and it was at that point that i asked, you know, did she get into an accident and they told us we don t really have any details right now. but, it wouldn t be long before details of the killing did come out. brittani hopper was a friend from school. it is hard enough to lose somebody. sorry. it was just so brutal. and she was all by herself. i think that that was the worst part. megan s lonely, painful death was something everybody took to heart. friends, family police. they remember the girl gleaming with a life. now, finding her killer would require determination, imagination and help from everyone her life had touched. coming up
another dead and. it ended in a dead and. investigators had what they hoped was a another source of leads, megan s own words. she kept a diary. we went to the journals meghan cap. we re looking for boyfriends, anything that would give us a clue. someone who s angry at her. she wasn t down a negative, she was very upbeat. i remember having a boyfriend during that time? no, not anything super serious that i would say this guy was somebody she dated as a boyfriend. was there anybody she was interested in? not really, there is a few guys that she talked to that we re in there is one who was in the band, and another one who played baseball. but the guy who caught investigators attention was named donald. her parents thought he was a bad influence. but meghan had befriended him. detectives had not had to look
or, he s a teenager being interviewed by a detective. robert seem to fit that geographic ancestry profile. and, the detective realized, he could be the kid that they ve been looking for. a friend of meghan s, a young person who might own a pair of air force one sneakers, mcdaniel asked him to provide a dna swab. and he said, well, i can t do it right now but let me talk to my mom and see what she says. which is fair. it s just if your house cools goal kid. and i really didn t expect him to say anything other than that. the next morning. something unexpected. sergeant mcdaniel got a call from robert. and it s from his home phone number. and he says, hey, can you meet me at the school? i think i remembered something, you asked about, and you said if i remember i could call you. he said he had new information. and i want to the school, and this kid robert barnes said he might have something for me. he remembers something about meghan. can you go get him out of class
after a while. he tells dateline, he was traumatized by his lengthy interrogation. and, is truly sad about the loss of his friend. five months into the investigation, still no call to the family to report an arrest. after dozens of interviews, dna test and tips, every lead had dried up. it exhausted a lot of the investigative skills, a lot of time. and, every direction we turn was always a disappointment. a new kind of fear gripped portsmouth as the case went unsolved. reporter, mike ma, they re remembered how folks were worried that the killer might never be. caught one by one, the people who were the most obvious suspects, the most obvious potential suspects have been ruled out. and, that also means that they were willing nobody else in. there was definitely severe on the community. megan s parents lived in a nightmarish limbo. you never lived in that house again. no.
back up. she was actually looking forward to trying to help put robert hicke away. then, came that april afternoon. when meghan s short life came to a terrible end. and suddenly, robert hicke was the number one suspect in her murder. coming up we handcuffed robert hicke, he was in a state of panic. while. what just response? he drops to the ground and starts crying. robert hicke in police custody. and the heat is on. did you kill meghan? no. do you have any doubt anyone who would hurt? are not a clue, sir, not a living clue. when dateline continues. hen dateline continues about exciting medicare advantage plans that can provide broad coverage and still may save you money on monthly premiums and prescription drugs. with original medicare you are covered for hospital stays and doctor office visits but you have to meet a deductible for each, and then you re still