and michelle were taken in by krystine's family. >> she told me a story about how, after her mom passed away, she didn't even know what to do at first until she saw michael in the garage holding something of his mom's and crying. she told me you know, "that was the time i knew it was time to be, you know, a big sister and be a mother figure for him." >> reporter: overcome her own sense of loss -- >> yeah. >> reporter: -- save this boy? >> oh, yeah. so you couldn't even tell she was having any trouble. >> she made a sort of commitment to -- between her and i that she would look out for me. >> reporter: but not just michael. michelle also kept watch over krystine. >> she was like my older sister. she dressed me. she helped tweeze my eyebrows. she taught me how to do makeup. >> reporter: taught you about boys? >> yeah, we talked about boys all the time. she helped me write my first love letter. oh, my gosh.