eastern, right here on msnbc. and on that note i, wish you a very good night from, all of our colleagues across the networks of nbc news, thank you for staying up late. and have a great weekend. ♪ ♪ ♪ thank you for staying up late, and have a great weekend. he says, danielle didn't come home last night, and i'm like, what? >> he had a beautiful 15-year-old girl just vanish. >> danielle was talking about this creek. he was trying to get her to go hang out >> somebody said they saw her get into the trunk. there was another story that she was with her mom. >> stories didn't stop, did they? >> no. >> 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 sock right at the exit of the trail.

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 something was wrong. >> people were actually hiding their kids. >> you think i'm going to risk not knowing what actually happen happened? no i was going to find out. >> so this story is about a teejed sweetie named danielle. danielle locklear. it seeps everyone in her orbit got a boost from her sunny take

on life, including her mom. >> she was a funny, witty girl. she stood out, she shined. you would notice her. >> she was always happy. never seen her without a smile on her face. >> danielle's aunt sheena was somewhere between an older sister and surrogate mom for danielle. danielle was living with aunt sheena's family in hope mills, north carolina, while her mother worked her way through a painful divorce in another state. >> my sister's like, hey, do you mind if danielle can come? i'm like, not at all. >> danielle was the outsider, the new kid at school for about ten minutes. caroline and danielle became best buds immediately. >> we were sitting in the auditorium, and i guess everyone was scared to talk to her because of how pretty she was. i tapped on her shoulder and complimented her hair. she started making jokes and

hanging out with us all the time. >> a few weeks into her freshman year, danielle was already known around the school by her nickname dani. did dani fit into any of the groups? >> every group, every person. it didn't matter who it was. >> she could sit down at any table? >> she could sit down with the quietest student and have a conversation with them as well. >> and sharp as a tack. at night there she'd be at home indulging her inner girly girl. goofing on youtube with makeup tricks. >> she loved to bake. >> she was good at it? >> yeah, she was really, really good. she was a fast learner. she would jump on youtube and find all these different recipes and just different techniques, and the first time she would try something she, i mean, it was a home run for her. >> and you'd think she would have had bruised thumbs with her

non-stop messaging and social media posts. boys, life. are you wondering if a striking teen like danielle had a boyfriend? well, she did. she'd struck up a head-over-heels relationship with a boy in the summer of 2013. his name was jamichael lamy. danielle's grandmother kelly and great aunt had known his family forever. they belonged to the same church. kelly remembered the sparks flying when they met as teenagers. >> you could see something in their eyes. i'm looking at her, and i'm looking at him. >> it's like they were attracted to one another. >> right away. >> sheena, who played the role of nosey aunt always kept a hawk's eye on her niece. now she had reason to be extra vigilant. this is time for nosey aunt to get busy. >> yes. >> you have something to work with. >> like what's going on here? >> the pair had become what

everyone call add cute couple. >> now she a pep in her step. now they're doing things together, and i'm starting to see these notebooks and "jamichael" and "danielle malloy." >> oh, this is boyfriend-girlfriend. >> yeah. >> he was her first boyfriend and an older one, too. jamichael was a senior at another school and danielle a freshman. she invited him to her first high school dance. >> she was like, i'm going to need some high heels. and i said mm, high heels. >> going to cross that line and welcome to being a young adult. >> yeah. so she puts on these sparkling heels and i'm watching her walk and i'm like oh, my god. >> she's pulling it off, huh? >> yeah. >> by spring 2014, she had been living with sheena and her grandparents for close to 12 months. she was still too young to spend the night alone.

so on march 11 when sheena and her mom had to go over to atlanta for a doctor's appointment, danielle's grandfather was given the responsibility of keeping an eye on the teen. so grandfather's in charge here. >> yeah, grandfather's in charge. and this was something we would really never do. and on the way down there we get a text, danielle, she's like, oh, you guys just left me, huh? it's just me and papa. we would always joke. >> like you'd do that to me >> like you guys just left me. >> it was a tuesday, a school night. after supper, just before bed, danielle asked her grandfather if she could drop off a school notebook at a classmate's house a few doors away. he said yes. >> my dad says, okay, well, make it quick. you know. we never had any issues with her. so he lets her go. >> and off danielle went into the night. in atlanta, sheena sensed something was off. >> i had a bad feeling come over me. felt really uneasy and felt like

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

in the ground. head my hair stand up, and i started getting really nervous. >> not far from the creek, one ominous sight leads to another. >> i look down, and i see her sock. right at the exit of the trail. >> when dateline continues. tral tral >> nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts for all-day, all-night protection. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn? so i said, "yeah you're saving hundreds when dateline continues bunde from progressive, but there's no saving that casserole!" [ both laugh ] i just love that word "bundle." it's so fun. two things coming together like a force of nature, like it was really meant to be, y'know? yes, yes, i do. and i'm so glad you wanna save money. rodney, set up a bundle for jon hamm. mm! of course! jon, is it still cool if i catch a ride home with you? i never said it was. but technically you didn't say it wasn't. it's not. yet. listen, i'm done settling. because this is my secret.

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danielle locklear walked out the door of her home on the night of march 11, 2014, and hadn't been seen in the hours since. their bright, bright girl gone. danielle's mother rona was in a south carolina restaurant when she got a call from her sister sheena. >> your mind goes like this. i get tht car, and, well i get to my house, and grab as many clothes, whatever i can and just drive through the night. >> sheena and danielle's grandmother kelly also raced

back home. they arrived first. so what do you see when you pull up at the house? >> so there's a police car there, my dad went and called the police. the family's telling all your officers, she's a good girl. >> absolutely. >> she's a straight-a student, not like her to be a runner. but police thought it was possible she left voluntarily and would return on her own. >> we were hopeful she had stayed at a friend's house. >> reporter: but that scenario didn't sound right to rona. when she arrived, she said as much to police. >> they were asking all these questions like, do you think she would have ran away? do you think she could be at a friend's house? anything, you know. and i was like, well, there's no reason why for danielle to run away. >> the family called around to everyone they could think of,

hoping someone had heard from danielle. of course her boyfriend was at the top of the list. >> i said hey, jamichael, have you heard from danielle? she's been missing since last night? >> he said no, he hadn't seen danielle in days. and what's more, he said they'd broken up. the split was news to danielle's aunt but wasn't entirely surprised. these two had broken up before, the last time just a few months earlier. >> she mentioned something about him talking to another girl. >> ah. >> and he wasn't giving her as much attention anymore. she didn't like that. >> so after she's moping around the couch. >> yeah. >> she's with him at the big dance. >> i said oh, you all are back together? she said oh, yeah, we're a fine. >> the school reported she had skipped school the day she went missing, totally out of character. what was up for that? then a light bulb moment for sheena. >> so the day before everything

happened i'm pulling into the driveway and the sun's almost down, and she is running across the driveway, and she's kind of out of breath and laughing. and i'm, like, where are, what time, huh uh, where are you coming from? and she's like, oh, oh, there's this creek. there's this creek in back of the neighborhood. some kids have been trying to get me to hang out. don't worry, i won't going back there, it's a mess back there. and i'm like, yeah, i know, you will not be going back there, right? >> the creek, sheena said now with her niece missing she had to go find it. >> we go to the back of the neighborhood and i see a kid on the dirt bike and i said is there a creek around here? he said yeah, i'll show you. >> you follow the kid to the creek. >> the neighborhood creek led she that into a wooded area. >> we're walking here, he's

walking his dirt bike down and leading to me where the stream s. >> yeah. >> then the kid pointed to the ground. he saw something. there, carved in the dirt with some care, a single word. >> the word "help" was scratched in the ground. >> as though somebody had picked up a stick. >> like someone had scraped "help" in the ground with a stick. >> the creek, "help ", frightening. >> just made my hair stand up, and i started getting really nervous. >> she fla didn't know what was going on, but it couldn't be good, that s.o.s. in the sand. did it mean anything to you? it's alarming. >> it was extremely i alarming. i didn't know if it was a call for help. i didn't know if this was something danielle left for me. >> sheena kept walking upon the long path and then came upon it, the creek down a steep lot.

