of "dateline". of "dateline". hello i'm andrea canning and this is dateline >> she was beautiful, her eyes were remarkable. i was going to be there for he and she was going to be ther for me it didn't matter what it was i thought maybe she had been kidnapped. no one knew what was happening there was nothing i or anyon could have done. >> skylar, rachel, sheila. total bffs >> they hung out all the time. >> you thought of them as team >> the three of them becam inseparable. >> then one ended up missing >> nobody's heard from her

nobody knows where she is. >> something's wrong something's bad wrong. >> where was skylar? someone was hiding something >> it was the fbi. they were serious. >> twitter, instagram, facebook you just see things. ridiculously out of control. >> a click of mean girls were they mean enough to kill? >> she was like, well, she'l blackmail me >> it was such a shocking an scandalous kind of case. >> this was diabolical >> evil comes in all shapes an sizes. hello. hello. for skylar niece's parents for skylar neese's parents, their teenage daughter their daughter is all they could hope for happy at a part-time job but their world turned upside down when their only child seemed t vanish without a tratrace. at first, they thought she had run away

run away gentle rolling hills of northern west virginia, >> in the gentle rolling hills of northern west virginia, in sweet college town in the hear of coal country lived thre teenage girls. their photos capture a momen in time. they were smart, talented, they were smart, talented, lovelyover): and so everything a parent could hope who could have guessed, just by looking, that some of them for in a daughter. and so who could have guesse just by looking that some of them carried a dark secret about a friend >> 911 do you have an emergency >> i have a 16-year-ol daughter she has not been home, hasn' went to work i'm scared to death. >> these teens played a strang and haunting game. >> would you rather suffocat or get shot? >> get shot. >> get shot. would go way beyond typica

teenage drama. >> she's calling out help me you know, why, why, why. >> at the center of it all was a girl named skylar. moment of yourdavie?d ande their only daughter skylar t the world back in 1996 tell me about the day she wa born was that the greatest moment o your life? >> i wouldn't go that far. >> first time you saw her. >> first time i saw her, yes, can say that was the greates moment of my life. yeah it was instant love. >> they live in star city, a small suburb of morgantown west virginia, where dave work at walmart and mary at a medical office skylar was a whirlwind, rambunctious, precocious toddler who owned he parents'hearts >> hey, gorgeous >> hi, daddy >> you're beautiful, baby. >> she was reading way befor she was supposed to, doing mat and stuff way before she was supposed to. she was a very intelligent little girl. >> dance for me. wee! >> when skylar started nursery

school, she made her first friend, morgan lawrence. morgan was drawn right away to skylar did she kind of light up a room? >> oh, yeah, she had the giggl and the laugh. >> the girls'families became good friends, too. morgan's parents say morgan an skylar were like sisters >> what are your memories of skylar when she was this high? >> she giggled all the time. it just filled our house >> she had the biggest eyes. you'd just want to hug her >> they were good girls, got good grades. morgan dreamed of becoming a meteorologist. skylar, a criminal lawyer. they also had a pact, that the would always be there for on another. and you would both be in eac other's wedding parties? >> everyone has a sister to pu in their wedding, and we had each other >> as freshmen at morgantown's university high school, the tw girls drifted apart a little with a new school came new friends. classmate daniel hovater sai the bubbly skylar fit in right away

>> friends came first for her. she was always about hanging out with friends if she didn't have work or school. >> soon, skylar had two ne bffs, sheila eddy who th meeses had known for years and rachel shoaf, a striking redhead with broadwa aspirations. it wasn't long before they wer calling themselves the three musketeers and in pictures they looked th part >> they were literally togethe every second of every day, i seemed like. they hung out all the time they hung out all the time >> and like all teenage girls, they shared videos and photo with each other and online giving us a glimpse into their world. skylar and sheila just havin fun. >> let me try to go on you back >>, ok, and, of course, the occasionally got into trouble, but even then it was for typical teenage things dave and mary weren't to concerned. >> she is a straight-a student who loves her parents. did you sort of chock it up to okay, we're not thrilled but she's a teenager >> exactly >> when summer rolled around after her sophomore year skylar seemed happy. she had a job at wendy's which

