Dateline: Heart Of Darkness - 5 harrowing details about Gerfa and Kevin Lunsmann's abduction, explored

Back in 2011 when Gerfa Lunsmann and her son Kevin had gone for a vacation in the Philippines to visit Gerfa’s relatives, they had no idea how difficult it would be for them to come back home.

While things were going great with a lot of sunbathing, snorkeling, and authentic Filipino cuisine, everything got messed up when the mother-son duo, along with their Filipino relative Romnik Jakaria were taken from their huts to a remote forest location as hostages by Islamic militants.

While all three of them ultimately returned safely to their homes, it was not before spending months of difficult time with the hostages. Let us now explore the harrowing details of the abduction as was covered in the Dateline episode, Heart of Darkness.

---

The extremist group Abu Sayyaf had kidnapped Gerfa and Kevin Lunsmann

As shown in Dateline, the extremist group Abu Sayyaf was behind the kidnapping of Gerfa, Kevin, and Romnik. Keeping up with their tradition of abducting and beheading Western people, the group picked up the three of these people from their huts and transported them to a remote forest area.

While Romnik was not technically taken, he forced himself on that boat to support his American cousin, Kevin, as reported by Daily Mail. The three of them spent their hostage days together, sacred and yet keeping each other company.

---

Gerfa and Kevin survived on very little food while being held captive

The abductors gave Gerfa, Kevin, and Romnik very little quantity of rice each night to eat. While it did not suffice their hunger, they tried to keep quiet about it, out of fear. As told by Gerfa,

“We talked about food. but we tried not to.”

They spent their time scared and hungry and talked to Romnik about their favorite films in low voices so that the kidnappers couldn't hear them.

Also Read: Dateline: The Devil Wore White - What do we know about Sante and Kenny Kimes' trail of crimes?

---

The kidnappers demanded $10 million ransom

Heiko Lunsmann, the father of Kevin and husband of Gerfa, was contacted by the kidnappers who made a ransom demand worth $10 million. When Heiko first came to know about the kidnapping from Gerfa’s relatives, he was already feeling lost and helpless and with the ransom call demanding this huge amount of money, his helplessness only increased.

The kidnappers also made Heiko listen to Kevin and Gerfa crying, which made him further scared. Sitting in Virginia, he was not sure of what to do and the uncertainty caused him extreme anxiety and panic. However, by this time the FBI had intervened and was able to identify the militant group.

Also Read: Dateline: The Feud - What happened to Tim Newman? Details of Montana resident's death, explored

---

The kidnappers only freed Gerfa and kept Kevin hostage

After some initial amount of ransom was paid, the kidnappers were ready to free Gerfa and she thought along with her Kevin would also be let go. However, that did not happen and while Gerfa walked free, Kevin stayed behind.

Heiko and Gerfa both thought Kevin would be let go in a few days as Gerfa kept working as a negotiator with the abductors. Unfortunately, that did not happen and while Romnik was let go after a couple of months, the kidnappers did not free Kevin.

Also Read: Dateline: Manner Of Death - Who was Matt Podolak and what happened to him? Details of the 2006 murder, explored

---

Kevin took a huge risk and fled from the kidnappers

After being held captive for five months, when Kevin saw a chance of escaping, he took it and was successful. He had been scraping whatever he could and had prepared a bag for escaping, which contained water and some basic food. As told by Kevin himself,

“I looked at my bag and I just felt something. It was time. I couldn’t stay there any longer.”

He further said,

“I tried to use whatever strength I had to keep going — get as far as I could from there and then get home.”

After making the run, Kevin had come across a village and after his initial skepticism of trusting the villagers, he eventually took their help and reached home to his parents safely.

Dateline can be streamed on NBC.

---

Stay tuned to SoapCentral for more updates on shows!