of 1999 at Kennett High, said Kibby tormented him for 20 years.

"I don't know Abby Hernandez but I hope and pray this girl recovers from this," Waldron said by phone from New York City Tuesday afternoon. "This has been a pattern for Nat for 20 years. He's been a sexual deviant — he was a talented sketch artist who always obsessed about girls with dark hair and drew them with their hands tied behind their backs. I hope Abby gets word that she's not alone; there are more of us who were tortured by Nat Kibby. I'm really shocked no one could connect this to him sooner."

 

http://www.conwaydailysun.com/newsx/local-news/115548-kibby-was-rotten-to-the-core-according-to-former-classmate

[texasmom]

http://www.conwaydailysun.com/newsx/local-news/115569-abby-stops-by-the-conway-daily-sun

Abby says Sun's page 2 'missing' box gave her hope

Published Date: Thursday, 31 July 2014 01:28


Looking relaxed and composed, Abby drops by to express gratitude to community
By Daymond Steer

CONWAY – While she was missing, Abby Hernandez said she saw the page 2 box in The Conway Daily Sun published every day that kept a count of the number of days she was gone, and it gave her hope.

Abby and her mother Zenya stopped by the Sun's office in North Conway Thursday morning to thank the newspaper's editorial staff and to tell the community they are thankful for the effort that went into the search.


Zenya and Abby Hernandez at The Conway Daily Sun office Thursday morning with family friend Amanda Smith, who helped spearhead the Bring Abby Home effort during Abby's nine-month absence. (JAMIE GEMMITI PHOTO)

"Thank you guys, so, so much, I really appreciate it more than I could possibly put in words," said the 15-year-old, who appeared relaxed and composed as any teenage girl. "I'm taking it a little at a time but I'm feeling a lot better every day."

The informal chat was the first time Abby has addressed the media in person and on record since she came home.

Nathaniel Kibby, 34, of Gorham, is charged with kidnapping her Oct. 9 after she left Kennett High School. She returned home on July 20.

The circumstances of her disappearance, where she was, and how she got home have not been made public, although it has been widely reported  she was held in a steel storage container attached to Kibby's trailer.

Police have said, which was confirmed by Zenya Thursday, that releasing details at this time could compromise the ongoing investigation.

Kibby will next appear in court Aug. 12 at a probable cause hearing. Additional charges against him are expected.

Zenya said she and Abby appreciate the box the Sun ran on page two which contained a photo of Abby, a count of the days she was missing and the contact number for the FBI.

"As sad as it was to see the days growing and increasing, we truly thank you," said Zenya.

"Abby saw that off and on. She didn't see it every day. It gave her hope that people were looking. It was one of the first things she said to me when she returned home, is 'thank you to The Conway Daily Sun.'"

 

When asked if there's anything Abby wants to do now that she's home, Abby replied that she would like to go horseback riding.

"I really miss that," said Abby. "I used to do it when I was little."

Zenya and Abby say they don't want to be treated as victims. Zenya said Abby is a "survivor" and needs to be empowered.

"I'd just like to be treated like a normal person," said Abby.

[texasmom]

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/nathaniel-kibby-held-1m-bail-abigail-hernandez-kidnap-n167591

Nathaniel Kibby Held on $1M Bail in Abigail Hernandez Kidnap
By Tracy Connor, Alan Cohen and Alexandra Pournaras

Kidnapped teen Abigail Hernandez trained a stare on her accused captor on Tuesday as he was held on $1 million bail at an arraignment even though prosecutors provided no details of the crime.

Nathaniel Kibby, 34, did not enter a plea and did not object to the high bail, which will keep him behind bars until an Aug. 12 probable cause hearing.

Abigail, 15, sat calmly with family members during the brief hearing, feet away from Kibby, who was wearing an orange jail jumpsuit and had his hands shackled.

 

Little information about Abigail's kidnapping, captivity or release has emerged, but NBC-owned station NECN quoted sources as saying she was locked up in a container on Kibby's trailer-park lot in Gorham.

Outside the courthouse, officials divulged little more about the case, declining to answer questions about whether Abigail knew Kibby, where she was kept and how she ended up back home.

"Her courage, her resolve to return home and the she did, I think, speaks for itself," FBI Agent Kieran Ramsey said.

Young said there was no indication that anyone else was involved in the abduction. She said Kibby could be charged with other crimes, depending on what evidence the searches yield.

"Sometimes, our worst fears were realized," she said of the nine-month probe. "But this child is home, she is relatively safe."

She said the community should be grateful that Abigail is alive.

"I cannot tell you how a child like that can get through the nine months and endure," she said.

Court records show Kibby has an arrest record that dates back to 1998 and includes charges of assault, trespassing, stolen property, theft, marijuana possession and traffic infractions.

He pleaded guilty last year to a pot charge and paid a fine. Earlier this month, he paid a $1,000 fine to settled charges of assault and trespassing stemming from an incident in March.

Someone with the same name also wrote several letters to the Conway Daily Sun over the years, expressing his views on politics, religion and gun-control.

A neighbor of Kibby said he moved into the mobile-home park in Gorham about five years ago and kept to himself as he walked through the neighborhood with his Doberman.

"He just gave you weird vibes," said another neighbor, Kayla Delisle. "You stayed away from him as much as you could."

 

First published July 29th 2014, 9:53 am

[texasmom]

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2014/07/charge_abigail_hernandez_was_safe_when_released

Charge: Abigail Hernandez was safe when released
More counts still possible

Friday, August 1, 2014

CONWAY, N.H. — Gun enthusiast Nathaniel E. Kibby, behind bars for allegedly holding Abigail Hernandez captive for nine months, released the 15-year-old “without serious bodily injury and in a safe place,” according to the state law he is being prosecuted under.

The charge raises more questions about the mystery of what happened to the teen from Oct. 9 when authorities say she was abducted by Kibby to July 20 when she showed up at home.

“I can’t get into specifics, but you can certainly get that reading out of the complaint. That’s the reason for the charge at this juncture,” said New Hampshire Assistant Attorney General Jane Young when asked about the language of the kidnapping count.

