Always so kind hearted and sweet. She wanted to be a nurse and she had a plan. She went to sleep one sunday night and never woke up. I saw a 16yearold female laying in her bed. There was a bullet hole in the wall. So shes been shot . Someone had fired a shot from outside the residence. With emma a target, that weekend shed seen a mysterious figure dressed in black. Turning the doorknob beating on the door. Shes in fear in a panic. She was shaking. Now two brave friends set out on a secret mission. Could they help catch her killer . Youre trying to bring down a murder suspect i just knew something had to be done. Everybody put your hands out of the vehicle now. It all became a lot more real. Hello. Welcome to dateline. Emma walker was a spirited teenager with a knack for stirring up fun. Pretty and smart she had her whole life ahead of her. After her death detectives faced a tough investigation. Whoever shot emma had been brazen and it would take a bold plan to catch her killer. Heres noises in the night. When the autumn chill seeps into this Community Just north of knoxville, tennessee hundreds of High School Students are drawn to the blaze of friday night lights. To cheer on their hometown heroes the bobcats. She was the friday night light who perhaps shown brightest of them all. Emma walker, a bobcats cheerleader since her freshman year at central high. She was a really good cheerleader. Some cheerleaders just go through the motions but emma put her own kind of sparkle i guess into what she would do. Fellow cheerleaders kelsey and lauren said their friend emma could be sassy, too. Shed always say, well, i am kind of a big deal. And i take it she said that with a hint of sarcasm . Yes. People who didnt know her were like oh, shes super pretty cheerleader. Oh, no. Then they would meet her and be like she is the nicest person they ever met. Keegan and megan were emmas long time school friends. Once you got to know her youre like, wow. She is a down to earth person and really sweet. She had a smile that could light up the room. Big, beautiful smile. Emmas parents jill and mark say that infectious smile was the hallmark of her playful personality. She liked to play jokes on me by grabbing my iphone, taking selfies of herself, and i had no idea. Emma volunteered at an animal shelter. At school she was an honor role student with a clear career goal. She wanted to be a neo natal nurse. When we would talk about the different professions and wed get to the ones about babies she was like thats what i want to do. Its no surprise emma got noticed by boys at school. There was one boy she definitely noticed back. Thats really all she like talked about at first was just like hes super cute. He was riley, two years older than emma and popular too. A stand out wide receiver on the bobcats football team. Did you ever think riley was going to make it to the nfl . If anybody was going to do it definitely riley. Rileys friends from grade school say he wasnt just a high school jock. He was active at church and loved star wars movies. Started out kind of a nerdy guy. That is how we met obviously. Then a little bit later in high school he got a little more into football. But he kept with his nerd roots. He was really funny and i think thats why emma fell for him in the first place. Because they were both super goofy. She had a big crush on him. She did. There was just one problem. Riley already had a girlfriend but he said he broke up with her to date emma. Things got serious pretty quickly between the two of them. Yeah. But as the months went by it became clear riley the star Football Player was also, well, a player. It turned out his ex wasnt really an ex after all. He had, like, promised his exgirlfriend that he would take her to prom that year and take emma his senior year. She was okay with this . She wasnt okay with it but she did let it happen. She couldnt let go . No. That must be hard for a parent when you see a guy who is has two girls on the go. Thats not cool. No its not cool. She was young and had a mind of her own and didnt want us to voice our concerns. Emmas determination to be with riley caused a lot of tension between her and her parents. How does it work when you are trying to be good parents and your daughter has that strong personality . Its difficult. Very difficult. She just was very stubborn and thought ther way was the right way. She wanted to learn for herself. Emma and riley dated on and off in high school for two years. When riley graduated and went off to college just a half hour away they tried to keep the relationship going, but just before thanksgiving in rileys freshman year emma said she saw snapchats of riley with other girls on campus and she broke up with him for good. Emmas parents say the tension at home evaporated. It must have felt so good to be the happy family again. It did. The whole household was different. The household wasnt calm for very long. On november 20th, 2016, a sunday, emma went for ice cream with her dad and planned to get up early for school the next morning i told her good night. Love you. Going to bed. And during the middle of the night i heard this loud noise. What kind of noise was it . It sounded like someone was in the house and opened the door and slammed it. And then i heard it again. Mark jumped out of bed to check on emma and her brother. I opened up her door to her bedroom and i stared at her for probably 15, 20 seconds. And she was just lying asleep in her bed. And i shut the door and went to my sons bedroom. He was in the bed asleep. So i thought, im hearing things. So i checked the doors around the house and went back to bed. In the morning, emmas mom, jill, woke up early i went in to wake her up and i couldnt wake her up. Whats going through your