she loved. on thursday, july 5th, 2012, she came home after work and got ready for bed. >> she put her arm around he mom, gave her a kiss and hug and said, i love you, mom, turned to me and said, i lov you, dad, and she went to th room >> the next day, dave planne to meet skylar in thei apartment at lunchtime he was surprised she wasn' there. a little worried, he calle mary >> i thought she was out wit one of her other friends i figured they went swimming and shopping >> dave called her friends including sheila no one had seen her. next he went outside and found more cause for worry a small bench was tucked nea skyler's window, and the windo screen was missing >> at this time, i calle skyler's cell phone. i said, hey, you're in trouble you better be calling me right away so i called her cell phone about ten times. i called mary again. >> again, mary told him to cal down she said skylar was expected a work at 4:00 >> i said, we're not going t

worry. i'll call them about 10 afte 4:00, give her time to clock in, everything, see if she's there >> but mary didn't get a chanc to call wendy's. >> they called us first wantin to know if she was coming to work >> was that a big moment for you? >> yeah. >> a few minutes later, ther was another big surprise a call from sheila >> she said she had to tell me the truth. i said, well, what truth she said, we snuck out las night. >> mary's heart fell skylar had done that onc before, gone on a late-night joyride with rachel and sheila that time, they were caught fo being out after the town curfew now here was a worried sheil saying they had done it again. >> i said, where did you go? where is skylar? she said that skylar insiste they drop her off at the end o the street so we wouldn't hear her sneaking back in >> now that missing screen and bench outside skylar's windo made sense skylar had put it there to boost herself up so she coul

get back in. but it left them with terrifying possibility >> my first instinct was someone abducted her from th end of the street to our house >> dave called the police. >> i have a daughter that's 16 years old. apparently, she snuck out of her room last night and sh hasn't been seen since none of her friends can gotten ahold of her i can't find her >> what's her name >> skylar neese. >> their world had falle apart. their only daughter had been disappeared into the night and now she had been gone nearly 2 hour where was skylar ow.>> the investigation begins n concern for skylar begins to grow coming up. >> just had this horribl feeling in my heart that something terrible had happened >> mary told me that night something is wrong something is bad wrong >> a grainy piece of videotape is about to give police on giant clue what can they glean from this? >> she slowly walked down to a ca r and she got in the bac

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mario! woo-hoo! [ ominous music playing ] woo-hoo! star city, west virginia has just 1,800 residents, just 1,800 residents, only one only one stoplight. stop light >> skylar going missing was tough pill to swallow for th entire community

the time.>> police officer jesc coalbank got the skylar nees case >> first impression was it could be a runaway there are kids that run away all the time >> it wasn't long before officer coalbank got the video from the security cameras at the neeses'building. skylar's friend sheila edd said skylar was home aroun midnight so what was this car doing pulling up around 12:30 a.m. who was in it? dave neese watched horrified a there on the tape, out walke skylar >> she slowly walked down to a car that was sitting there waiting on her she got in the back seat i could tell that. and she drove away >> police couldn't quite mak out a license plate or tell th make or model. skylar's mom mary had a theory >> she made it home, snuck bac in the window, then a second

person or persons had parked behind the building and sh snuck out a second time. >> but why who was in the car and where did they go? the police didn't issue an amber alert because it looke like skyler left voluntarily >> once the video came out tha she willingly got in this car, they're not going to come ou and look for someone driving i a car. >> skylar's friend sheila came over >> she spent a lot of time telling us, it will be okay. she'll be home i really miss her. i love her i want her back. >> the next day, sheila sa with mary on skylar's bed, bot of them crying did it bring you comfort whe sheila would come by, bein skylar's best friend >> it did me a little bit, yeah knowing, how could skylar leav her behind >> mary and sheila took to the streets together, postin flyers for skylar. >> they would knock on doors and ask, have you seen thi girl we kept showing the picture to people nobody had seen her.

