difficult to think of michelle living that kind of life. definitely. definitely. it was not the way that her mother and i raised her. reporter: those were long nights, filled with bittersweet memories of michelle the way she used to be, before the drugs took over. and thoughts of rare moments together before she went missing. she came over to the house one day, and i d given her a few dollars, and she stood up. she said, well, dad, i m going to run. i said all right. and she said she went up to put her arms around me, and i hugged her. and she said no, dad. squeeze me tight. squeeze me like you ve never squeezed me before. and i got her and i gave her the biggest hug a father could ever give his daughter. reporter: remembered moments like that sustained dan and drove him to continue his lonely search for michelle.
relatives to the west mesa grave digger are convinced there could still be someone somewhere who knows something. because, they suppose, all those earlier rumors about the women being abducted, killed, and dumped in the desert had to have started somewhere. was it all hot air, or did someone with knowledge of the murders mix a kernel of truth into those rumors? we re not the only family that got a call saying that their, you know, sister, daughter was murdered and buried out there. somebody was trying to send a message at some point. could never trace it back. it led them to a dead end. though both dan and camille valdez believe michelle s killer is still alive, dan prefers these days to dwell on the things he knows for sure. i love you, michelle. i miss you, hon. that he once had a daughter named michelle who was the light of his life. that once she was lost and that now she s found. and we will see justice
reporter: then came the teen years. when life started coming at michelle valdez fast and furious. by then dan and michelle s mother were divorced, and dan was raising michelle and camille alone while working days at the juvenile detention center. and nights and weekends playing steel guitar with his country band, cimarron. dan tried to keep a watchful eye on his girls and even took them to work with him at the juvenile detention center to show them where careless mistakes can lead. some of it seemed to take. some of it didn t. at 13 michelle became pregnant. i was devastated. but what can you do? you can t be with them 24/7. all you can do is bring them up, nurture them, show them love, attention, appreciation. and sometimes they make a mistake. and sometimes they make the wrong turn or a mistake.
borrow $25, she was hungry or whatever. she was at you know, at a hurting spot. so i gave her the money. even though you knew even though i knew that it could be going for drugs. it was my gateway to making contact with her and seeing her in person. reporter: dan may have had the patience of job. but by 2004 camille, the tag-along little sister, had had enough. when michelle asked dan if she could move back home for a while, camille put her foot down. he was going to let her stay with us. and i remember telling him no. if she comes and stays, i m going to leave. i couldn t handle it. i remember that. i didn t even i didn t even want to be around it anymore. i was so tired of it. tired of seeing him hurt. so you told michelle she couldn t come over? i told michelle she couldn t come over. i took her to a friend s house and dropped her off there.
she struggled to hold it all together. but michelle eventually dropped out of school. for a while she tried to support herself and angelica with a series of minimum wage jobs but couldn t make ends meet. after three years angelica was sent to live with dan s mother, who lived nearby, and michelle took to living with a series of people she called friends. by 2002 the wear and tear is written all over her face. happy birthday that september angelica celebrated her sixth birthday. michelle had just turned 20. a milestone that was not lost on mother or child. mommy s not a grownup anymore i mean, a teenager anymore. reporter: no. in a sense michelle never was a teenager. and now on the cusp of young adulthood michelle looked gaunt.