Under the New Hampshire law, most kidnapping violations are “class A” felonies, which demand imprisonment for more than seven years. The only exception is in situations where the charged kidnapper “voluntarily releases the victim” without injury and to a safe place. The maximum sentence is seven years in those cases.

Young said more charges could be coming against the 34-year-old suspect, but an investigation — “spanning all facets of Mr. Kibby’s property” — is ongoing. No further charges were added as of yesterday.

“We are still in the early stages of this investigation. Searches are being conducted at Mr. Kibby’s residence. To the extent that additional charges are warranted, they will be considered and brought whether it be against Mr. Kibby or someone else,” Young said. “With that being said, we are not looking for another person, but we don’t know what we don’t know.”

 

Kibby’s blue Honda Civic was towed from the scene, according to Gerald Steele, who said Kibby “was a quiet guy who didn’t cause any problems in the neighborhood, but he definitely did not like the police.”

Kibby is due back in Ossipee Circuit Court on Aug. 12 for a probable cause hearing, according to a clerk at Conway Circuit Court. If probable cause is found, Kibby’s case will likely be transferred to Carroll County Superior Court, also in Ossipee. He is being held on $1 million cash bail.

 

[texasmom]

http://www.necn.com/news/new-england/Abby-Hernandez--Appears-on-Front-Page-of-Newspaper-269854871.html

Monday, Aug 4, 2014 • Updated at 1:44 PM EDT

Abby Hernandez Appears on Front Page of Newspaper
Abigail Hernandez recently stopped by the offices of the Conway Daily Sun, the newspaper that ran a daily box counting the number of days she had been missing and urging people to call police with any information.


Abby Hernandez appeared on the front cover of Saturday's Conway Daily Sun.

Link to larger image:

http://media.nbcbayarea.com/images/abby21.jpg

 

[texasmom]

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ex-cop-abigail-hernandezs-alleged-abductor-has-long-record/

ByCrimesider StaffAP August 4, 2014, 9:53 AM
Ex-cop: Abigail Hernandez's alleged abductor has long record

CONCORD, N.H. - The New Hampshire man charged with kidnapping a teenager nine months ago is very bright, has strong opinions and thrives on conflict, according to a police officer who had two decades of contact with him.

Former Conway Lt. Chris Perley, who left the force in April after 29 years, has known 34-year-old Nathaniel Kibby since the kidnapping suspect was 12 years old.

 

Perley said his most recent dealing with Kibby was over a summons for running a red light.

"He thought he should be entitled to (run the light) because he went to work at such early hours," Perley said.

"He was smart, but he was also brutally myopic in whatever view he had," Perley said. "You could not shake him or redirect him in the way he saw the world."

Kibby has a lengthy criminal record, including several assaults. Particularly disturbing, Perley said, was an arrest in March when Kibby was charged with criminal trespass and assault after following a Conway woman to her home after a minor car accident. Police said he pushed her to the ground in her driveway after she ordered him to stop taking pictures of her car.

"I remember thinking that was so over the top," Perley said. "You don't go to their home and get into a chest-bumping situation, especially with a woman."

Kibby grew up in and attended school in Conway, a tourist-dependent town of about 1,800 people in the southeast corner of the White Mountain National Forest. Although he'd lived in Gorham for a while, he returned to Conway to work as a machinist at two gun makers - Green Mountain Rifle Barrel Co. and E.M.M. Precision. Various news outlets have reported he was laid off this year for economic reasons.

Kibby was arraigned Tuesday and is being held on $1 million cash bond. He's due in court Aug. 12. His public defender, Jesse Friedman, did not return a call seeking comment.

Prosecutors have revealed little of what they have learned since Kibby's arrest, saying only that investigators continue to search his home and the surrounding grounds. The circumstances of Abby's October 2013 disappearance and return nine months later remain unclear. She attended Tuesday's brief hearing, wide-eyed but otherwise expressionless, and made no comments.

 

Court documents show Kibby has convictions on four trespassing counts, simple assault, providing false information to obtain a firearm and two counts each of receiving stolen property and resisting arrest. He faces up to seven years in prison if convicted of kidnapping. But Perley said nothing foreshadowed the kidnapping allegations.

"You're always hoping it's some stranger and that evil doesn't live in your midst," Perley said. "Certainly nothing he'd ever done would lead you to believe this is what he would do. If it is true, the depravity of the man knows no limits."

[MuffyBee]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/details-alleged-kidnappers-shipping-container-secret/story?id=24868893
Details of Alleged Kidnapper's Shipping Container Kept Secret
August 6, 2014

[texasmom]

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/08/08/abigail-hernandez-kidnapping-case-hearing-postponed-request-suspect-nathaniel-kibby/z9o9SV1eKzEHhNxVHGlBZJ/story.html

Judge blocks removal of trailer in Abigail Hernandez case
By Martin Finucane
 | Globe Staff   August 08, 2014

A New Hampshire judge has temporarily blocked law enforcement authorities from moving the mobile home and shipping container owned by Nathaniel E. Kibby, who is accused in the kidnapping of New Hampshire teen Abigail Hernandez.

 

In short, the judge said, defense attorneys wanted to recreate the scene “to evaluate the plausibility of another hearing or not hearing sounds consistent with someone being held against her will.”

The judge said that the prosecution’s “efforts to preserve evidence actually have the effect of denying the defendant access to admittedly relevant and material evidence, the mobile home and the crate, at the scene.”

The judge ordered the state to pay the rent for Kibby’s lot so the defense could conduct tests, take photographs, and make measurements, at the scene before the structures are removed to a secure location. The judge said the issue of when the structures will be removed would be addressed in a later court order.

 

[Sister]

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/08/08/abigail-hernandez-kidnapping-case-hearing-postponed-request-suspect-nathaniel-kibby/z9o9SV1eKzEHhNxVHGlBZJ/story.html

Judge blocks removal of trailer in Abigail Hernandez case
By Martin Finucane
 | Globe Staff   August 08, 2014

A New Hampshire judge has temporarily blocked law enforcement authorities from moving the mobile home and shipping container owned by Nathaniel E. Kibby, who is accused in the kidnapping of New Hampshire teen Abigail Hernandez.

