popped up in the phones of her friends, her cousin, her brother. "i just needed some time without anyone." "i had a bad night last night." "i don't really want to talk to anyone right now." but then after three hours of that the texts stopped just as suddenly as they had begun. the last one simply said "i'm sick." so strange. so out of character. to michelle's family and friends it seemed obvious, someone had michelle's phone. someone who was not michelle. >> the more that they went out, the more sinister it felt like it was becoming? >> sinister? >> having this person text back as michelle was just extremely, extremely terrifying. >> what did that feel like to go through that? >> it's hard to put into words. living nightmare, i think, is the closest thing. >> reporter: in a strange way as chilling as these messages were they gave michelle's friends and family some hope. to them it seemed obvious they