Hey everyone, I'm Ashley Banfield, and this is Drop Dead Serious.

There is a case out of New Hampshire that has always haunted me.

And not because of how the case began, but more so because of how the case ended. A 14-year-old girl walking home

from school in broad daylight, something millions of our kids do every day in America,

she simply vanished without a trace. And what came next in her story is the thing that keeps us up at night.

Parents, it's the thing that gnaws away at all of us, a random crime that can strike at

any time, anywhere, and target any one of us, but most specifically, our kids.

October 9th, 2013 was a crisp fall afternoon in North Conway, New Hampshire.

It was the kind of day that looked ordinary in every possible way.

14-year-old Abigail Hernandez, Abby, to her friends and her family, had just finished classes at Kenned High School.

She was a freshman, and she was bright.

She was also athletic and full of confidence, but Abby was also a little bit shy. Her 15th birthday

was just three days away. At 2.29 p.m., Abby left the school and started walking home. That's what she did all the time.

She was texting with a classmate as she crossed the soccer fields and as she cut through a familiar

trail under the power lines. And at 253 p.m., Abby sent her last text message. and then she vanished. When she didn't come home by

seven o'clock at night, her mom, Zanya Hernandez, called the police. And by nightfall, search

teams were everywhere. They were combing the woods. They had their flashlights.

Helicopters were circling overhead.

Neighbors taped her photo on every light pole all around town.

Maybe Abby took a wrong turn on the way home.

Maybe Abby didn't know where she was.

Maybe Abby was lost.

...