 

In short, the judge said, defense attorneys wanted to recreate the scene “to evaluate the plausibility of another hearing or not hearing sounds consistent with someone being held against her will.”

The judge said that the prosecution’s “efforts to preserve evidence actually have the effect of denying the defendant access to admittedly relevant and material evidence, the mobile home and the crate, at the scene.”

The judge ordered the state to pay the rent for Kibby’s lot so the defense could conduct tests, take photographs, and make measurements, at the scene before the structures are removed to a secure location. The judge said the issue of when the structures will be removed would be addressed in a later court order.

 

BBM

I am afraid I see where the defense is headed -- Abigail Hernandez and her family are headed for a painful journey, I'm afraid. 

[texasmom]

http://www.conwaydailysun.com/newsx/local-news/115880-conway-police-detective-still-on-abby-case

Conway police continue to investigate Abby kidnapping

Published Date: Tuesday, 19 August 2014 05:10

By Daymond Steer

CONWAY — Despite the arrest of a suspect in the Abby Hernandez kidnapping case, a detective at the police department is still working 40 hours a week on the investigation.

Police say Nathaniel Kibby, 34, of Gorham, kidnapped Hernandez, now 15, of North Conway, on Oct. 9 after the end of the school day. Hernandez returned home July 20 and Kibby was charged with kidnapping at the end of July.

At Tuesday morning's police commission meeting, police chief Ed Wagner said detective Suzanne Scott is still working the Hernandez case 40 hours a week.

"It's not just us," said Wagner. "State Police has at least one person designated to the investigation, the FBI has at least one, we have at least one person and the attorney general's office has at least one person."

Wagner said the cost of overtime has gone down since its peak.

"Our detective is working on it 40 hours per week," said Wagner. "She is doing nothing else."
Commissioner Larry Martin asked if the investigation would end when the trial concludes.

Wagner said the investigation would end with the trial. Wagner added that Scott will probably be able to move on to other cases in about a month.

 

[texasmom]

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/08/08/abigail-hernandez-kidnapping-case-hearing-postponed-request-suspect-nathaniel-kibby/z9o9SV1eKzEHhNxVHGlBZJ/story.html

Judge blocks removal of trailer in Abigail Hernandez case
By Martin Finucane
 | Globe Staff   August 08, 2014

A New Hampshire judge has temporarily blocked law enforcement authorities from moving the mobile home and shipping container owned by Nathaniel E. Kibby, who is accused in the kidnapping of New Hampshire teen Abigail Hernandez.

 

In short, the judge said, defense attorneys wanted to recreate the scene “to evaluate the plausibility of another hearing or not hearing sounds consistent with someone being held against her will.”

The judge said that the prosecution’s “efforts to preserve evidence actually have the effect of denying the defendant access to admittedly relevant and material evidence, the mobile home and the crate, at the scene.”

The judge ordered the state to pay the rent for Kibby’s lot so the defense could conduct tests, take photographs, and make measurements, at the scene before the structures are removed to a secure location. The judge said the issue of when the structures will be removed would be addressed in a later court order.

 

BBM

I am afraid I see where the defense is headed -- Abigail Hernandez and her family are headed for a painful journey, I'm afraid. 

I'm afraid so too, Sister.   

[texasmom]

http://www.wmur.com/news/hearing-in-abby-hernandez-kidnapping-case-scheduled/27713964

Hearing in Abby Hernandez kidnapping case scheduled

Probable cause hearing set for Sept. 9

UPDATED 5:54 PM EDT Aug 25, 2014

By Amy Coveno

CONWAY, N.H. —A probable cause hearing is scheduled for next week for a man accused of kidnapping a North Conway teenager.

Nathaniel Kibby, 34, of Gorham, is charged with one count of felony kidnapping in connection with the October disappearance of Abby Hernandez, who returned home nine months later.

nvestigators have remained tight-lipped about the case, but sources close to the investigation have indicated that the evidence that will be presented is extensive and disturbing.

Experts said the goal of the probable cause hearing is to get the case moved up to Superior Court and the grand jury without revealing the bulk of the evidence.

 

Ruoff said the burden of proof is very low at probable cause hearings.

"The state will probably call one of its lead investigators to the stand," he said. "They don't need to call the victim. They don't need to call people that actually witnessed certain events. They can call just someone who has reviewed the file to testify about the content of the investigation."

At an emergency hearing in July, Kibby and his attorney, Jesse Friedman, fought to keep Kibby's mobile home and storage container in place. The state wanted to relocate the property to a secure location, citing concerns over vandalism and trespassers who might disturb the scene. The trailer is expected to be a focus at the probable cause hearing, as well.

 

The hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Sept. 9 at the Carroll County Courthouse. If Kibby waives, the case would immediately go to a grand jury, which could take up to 90 days to hand down indictments.

Read more: http://www.wmur.com/news/hearing-in-abby-hernandez-kidnapping-case-scheduled/27713964#ixzz3BkIlwyS6

[texasmom]

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20140904-NEWS-140909868

Evidence hearing in Abigail Hernandez kidnap case postponed


September 04, 2014 4:03 PM

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Evidence against a New Hampshire man charged with kidnapping a 14-year-old girl last October won't be aired in court next week.

Prosecutors and lawyers representing 34-year-old Nathanial Kibby agreed to postpone a hearing on the evidence against him for 60 days.

Kibby was scheduled to appear in court Sept. 9.

He was charged July 28 with felony kidnapping in the disappearance of then-14-year-old Abigail Hernandez, who vanished after leaving her Conway high school. She returned home the night of July 20, but officials have yet to reveal information about the circumstances.

Attorney General Joseph Foster said Hernandez provided authorities with the details that led to Kibby's arrest. He is being held on no bond.