>> sheila was very, very worried about what had happene to skylar. >> chrissy swanson is a clos family friend of sheila's an saw sheila's distres firsthand. >> she was trying so hard to help them find anything, s hard to help them figure out what had happened. >> the star city police ar still looking for a missin 16-year-old. >> dave made a plea for help o local news station wboy. >> we love her we want her home >> by sunday night, skylar had been gone the whole weekend. her family, including her aunt carol, was heartsick >> i just had this horribl feeling in my heart that, yo know, something terrible had happened and it wasn't like he to run away or disappear lik she did. >> mary told me that night, sh said, something's wrong, babe. something's bad wrong. >> the community held candlelight vigil. skylar's school friends came including rachel and sheila. >> they were crying, came up and hugged me and mary, just crying their eyes out. crying their eyes out. just crying their eyes out. say was, what can we do to hel the only thing mary could say was,

these girls? how can we help these girls? >> skylar's family frien morgan lawrence was upset too. she was at camp when she rea on facebook that skylar wa missing. how worried were you >> sick to my stomach worried. >> so was officer coalbank she was at it nonstop. >> i'd come back to the office in the evenings, watching th video, getting faceboo records. >> she got swamped with tips saying they'd seen skylar from monicatown to new york t california each sighting was a dead end r atm card.at the same time, cok pulled skylar's records. what she found was ominous skylar wasn't using her cell phone or her atm card. coalbank now had serious doubt skylar had run away. >> usually runaways, they take items with them they want, especially if she had contacts or glasses she didn't take that stuff wit her.

>> then police got an importan new lead in the case there had been two ban robberies in the nearby town o blacksville. both of them had gone down around the type skylar vanished >> i was working with othe investigators on the ban robberies. >> while looking into th robberies, ronnie gaskin of th west virginia state police was called into skylar's case. there had been a tip tha somehow skylar had been at a party with the suspected ban robbers when something bad happened what was the theory? >> they were just rumors gossip going around that there was this teenage party, that there was a possible overdose, and people there were scared s they hid the body. >> it seemed unlikely. skylar didn't use heavy drugs. >> it was just a lot o tracking down rumors tons and tons and tons o rumors >> all leading nowhere by now, skylar had been gone for more than a month. gaskins vowed he would fin her. >> i don't like to mak promises in my line of work, but the only promise i made wa we would never give up i trying to find out wha happened to skylar

>> their search for skylar had taken them across the united states what they didn't know then was that the truth was right there in morgantown at universit high coming up -- coming up -- facek karma. things start to get ridiculously out of control.>> karma will get you you can't hide >> twitter, instagram, faceboo and things start to ge ridiculously out of control. >> whispers in the hallways. was someone hiding something police are about to get break. >> that was an aha moment. finally we have something to g on >> when "dateline" continues can a can of lysol take care of my snotty sofa? can-do mildewy tiles? can-do - these? - yup, it's the can-do can. nothing kills more germs on more surfaces than lysol disinfectant spray. lowe's knows the first step to motivation nothing kills more germs is inspiration.s

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the first day of school the fall of 2012 one of the main causes of bleeding gums. fall of 2012 was heartbreaking one of university high school' top students, skylar neese, ha disappeared during the summer. classmate shania ammons. >> starting school without her like, that was probably one of the hardest days through the whole thing. skylar was just a go to person and she was gone >> skylar's friend morga lawrence was dreading roll call >> i didn't have any classes with her, thank god. >> you didn't want to hear her name called? >> it's not the same i know you can't tell th teacher we don't know if she's coming back. >> in some ways, life seemed normal skylar's good friend sheil eddy seen here in this video

taken in the classroom is back in school. >> i don't want my baby to loo like him >> so is bff rachel shoaf wh got the lead in the fall play. but everyone was worried about skylar and in school hallways and o social media, rumors flew. >> between twitter and instagram and facebook, yo just see things start to get ridiculously out of control. >> kids saying things from skylar had overdosed and thing that skylar is in a differen country. >> daniel hoevatter was in drama with rachel and knew how close the three girls were he wondered if rachel an sheila might be helping cove something up for skylar. >> there had been rumors going around, rachel and sheila know where she's hiding >> daniel knew rachel an sheila were the last ones to see skylar and he wondered i they were protecting her o maybe protecting someone else.