>> the subdivision is back here. >> yeah. >> and this is like a secret place. >> i had no idea it existed. fire pits and clothes from where the kids went swimming. old homework note the and all of that stuff. >> including a towel she recognized from her house. >> one of your family towels. >> yeah, one of our towels. and of course i was concerned. i was like, it looks like she had hung out, but maybe this is, i don't know if this is from today is this or when was this is this because i know she was there the day before. >> danielle had definitely been there at some point. sheena returned home and told police what she'd found. they were interested and went back to the creek with her. >> and they're kind of walking ahead and i look down. and i see her night sock. just right at the exit of the trail. and i know it's her sock, because i bought them. it's a fuzzy sock, and it was

like rolled into a ball and kind of like had straw in it. >> would she go out with her socks on like that? >> absolutely not. >> sheena could not make sense of why a sock danielle wore only at bedtime would be there. >> i can't imagine being barefoot or in your stocking feet, you'd be all ripped up. >> absolutely. >> she that knew the sock could be an important clue. she picked it up and turned it over to police. by then something else was coming to light. police realized that danielle's almost constant social media chitchat had gone dark. the high school girl missing in life was now suddenly gone on facebook and instagram too. and cops learned something else from their own kids. >> they're like, you know, well, they said she's been hanging out with some bad kids lately. and i go oh, great. >> bad kids. a sock covered in straw. the word "help" carved in the sand. danielle's hours before her disappearance were becoming more

and more enigmatic and infinitely more terrifying. >> maybe we don't really know her the way we thought. >> coming up. pictures surface of danielle by the creek the day she disappeared. >> in one of the pictures, she had on a pair of glasses that didn't belong to her. so i zoom in to the lenses, and i could see there were like four kids in the background. >> stories surfaced about danielle and a boy from school. >> we were getting information from other kids that were there that they were making out and that they were cuddling. >> when "dateline" continues. y . medication that can treat and prevent my attacks all in one. don't take if allergic to nurtec. most common side effects, in less than 3%, were nausea, when "dateline" continues

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sheena was known at nosey aunt in her big family, so when her niece danielle locklear went missing, sheena wasn't waiting on police for answers. so you became your own detective here. >> well, yeah, my concern was to find her. >> sheena's search had turned up troubling things about danielle. there was boyfriend turbulence, playing hooky from school and hanging out at a creek. how do you reconcile this behavior with this little girl you've known for a long, long time. >> it didn't seem right, but she's also turning, she's a

teenager as well, and she's got boyfriend problems, and maybe she's a little emotional, i don't though. >> before police could get there, sheena found that neighborhood friend danielle was supposed to see the night she disappeared. >> this is the one she delivered the book to? >> yeah. i was like hey, girl, did you see danielle last night? she was like no. >> she what was disappointed, but the friend said something else. >> she said we texting last might and she had pictures of her from earlier on in the day of march 11. >> and those images showed danielle hanging out at the creek. >> i can see what shirt she had on. i can see her jeans were like at the bottom of the picture, and she just kind of had on some shorts like she didn't want to get her pants wet. >> were the kids she was hanging with in the pictures? >> no, there were no other kids around. but it was strange. in one of the pictures she had

on a pair of glasses that didn't belong to her. so i zoomed in to the lenses, and i could see there were like four kids, like a reflection of four kids in the background. i asked her friend, i said wait a minute. so there were other people there? she's like, ah, a little hesitant. >> sheena pried the names of the other kids out of this friend. more names and faces for police to track down. >> and so now i'm like, i got to find out who these kids are. >> sheena didn't know it then, but one of those kids was caroline. caroline first introduced danielle to the creek days before her disappearance. it didn't seem like danielle's kind of place. >> dani never really skipped class. and one day she was, like, i don't want to go present my project, so i can go with you. >> then the next day, the day danielle went missing, she was at the creek before the school day was over. >> she was already at the creek before me.

>> how did she seem to you, caroline? >> she was just texting me, hurry up get down here, everyone's having fun. when i got down there, she was hanging out with everybody, having a blast, laughing. >> kids were celebrating what seemed like the first day of spring. >> we were doing like chicken fights in the water, just making jokes and stuff. it was a good day. >> after a day of laughs, danielle headed home. >> she has dinner with her grandfather. she's accounted for. >> mm-hm. her grandfather said he had seen her that evening. so now why is this sock over here at the entrance to this creek? >> police theorized that after dinner danielle had gone from her home back to the creek. why else would they have recovered that sock that she only wore at night? they wondered if she had met up with someone there, and other information was rolling in. the high school grapevine was abuzz with rumors about the boys danielle spent the day with at the creek. you identified a boy maimed

named angel. >> we were getting information from other kids that they were making out and that they were cuddling. >> and remember she and her poifd had just split up. she was cute. >> that's right. >> he had a girlfriend but we knew danielle was sij. her relationship had recently ended with jamichael malloy, and some of the kids were telling us in interviews that angel was trying to put the moves on danielle, so to speak. >> at this point, we got to figure out, is she in a romantic relationship with this boy, and if so, does he have any motive to want to harm her? >> most kids described angel as a popular student. but a few others recalled a fight starter. angel was certainly someone

police wanted to talk to. so they stopped by his house. >> he was saying, i don't know who you're talking about. i don't flow what you're talking about. >> angel denied being at the creek, something police knew wasn't true investigators don't like to be lied to even if it's a kid. >> that's right. >> you want them to straight shoot and you weren't getting it. >> that's right. >> so angel was lying, but did he have something to hide? coming up. >> investigators are also about to look at those closer to home. the family doesn't get a pass, does it, detective? >> absolutely not. >> it was painful, because never in a million years would we have done anything. she was very precious to us. >> which family member prompted this reaction? >> the first and only time in my career that i contacted my supervisor and said there's something wrong here. >> when "dateline" continues. g e g e >>

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i'm dara brown. former trump advisor steve bannon was found guilty on two counts of contempt of congress. he failed to sit for a deposition when asked to produce documents for the january 6 kmit committee and faces two year in prison. meanwhile, former president trump and former vice president pence went head to head. trump is supporting kari lake. pence sbaking karen taylor robson. now back to "dateline." g karen r robson no danielle locklear was missing for a day, then two. by then, local news, including wral tv was picking up on the missing teen story. >> this does not make any sense.