 

[texasmom]

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/09/18/kibby/zUWB3RIcyz3cVshBzO6D5K/story.html

For alleged Abigail Hernandez kidnapper, a life of mystery

The ways of suspect Nat Kibby among the puzzles in 9-month disappearance of N.H. teen Abby Hernandez

By Sally Jacobs  | GLOBE STAFF   SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

GORHAM, N.H. — Nat Kibby is regarded by many of his acquaintances as an eccentric man. And so when he bought a large, red container unit and parked it next to his trailer home four years ago no one thought much of it.

But Bob Chapman, who sold it to him, remembers there was something odd when he delivered the heavy metal unit. “There were cameras in every window of the trailer looking out. One in front, two on the side, and more in the back, recording. We just thought it was him being weird.”

Kibby put a “No Trespassing” sign near the container, which is the size of a couple of rooms. When a tow truck dropped his car at the site, Kibby barked at the driver to back off. This spring, when police came to take possession of his guns — a condition of his bail on an assault charge — Kibby laid his arsenal on the road, apparently so the officers could seize them without getting close.

Unbeknown to any of them, 15-year-old Abby Hernandez — whose disappearance for nine months has piqued international interest — may have been locked in the big box just feet away. Prosecutors believe she was held against her will on Kibby’s property.

“Everyone can Monday night quarterback, but we had nothing to go off of at the time,” said Gorham police Officer Eric Benjamin.

 

Kibby, 34, who is charged with one count of kidnapping, has both a lengthy criminal record and a personal history of erratic behavior. But the mystery of what happened to Hernandez, who has offered no public account since she came home, remains as murky as the day she returned. She did not return to Kennett High School when classes began earlier this month.

Last month, Hernandez’s mother, Zenya, took on a team of three lawyers, a somewhat unusual move for a victim whose interests are generally represented by a prosecutor. In a brief telephone interview, Zenya Hernandez said the family is “literally, truly overwhelmed. I know it sounds funky, but they [the lawyers] will explain.”

Michael L. Coyne, dean elect of the Massachusetts School of Law in Andover, said he and the two New Hampshire attorneys also representing Abby Hernandez intend to “assist her with trying to get through to the other side of this nightmare.” Coyne, who mentioned that he was contacted by the Hernandez family through mutual friends, said he is cooperating with law enforcement.

Coyne has asked that the media give Hernandez some room. He issued a press release saying that the teenager, “wants some time and space to physically and emotionally heal. . . . Abby was violently abducted by a stranger. For many months, she suffered numerous acts of unspeakable violence.”

Hernandez, who lives primarily with her mother and sister in Conway, is expected to return to school when “the professionals think it is wise for her to return,” Coyne said. Some of the handful of friends who have seen her since she came back say she appears unchanged by her experience.

“She’s totally normal,” said Parish Dawe-Chadwick, a close friend. “It’s like she was never gone.”

But the talk among other students is more complex. Dominic Moon, a schoolmate, says, “It’s a very touchy subject at school. There are a lot of different sides. I think only she really knows what happened.”

Grand juries in the two counties where Hernandez was allegedly kidnapped and held are scheduled to meet Friday. While some observers expect that additional charges will be brought against Kibby, others believe the investigation into the matter could take much longer.

 

School officials declined to comment on Kibby, citing student privacy rights. But Kibby, according to Conway police records, was suspended and asked to stay off school grounds in 1997. The following year, when he was 17, he had repeated run-ins with the law and was, according to a report in the local newspaper, held in a state prison psychiatric unit after he threatened to harm himself.

In one case, Kibby was convicted of simple assault on a 16-year-old freshman at Kennett High while she waited for a school bus. Kibby had attempted to talk to the girl, according to a police report, and when she refused he “grabbed her with his hands and stopped her from getting on the school bus.”

Later in 1998, Kibby was found guilty of giving false information in obtaining “an AK-47 type weapon.” In subsequent years, Kibby was charged with simple assault on his then-girlfriend, Angel Whitehouse, disorderly conduct, receiving stolen property, and manufacture of marijuana, according to police. During several years that he lived in a Gorham apartment while in his 20s, his neighbors were well aware of his fervent antigovernment politics and his consuming interest in “survivalist” strategies.

“He was always bitching about the fricking government,” recalled neighbor Don Dickinson. “It was taking over the country and ruining our lives with gun laws. I mean, he was always verbally out of control. I stayed away from him.”

Local police knew Kibby well, and not just because of his frequent infractions. Kibby, ever argumentative, often challenged police and prosecutors claiming he should not have been arrested in the first place. Retired Conway police Lieutenant Chris Perley, who estimates he arrested Kibby a dozen times over the years, recalls that Kibby “thrived on conflict. He loved to argue, discuss, and debate, and he was quite good at it. His perspectives were always very extreme. He had no flexibility of thinking.”

“In court he would convince himself of the rightness of his offenses. Minor possession of marijuana, he would say marijuana should be legal. Or running a red light, he’d say he had to get to work early and there was no one else on the road.”

 

But the kid came back. Kibby, according to one of Whitehouse’s relatives, seemed on edge and was sometimes physically aggressive with his girlfriend. Park neighbors overheard frequent arguing and shouting emerge from Kibby’s trailer. One neighbor says he told Whitehouse, “if you ever need a safe haven come on over. She said OK.”

Whitehouse, who was with Kibby for 13 years, says she was not afraid of him. Kibby, she explained, “is loud and boisterous. So what they were interpreting as loud or arguing, is just him talking.”

A year after he moved into the park, Kibby and Whitehouse bought the container unit for storage purposes. They divided it in three areas: one for motorcycles, one for random items, and one for “tools” that they called “the mancave.”

Although the park owners had given permission for the unit, Janet Corrigan was not happy when she saw the size of it. “I was like, hmmm,” Corrigan said. “It was too big and out of place. But once it was there, it was too late.”

A few years ago, Whitehouse broke up with Kibby for what she described as “mutual reasons” and moved out. Like some park residents, Whitehouse finds it hard to believe that, in the cramped confines of the trailer park, Kibby could have confined an unwilling Hernandez in his trailer or the storage unit without someone seeing or hearing her.