either way, they had to know something. >> there were probably a goo three, four, five times where told rachel, if you know anything, you need to say what happened or where she's at >> daniel wasn't alone this couple live in th morgantown area and have written a book about skylar' case and spent hours combing through what kid were saying o social media >> the one thing that stood ou to me is that people, teens, were tweeting sheila and rache had to know something. >> why don't you guys just talk, just say something tell us what you know. >> the heat got turned up on the girls when the fbi showe up and started interviewin students >> i was only interviewed once >> i was only interviewed once were secluded to themselves more.i gues was like it's the fbi, lik they're serious. they asked me about rachel and sheila, if they seemed any different and i was tellin them they didn't seem differen but they were secluded t themselves more. >> the normal fall rituals wer

like football and homecoming were punctuated with polic visits to rachel and sheila. kids say rachel left pla rehearsal to meet with the fbi mary and dave neese desperat to find their daughter thought the police were wasting thei time investigating the girls they knew so well. they knew so well. and said will you leave sheila alone, please? you guys are harassing her 24/7 the kid is going through enough leave her alone. she was like our daughter. >> investigators were convince the two girls knew more than they were saying that fall, ronnie gaskin interviewed each gir repeatedly how was sheila's demeanor in these meetings you would hav with her >> calm. collect. would look at you right in you face, right in your eyes >> he says rachel seemed distracted >> she would draw on the desk, play with the pencil just her nonverbal cues spoke

lot. >> their story never varied. they picked skylar up, drove around morgantown, smoked little pot, and dropped her of a few blocks from home >> it was like a recording wit these two. >> in the meantime, th officers had begun to collec physical evidence, and i didn't match up with the story the girls had been telling surveillance video from convenience store put th girls'car not heading east a they had said, but heading wes they had said, but heading wes toward and the girls'phone record from that night showed rachel' phone pinging off a cell tower in blacksville >> that was an aha moment. finally, we have something t go on that's different fro their story. >> now even skylar's parents joined the chorus of peopl trying to get the girls to talk >> i started posting o facebook things about karma, karma will get you, you can' hide we were pushing. we were pushing the girls to get them to say what happened.

>> by late november, the pressure seemed to be taking its toll on rachel in an interview, she surprised police by changing her story admitting for the first time that they did drive to blacksville that night and that's where skylar told the to let her out of the car. blacksville, where those ban robberies had happened the next day, sheila changed her story to say the sam thing. >> that must have been a big red flag for you >> absolutely. >> at school, kids say rache was increasingly rattled >> rachel seemed distressed. she seemed like she was very upset over something upset over something i mean, this was eating at her heart. >> rachel shoaf was about to crack. coming up -- >> please hurry. >> an emergency at home. and an interview with police what exactly was rachel shoa about to reveal? >> we were speechless. >> when "dateline" continues