>> during that first week, danielle's mom rona, spent her days at the police station and nights at her mother's house. >> i would just sit there. everybody would go to bed and i would stare at the front door just waiting, hoping, praying that she'll run through that door so i can yell at her. >> investigators hoped for the same. but danielle had gone silent. no posts. no tweets. no texts. >> we noticed really quickly, there's though social media. >> that's not a good sign. >> absolutely not. >> even if she's run away with a boyfriend to myrtle beach or something. >> absolutely not. for a teernl to be so active and flat line on social media is very concerning. >> a command post was set up, headed by david servey. how many different agents? >> the fbi had the biggest presence, representatives from the sheriff's office.

if they wear a badge in cumberland county, they were in that command post. >> police deployed those sources to investigate their most promising lead, angel. he was the classmate rumorville stories had canoodling with danielle. but he told police he didn't even know danielle and hadn't been at the creek. after police briefed angel about the consequences of lying to authorities he started to spill. >> he finally came forward and said yes, i was there, i was with danielle. i talked with her some. >> caroline was there, too. >> was angel hitting on her? >> no, he was actually dating one of my other friends at the time, and then another one of my friends who was at the creek, cami, he was talking to cami at the time. >> according to caroline, the stories about angel hitting on danielle were just rumors. angel last told police he last

saw her in the afternoon. >> she left around 3:30 that day head towards home where she lived with her grandfather. >> what about his alibi in the critical hours, say 9:00 p.m. >> his alibi was pretty solid. he went to practice after school, he went to a movie with his family. we were able to confirm during the hours we were pretty certain danielle went missing he was home with his family. >> he doesn't seem to pan out. he drops off. >> he drops off the suspect pool pretty quick. >> but police hadn't run out of people to investigate. the family doesn't get a pass, does it, detective? >> absolutely not. >> that includes the people under your roof. they come to ask sharp questions to the family members. >> yeah, they did. >> investigators seized computers and cell phones. >> any type of electronics. anything that anybody had in the house. and i remember trying to write

down phone numbers out of it real quick, because they was taking it real quick. >> police interviewed everyone, but they were interested this one specific relative. they're asking questions of your father. >> they're asking questions about my dad? why was she staying there? and, you know, the family dynamic is strange. >> danielle's grandmother expected her husband would come under scrutiny. >> everyone had their eyes on him because he was the last one that saw her. >> officer george regan was the first dispatched to the house after her grandfather reported her missing. when the grandfather described what happened the night before things didn't seem right to regan. 10:00 p.m. seemed awfully late to be letting your granddaughter out of the house. >> he told me he'd been playing video games, and when she came in to tell him i'm going do you know to a friend's house, he didn't realize how late it really was. he said if i'd known was that late i'd probably told her no,

because i didn't realize the time, i told her it would be okay to go down and come back. >> then the fact that he didn't report her missing until well into the next day. why has he waited so long to call police? >> he tells us he thought he had to wait at least 24 hours, but when he called and talked to his wife and she was on her way to atlanta he says you need to tall the police now. >> he says he got a bad vibe from grandpa. >> it's the only time in my career in taking missing persons calls that i excused myself and contacted my supervisor and said there's something wrong here. >> the grandfather was asked to come to the police station for an interview and later asked to take a polygraph. what are you trying to rule in or out? >> we're trying to initially rule out whether anything that could have happened between him and her that might have led to her disappearance. >> the police suspicion about their own kin was excruciating for danielle's family. >> it was heartbreaking. >> was that pain upon pain?

>> it was painful. never in a million years would we have done anything. she was very precious to us. >> danielle's grandmother certainly didn't think her husband had anything to do with her granddaughter's disappearance. but she was also searching her heart for forgiveness. how do you let her leave? how do you let her get out the house? why didn't you call for her? tv was called in and everything. what kind of grandfather would let the child out of house this time of the night? >> it wasn't long before police cleared danielle's grandfather. he passed his polygraph, and police couldn't find anything in his phone or family history to make him a suspect. grandpa was off the hook. police were continuing to go down their list of names. >> i'm tim. >> someone else on their list was danielle's on again-off again boyfriend jamichael malloy. where does he stand on your person of interest theories?

>> he's floating in the middle. >> so many people to talk to, but none of them was danielle. no one had the slightest idea where she was. not even her ex. >> coming up. >> could danielle have run away? jamichael shares what could and critical revelation. >> she thought she was a burden to her grandma. she really wanted to go back to south carolina. >> if she's run away thousand, where do you think she's went to? >> when "dateline continues." t to to >> (announcer) you can quit. call 1-800-quit now for help getting free medication. do you struggle with occasional nerve aches calin your hands or feet?elp try nervivenerve relief from the world's #1 selling nerve care company. nervive contains alpha lipoic when "datel. to relieve occasional nerve aches, weakness and discomfort. try nervivenerve relief.

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did she say anything about she was planning on going anywhere? >> police were talking to jamichael malloy. he'd been danielle's most recent boyfriend. the two met at a church youth camp when danielle was only 14. >> kids have little elementary school boyfriends where they hold hands. but this was her first real boyfriend that she was in love with. >> her first love came with a family seal of approval. jamichael like danielle was a good kid, never a problem. varsity soccer, a dedicated runner with a laser-focus goal of becoming a marine after graduation. he had his eye set on what he wanted to do with himself. >> yeah, seemed like a very ambitious child. and i thought hey, this might be something good for danielle. i know they're young, but it

seems like he has a plan for his life. >> danielle was daydreaming herself into that master plan. alexis was one of danielle's best friends. >> she told about after the freshman year that her sophomore year that she was going to do online classes and go with him into the military, wherever he was sent to and be there with him. so she was talking about marriage, talking about having little danielles and jamichaels running around. she was very serious about jamichael. >> jamichael's laid-back vibe was the yen to her yang. >> they were a perfect match. they were the same league. >> even though jamichael and danielle had broken up, he was still one of the closest people to her he came down to the station willingly. >> he freely and voluntarily came in on his own. >> jamichael said he and

danielle might have broken up, but she was still dear to him. >> i still love her. she's a good girl. >> so you loved her. >> i love her. i still who have her. >> he pitched in just how much danielle's family cared for him, too. >> whole family liked me. >> the former boyfriend wanted to find her just as much as anyone. >> what can you do to help us find her? >> whatever you want me to do. >> so law enforcement pumped him for information. >> so she skipped school. she did that a lot? >> she didn't go to fourth period a lot because she got picked on. because of her clothes or something. she didn't have the best of clothes like, you can afford what you can afford. >> jamichael offered his own theories about what might have happened to her. >> she thought she was a burden to her grandmother. >> if she's run away now, where do you think she went to? >> close friend.

that's only thing i can think of would be like a friend. >> jamichael also said danielle had been depressed in the past and even told her aunt sheena about that. >> i told her she tried to kill herself twice. >> why? >> just because she didn't want to be here anymore. >> jamichael was cooperative but police weren't giving him a pass. he told police the same thing he'd told the family. he hadn't seen danielle in days. on the night she went missing he was home studying. >> was anybody else home there with you that night? >> my friend dominick, my mom was there. >> jamichael's family confirmed his whereabouts. >> he says yeah, we were studying for s.a.t.s. >> police asked for his phone. >> his phone said he was there.

you got three, four sources saying the same thing that jamichael's saying. he was home that night. >> there were also cell phone messages jamichael sent to other friends around the time she went missing. gps data showed those texts were sent from jamichael's house. and police couldn't find any evidence he and danielle were going to meet up the night she disappeared. he lived almost a mile away from her. he doesn't have a car? >> no. >> they fired off the occasional texts from the house. there was no way to tie him to danielle's disappearance. rather, danielle's family and friends remember his worry and concern for dani. >> have you heard anything? you know, have anybody said anything? have anyone found her? >> jamichael seemed like he was very concerned. he was asking me, you know, is

there anyplace you can think of that she could have ran off to or any people she could have ran off with is this. >> alexis couldn't think of anyone. but danielle's class meat also classmates had an idea. you still have a whole hool. . >> and her friends that were prepared to come forward with their own version of what transpired. >> and the stories police were getting were leading right back to the creek. >> coming up. the rumor mill churns out a new name. derrick. but he says he was at home, online when danielle disappeared. >> i'm derrick telling you i was noodling around the computer but you're not going to find record of that because i deleted the history. >> if you're not doing anything wrong, why are you deleting your history? >> when dateline continues. del.