Kibby has had numerous run-ins with the law. He also has a personal history of erratic behavior. Pictured (from left to right) booking photos from 1998, 1998, 1999, 2013, 2014, and 2014.

“This is a place where there are lots of nosy neighbors living 10 feet apart. How could something like that not be known,” said an incredulous Whitehouse. “When I lived there you could hear neighbors coughing or taking footsteps. If you hear that, you can hear anything.”

 

Less than two weeks after she disappeared, Hernandez wrote a letter dated Oct. 22 to her mother that was received in early November, piquing hope that the teen was safe. Investigators have said the letter came through the postal system, but have declined to reveal what it said. But the fact that she was alive after almost two weeks, boded well.

 

Hernandez’s letter is intriguing for another reason. On the day she wrote it, Nat Kibby was arrested for possession of marijuana while driving erratically along the White Mountain Highway in North Conway, according to a Conway police report. When the officer asked him whether he had marijuana in the car, Kibby handed over a glass pipe, saying, “You’re going to get it one way or the other. I know what’s going to happen.”

Investigators have declined to address whether Hernandez was able to write her letter because Kibby, who was ultimately found guilty and fined $350, was detained that day.

Hernandez has provided one other curious glimpse of her experience. While she was away, she occasionally saw the local newspaper, The Conway Daily Sun, which kept a daily tally of the number of days she was missing on an inside page. Shortly after her return, Hernandez visited the Sun office to thank the staff for remembering her. Hernandez, wearing a T-shirt saying “C.S.I. “Can’t Stand Idiots,” did not explain how she had been able to see the newspaper while in captivity.

During the 285 days she was missing, the State Police and FBI swung their net wide. The elder Campbell says he was one of dozens of people in the community who were questioned by State Police and given a lie detector test.

Campbell would not permit his son, who he said was also questioned, to be interviewed.

Nearly seven months after Hernandez disappeared, Campbell says that for reasons that are not clear Zenya Hernandez contacted him to talk about her daughter’s relationship with his son, and also to ask whether he would give her copies of the teenagers’ texts from his son’s phone. But Campbell said the police had taken his and his son’s phones and so he could not.

As winter thawed into spring, simmering differences between Hernandez’s parents, who divorced in 2004, leaked into social media. The issue touched upon a question of custody, something the two had long wrangled over.

During custody negotiations that continued for years after their divorce, Zenya Hernandez claimed that her husband had been “verbally and physically abusive in the past,” and had once threatened to kill her, according to court documents. Ruben Hernandez denied the allegations. But Zenya Hernandez was awarded primary physical custody of their daughters in 2009 while her ex-husband was required to undergo counseling “to address the parenting issues raised in his psychological evaluation,” according to a court parenting plan.

On Easter, Ruben Hernandez posted a lengthy letter to his daughter on his Facebook page, where he had put other messages during her absence. He said he had asked her mother whether he could have full custody of her and wondered if Abby would agree to that. In light of her October letter, he wrote, “it became obvious that you ran away. And that raises the question what did you run away from. . . . I am guessing that you ran away from your home life.”

Ruben Hernandez declined to respond to a Facebook inquiry from the Globe, saying, “For now, I will patiently wait while the process runs its course. The answers will come.”

Several of Abby Hernandez’s friends said she gave no indication of wanting to leave her mother’s care and appeared happy at home. Two people who are close to her said she had difficulties with her father and did not like to be around him. Dakota Fallen, a schoolmate, said that Hernandez had called her one night not long ago extremely upset.

“She just told me that she and her father did not get along and that she was kind of scared in general,’’ Fallen said.

Fallen said that she told police about the call and was later interviewed by the FBI.

While Hernandez’s parents found themselves newly at odds, Kibby was also running into more trouble of his own. In early March, Kibby had a car accident that developed into an angry dispute with the couple in the other car over how the damages to their vehicle would be paid for, according to a police report. A few days after the accident, Kibby showed up at the home of Tammy Shackford, one of the people in the other vehicle. When she asked him to leave, he “pushed her down on to the ground. . . . Kibby then shoved her into the side of her house,” according to the report.

“He was yelling at me the whole time,” Shackford said in an interview. “He was saying ‘You people are frauds. You are trying to steal from me.’ I mean this person is not OK.”

Police officers who picked Kibby up found him in a highly volatile state, his words erratic and hard to understand. When he was put in the patrol car “he began to scream loudly and was swearing so loud that it could be heard a good distance from my patrol car,” according to one officer’s report. Kibby was taken to the police department and a suicide evaluation was performed.

Charged with trespassing and simple assault, Kibby was released on bail. One of the conditions required that he surrender his firearms, which he promptly did. Hours after he walked out of the courthouse, two Gorham police officers pulled up at the Gateway Trailer Park. Kibby, who had asked them to come, was ready: lying on the driveway some distance from his trailer were a dozen guns, including a half-dozen rifles and a couple of shotguns, bagged and ready to go. The officers, aware of Kibby’s feelings about law enforcement, presumed that he had put the guns out because he did not want them to enter his trailer.

“He is one of those people who doesn’t want you going in his house in general,” said Officer Eric Benjamin.

But the officers did notice something odd. Kibby, recalled Benjamin, was chatty, even amiable, distinctly different than the remote, often quirky and argumentative man they knew.

“We even discussed it after we left,” recalled Benjamin. “We were like, boy, that was kind of weird. He does not talk to the cops. We were like, huh, he must be in a good mood today.”

The park’s owners noticed the same thing. Over the past few months, they had been shocked to find Kibby was outright friendly and often waved hello as he got his mail. In May, he dropped in the park office to see how things were going and chat about the weather.

“It was just an odd thing,” said Janet Corrigan, the park owner. “When he left we turned to each other and said, ‘Wow. Did he ever change.’ ”

Two months later, Kibby was scheduled to be tried in court on the charges stemming from his alleged assault on Shackford. If Kibby were holding Hernandez against her will at that time, he faced a serious problem. He could be imprisoned, if found guilty of the assault, for up to one year. What then would become of Hernandez?