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story. he said two black democratic lawmakers were expelled in the tennessee legislature fo protesting with gun safety advocates may be reappointed t those seats as soon as nex week the two lawmakers caught national attention whe republicans tried to silence them and supreme court justic clarence thomas responded to a report that showed he received lavish gifts from a wealth republican donor by saying tha he would is advised that the gift did not need to b reported a promise to comply with disclosure guidelines in the future now back to dateline welcome back to "dateline. i'm natalie morales. in the months after he disappearance, skylar high school friend were still worried that skyla are not bee found. variation were convinced tha variation were convinced tha he

both girls were sticking to the same story. convinced of it. but that was about to change. both girls were sticking to th same story, but that was about to change. one of them was ready to talk. back now to, something wicked. christmas 2012 came and went for skylar neeses'parents dave and mary it had been six months since skylar had disappeared the holidays must have bee very hard that year, christmas time >> we didn't celebrate >> nah we didn't put up any tree. we didn't do anything. >> just another day. >> yep >> around that time, rache shoaf and sheila eddy stoppe attending university high. their few remaining friend told the authors dave and ma that rachel seemed agitated. >> she was acting out, getting into more family altercation at home. >> so the walls were closing i on rachel? >> uh-huh. >> 911, we have an emergency >> i have an issue with

16-year-old daughter of mine i can't control her anymore. >> then on december 28th rachel apparently snapped. her upset mother called th police police . give me the phone. she's running through th rachel shoaf (on recording): get away from me! neighborhood give me the phone. [screaming] this is over this is over my husband is trying to contai her. please hurry [screaming] >> and rachel wa taken to a mental health facility a few days later, corporal ronnie gaskins got a big surprise rachel wanted to meet at her lawyer's office. she had something she wanted t say. take us inside that attorney's office with rachel what was her demeanor? >> i remember her pulling up the waste basket next to her she was afraid she was going t throw up and then we started asking her the questions that we though she would answer did she overdose at a party? i remember her face got really red.

she glanced at us and said, we stabbed her. >> it wasn't an accident it was a murder. and not only had rachel an sheila killed skylar they had planned it for months all the while looking an acting like the best o friends. as sheila and skylar do in thi video. as part of the plan, rachel an sheila settled on the night of july 5th as the ideal time t kill skylar. >> earlier that day, rachel ha obtained the shovel from her father's residence, put it i sheila's trunk, brought th clean clothes, cleanin supplies and according t rachel, sheila had provided th kitchen knives >> they called skylar to say they were on their way over. >> pulled up to the residence. >> and there is skylar sneaking out in that grain surveillance video the car is sheila's and inside are skylar's two best friends. >> skylar gets in the car an they go driving.

>> and they drove for nearly a hour for miles and miles o dark, winding roads out past blacksville. >> they get to the scene they parked the car. and they found an area where they could sit and talk. skylar leaves to go back to th car and then rachel said, on three. >> according to gaskins, rache said she counted, one, two three. and on three, the two girl began. >> that's when her and sheil started stabbing skylar from behind >> gaskins said skylar fough hard to defend herself did rachel indicate what skylar's last words were, he final moments in that meeting? >> she said skylar just said why? that's all she said. >> rachel said the girls >> rachel said the girls covered branches, threw their bloody

clothes in the trunk and lef skylar there did rachel express how she fel when the crime was over? >> i just remember her sayin that this is something she wanted to get done before sh went to church camp. >> how did you feel when she said, i had to get this done before church camp >> what are we dealing with? >> did you ask rachel why? why did you two do this? >> she would not give us any specific details, other than they just didn't like her. then when i asked her, what do you mean you didn't like her clarify that she said, oh, nothing. we just didn't like her. >> after telling police th story, rachel led authoritie down that lonely road past to a lab for testing. spott across the pennsylvania border there they eventually found few scattered human remains an sent them to a lab for testing >> i just couldn't imagine thein pain and suffering and the fea

she went through being alone i that place with her two best friends. and she knew what was happenin when they started stabbing her >> authorities kept rachel's confession secret even from th neeses while the investigation continued. the fbi told mary and dave onl that remains believed to b skylar's had been found. >> i broke down pretty bad yeah >> we both did that was a bad day >> it was so lonely and so deserted and it was a horrible thing to know that she had been there and no one knew. >> one, two, three, go happy birthday, skylar happy birthday, skylar >> in february of 2013, just a andrea canning (voiceover): in february of 2013, just as they had since she was a little girl-- they had since she was a littl ready yet? girl - >> i'm ready >> - the neeses gathered with friends on skylar's birthday this time without her. they quietly told the lawrence their awful news did your heart just break fo mary and dave?

