there was another saying that she was with her mom. maybe she was abducted, maybe she was kidnapped. the stories did not stop, did? they now. we were getting information that they were cuddling. we have to figure out, does he have any motive to want to harm her? i see her side, right at the exit of the trail. the word help was etched into the ground. 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. [crying] a mother s worth night where. there are no signs to get there, just follow the rough, sandy trail down from the subdivisions above, turn a corner, and there it is, the creek. a twisting, slow-moving body of water in north carolina, it s nothing less than an undiscovered garden of eden for teenagers playing hooky from high school. it s like going to the beach for us, it s just a vacation when when caroline was a high school freshman, and terrified of math cla
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
her dear granddaughter had been at the hospital, visiting her. we thought they had found her and that just done it for me. reporter: on march 29th, almost three weeks after danielle disappeared, her family and friends gathered for a balloon release. her friend alexis was there. so was je michael. she remembers he was holding out hope that danielle was alive. he s like, hey, and gave me a hug. and he said, i just, you know, hope we find her and she s okay. reporter: up until then, danielle s aunt chena had managed to stay strong for the family. but with the release of those balloons she felt her resolve and confidence sailing away with them. for the first time then i felt like i was giving up hope. i was starting to feel like that she may not ever come home, and how would we be able to live
you re really history here. yeah, he i m not going to take your calls, your texts. good-bye. that s it. blocked her. reporter: what s more, danielle had used a friend s cell phone to do an end run around je michael s block so she could keep texting him. in his round about responses to her, je michael seemed to threaten danielle s life. he wrote: come to my house. the way i m feeling right now i ll shoot you with no hesitation. je michael s going to kill danielle. that he would if what? if she didn t leave him alone. so, get off my case. yup. reporter: detectives had confronted je michael about that message early on. oh, i was heat of the moment. i was just angry. i said some things i didn t mean to say. i love her. if i could take it back, i would. reporter: and remember, je michael had what appeared to be a solid alibi. three people put him at home studying the night danielle disappeared. his phone was there too. and he had to have been with it, b
danielle s body had started the mourning process for her family. but it was also a turning point for detectives. because danielle knew someone who lived just down the road from the river where her body had been found. her ex-boyfriend, je michael. so he was on his home turf. he s in his backyard. that s rural county out there. there s not even a light in traffic light in that town. reporter: investigators thought that couldn t be a coincidence. but je michael wasn t someone the family had seriously considered as a suspect. at least not at first. he d been supportively by their side ever since danielle disappeared. he would gave me a hug. yep. he was at a balloon release. he was at the search parties, all that stuff. reporter: but there had been moments with je michael that gave them pause. one happened for chena during that big search. it was the strangest thing because he was, like, in the middle of an open circle, and there he stood not talking to anyone, standing there