Woman rescued from human traffickers

It's been three weeks since Lannie Ejercito fell prey to a human trafficking network stretching from the Philippines to Malaysia.

She's managed to make two calls to her family.

During the first call she was in a panic, but the second time she called she was peculiarly calm.

Was someone controlling her?

Jerry Howe: I felt everything she said has been orchestrated. She's been told to say what they want her to say.

Retired FBI agent Jerry Howe and Lannie's uncle, Troop Edmonds, are in Asia trying to find and free Lannie.

Flying into Malaysia, the pair knew the clock was ticking.

The arrest of Lannie's recruiter provided important leads but may also have given those holding Lannie a heads up.

Troop Edmonds: I'm worried, we've wasted so much time. They know we're coming. They're going to just be splitting and taking Lannie. We'll never find her. I mean, how we going to find her?

Armed with a crude map that Rachel the reruiter drew for police, Jerry and Troop canvass a neighborhood near the university in Penang.

Lannie's rescuers are pointed to an apartment on the top floor.

Jerry Howe: There were lots of shoes outside the door. But the shoes didn't look like shoes that students would wear. So I felt that we had the right place.

But he can't proceed further without help from the authorities, and that's a bit of a crapshoot.

Unlike the Philippines, Malaysia hasn't always been the most hospitable toward America or Americans.

Troop Edmonds: The Filipino police said, "Troop and Jerry, you be real careful. That's a Muslim country over there and, you know, and you're American. And, you know."
Chris Hansen: You might not be welcome there? Is that what they were saying?
Troop Edmonds: Yeah. That's what they told me. They said, "We don't even like to go there."

After two days of conducting their own investigation, the two Americans roll the dice and approach the Malaysian police.

Troop Edmonds: We just walk up. And we say, well, we'd like to talk to the supervisor. Somebody in charge.
Chris Hansen: And they don't know you're coming.
Troop Edmonds: Oh, no.
Chris Hansen: You don't have an appointment.
Troop Edmonds: No, we--
Chris Hansen: You don't have a contact name.
Troop Edmonds: We don't. No contact name.
Chris Hansen: No phone number.
Troop Edmonds: No.
Chris Hansen: Nothing.
Troop Edmonds: Nothing.
Chris Hansen: You just show up.
Troop Edmonds: Just show up.

They're taken to see a top police official who doesn't quite know what to make of the men or their mission.

Troop Edmonds: Here's these two-- looks like a couple of middle-aged losers, you know. I mean, it's like Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon stumbling across Asia. And here's this incredible story about we're looking for a young Asian girl who was lured into this human trafficking thing. And we're asking for their help.

Whether out of sheer curiosity or a sense of duty, the police agree to send a team to the apartment.

Malaysian policeman: (bangs on door) Hello? Hello?

The window is open, and there are still shoes out front -- all of which suggests someone is inside. But no one answers, and the police move in.

The place is empty. And it seems whoever was living there left in a hurry.

Is Rachel's map bogus? Or are Troop and Jerry just too late?

Troop Edmonds: When they weren't there when we cased the place our hearts sank a little bit. I mean, a nerve-- I wouldn't say a little bit. A lot.

But then in sweeping the apartment the Malaysian police find something.

Jerry Howe: That's her! A picture of Lannie.

Lannie had left behind a scrapbook.

Jerry Howe: It just flashed by me [and] I knew it was her. This one. Well, we're at the right place.

Right place, wrong time. It looked like it had something to do with that phone call Lannie placed days earlier.

Jerry Howe: When we were in the Philippines Troop was actually able to talk to Lannie for a few minutes. And Troop announced that we were coming, which I may not have done as an FBI agent, but I understand as an uncle saying, "We're coming to get you." I'm sure they moved them because of that.

The scrapbook is a hopeful sign. Troop wonders if Lannie has left it behind as a deliberate clue that she'd been there.

Troop Edmonds: The good thing is, it was proof that this-- they actually were here. So we got something to go on. And the bad part of it is-- is, you know, she's gone.
Chris Hansen: What was your worst fear at that point?
Troop Edmonds: Well, it was a-- I mean how do you find somebody in a country like Malaysia? I mean my god.

But it wasn't just could they find her but would they find her before she was victimized?

Every year, the U.S. State Department ranks countries on their efforts against human trafficking. In its most recent report, Malaysia is at the bottom -- alongside North Korea, Iran and Sudan. The State Department says that human trafficking and the sex trade it fuels are rampant here. Yet in all of 2006, not a single trafficker was prosecuted.

Despite its reputation as a conservative, predominantly Muslim nation, Malaysia has a thriving sex industry. We went out with our cameras and met girls from half a dozen countries working as prostitutes.

Madame: Bring the girls who can speak English for you...

In this upscale karaoke bar, the madame literally paraded the girls before us.

Madame: Lisa, Nadia...

It's a world "Anna" knows only too well. She came to Malaysia for a waitressing job only to be told she had to work as a prostitute. She went to Malaysian immigration authorities for help.

Anna: I want them to help me -- to rescue me -- so I can go back Philippines.

But instead, she says, a top immigration official called her traffickers and then passed along some words of advice.

Anna: “Go back to work.”

Anna says some of the Malaysian police and immigration officials were actually clients of the clubs where she worked and helped themselves to the girls.

Malaysian officials are notorious for turning a blind eye to trafficking. So much so that when victims like Anna show up looking for help, they are often brought up on immigration charges.

Troop and Jerry know they need to find Lannie and find her fast.

Chris Hansen: At this point she had been missing for three weeks?
Troop Edmonds: Yeah. Three weeks, that's about right.
Chris Hansen: That's a long time?
Troop Edmonds: Oh, yeah. I mean they could have already gone through the initiations of the prostitution thing and all that. But, you know, you still want to get her back.

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