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ever since danielle locklear went missing, her aunt sheena had but one goal, to find her. so almost every day, she that would head to the creek for more detective work. >> i had a cousin in special forces. he got inside of the water, the creek, he had a stick and he was just going through the cold waters. >> sheena also kept running down leads. >> everyone was a suspect to me. >> maybe there's a new boyfriend in the picture and they've just skipped out? you don't know. >> i have no idea. and my concern right then is just to ask as many questions as i can from the people that seen her last and find her. >> like an investigative reporter working a story, she was able to track down most of the kids who'd been with danielle the day she disappeared. >> i remember one time this kid was like, my mom told me not to

talk to you. like wow, really is this i guess it was going around that i was the crazy aunt. >> the kids had good reason not to talk to grownups about their days at the creek. >> they were all scared. they skipped. they didn't want their parents to know. >> the kids weren't talking much to sheena but amongst themselves. brianna was a junior at danielle's school. >> you go to one class, it's like what do you guys know, this is what i've heard. >> some kids were convinced she'd run away. alexis didn't buy it. >> she does not like to leave home. and if she does, she definitely would have taken makeup. she doesn't even check the mail without putting on makeup. >> sorting it out wasn't easy for law enforcement either. >> we're dealing with 15, 16, 17-year-old kids in high school,

something that's getting a lot of publicity, and everybody wants to be the person that knows something, that talked to danielle that day. >> what kind of theories were you hearing from the hool kids? >> there were theories that she had a problem with a young man down there and the young man had beat her and potentially let to her death. there were all kinds of story, somehow there as a problem between her and another young lady because they were talking to the same young man. so we were getting all kinds of different stories. >> as the police questioned the school crowd one name came up over and over again. derrick. in fact kids said they were really tight. >> derrick is a kid that was not even in school. was looking at getting back in school, but he run into trouble and wasn't in school. >> when derrick wasin school he

had a pen chant for skipping. he was a regular at the creek and familiar with danielle's crowd. >> derrick was like, at the time he was big and bulky and everybody was kind of afraid of him. >> did you hear stories about him later? >> yes, i did. >> and the story going around about derrick was more than a little bit scary. >> we got information about him that he was also trying to get into a romantic relationship with ms. locklear. and she refused him. as a result, he cut her neck and left her in the woods. >> detective, this is like a whole grade b horror movie. >> yeah. >> as horrible as the story was. it sounds like a good lead. >> it was a good lead. >> kids were telling it almost verbatim. >> this wasn't coming from one kid but two or three kids. so we needed to follow up on this for sure. >> police brought derrick in for an interview. what do you see in his demeanor?

>> very, very relaxed. he doesn't even seem concerned about being in trouble. >> he's cool having a smoke? >> cool. >> detectives wanted to find out, what did he know about danielle? suddenly the "like a sister" story was out the window. he claimed he hardly knew her. >> only thing i knew about her, white female, black hair, blue ice, went missing march 11th. >> when you did see her in school, where did you see her senate. > at? >> walking around in the hallways. >> he denied knowing her but that he'd met her. >> she was a very, very beautiful girl. she seemed a little too preppy.

>> standoffish? >> she seemed like a goody-goody. and i don't hang out with the goody-goodies. goody-goodies have a bad habit of snitching. i ain't going to lie. i do illegal things, and i know i do. >> so derrick thought danielle was a goody-goody and a snitch and he did less than legal things. interesting. he also seemed to know about the creek. >> that was my chill spot. i was one of the founders of that area. >> the founders? >> yeah, i would skip so much, i found that area. nobody else would go back there. >> but he said he hadn't gone there the night danielle disappeared. derrick said he spent that night at home. >> went home about 8:30. my dad left to go to a pool tournament. again, i stayed on the computer job searching. between facebook, job searching and tv, that's what i was doing

all night. not really sure if there's any history my computer, there might be i'd have to take a look. >> are you in a habit of deleting history? >> he was noodling around on the computer but you're not going to find anything about it. he explained he did it to protect himself from hackers. but what about his alibi? >> what time did your father get back? >> between 12:00 and 1:00. >> he can't account for himself that night, convincingly. >> there's nobody at the house that can truly put him there. >> and now new evidence was in, and it didn't look good for derrick. >> was she alive when she left that area tuesday night? >> coming up.

a chilling discovery at derrick's house. >> we found two shovels that had what appeared to be blood on them. >> but this case is far from closed. police are about to learn that the last ping from danielle's cell phone came from here. >> you have no idea who's come interesting there. s come s come interestiny skin? not me. serious allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems such as eye pain or vision changes, g there.change or stop tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems asthma medicines without talking to your doctor. ask your doctor about dupixent. ♪ ♪ ♪♪

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suddenly started pinging off a tower miles away. the phone, and presumably danielle, were on the move. >> we get a pin drop that pretty much puts it on i-95, but in that pin out is a certain amount of area that the phone could be in. >> so helpful as phones are, it doesn't give you x marks the spot. >> reporter: not in this case. the last ping came from that spot near the highway. a worry in itself because i-95 is a big ribbon of opportunities from miami to the state of maine. was danielle a runaway? had she been abducted? no one knew, but the records did give investigators a direction to go in because within that area was derek's house. police interviewers brought this information to derek's attention. >> we know where danielle's phone was, okay?

what area her phone was. it's out there around your house was she alive when she left that area out there around your house on tuesday night? >> i have no idea, i didn't see her. >> you're saying she was not there at all? she didn't come out there with some of your friends? >> no, she didn't. she didn't know where i lived, i didn't know she was out there. >> your buddies know where you live. did she come out there with some of your friends? >> no. >> nobody showed up? >> not a single soul. >> reporter: police weren't satisfied. they got a search warrant for derek's house, and what they saw only deepened their suspicions. >> tell me what you found, detective cause there's some interesting things that got your attention. >> when we went out there we initially found a burn pit. we're in march, april -- timeframe. it's not really super cold here. >> reporter: a burn pit. curious, and there was more. >> we see a long knife in a tree and we also found shovels that had, in fact, what appeared to be blood on them. >> reporter: a burn pit, a

serious knife, shovels with maybe blood stains. police thought their case might have cracked wide open. >> oh antenna spiked right up. i was -- i was -- >> you thought, this is my -- >> i solved it -- >> might of solved the case, huh? >> might of solved it. we might be onto something. >> reporter: looking good until investigators did some testing on the blood. >> we did a presumptive out there, and it showed negative, back to square one. we're not dealing with blood. >> reporter: well, what about derek denying he knew danielle, even though friends claimed he called her his sister? didn't that make him a liar? one of derek's friends cautioned. don't read too much into that. >> he tries to seem cool and tell everybody is his sister, everybody's his sister, everybody's his brother. that's just the kind of guy he is. >> reporter: detectives also spoke to one of derek's biggest defenders. his girlfriend. >> her information suggested derek could not possibly have been involved in danielle's disappearance. he had no way of getting to her house that night. >> does he have a car or anything? >> he doesn't even have his license.

