instead of small letters, it d be all capitals. and she d always write a-r-e, and this would be an r for are or 2, the number, would be there rather than t-o. so, it was just i said it was just it just changed. reporter: and then, the text messages simply stopped. cher s aunt mary called the us embassy in panama, and begged for help. the embassy made a big point of saying people disappear all the time. and if she wants to be found, she will contact you. and so, i had a hard time shouting into the darkness of the embassy saying help me, help me. reporter: things got worse. cher didn t call her father on his birthday. it was a huge alarm bell. i knew how she felt about her dad. and she would never, ever miss his birthday. so something had happened to cher, for sure. in my heart, i knew then. reporter: after two months, it was staring everyone in the face the unanswered phone calls, the strange messages, the missed birthday all the clues pointing to a horrible
or 2, the number, would be there rather than t-o. so, it was just i said it was just it just changed. reporter: and then, the text messages simply stopped. cher s aunt mary called the us embassy in panama, and begged for help. the embassy made a big point of saying people disappear all the time. and if she wants to be found, she will contact you. and so i had a hard time shouting into the darkness of the embassy saying help me, help me. reporter: things got worse. cher didn t call her father on his birthday. it was a huge alarm bell. i knew how she felt about her dad. and she would never, ever miss his birthday. so something had happened to cher, for sure. in my heart, i knew then. reporter: after two months, it was staring everyone in the face the unanswered phone calls, the strange messages, the missed birthday all the clues pointing to a horrible conclusion. did you start to panic? yeah. i knew something was wrong. the whole family started to panic. rep