>> my heart was slowly breakin the entire time. >> i remember the first thing felt it was just like a surrea of, i know she's not out there in the cold. >> ronnie gaskins had confession from rachel and she had led him to a body. but it wasn't enough why wouldn't you arres somebody right away wh confessed to killing somebody? >> she lied to us a number o times before so we had so day, who is to sa she isn't lying again? so we had to corroborate her statement. >> once more, gaskins needed rachel so he didn't arrest her instead, he was about to use rachel to get sheila ending?>> coming up >> i was devastated. >> i was crying. she was grieving >> grieving or pretending? >> sheila seemed like she wa so upset to have lost her best friend she even asked me how coul someone do this to skylar? >> would the truth catch up to sheila eddy when "dateline

continues.

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corporal ronnie gaskins was on ♪ jardiance is really swell, ♪ corporal ronnie gaskins was on a mission a mission to put two girls behind bars. >> it was one of those where you couldn't get there fas enough >> rachel shoaf had just confessed to teaming up with sheila eddy to kill thei friend skylar neese. now she was cooperating with police gaskins and his fellow investigators hatched a plan rachel would invite sheila t her house. sheila did come over.

would try to get sheila to incriminate herself. >> we were close by in cas something happened >> sheila did come over. police didn't record anythin to pin sheila to the crime >> the girls did not disclos anything specific. they were just very casual >> a few days later, the polic went to sheila's house with warrant. >> we seized every kitchen knife we could find. the fbi had seized sheila's ca and they were able to find presence of dna in the trunk >> dna in sheila's trunk if it proved to be skylar's, i would be critical to gaskins'case a direct link. connecting the girls t skylar's death they shipped the sample off to the lab and waited meanwhile, gaskins got a positive i.d on the human remains found out past blacksville it was skylar. >> the search for monengal teenager skylar neese is over. teenager skylar neese is over. >> at university high school

i was devastated. confirmation that skylar had it was-- it was crazy. been found dead wa heartbreaking. >> i was devastated. it was crazy >> shania called her frien sheila as soon as she heard th awful news >> i was crying and she wa crying >> there was sheila, suspected murderer, crying tears for skylar >> she was like, who do yo think could have done this why would somebody do that t skylar >> shania also cried with he friend chrissy swanson >> once skylar's body was found, sheila seemed like she was s upset she had lost her bes friend she couldn't believe something like this could happen she even asked me, how could someone do this to skylar? >> and sheila let everybod know how sad she was she tweeted things like, worst day of my whole life the pain is real and rest easy, skylar. you'll always be my best friend i miss you more than you could ever know.

but social media revealed tw sides to sheila. she could mourn skylar, but on twitter and facebook, she an rachel also seemed carefree. as the police continued thei investigation, rachel tweeted, i need a mimosa or ten they were going about thei lives even while the polic believed the girls wer stone-cold killers stone-cold killers andrea canning (voiceover): cole bartiromo runs>> locc other's ears and say, how ar they still free? >> coalbart aroma runs a blo calls newsball.com early on, he started following this case and was struck b sheila's tweets. things like ain't no rest fo the wicked and incredibly this apparent reference to the countdown t skylar's murder. we really did go on three. >> it's unbelievable that sh feels she's so invincible to tweet this publicly. >> and then finally, b mid-april 2013 ronny gaskins got the one critical piece o evidence he needed

confirmation that skylar's blood had been found i sheila's trunk >> on top of the video surveillance, the phone records, rachel's statements, at that point, we felt we ha confidence to have probabl cause to make the arrest >> now authorities tol skylar's parents the whole story. their daughter's two bes friends had killed her >> i want to turn away >> i think about it every day. i think about the misery m child must have been through and i'm helpless i can't help her she's calling out "help me, why, why, why." >> animals got her they didn't even care. >> no. they just threw her out like a bag of trash >> on may 1st, 2013, i exchange for her cooperation with police, rachel shoa pleaded guilty to second-degre murder within minutes, gaskins race across morgantown, his heart pounding