>> reporter: caroline knew derek too and thought he was a decent kid, misunderstood. >> i guess everyone thought that he was that type of person because he's -- he was the kid that skipped school and that didn't -- got in trouble with teachers, or spoke back, or something like that. >> school bad boy, huh? >> yeah. >> really he was just a really soft-hearted guy. he would always be there for anybody who needed him. >> reporter: in the end police couldn't find any electronic trail linking derek to danielle. detectives' latest lead had fizzled out, and with no explanation for that word, help that chena found scrawled at the creek, they were down to their two main clues. >> so you got the sock on the trail, and you got a phone out at 95, more questions than answers. >> danielle's last cell phone ping was miles away from her neighborhood. >> we can see that she's moving in a fairly quick fashion, faster than a person could walk. >> the story told by the phone is, i'm in a car. >> yeah. >> reporter: had she been abducted, grabbed by a person or persons unknown? the stranger-danger abduction theory was gaining traction with both the police and danielle's peers. >> well a lot of girls at the high school were scared of like walking around you know in their neighborhoods and stuff at night now. >> reporter: and parents were

scared too. >> people were actually hiding their kids because you know we're thinking just some crazy person come through and kidnap her. >> reporter: and there was something more about the rough location of that last cellphone ping. not only was the cone near derek's place, it also included an rv park. >> you have no idea who's coming and going there. >> no idea. >> makes you wonder, right? >> makes me wonder a lot. did this person stay at this rv park, come into hope mills, grab this girl, go back to the rv park, and that's why her phone's there? there's a lot of questions. >> reporter: did you have to go through the rv park? >> a lot. we drained the ponds. dove them. brought dogs in. we begin to search that entire property from the wooded areas to the water. >> reporter: by now, danielle had been missing for almost two weeks. >> i went over in that area, and i would drive by, and it was just, like, open field, and i'm like oh my god. there's so many places she could have been, you know. >> so it's not a mobile home community. this is rvs coming and going, and transient--

>> right. yeah. but it even made me feel more nervous that it was by 95 because i'm like she -- we're looking around here and she possibly could be somewhere else. >> reporter: after several days of searching the rv park, there was no sign of danielle, and no sign of her cell phone that last pinged by the highway. both could be anywhere. >> 95 is different than a county road. she could've been five states away at that point. >> absolutely. absolutely. i mean, on i-95 an hour either way and you're in a different state and a few hours and you're in a different region of the country. >> reporter: a bad, bad feeling in the pit of her stomach gnawed away at chena. >> and we're kind of like well something bad has -- i felt something bad has happened. >> reporter: the news may not be good, but danielle's mother still held out hope she would one day see her alive again. >> i said, i'm not leaving until i find my child. >> reporter: and that day might come sooner than anyone thought.

and just when all seemed lost, who would believe it! danielle was seen on camera walking around! >> oh wow. she might be visiting someone at the hospital. >> reporter: coming up danielle, seen alive! on surveillance tape, and then, a report of her at a restaurant. >> it was like, okay, this is it. we're done. we found her! >> when dateline continues. 're e we found her >> when dateline continues the bloating, the gas - but align helps me trust my gut again. plus, its recommended by doctors nearly 2x more ccasional but align helps me bloating gas and discomfort. align probiotic. welcome to an align gut. okay, snacks and popcorn are gonna be expensive. let's just accept that. going to the movies can be a lot for young homeowners turning into their parents.

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>> or that she could have taken off on her own? >> can't eliminate any of 'em yet. >> your mind is going crazy. you think of the craziest stuff. >> by now, danielle's disappearance wasn't just a hope mills story. she was featured on dateline's missing in america series. >> her face was always on the billboard. every time i'd hit a stop light, i'd see it. >> reporter: the media set up shop in the police station parking lot. deputy chief servie and his team started giving regular briefings. >> and we are leaving no stone unturned in order to find danielle and bring her home. people want information about what's going on. they're concerned about the case. >> we're a hungry beast.

what do you got for us today? >> feed the beast. >> did that put extra pressure on the investigators because it had jumped the fence and really become a national story? >> yeah. there's pressure for answers, pressures for resolution. and in this case, you know, you had a beautiful, young 15-year-old girl just basically vanish into thin air. >> reporter: north carolina's state bureau of investigation and the atf were consulted. federal agents traveled in from across the southeast. cadaver dogs were even brought in from england. they assisted as danielle's entire subdivision was searched. >> every house in her neighborhood and was probably 200-plus houses. and there was -- was searched with the consent of the homeowner. >> reporter: volunteers were drafted, too. over three hundred joined danielle's family for a top-to-bottom search of the creek area. >> that's my baby, she sweet and loving, and we're just trying to find her. >> reporter: friends from the neighborhood and the church pitched in. including danielle's ex-boyfriend je'michael and his family. >> we were hopeful in them doing them grid searches. we might find more articles of clothes or her. we needed to find something to give us a more solid direction to go.

>> reporter: the coverage also brought a deluge of tips, some totally farfetched. >> there's a lady that was calling saying that she had her and was taking care of her, and -- and that she was sick. and it was just crazy. >> how many leads do you think you chased down? >> over 1,000 leads. i'm positive of it. >> reporter: one of those leads had the authorities convinced danielle was alive. some tipsters said she was at a restaurant near the north carolina-virginia border, 150 miles away. and she's there right now. >> these people were adamant. "look, we've seen her. this is -- she's with a guy." >> reporter: fbi agents were dispatched to check it out. >> they were sending pictures back. like, they were sitting in the parking lot watching and taking pictures and stuff. and we were like, man, that looks like her. that's -- >> spitting image, huh? >> oh god, yeah. it was like, okay, this is it. we're done. we -- we found her. >> reporter: but when the agents made contact with the girl. >> it wasn't her. >> reporter: all those leads had chena second-guessing her own

instincts. maybe danielle had run away. >> i actually started seeing things in the house that were missing. and i was, like, well, you know, i haven't seen those jeans in a while. i haven't seen that shirt. maybe she did pack a bag and leave. >> maybe she's out there somewhere? >> maybe she is. >> reporter: then the family received a call that made them think their prayers had been answered. an investigator said danielle had been seen at a nearby hospital. what's more, she'd been captured on surveillance video. >> oh, wow. we -- she might be -- she might be at the hospital. and what in the world is she doing? is she -- is she on drugs or somebody gave her something? we didn't-- we have no idea. >> reporter: danielle's grandmother grabbed the hands of those around her and started to pray. but when police called back -- >> what they was looking at was danielle on the uh -- >> reporter: it was so devastating to her grandma that she can barely describe it. there was video of danielle. but danielle seen on an old tape. six months before.

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

like this. i couldn't -- i couldn't sleep. i couldn't -- i couldn't eat. i was -- it was -- it was horrible. >> reporter: something, anything would be better than not knowing. mercifully for the family, answers were just a phone call away. >> is there a deputy that's close by with a pair of binoculars? coming up. >> when i was looking, i could see what looked like dark hair. >> reporter: the most painful of discoveries, and one peculiar detail. >> reporter: when "dateline" continues. >> reporter: when "dateline" >> reporter: when "dateline" continues. what if it could feel differently? say hello to opzelura for the treatment of mild to moderate eczema. opzelura is a steroid-free cream as it may lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you are being treated