Kibby had no way of knowing that when he went in to court he would simply be fined in connection with the trespass offense and allowed to go home. And then something remarkable happened: On a cool Sunday evening, less than 72 hours before Kibby was due in court, Abby Hernandez returned home, thinner but otherwise looking well, wearing the same black pants and striped sweat shirt she had on when she disappeared.

[texasmom]

http://conwaydailysun.com/newsx/local-news/116889-abby-disappeared-a-year-ago

Abby disappeared a year ago today, returned home 285 days later

Published Date: Wednesday, 08 October 2014 04:53

By Daymond Steer

CONWAY — A year ago today, North Conway teen Abby Hernandez vanished without a trace only to reappear 285 days later. 
Hernandez, now 15, disappeared on Oct. 9, 2013 after leaving Kennett High School at the end of the school day. The search involved huge law enforcement response which included the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office and the FBI. Then Conway Police Lt. Chris Perley was the face of law enforcement during much of the investigation.

"Last year was a topsy-turvy year to say the least in the search for Abigail Hernandez to include her safe return and the ultimate apprehension of Nathaniel Kibby," said Perley who now manages Ham Arena in Conway. "Regardless of the outcome of the case, guilty or innocent, the Abigail Hernandez case should and always stand as a shining example of the dogged determination and professional efforts of law enforcement combined with the heart felt compassion and hard work of a community coming together to make sure she was returned home safe and sound."

Jane Young of the Attorney General's Office fronted the investigation later on. She declined comment because of the pending litigation against Abby Hernandez's alleged abductor.

A massive community effort was made to get Hernandez's image all over the country. Her case made international news. On Oct. 23, Abby sent a letter home to her mother, Zenya Hernandez, who received it in November. Police disclosed the existence of the letter in early December but have not yet released its contents to the public. Zenya Hernandez vowed to find her daughter.
"I want Abby to know I will never stop looking for her," said Zenya in a December interview with The Conway Daily Sun. "Since I cannot communicate directly with her, I hope that she hears me telling her that I love her, and that I will always have hope."

 

"I'm taking it a little at a time but I'm feeling a lot better every day," Abby told the Sun in her first interview after returning home.

The man accused of kidnapping her, Nathaniel Kibby, 34, of Gorham, was charged about a week after Abby Hernandez came home. 
It's thought that Kibby kept her at his property. Kibby is being held in Carroll County's jail on $1 million bail. Kibby may have a probable cause hearing next month. Prosecutors seek to indict him on a charge of class-B felony kidnapping.

Some people believe Kibby released Abby Hernandez on July 20 because he was facing jail time on a couple of charges unrelated to the kidnapping investigation.

The Hernandez family has asked for privacy.

"Abby simply asks that you respect her wishes and the justice process as this case moves forward," said a statement by Attorney Michael L. Coyne of Andover, Mass. "We trust that justice will be done. On behalf of Abby, we ask that you be sensitive to the well-being of this child and give her the time and space she needs — that any of us would desire for a member of our own family or loved one who suffered as she has."


Timeline: It started off as a normal school day ...
• Oct. 9. 14-year-old Abigail Hernandez vanishes after leaving Kennett High School at the end of the day. At 2:53 p.m., Abby sends her last text message. At 3:07 p.m., her cell phone makes its last contact with the cellular network on a tower located at the west side of Cranmore Mountain.
• Oct. 11. Authorities put up a road block on North-South Road. Facebook pages dedicated to finding Abby generate thousands of likes.
• Oct. 12. Abby turns 15 years old.
• Oct. 14. A Columbus Day weekend search comes up empty and Abby's sister, Sarah, reads from a prepared statement saying how much she misses her younger sister.
• Oct. 16. Authorities say it could be some time before the human remains found during the search for Abby could be shown to belong to John Sweeney who disappeared in 2006.
• Oct. 17. As of Oct. 16, Abby topped the FBI's list of "kidnappings and missing persons," which contained about 70 names at the time. The FBI announces a $20,000 reward for information leading to Abby's return.
• Oct. 18. A group called LostNMissing Inc. asks people to write encouraging messages to Abby on the palm of their hands. This effort is called "Hands of Hope."
• Oct. 22. Nathaniel Kibby is arrested for marijuana possession in Conway.
• Oct. 23. Abby sends a letter home to Zenya Hernandez.
• Oct. 27. Hundreds of people attend a flashlight vigil for Abby. The vigil was organized by the White Mountain Milers running club, which Zenya and Sarah Hernandez belong to.
• Oct. 27 and 28. A dog team from a volunteer group called Mission for the Missing comes up empty handed but law enforcement is not giving up.
• Nov. 3. About 3,200 people participate in an online social media vigil organized by Paul Kirsch. People were asked to change their social media profile picture to a picture of Abby.
• Dec. 6. Authorities confirm that Abby sent a letter home to her mother, Zenya, on Oct. 23 and it was received Nov. 6.
• Dec. 12. Zenya Hernandez meets with The Conway Daily Sun to say that she will never stop looking for her daughter.
• Dec. 25. Zenya Hernandez and Abby's father, Ruben Hernandez, write Christmas messages to Abby.
• January. The human remains found during the search for Abby are positively identified as belonging to John Sweeney.
• Jan. 15. Zenya Hernandez starts making Youtube videos encouraging Abby to come home.
• Feb. 19. Nathaniel Kibby gets into a car accident with Eric Ray in Conway.
• March 4. Nathaniel Kibby is accused of trespassing at Eric Ray's home and of assaulting Ray's girlfriend Tammy Shackford.
• April 20. Ruben Hernandez suggests that Abby may have run away and offers to take custody of Abby upon her return. Days later, Zenya and Sarah responded by saying they will do anything to bring her home but they do not believe she ran away.
• May 12. Zenya Hernandez and Ruben Hernandez increase the reward for Abby's safe return to $60,000. Ruben added $30,000 after Zenya put in 10,000.
• May 25. On National Missing Children's Day, Zenya Hernandez puts out a message that she hopes Abby is still alive.
• July 21. Authorities announce Abby was reunited to her family on July 20 after being missing for 285 days. Authorities release few details about what happened.
• July 23. Nathaniel Kibby appears in Conway Circuit Court and is ordered to pay a fine on the trespass charge. The assault charge is dropped.
• July 24. Law enforcement releases a sketch of man who they say drove away with Abby Hernandez on Oct. 9.
• July 28. Nathaniel Kibby is arrested for allegedly kidnapping Abby. He is later ordered held on $1 million bail.
• Aug. 12. Through a statement from a lawyer, the Hernandez family says Abby suffered "unspeakable violence." The Hernandez family also asks for privacy.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/new-hampshire/2014/11/12/prosecutors-teen-waited-reveal-captor-name/AwviVxbHdzfCxNN2bdUlFP/story.html
Abby Hernandez Waited to Reveal Her Captor's Name, Prosecutors Say
November 12, 2014

