company, green mail. i finally got a hold of them, and that sunday afternoon i called the baltimore county and ann arundel county police, and i just knew what had happened. >> look at the one picture she left. see the picture above the bed? >> they were out of the country before we even knew they were gone. >> reporter: they had gone straight to new york, straight to jfk, straight to egypt air. and before michael shannon had even realized they were gone, nermeen khalifa, adam and jason, and their grandmother, afaf khalifa were landing in cairo. untouchable. confirmation would finally come at the most unlikely time. >> oh, yeah. i received a call from adam right after 9/11, and he said, "i'm not in america anymore. i'm not even in new york." because he thought new york was a separate country. he was only 4 years old at the time. he says, "when are you and pop-pop coming to get me?"