>> obviously, we were goin lights and sirens because we had a murder warrant to serve. >> sheila was arrested and charged with first-degre murder in the parking lot of the local cracker barrel restaurant where she and her mom were having lunch. >> sheila was crying she kept asking her mother, is everything going to be okay? and her mother said, i don't know, sheila know, sheila skylar's parents he wouldn't quit until the case was solved >> it felt good for once tha she was coming with us >> the question of who had bee answered but people were haunted by a unanswered question, skylar' last word. why? >> the girls have their day in court, but what will they say? coming up -- >> i became caught up in something that i did not wan to do. >> the accused killers head to court and the motive for murder? >> they planned that crime for days, weeks, months. >> what could that be? when "dateline" continues. - i'm lynette.

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welcome back. skylar's best friend pleaded skylar neese's best friend, rachel, pleaded guilty to killing her an prosecutors were busy building their case sheila. a question that hung over in a killing that seemed senseless, there is one question that hun over everything. why? here is the conclusion of, something wicked

sheila eddy was not about to give in without a fight. there she was in september 2013, a lone blonde teen in a crow of accused men pleading no guilty to the kidnapping and murder of skylar neese this was terrible news for skylar's parents >> i don't want to go through trial and hear the grisly, gruesome details of all this that would tear me apart >> with a trial looming, the question on everyone's mind wa why. investigators wanted to know too. and in the halls of university high, they got glimpses of a motive, saw snapshots of a troubled three-way friendship. morgan lawrence saw disturbing dynamic firsthand >> i was not a huge fan of rachel and sheila. >> as far back as freshman year, morgan had worried that he friend skylar was heading into a place she might not belong when she became close friend with rachel and sheila morgan especially didn't lik sheila >> she hung out with the wrong

crowd. she had lots of friends that were 20-some years old that's just a little strange >> morgan had watched uneasy a the three girls became inseparable. skylar's cousin kyle adore skylar and said he felt uneasy too. >> you couldn't walk through the halls without he tlohree o the together it was always sheila, skylar rachel together. >> by sophomore year, he saw changes in skylar. >> it seemed like about that time she didn't have that same nice quality to her. changing.>> she was more sour,, toward people. she started almost acting th way that sheila acted. >> must have been hard to se her changing >> it's difficult to watch i in general and it's even harde when it's someone as close a someone you called your family >> students told the writers jeff filler fuller and mar barry, that by mid-sophomore year, the thre year, the thre girls'relationship had begun t deteriorate. >> it's hard to see anyone i general. >> they were dissing her whe she was wasn't around an

putting her down and that kind of thing so it was kind of a two-faced situation. >> students say that aroun this time, they started hearin rachel and sheila discuss th best way to kill someone and rachel's friend fantasia liller recalls a chillin conversation >> rachel was ranting to me ho much she didn't like skylar on day. she said word for word, i' pretty sure was, i wouldn' mind if she died at this point >> which makes this cell phone video all the more hauntin because it was captured by skylar six months before she was killed >> you said it two times >> sheila asked skylar and rachel to choose the best wa to die >> would you rather suffocat or get shot? >> get shot. >> shot. >> depends on where? >> would you rather -- in the head. >> shot. >> shot. >> there would be no suffering >> drowning or suffocating >> suffocating >> it's almost the same thing. >> i know. >> i know, but >> an incredibly disturbin scene. friends say in the month before skylar's death, she and sheila fought constantly

late on july 5th, skylar tweeted this you doing blank like that is why i will never completel trust you. later that night, skylar i seen here on that surveillance tape driving away from home fo the last time. what were they fighting about? there's a possible answer. hallway whispers that rachel and sheila had developed a sexual relationship and that skylar knew and threatened t out them did they kill her to keep thei secret it's as close to a motive as anyone can come up with. >> do you think we'll ever kno why this happened? >> i think that's something fo rachel and sheila to say they know the answers to that. >> in january 2014, dave and mary finally got the news they had been hoping for, a ple deal >> sheila eddy, how do you plead to the offense of murder in the first degree in the felony charge in count three o the indictment in this case? >> guilty. >> sheila's attorney michael benninger read a statement fro sheila and her family.

