On February 4, 1974, the 19-year-old granddaughter of American media mogul William Randolph Hearst is kidnapped and held hostage by the revolutionary group the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA). Patty talks to her captors and befriends one of them: wealthy archeology student Willie Wolfe. Patty becomes convinced that her parents are not doing enough to secure her release and on April 3, 1974, she announces to the world that she has joined the SLA.