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Amanda Lindhout's kidnapping has long been one of the most discussed cases among journalists and true crime fanatics. The Canadian freelance journalist suffered a terrible fate when armed men in Somalia kidnapped her along with her colleague, Nigel Brennan.
They were held in captivity for 15 months before their families managed to negotiate a deal with the kidnappers and secure their release.
Lindbout's case was also the subject of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered season 8, episode 17, which is set to have a rerun on December 20, 2022, on Oxygen. The synopsis for the episode reads:
"The story of journalist Amanda Lindhout who was held hostage in southern Somalia for 15 months."
Amanda's story is riddled with many details that may be interesting to even veteran true crime fans. Read on for five such facts about the brutal case.
Five quick facts about Amanda Lindhout's kidnapping case
1) Amanda Lindhout was assaulted and abused during her days as a hostage
During her 460 days of captivity, Lindhout was subjected to a brutal fate. She claimed that she was separated from her colleague early on as they were not married. Subsequently, she was s*xually assaulted and abused by her teenage captors on a daily basis.
The details of the torture she had to undergo were later published in her book.
2) Apart from Amanda and her male colleague, three others were also taken captive by the Somali insurgents
On their way to conduct interviews at an internally displaced person (IDP) camp, Amanda's car was stopped by armed men from the Hizbul Islam fundamentalist group.
They took her captive along with Nigel Brennan, a 37-year-old freelance Australian photojournalist from Brisbane, their driver, Mahad Isse, another driver from the Shamo Hotel, named Marwali, and their Somali translator, Abdifatah Mohammed Elmi.
3) The kidnappers initially demanded a ransom of US $2.5 million
The kidnappers allegedly demanded a ransom amount of US $2.5 million from the families of the journalists. They later reportedly lowered the sum to $1 million.
CTV News received a phone call in 2009 where Amanda seemed to be reading a statement that said:
"My name is Amanda Lindhout and I am a Canadian citizen and I've been held hostage by gunmen in Somalia for nearly 10 months. I'm in a desperate situation. I'm being kept in a dark, windowless, room in chains without any clean drinking water and little or no food. I've been very sick for months without any medicine.... I love my country and want to live to see it again. Without food or medicine, I will die here."
4) Ali Omar Ader, the primary accused in the kidnapping, was later arrested by the RCMP
Authorities eventually managed to lure Ali Omar Ader, one of the captors in the case, to Ottawa, where he was captured after law enforcement officials cleverly managed to get a confession out of him.
Ader was arrested on June 12, 2015. Three years later, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison on June 18, 2018.
5) In 2013, Lindhout released a memoir, written with journalist Sara Corbett, titled A House in the Sky
Amanda Lindhout released a memoir detailing her assault at the hands of the Somali insurgents in 2013.
The book was very well-received and provided an in-depth look at the violence and brutality in the militant scenario of Somalia.