>> my client and her famil recognize that the neese famil is in a constant state o despair, loneliness, and sadness as a result of skylar' death. >> sheila was sentenced to lif in prison and is eligible fo parole in 2028 a month later, dave and mary went back to court, this tim for rachel shoaf's sentencing. >> rachel has a profound sadness at this loss and a profound sadness for mr. and mrs. neese. >> therapist patricia bailey was hired by rachel's family and she's been meeting wit rachel in prison since the summer of 2013 >> from the day i met rachel she has said to me, i deserv to be in here, i did something terribly wrong, i hurt somebody rachel does miss skylar very much so and then she also weep for her because she knows sh cannot undo the past and she cannot undo the past and she will never seecribe the guilt and the remorse

that i feel each day for what i've done. i became scared and caught up in something that i did not want to do. >> in court, rachel apologized i never realized the gravity of my actions directly to dave and mary. >> i don't know if there's a proper way to make this apolog because there are not even words to describe the guilt an remorse that i feel each day for what i've done i became scared and caught u in something i did not want to do and never realized th gravity of my actions and ho many people i've hurt. >> skylar's dad who had once defended the girls didn't minc words. >> yes, rachel shoaf did cooperate. rachel shoaf also murdered m daughter in cold blood she can take her apologies and everything else and sit on the because that's what they'r worth to me and my wife. she has done nothing but mak our lives a living hell sinc day one. >> dave and mary wished they had known more about what wa going on in skylar's life in the months before she died what is your biggest regret, i you have one >> not knowing the girls better and i don't know if anyone could have known them that well there had to be a sign somewhere. there had to be a clue

>> rachel shoaf, would you please stand >> rachel was sentenced to 3 years in prison. she will be eligible for parol in 2023. prosecutor marsha ashdown says don't be fooled by the girls'appearance >> they planned that crime, no just for hours, but days, weeks, months the horror of that really is what strikes us in the end not how those girls look i shackles >> young, attractive unattractive, male, female, it doesn't matter evil comes in all shapes and sizes. >> around morgantown, there' lingering damage teenagers who feel they'll never trust anyone again >> after i heard all that, i didn't really want to become friends with anybody else. >> it's like finding out you little sister was a murderer >> i still to this day hav trust issues >> skylar's friend morga lawrence says she thinks about all the milestones she and

skylar had planned to mark together you two should be doin everything alongside eac other. >> yeah. they didn't just take away a bride. they took away a bridesmaid. >> skylar's second parents say they'll miss out, too. >> when morgan walks down th aisle, skylar won't be there >> she will be >> she'll be watching over her >> she will. >> in june 2013, dave and mary had a memorial service at th site where skylar was killed and they're proud to hav helped pass skylar's law, whic requires amber alerts, eve when police suspect a teen has run away a national version of skylar's law is currently making its wa through congress it's peaceful here now they come here often, even i the winter, to tend the smal garden they've built for skylar be remembered? >> the happy, loving littl girl that she was.

>> and the smile that smile could light up room >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm andrea canning, thank yo for watching >> i'm craig melvin. >> i'm natalie morales >> and this is "dateline. >> we were going to go whereve the case was >> one of the most extraordinary cases in lap history. >> toto, were not in kansa anymore. >> a newlywed murdered month after her wedding. >> as she walked away, she gav me a big smile and and i lived in that smile for years. >> and all the time episode th killer was hiding in plain sight. >> no indication she was eve spoken to? >> no. >> then a new detective took a