reporter: stacia grossman knew her from childhood. she didn t like being center of the attention but liked creating a great atmosphere to have a great time. reporter: michelle was a cheerleader in high school and straight a student. jennifer powers felt drawn to her. she had this kind of bookworm side to her. she was very studious and goal-oriented. she was also just a great person to be around, a fun, happy spirit. and you know someone that i wanted to spend a lot of time with. reporter: lots of people did. and when she chose a college far from home, north carolina state, she was soon surrounded again by an admiring group of women friend. best friends, buddies. fiora childs was her sorority big sister. there is this one picture, it came out beautiful. we liked it. because we felt like we kind of looked like charlie s angels, posed, without intentionally doing that. reporter: it was sometime in 2001, when friends started hearing about michelle s new