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire teen who was kidnapped in October 2013 waited until a week after she was home to reveal her alleged captor’s identity, according to court papers released Wednesday.

The documents also said Abigail Hernandez told investigators she learned her captor’s name from a cookbook he had handed her during her captivity.

The information was released by a judge Wednesday in response to a motion filed by The Associated Press to unseal the arrest warrant affidavit against Nathaniel Kibby.

Kibby was charged in July with kidnapping the then-14-year-old on Oct. 9, 2013, as she walked home from her high school in Conway. She returned home the night of July 20, but investigators have not revealed the details of her kidnapping and return.

The heavily redacted paperwork released Wednesday sheds no light on how Abby vanished or how she returned home. Nor does it address any trauma she may have suffered.

Lawyers hired by Abby’s family said in August she suffered ‘‘numerous acts of unspeakable violence’’ during her months of captivity. The lawyers posted the statement on a website created by friends after her disappearance. The statement was largely a plea for privacy and did not elaborate on what she endured.

Kibby’s lawyer, public defender Jesse Friedman, declined to comment Wednesday on the newly released information.

After Kibby’s arrest, investigators spent considerable time searching a large storage container behind his Gorham trailer. They have refused to comment on whether they believe Abby was held captive there during her nine-month disappearance.

The excerpts indicate prosecutors believe she spent at least part of her disappearance inside Kibby’s trailer.

She told prosecutors she remembers seeing a framed copy of the Declaration of Independence on Kibby’s wall. According to the excerpts, a state trooper who'd made several trips to Kibby’s home before Abby’s disappearance recalled a framed government document inside the residence.

Abby and her mother attended Kibby’s arraignment in July but have not commented on the case. Her mother, Zenya Hernanadez, told prosecutors she doesn’t believe her daughter made it home the day she vanished because the dogs had not been let out and mothering seemed to be moved.

The excerpts says a dog tracked Abby’s scent from the high school to her front door, but it is not clear from the affidavit whether her scent was fresh or may have lingered from previous trips home from school.

The Associated Press filed its motion to unseal on Oct. 2. Kibby’s lawyers did not object but prosecutors did, saying the information would impede the ongoing investigation and could ‘‘taint the testimony’’ of witnesses who have yet to be interviewed.

The state’s objection, dated Oct. 10, confirms the affidavit details Abby’s disappearance and return and what happened in the interim.

Judge Pamela Albee met with prosecutors and defense attorney Jesse Friedman behind closed doors Nov. 7 but did not hold a public hearing on the motion to unseal.

Most of the affidavit remains sealed.

Kibby is charged with kidnapping but has yet to be indicted or have a hearing on the evidence against him. Several probable cause hearings have been postponed with the consent of his lawyers.

[texasmom]

 

http://www.concordmonitor.com/news/14860445-95/nathaniel-kibby-charges-stun-gun-zip-ties-used-on-abducted-teen

Nathaniel Kibby charges: Stun gun, zip ties used on abducted teen

By HOLLY RAMER
Associated Press
Thursday, December 18, 2014
(Published in print: Thursday, December 18, 2014)

A man used death threats, a stun gun, zip ties and a shock collar to control a teenage girl he’s accused of kidnapping at gunpoint, imprisoning and sexually assaulting over nine months, according to indictments released yesterday.

Nathaniel Kibby was arrested in July and initially charged with kidnapping the girl Oct. 9, 2013, in Conway. Despite a massive search and widespread public outreach, there was no trace of her except for a letter she wrote to her mother that November.

The girl, who turned 15 a week after she disappeared, returned just as mysteriously in July, a week before Kibby was arrested.

Media outlets repeatedly published the girl’s name and picture after she disappeared and when she returned home. The girl’s family and prosecutors have asked that her name and image no longer be published because they fear the publicity and association with sexual abuse will slow her recovery.

Kibby, 34, was indicted in two counties this week on charges including kidnapping, sexual assault, robbery, criminal threatening, illegal use of a gun and illegal use of an electronic restraint device. More than 150 of the indictments were heavily blacked-out. The charges carry penalties that could effectively send Kibby to prison for life if convicted.


Public defender Jesse Friedman said Kibby maintains his innocence. Friedman notes the charges are only allegations.

According to the indictments, Kibby threatened to kill the girl, her family and her pets and used a “Taser-like” device to punish her when she “carved” information about his identity in a letter to her mother. Prosecutors say he forced her to lie in that letter and made her rewrite it. As he began to fear an investigation, Kibby put a gun in her hand and told her it would be better to shoot him than give authorities any information, according to the indictments. He also forced her to wipe down the surfaces of a shipping container outside his trailer to remove her fingerprints and to pour cleaning fluid into plumbing drains to remove hair or DNA evidence, the indictments say.

Kibby also is accused of falsifying evidence by destroying or removing gags, anti-barking dog collars, a fake surveillance camera and an aquarium pump with tubing that had been used to provide the girl with water when she was restrained on a bed.

The charges say Kibby gagged the girl, put a shirt over her head and face, then put a motorcycle helmet over that. During her confinement, he used the stun gun to control her, made her wear a shock collar, bound her wrists with zip ties and taped her eyes shut, the indictment said.

Kibby told the girl he would only release her if she lied to the police about what had happened and what he looked like, the indictments say.