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asking people under 50 to hold off on their booster shots. now back to dateline. now back to dateline >> reporter: on the morning of april 2nd, 2014, chena papa did what she'd done almost every day since her niece disappeared. she went to her family church to pray for danielle's safe return. but this time, her prayer was different. >> it was, "please just allow us to bring her home and lay her to rest." >> reporter: somehow you cr -- >> if that is what -- >> reporter: you had crossed that line. >> yeah. i felt like i was being selfish

wanting her to come back alive. and -- but i also had in me -- i -- i can't live with not knowing. i'd rather just know the truth. >> reporter: the truth at long last would start to be revealed that afternoon. this is not your regular route to home? >> no, sir, it's not. >> reporter: veteran homicide detective adam brinkley had been helping out on the locklear case. he'd interviewed some of the high school kids in danielle's circle. now, he was off duty, driving the back roads towards a river he knew very well. you're a fisherman? >> i'm a fisherman, yes. >> reporter: is that one of your fishing holes? >> that's one of my fishin' holes. >> reporter: it was shad season. and as chance would have it, he was wearing a special pair of polarized fishing glasses. these ones that are on your lanyard, huh? >> yeah, these ones right here. and they help me to, you know, kinda look and see into the water a little bit better. >> reporter: he was travelling about 35 miles an hour when he reached this bridge. something in the water below caught his eye. >> i see something down there, towards that debris that just didn't quite look right. >> reporter: boy, you got good

eyes. with all that junk out there, you saw something? >> yeah, i just normally -- i just know it's not normally there. >> reporter: he stopped to take a closer look. >> i really couldn't tell what it was. and that's when i got on my cell phone, and contacted dispatch. is there a deputy that's close by with a pair of binoculars, so i can make sure this is not a body in the water. could be a prank. there's no telling. >> reporter: within minutes, a deputy pulled up. >> so i took and got the binoculars out, when i was looking, i could see what looked like dark hair. >> reporter: dark hair? with a jolt, he realized that the hair was human. you must say something, like, "oh, my goodness." >> well, definitely knew that -- >> reporter: what have i walked into here, huh? >> yeah, definitely knew that. and it's -- i got on the cell phone, and i called my, you know, homicide supervisor and told him just, "look, i got a body in the river down here." >> reporter: police from two counties descended on the scene. one of the first investigators to arrive was detective hamilton.

one look at the clothes told him danielle locklear had been found. you had a clothing match, huh? >> clothing match. >> reporter: you had a photo of what she was wearing that day at the creek? >> correct. >> reporter: and there was the same shirt on your -- >> it was the same shirt. >> reporter: body recovered. >> there was the same shirt. >> reporter: police would need positive id from the medical examiner before they could officially notify the family. but danielle's relatives were already hearing about the discovery of a body from the local news. >> a potential break in the case of a missing cumberland county teenager. >> the moment that they put it on the news, everyone was already con -- sending their condolences. and i'm like, "no, it doesn't mean -- it doesn't mean that that's her. >> reporter: great aunt chena had to see it for herself. she rushed to the river. >> i went running towards the emergency vehicles to go in, but they had a road block. and i says, "no. let me see. let me see." and they're -- "ma'am, i'm sorry. we can't let you through." >> reporter: danielle's mom rowna had taken refuge in a hotel for the night. after midnight, a team of police showed up at her door. a female sergeant broke the news. >> she's like, "we found a body." i said, "oh." i looked at her. and i said, "i understand you

have to do your job." i said, "just look at me in my eyes." i said, "is it her?" and she looked me square in my eyes. she didn't say nothin'. i knew. >> reporter: sleep would be unthinkable. >> i think i could probably count every crack in the ceiling that night because you just sitting there. you're in a blank space. you're just like, "did she just tell me what she just told me? do i have to actually plan a funeral? i'm getting ready to bury my child? nah, nah, nah. she -- you know -- just a nightmare. and snap out of it rowna." it was real. a mother's worst nightmare. >> reporter: as the family began to mourn, detectives got to work. they scoured the river for clues.

it was clear from the condition of danielle's body it had been underwater for almost a month. detectives could see why. >> there were some cinderblocks tied to the body with -- >> reporter: so the body's weighted down? >> yeah, you could see through the water with lights. >> reporter: the cinderblocks were tied to the body with bright yellow rope. and they were unique. >> old-style is how i would categorize it. it was very old. >> reporter: not like you get at a modern-day building supply place. >> no, this one had a lot of pebbles and actual rocks in -- in it. so that stood out to me. >> reporter: on the banks of the river, they found shotgun shells. perhaps a clue as to how she died. but a shotgun had nothing to do with it. the next day, the medical examiner concluded danielle's cause of death was asphyxiation. it seemed danielle had been strangled. and a particularly gruesome detail. stuffed in danielle's mouth, the medical examiner found a night sock.

hamilton had seen one just like it before. it was a match to a sock that aunt chena had discovered on the trail? >> yeah, i was going to say aunt chena actually found that sock. >> reporter: so this was the pair. >> it was definitely the match. >> reporter: remember, the sock at the creek had been covered in debris. detectives theorized that whatever happened to danielle started there creekside. a possibly violent altercation. if that was the case, how had danielle's body ended up here? the river was about thirty minutes away from the creek in a remote part of the county. and the river and the creek aren't even connected. the body was disposed of there. >> body was disposed of. >> reporter: the spot had been chosen to conceal danielle's body but by whom? all detectives had to do was look around. maybe the answer was very near by. >> it was so close that -- i mean, if you dropped a pin on where his house was, the river's right there. >> reporter: coming up -- police are about to circle back to one of the young men they've looked at. and they're prepared for anything. did you have your vests on, firearms out? >> we did. we had everything with us.

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>> reporter: word that danielle's body had been found was tearing through south view high school. >> somebody messaged me. i can't remember who it was. and they told me, "turn on the news." and i turned on the news, and they were -- it was, like, the video of, like, them pulling the body out. and i called my mom's work and i was crying on the phone. i was just begging her to come home. >> reporter: danielle's family, too, was trying to come to grips with her death. her grandfather, who'd let danielle leave that night, was plagued by guilt. so was her grandma kelly. >> i feel like i failed. i failed my granddaughter by not being there for her when this happened. >> reporter: the discovery of

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 just staring down at his arm.

>> reporter: she even snapped a picture of it. >> reporter: and remember how je'michael had seemed so helpful with information about his ex? >> i told chena that she's told me she tried to kill herself twice. >> reporter: now, one story he told could be read in a very different way. >> and he goes, "well, you know, did you know danielle was depressed?" i'm, like, "depressed? what -- i mean, why -- why would you say that?" "well, you know, when we broke up the last time, you know, she told me that -- that she was going to drown herself in cold water." >> so he's suggesting a narration here, huh? >> and i'm, like, well, what -- wait a minute. >> reporter: detectives were also reviewing everything they knew about je'michael. turns out his break-up with danielle was anything but casual. in je'michael's cell phone, detectives found over the top outraged texts from the girl. >> he goes as far as to block her on -- on his phone. >> that's it.

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, because he'd sent text messages

to female friends that night. >> he had been havin' flirtatious conversations with several girls. >> reporter: on top of that, je'michael had always been cooperative with police. >> what can you do to help us find her? >> whatever you want me to do -- >> reporter: in fact, he'd been interviewed aggressively by veteran investigators. and he never buckled. >> if you killed this girl, or you had anything to do it, you're going to have every law enforcement agency around gunning for ya. >> yes, sir. yes, sir. >> reporter: but that didn't stop investigators from giving je'michael a polygraph. and in his cool exterior, they thought they saw a crack. >> absolutely bombed it. >> he flunked it? >> absolutely. >> reporter: they suspected he was lying. but je'michael never changed his story. to rattle him, they'd even played some extreme games. >> reporter: now that danielle's body had been found, it was time to dial up the pressure. investigators would pay je'michael a visit at his house.

they set the stage in a church parking lot. >> we briefed everybody on what was going to transpire, who was on -- perimeter, who was going in -- >> did you have your vests on, firearms out? >> we did. we had everything with us. >> reporter: while several officers kept an eye on the perimeter, detective hamilton approached je'michael's front door. >> was he shook? >> he didn't seem shook to me. i was kinda surprised. i'm, like -- you know, they just found a body in the south river right down the road from my house. he's cool as a pickle. >> reporter: they asked him to come down to the station. >> "sure, definitely. i'll go down to the office with you guys." >> reporter: je'michael's mother joined him in the interview room. she seemed to get just how bad the situation looked for her son. >> that body, if it is hers, really, how did it get down there? somebody could be -- could -- have done it, but trying to frame you. 'cause me and mama know in our heart you ain't did nothin'. >> reporter: but je'michael didn't seem concerned. >> i love you. >> love you too, ma. it'll be okay.

