time. like all kids, they liked to tease each other. like, when rachel called nick the nickname he had when he was a little boy. nickel baby. nobody else called him that? just the family? oh, no, like his really good friends would call him it, after they heard me call him it. he would get so mad at me for saying it in front of his friends. growing up, nick was into sports and loved the outdoors. so did his cousin haile, who was as bright and active as he was. she was vivacious, bubbly, and funny. she was very athletic in high school. she was in gymnastics and softball and track. the close-knit cousins spent the wednesday before thanksgiving together. rachel says, there isn t all that much for teens to do in little falls so they would drive around town in the red mitsubishi nick rebuilt, himself. did you cruise right down the main drag here? pretty much, everywhere. so, just spending the day,
got a lot of weird things happen in trial. i ve never, in my life, had evidence such as this. this might be more than what we re, initially, being told. but before all the fear and the finger pointing, it was just another thanksgiving weekend in november, 2012, in the small town of little falls, minnesota. everybody knows everybody and everything about everybody. 18-year-old, rachel brady, was spending the holiday with her 17-year-old brother, nick, and their 18-year-old cousin, haile kifer. we were always together. we would go camping. we were always in the water. always doing something. me and haile were always together. nick was the fun-loving one in the group. kimberly is his mom. he found joy in everything, and he would make sure to find something to make you smile. he d just sit there and hug me. and be like, oh, rachel, rachel, my big sister. and then, make me laugh every single
with with no cares. yeah. they all spent the night together at a friend s apartment. on thanksgiving morning, nick and haile left around 11:00 a. m. they said they were going to go to my mom and dad s house. the plan was to meet later at grandma s house but nick and haile never showed up. kimberly and rachel tried calling them. is it strange for nick not to answer his phone? absolutely. even if i would have called over and over again, he would have called or answered and been like, what do you want? strange for haile to not answer her phone? extremely. she would have never not answered my phone call. adding to their worry was the weather. it had started snowing. so i m thinking, okay, the weather. maybe, he got stranded somewhere. and i was hoping that he was just staying overnight in a safe place. yeah, in a safe place. are you worried about a car accident? i was very worried.
sure enough, on friday morning, there was frightening news. we heard about a car accident that had a red car. and we thought it was him, right away. and so, we went and looked and it ended up being car pieces for a different car. and so, then, when that wasn t him either, we started to get extremely worried. after that. we drove up and down the back roads, though. we looked. up and down the highway. any way i could think of that might lead through town, anywhere. rachel posted messages on facebook. has anyone heard from haile or nick? still, nothing. by friday afternoon, they were out of their minds with worry. i mean, we called and called and called. no answers. no nothing. we kept getting the voicemails. and i was like, nick, this is getting serious. you know, we i started crying, on one of em. and i was like, you better not be making fun of me. this better not be a joke. yeah. before the day was over, the family would find out, this was
doesn t fit. i just remember feeling, like, i said what do you mean, shot to death? when i could finally get something out. and he said, well, he was shot three times. i was like, shot? what do you mean shot three times? and that that was i couldn t function. i couldn t really hear, after that. were you there, rachel, during that? i walked in. and then, my dad said that somebody somebody shot nickel baby. and i remember, i just went right outside, and i sat in snow. i just buried my head into my hands, and i started to cry. and then, he tapped me on the shoulder, and told me, haile s gone, too. that s your brother and your best friend. do you remember what was racing through your