Kibby has been held on $1 million bail since his arrest at his home in Gorham, about 30 miles from the girl’s home. He has a criminal history dating to 1998, including convictions of simple assault, criminal trespass and breach of bail conditions.

At an afternoon press conference, Attorney General Joe Foster yesterday said his office doesn’t usually address the media after indictments but added, “There are unique aspects about this particular case and the victim that warrant it.”

Lyn Schollett, executive director of the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, said the girl “continues to heal and to thrive now that she is reunited with her family.”

Kibby is to be arraigned Jan. 8-9 in each of the counties where he was charged.

 

[texasmom]

http://berlindailysun.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=52160:kibby-indicted-on-205-charges

Kibby indicted on 205 charges

Published Date Thursday, 18 December 2014 03:53 Written by Barbara Tetreault

Editor's note: Nathaniel Kibby has been indicted on 205 counts in connection with the alleged kidnapping of a North Conway teen in 2013. There were 200 charges issued by a Coos County grand jury and five by a Carroll County grand jury, according to a press release from the N.H. Judicial Branch Wednesday afternoon. Some of the charges involve alleged sexual assault. The Conway Daily Sun is not naming the victim because, as is our policy, we do not name juvenile victims or victims of sexual assault. Further, we believe that because this case was so high profile, naming this victim is unnecessary and would do her further harm.

By Daymond Steer

CONCORD – Nathaniel Kibby, the man accused of kidnapping a North Conway teenager last year, was indicted over 200 times for alleged crimes, including over 150 acts of sexual assault. Five charges are filed in Carroll County Superior Court and the other 200 are in Coos County Superior Court.

Kibby, 34, of Gorham, allegedly kidnapped a girl, now 16, of Conway, on Oct.9, 2013. She returned home on July 20. Kibby is being held on $1 million cash bail at Carroll County's jail.

At a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, authorities asked the media not to use the victim's name or likeness in future reporting. They acknowledged that her name is well known because her months-long disappearance was well publicized but they argued that not naming her would be better for her mental health and for any future victims of similar crimes.

New Hampshire Attorney General Joseph Foster said his agency doesn't often hold press conferences but the events of this case warrant one. However, he said that the victim's name and likeness should not be used in the media any more. Foster said not using her name and image is "simply the right thing to do."

"We also ask that you give her the time and the space she surely needs," said Foster. "In cases involving child victims and sexual assault, the victims' identity is usually protected. That is done, among other reasons, to protect the victim from additional indignities and it also encourages other victims to come forward knowing that to the extent possible their identity and likeness will not be published. Please reflect upon the fact that the only reason that this young girl, this child's name and likeness is known is because she was missing. That information needed to be disseminated so that she could be found."

Associate Attorney General Jane Young said the 205 indictments against Kibby include five filed in Carroll County Superior Court and 200 filed in Coos County Superior Court. The five charges filed in Carroll County Superior Court are kidnapping, robbery, criminal threatening, felonious use of a firearm and criminal use of an electronic defense weapon.

The Carroll County charges say the following: The kidnapping charge alleges he confined the victim with the purpose to commit sexual assault, that he did not release the victim without serious injury and in a safe place and that he detained the victim, who was under 18, from her parent. The robbery charge alleges that he used a firearm to take the victim's phone. The robbery charge alone carries 20 years in prison. Criminal threatening charge says he threatened to shoot the victim. A felonious use of a firearm charge alleges he used a firearm in the commission of felonious or aggravated felonious sexual assault, the during the kidnapping and while detaining the victim. A charge of electronic defense weapon alleges allegations that are similar to the ones alleged in the firearm charge.

The 200 charges filed in Coos County Superior Court are 80 indictments for alleged aggravated felonious sexual assault, 80 indictments charging felonious sexual assault, 11 indictments charging falsification of physical evidence and eight indictments for witness tampering, seven indictments for criminal use of an electronic defense weapon, four indictments charge him with second-degree assault, four indictments for criminal threatening, two indictments for sale of marijuana, two indictments charging felonious use of a firearm, one indictment for indecent exposure and one indictment charging him with kidnapping.

If found guilty on 200 charges, Kibby could face between 822 and 1,644 years in prison. It appeared the Attorney General's Office may have been doing alternate charges for the aggravated felonious sexual assaults as there was a corresponding felonious count for each.

One charge says Kibby used an electronic weapon to shock the victim when she tried to put clues to his identity in a letter she mailed home. Other charges say he used a gun to terrorize her and that at times he would allegedly bind and gag her and that he allegedly taped her eyes shut.

Young said Kibby will be arraigned in Coos Superior Court on Jan. 8 at 2:30 p.m. and in Carroll County Superior Court on Jan. 9 at 9 a.m. Young said Attorney General's Office lawyers cannot comment on the evidence in the 205 charges. She also urged the media to show restraint.

"As a trauma expert so eloquently said, 'While we can't un-ring the bell, we don't have to keep ringing it either," said Young.

The nine-month search for the missing teen involved a massive community and law enforcement effort and drew international media attention.

In August, the victim's family hired a legal team that asked the public to give the family privacy. A lawyer released a statement on behalf of the victim.

"(The victim) needs and wants some time and space to physically and emotionally heal. It is going to be a long process in pursuit of justice for (the victim) and for (the victim) to get physically and emotionally stronger. We do not intend to have this case tried in the press. As the justice system moves forward, and the evidence is revealed, questions about this horrific event will be answered. (The victim) was violently abducted by a stranger. For many months, she suffered numerous acts of unspeakable violence. Through her faith, fortitude and resilience, she is alive today and home with her family.

 

[MuffyBee]

From the articles texasmom has posted, it appears Kibby is one evil, torturous jerk!  (And that's putting it mildly, because families read here...)   I read the descriptions of how he mistreated her, and it's not only the awful physical pain she must have suffered, but also the terrible mental pains she suffered and probably still struggles with today.      "...she suffered numerous acts of unspeakable violence".    

I wish Abigail and her family all the best and hope she and they are healing and recovering. 

Kibby needs to spend the rest of his life behind bars.