the word help was scratched in the ground. we found two shovels that had what appeared to be blood on them. that just did it for me. i can t even think about how scared she was. a mother s worst panic. there are no signs to get there. just follow the rough, sandy trail from the subdivisions above, turn a corner and there it is, a creek, a low-twisting moving body of water in north carolina, that s nothing less than a garden of eden for teenagers playing hooky from high school. it was like a beach. if the weather was good, her decision was made, go right to the creek and bypass school all together. tell me about an afternoon at the creek, caroline, what would you do? just go swimming. after we were done swimming we would sit by the fire and get dry, and hurry up and go back to the bus and take it home. they would play all day like frisky otters. innocent fun until one day when this secret teenaged world collided with tragedy. i just knew in my heart s
man, she needs to call something bad. she could be in a ditch somewhere. you had that feeling. could not even sleep, i had this overwhelming feeling of something bad happening. and the next morning sheena got a call from danielle s grandfather, and it was bad. he says, danielle didn t come home last night. hmm. and i m like, what? what is he saying? danielle didn t come home? what do you mean? danielle had gone, about to be officially a missing person. as simple to state as it was terrifying in all its ramifications. coming up. they were like asking all these questions. well, do you think she would have ran away? do you think she could be at a friend s house? where was danielle? her family was about to get its first unnerving clue. the word help was scratched