>> reporter: this time, adam brinkley, the detective who found the body, would do the questioning. je'michael had a lawyer there, too. >> you're saying you didn't have anything to do with it. >> yes, sir. >> how do you think that's going to make you look? >> i mean -- unless y'all can prove i had something to do with it, which y'all are not going to be able to, because i didn't have anything to do with it, i'm going to look perfectly fine. >> well then, help me with this. why did you fail the polygraph? >> i was nervous. i'm nervous sitting here now. so i mean -- >> reporter: je'michael said he didn't kill danielle. but if he had, he said he wouldn't have been so stupid as to hide the body next to his own house. >> i mean if you're saying you think i'm a smart kid. >> yeah i -- you know i do think you're a smart kid. >> why in the world would i put her down the street and around the corner, then? >> you're a fisherman. you're looking for that moment when you've set the hook in the mouth, huh? >> yeah, and that's -- >> did you see it with this kid? >> no. >> reporter: but je'michael was in for a surprise. while he was sitting there, detectives armed with a warrant were searching his house. and next to his driveway, oh what a discovery they'd made.

coming up -- je'michael learns about that search-in-progress. >> i was just, like, are you kidding me? >> when dateline continues. kidde >> when dateline continues kids, one year they want all dinosaurs stuff the next, camels. - llamas. - llamas. so save money shopping back to school on amazon. you sure that's not a camel? yeah. whatever you say. i get bladder leaks. i didn't want to feel like i was wearing the pads i wore when i was twelve. then i tried the always discreet pads.

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>> reporter: danielle's decomposed body had been found in a river but it didn't seem to phase 17-year-old je'michael malloy. in the interview room, he was unflappable. >> y'all seen the ping my phone. you seen i was at home so -- >> reporter: but there was something he didn't know when he agreed to sit down with detective brinkley. it was his mom who told him that investigators at that very moment were turning his house upside down. >> they searching the house? >> yes, sir, right now. >> really? i don't go in there. >> you can see him thinkin'. you just sit there watching that mind, you know, go to work. >> reporter: if je'michael was rattled, he had good reason. because investigators had made a big discovery. cinderblocks. the distinctive concrete blocks, did you find -- >> yes. >> reporter: items like that at the house? >> we did. >> reporter: even an indent in the grass, where one might've lain? >> where two were removed. and there was two on danielle.

>> reporter: they also found yellow rope. detective brinkley hit je'michael with that news. >> what if i tell you that we found the rope that she was tied up with? >> then y'all found the rope. >> at your house? >> shouldn't be at my house. >> why shouldn't it be? >> 'cause i had nothing to do with it. >> why the cinderblocks? why the rope? >> yeah. >> why the polygraph? the evidence is not going to lie. that's going to be the one thing that will get you in the end. >> reporter: the detective gave je'michael one last chance to confess. >> you're going to look like a monster. you're not going to win this battle. >> all right, detective. >> reporter: no go. and still, detectives didn't have enough. so you didn't arrest him that night? >> no. >> reporter: did you think you were releasing back into the community a potentially violent character?

>> yeah. i felt like i was letting a murderer go. >> reporter: detectives were now certain that je'michael was danielle's killer. and they knew where the investigation was going next. they had to deconstruct je'michael's alibi, the one that put him home studying that night. it turns out the family members who said they were with him, weren't actually in the same room with him. they couldn't say they'd seen him with their own eyes. >> we actually could not get confirmation from mother or grandmother that he was there. >> reporter: which meant the only person truly vouching for him was his study partner and best friend, dominic. >> we brought him to the sheriff's office, gave him the same opportunity and he lawyered up. >> reporter: did you go through this scenario, that you're two guys in trouble. and one of you might be able to do yourself some good. >> we let him know, very bluntly, that the house of cards is falling. the first one on the train gets the ride. >> reporter: four days later, police got a phone call. it was je'michael. >> i got a call from my supervisor saying that "je'michael's on his way to the sheriff's office, to confess." >> reporter: to confess? >> that was what i was told. but i had got a lotta rumors up to this point. so i was skeptical.

>> reporter: not a rumor this time. je'michael was there to confess. >> why the [ bleep ] did i do that? >> reporter: now, he wasn't that self-assured kid police encountered days before. >> i'm going to pray to you right now, father jesus. >> reporter: the person taking the confession would again be detective brinkley. >> came into the interview room, sat down, and i said, "je'michael, tell me in your own words what happened." >> reporter: the night of the murder, je'michael said, he and dominic sneaked out of the house and headed for danielle's. he wanted to talk to his ex-girlfriend. >> i had took my wallet, and i threw it against her window, you know. she came out and everything, and she got in the car. and we went to the creek. and we sat down and we talked for awhile.

>> reporter: but this wasn't an evening of reconciliation. there was another combustible in their break-up. something that raised the stakes way higher. according to je'michael, danielle had been telling him on-and-off for months that she was pregnant. >> and she was supposed to take a pregnancy test in front of me. >> reporter: if the test came back positive, je'michael was adamant. he said he would provide for his child. but he would not be with danielle. >> and that's when she snapped on me. and she punched me in my face, and she slapped me and jumped on top of me and got all over me and stuff. >> reporter: in the middle of their alleged fight, je'michael said he took her by the throat. >> all i remember was i grabbed her, i was choking her. blacked out. >> reporter: je'michael said when he came to, danielle wasn't breathing. he said he called out to dominic in a panic.

and together, they loaded danielle's body into the back seat of the car. as for that word "help" chena found scrawled in the sand, police had suspected for a while that it had nothing to do with the case. >> somebody did not write that in a hurry. that was our consensus. >> reporter: but that sock, of course, did. it likely fell off as they were dragging danielle's body out of the creek area. according to je'michael, dominic is the one who shoved the other sock into danielle's mouth. >> why would he do that? >> i guess she was making a noise. and he put a sock in there so nobody would hear it. >> reporter: as they drove back to his house, je'michael said he threw danielle's phone out of the window, right on i-95 the last place it pinged. then je'michael found the rope and cinderblocks. >> tied her up, put her in the car, threw her over the side into the river. >> reporter: he said that night he and dominic made a pact. >> take it to the grave. don't tell nobody. >> reporter: once his confession was complete, je'michael was arrested and charged with second degree murder. >> put your hands behind your back. >> reporter: days later, dominic

was too. and now, danielle's circle was aware that je'michael had confessed. >> i had a panic attack. i was like, you know, "how could he?" he was texting me and telling me, you know, "hope she's okay. i love her. i miss her." i was just like, "are you kidding me? >> i wanted to kill him. i still wanna kill him. >> reporter: danielle's family was likewise enraged. what are you all saying to one another? >> we feel betrayed. we feel like he's been around us. i mean, he was walking alongside of us during the search. he watched us cry our eyes out. you know it was -- >> reporter: knowing full well she was at the bottom of that creek. >> yeah. yeah. >> reporter: more troubling still, chena didn't feel that je'michael had told the whole truth. >> it just doesn't make any sense to me. i don't believe his story. >> reporter: neither did investigators. did that story satisfy you? >> no. >> reporter: coming up -- a bold move to get the whole

truth out of je'michael reveals something, remarkable. >> and that's when his attorney stopped it. >> when dateline continues. it >> when dateline continues i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. what are the three ps? the three ps of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford,

a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 54, what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65 and take medications. what's my price? also $9.95 a month. i just turned 80, what's my price? $9.95 a month for you too. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about the #1 most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial penn program. it has an affordable rate starting at $9.95 a month. no medical exam, no health questions. your acceptance is guaranteed. and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate lock so your rate can never go up for any reason. so call now for free information and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner. and it's yours free just for calling. so call now for free information.