mind in that moment . I had no idea and i cant recall a lot of it. I just know i checked for a pulse. And there was no pulse. No pulse. So, you know. Emmas younger brother evan also rushed in. Poor evan, too. Yes. Im sure that is something you wish that i wish hed never have to experience it. Its like a nightmare. Jill called 911. I just tried to wake up my daughter for school, and she has no pulse. You said shes nonresponsive . Yeah. Stay on the line maam. What had happened to emma walker . Coming up, the investigation begins. I saw a 16yearold female laying in her bed with a small amount of blood on her pillow. People thought she might have over dosed on something. They thought she had ingested poison or whatever. This is a mystery right now. Its all a mystery. When dateline continues heres to the duers. To all the people who realize they can du more with less asthma thanks to dupixent, the addon treatment for specific types of moderatetosevere asthma. Dupixent isnt for sudden breathing problems. It can improve lung function for better breathing in as little as 2 weeks and help prevent severe asthma attacks. Its not a steroid but can help reduce or eliminate oral steroids. Dupixent can cause serious allergic reactions including anaphylaxis. Get help right away if you have rash, shortness of breath, chest pain, tingling or numbness in your limbs. Tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection and dont change or stop your asthma treatments, including steroids, without talking to your doctor. Are you ready to du more with less asthma . Talk to your asthma specialist about dupixent. If your financial situation has changed, we may be able to help. There he is. Oh, wow. Youre doing, uh, youre doing really great with the twirling. Dad, if you want to talk, i have a break at 3 00. Okay, okay. Im going. Im gone. Like like i wasnt here. [ horn honks ] keep keep doing it, buddy. Switch to progressive and you can save hundreds. You know, like the sign says. Monday, november 21st, 2016, was supposed to be a regular school morning. Instead, First Responders were arriving at the Walker Family home. And word that something horrible had happened to emma was tearing through town. Friends calling friends. She was just bawling. I was like, okay. You need to breathe. Calm down. Whats wrong . She said, emma is dead. I said what are you talking about . Because it really didnt register in my mind, like not our emma. No. It didnt seem real at first to nathan either. I was like, yeah. Thats my best friend, but, no, she didnt pass away. It just hit me. I started bawling. Emmas exboyfriend riley was at his college dorm when his phone was flooded with calls and texts. He grieved on social media. How much he loved her, how much he is going to miss her. She doesnt deserve this. Shes in a better place now. Tell god about our bible verse. Did their hearts go out to riley, that hes lost a lot of people. A lot of people commented im so sorry. Prayers for you. Praying for you. Still, no one knew yet how emma died. What are some of the rumors that are now floating around on social media about what happened to emma . People had thought she might have overdosed on something. Some people said brain bleed. The biggest one that upset us the most for people who didnt know her were like saying that she killed herself. Was there any part of you that was confused and thinking maybe its possible . No. No part of me thought emma would ever take her alive. This is a mystery right now as to what happened. Emma is there and you know she has not survived whatever has happened but you dont know what. Its all a mystery. Investigators arrived with just sketchy details from First Responders. They thought originally it was a suicide that she had ingested something, poison or whatever. Knox county major mike mclain was assigned to investigate the case with major crimes detective alan merritt. Saw a 16yearold female laying in her bed with a small amount of blood on her pillow. Some people confused that with she had gotten sick or ingested something and caused her to vomit. When the detective looked closer he saw something unusual. First responders didnt immediately see the hole in the wall. There was a hole in the wall next to emmas bed. A bullet hole. And while only a little blood was visible on emmas pillow, when investigators inspected her head, they saw a small entry wound. So shes been shot . Yes, maam. Shot in her own bed. The bullet struck her just left and above the ear. Basically it was a fatal wound. She had to have been shot then through the wall . Yes. It was kind of obvious someone had fired a shot from outside the residence into the residence. Striking her in the head. This is not the kind of neighborhood that has drive by shootings, right . Yes, maam. That is correct. It is actually a fairly low crime rate area. As the detectives processed what was now a crime scene they found more clues as to what might have happened. We go outside the residence. Thats where we also determined there was a second shot that had been fired through the in wall of the house. So, bullet holes in two separate walls. There in the walkers yard we find a shell casing, a spent casing that had been fired. Then as we again work around to the end wall of the residence we find a spent casing and a live round. When emmas parents learned what had happened, they were barely able to take it in. They had told us she had been shot. Its unthinkable. Emmas father mark recalled with horror those noises he had heard during the night. Knowing those noises i heard were gunshots and sounded nothing like gunshots. But your instincts were right that something happened in the middle of the night. You think your child is safe in your home sleeping. But who would want to