>> reporter: a month after danielle's body was found in the river, her family and friends gathered to say their good-byes. the details of danielle's final minutes were especially haunting to her mom, rowna. >> they put her in [ crying ] the trunk of a car. and they took her to that dirty river and tossed her in there. >> reporter: your baby? >> yeah. threw her away like she was garbage. >> reporter: for her aunt chena,

who'd always kept an eye on her niece, the pain was still so raw. >> i know i was overprotective. i don't know that i was always in her business and stuff, but i just wish that i was a little more in her business, you know? and i can't even think about how scared she was. >> reporter: to make matters even worse, they felt the charge of second degree murder didn't cut it. that crime of passion story, a fight turned deadly. they believed that was a lie. they pointed to je'michael's cell phone left at home. what teenager does that? >> he knew exactly what he was doing. he left the phone at home on purpose. >> reporter: detective hamilton felt the same way. >> reporter: do you believe this was a premeditated crime? >> absolutely. >> reporter: he planned it? >> i do. i believe he planned it. >> reporter: for the detective, it wasn't just je'michael's choice to leave his phone home that night. hamilton thought the location

je'michael chose for their rendezvous was also a giveaway. the creek. >> why wouldn't they iron it out right there in front of the house? why did they have to go to a creek and walk down a dark trail? >> reporter: as for je'michael's story of what happened there, his account of "blacking out" when he killed danielle, detectives didn't buy that for one second. they brought je'michael back down to the creek to walk through the crime scene. once there, detective brinkley asked je'michael to close his eyes. >> i said, "je'michael i want you to go back to the event. i wanna get an idea about how long you feel like you had -- had choked danielle. >> reporter: je'michael played along. >> and his eyes are twitching and closed. and i'm, like, "je'michael, what's going on? what's happening?" and he says that he had grabbed her and was starting to choke her. it was dead calm in the creek. ten seconds went by.

then twenty. then a minute. "are you still chokin' her?" he said "yes." and that's when his attorney stopped it. he never blacked out, as he had said. he had just sat right there and walked me through the entire process. >> reporter: as for the motive, detective hamilton feels it all goes back to that test je'michael mentioned during his confession. >> she was supposed to take a pregnancy test in front of me. >> reporter: je'michael, he says, was dead set on becoming a u.s. marine. and a baby wasn't part of his plans. >> he thought she was pregnant and -- >> reporter: was going to mess up his life plan? >> it was going to mess up his -- his dream career of going in the marines. the mind of a 17-year-old. and she wasn't pregnant at all. >> reporter: and there was one more detail that convinced the detective that this was a uniquely calculated crime. something chilling. remember those texts je'michael's phone sent out from his house around the time of the killing? the ones that bolstered his alibi? >> reporter: so what was that

about? >> he couldn't have been there to do it, i could tell you that. >> reporter: the texts were sent to girls he'd been flirting with. he wrote to one, "i just woke up. sooooo whatcha doin?? :)" for awhile, detectives were stumped. how could he be texting from home and also be out committing a murder? >> it was a problem for us. i couldn't figure it out. >> reporter: it was a tech savvy investigator who solved the mystery. je'michael had downloaded an app that allows you to schedule your texts. >> reporter: so, let me see if i understand this. you can pre-write your text and then tell the phone, "i want you to send this two hours from now"? >> yup. >> reporter: it was alibi-building of the digital kind. treacherous. >> my opinion is, you know, he -- he's a sociopath. he truly believed that he was getting away with murder. >> i want everybody to know she will get justice. >> reporter: with a trial

looming, prosecutor billy west was planning to up the ante on je'michael's second degree murder charge. >> we would have tried, if the judge allowed us to, to give first degree -- >> reporter: you would've upgraded it, huh? >> -- an option. we would have. we would've tried to give that as an option. >> we wanted him to pay the price. >> reporter: but trial came with a risk. the prosecutor still thought a competent defense attorney could make a compelling argument for voluntary manslaughter, a crime of passion in the moment. if so -- this young man might be out in five years. >> right. that's right. if -- if the jury finds him guilty of -- of manslaughter, he could be given five to seven years, and you could be seeing him on the streets in that short a period of time. >> reporter: trial was a gamble. the prosecutors consulted with family members who wrestled with their feelings. >> it was just a lot. we had been through a lot. we just wanted to be done with everything. >> reporter: je'michael agreed to a deal. he pleaded guilty to second degree murder and received 25 to 31 years in prison. his friend dominic pleaded guilty to accessory. he received six to eight years. in may 2016, danielle's family showed up at the cumberland county courthouse for

je'michael's sentencing. it was their first face-to-face since he accepted the plea. >> same little kid with the -- that smirk on his face. >> reporter: when it was his turn to speak, je'michael turned to the family and apologized. >> i know sorry doesn't cut it, but i do want to say i am truly sorry. >> reporter: but they didn't buy it. >> he's sorry he didn't add more cinderblocks. that's what he was sorry for. because he had every intention to -- for her to stay down there. >> reporter: je'michael's mother, who'd known danielle's family forever spoke at the sentencing too. >> i want you to know, i'm not blocking out no pain. i pray for y'all. i pray for healing. i pray for forgiveness. and most of all i pray for mercy. >> reporter: but mercy wasn't something danielle's mom was considering. >> you want to talk about mercy? she didn't have no mercy that night. you ripped out my soul. >> my sister is not the same. she's not the same. i mean, she was -- she was my niece, but that was my sister's daughter, and her only daughter. >> reporter: in 2017, danielle's class graduated from high school. at the ceremony, rowna looked on as they honored the girl who will forever be fifteen. >> she had an empty seat and it was all decorated, ribbons and everything.

and, they gave me a shadow [ crying ] box with her -- tassel and cap and everything. and they -- they graduated my child. and i'm so thankful. >> reporter: there are so many things danielle's family misses about her. her heart. her happy-go-lucky nature. her infectious joy. that's what chena thinks of when the memories come rushing back. >> she was always laughing so i -- i just picture her laughing, and i know that's the way she wants to be remembered. >> reporter: caroline, who was with danielle at the creek that day, misses her friend, too. and that one-time teenage haven is now just a memory. was that the end of the creek for ya? >> yes, it was. nobody really went after that, ever. >> reporter: the creek still lazing through its sandy banks but those voices of innocence

are stilled now. ever since one lazy, happy day turned into a very bad night, one never to be forgotten or completely understood. i'm craig melvin. >> i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline." >> oh, god, please. >> ma'am, okay. >> oh, god. >> ma'am. >> i just knew that she was gone. >> she was a bright young mom-to-be. >> she was beautiful. confident, strong. >> it was the smile that got me. >> moving on from a messy divorce jumping into a new romance. no one could believe it when they found her.