kill this sweet, popular girl . Whose goal in life was to care for newborn babies . It turned out the last few days of emma walkers life had been anything but normal. And might be the key to unraveling the mystery. Coming up she sees a person dressed all in black. A mysterious figure at emmas door. Then this person comes to the front door and starts, you know, trying to get in the house and turning the doorknob, beating on the door. She is in fear in a panic i would have been absolutely terrified. When dateline continues. Ke this . Eh, Nothing Happened. driver Nothing Happened . burke Nothing Happened. driver sure looks like something happened. burke well, youve been with farmers for three years with zero auto claims. driver yeah . burke so you earned your policy perk accident forgiveness. Now instead of this being something, it s driver its nothing burke get a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. They should really turn this ride off. We are farmers. 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Do not give linzess to children less than six and it should not be given to children six to less than 18, it may harm them. Do not take linzess if you have a bowel blockage. Get immediate help if you develop unusual or severe stomach pain, especially with bloody or black stools. The most common side effect is diarrhea, sometimes severe. If its severe, stop taking linzess and call your doctor right away. Other side effects include gas, stomach area pain, and swelling. Change your thinking to ibsc. If your constipation and belly pain keeps coming back, tell your doctor and say yesss to linzess. Emma walker was shot dead in her own bed. At 16 years old, she had her whole life ahead of her. All of the great things she would have done. Proms and graduations and things wed never get to see. You know . Getting married. Having kids. As emmas family began to imagine life without her, police were focused on finding her killer. They were talking to her family and friends about the days right before the shooting. Its a lot of activity in a period of two days. Its unexplained. It was the weekend before thanksgiving. Friday night emma and her group were celebrating a football win at a friends house. Her friend zach was at the party when emma received a text message from an unknown number. The message said something about riley. Hed been taken. Her text message saying Something Like someone has riley. Someone has riley. Someone has like kidnapped him. Riley kidnapped . The strange messages kept coming. Then emmas phone line. Riley was on the line. Screaming in the background help me emma i need your help. You can hear riley on the call, calling for help. Yes. Emma and her friends rushed out of the house and there was riley. He had his hands on his head. He just looked confused. I could see her yelling at him. Like whats going on . She was really angry. Emma was furious with riley. She and her friends thought the whole thing was some kind of prank. We all kind of like, eh, its very far fetched for him to really be kidnapped. We didnt think twice about it. But if the kidnapping was a joke, what happened the next morning was no laughing matter. Emmas friends told police that saturday she drove herself home from her friends house. As she is pulling in the sub division approaching her residence, she sees a person dressed all in black. And as she gets closer, you know, he sin inchputs the hood puts sunglasses on. Emma was texting her friends a play by play. As she gets in the residence this person comes to the front door and starts trying to get in the house. Turning the doorknob. Beating on the door. Shes in fear in a panic. And so she reaches out to the one person that she thinks can help her, which was riley gaul. Emma had just broken up with riley and was angry at him for what she thought was that strange kidnapping stunt the night before. Still, she texted him this. I hate you, but i need you right now. She face time called him and asked him to come over. Why do you think she reached out to him, given what, that they had just broken up . I think he was a sense of security to her and that, you know, he was a protector from other things. Riley searched the house and neighborhood but saw no signs of anyone. Neither called the police. But now detectives were investigating emmas murder. They discovered Surveillance Footage from a neighbors house and there he was. This is the mysterious man in black. At that point it is. Were you able to see a face . No. A possible intruder . An attempted kidnapping . What was going on . Police needed to talk to riley right away. Im detective merritt. They asked him for details about the kidnapping and he insisted it really happened. It was traumatizing. I didnt know what to make of it. I went to my step dads house and i pulled in the driveway. And this van pulled over across from the semicircle. And these two guys were like walking across the street and the next thing i know one of em grabs my back and the other ones around the corner. And they, just, like, put their hands over my face, and just took me to their van or whatever. Well, why would somebody do that to you . I genuinely have no idea. They did ask me they were like, um, you know, like who would you want to talk to for the last time . So i started freaking out and i said emma. And they made me call emma. I was just crying and screaming and she thought it was a joke. She thought i was playing a prank on her. Emma didnt buy rileys kidnapping story. But she was genuinely terrified when she called him the next day about the man in black. Thats when she face time called me. She was crying and freaking out. I said okay. Give me a minute. Ill come down and check it out. That is the only person riley could think of wh