. >> reporter: the sheriff darren white has no doubt that both girl were sexually assaulted but in thecome this case took turns that left law enforcement confused. >> the only stories that have been consistent are the victims in this case. >> reporter: melinda coleman says that times became more challenging after the incident. she and her daughter moved away from maryville after it happened. but before they could sell their home they returned here to find it burned to the ground. to this day, fire officials are unsure of the cause. both families say their girls were taunted and ridiculed at school, daisy admitting she attempted suicide. >> there is one charge remaining, that is the misdemeanor child endangerment charge. they dropped everything else in two weeks and never told us anything. >> reporter: the sheriff's department says that the 15-year-old accused of sexually assaulting paige was dealt with by juvenile authorities but 17-year-old barnett and the teen who took video saw their charges dropped. daisy's mother believes that matthew got special treatment because of his last name

i had an opportunity to hear from the sheriff darren white earlier. his investigators led the way.sked if he felt they had done the right thing. >> yes. one young man was charged with sexual assault. another young man was charged minor. >> there was a question of why the statutory rape charge was not made. did you feel that the evidence was presented that would have led to a statutory rape charge. >> not close. the crime that occurred didn't come anywhere near meeting the elements of a crime of statutory rape. the appropriate charge of sexual assault was filed. >> by that you mean because of the age of the young woman and man involved? >> whether you are a juvenile or an adult. if you are in what is considered to be an incap acetated condition, in this case being intoxicated, you are not considered to be able to make the rational decision. it wouldn't matter if the victim was 14 or 40, they would be considered to be incap acetated and the charge could have been filed. >> but it could have been a felony charge instead of statutory rape. >> yes, the sexual assault in missouri is clas

. >> reporter: sheriff darren white arrested the accused boys, but local prosciewrlts, robert rice, droppedthe charges. why? he said dazey and her mother refused to testify in court. colemans say that is a lie. they believe the real reason charges were dropped, one of the accused, matt barnett, his grandfather, is a former state representative. >> special prosecutor announced, what's your reaction to that? >> i think it's great. i think this actually may be the one thing that finally gets the truth out. >> reporter: after it does, this missouri town of 12,000 will begin the tough job of asking itself the tough questions. >> after this process is come to a conclusion, need to back down, [ inaudible ] to increase awareness in the community. >> neither coleman nor her mother attended that rally. >>> a washington state couple are in critical condition today, after the van they were in exploded. the thurston county sheriff's office in yelm, washington, said the man altered the van's fuel system and a 55-gallon drum of gas exploded. when firefighters arrived, they found the vehicles fully engulfe

sheriff darren white said the controversy has given the entire town a negative perception. >> anybody from the community that even attempts to respond to one of these allegations suddenly becomes a target. >> reporter: most of the town square is shut down and the police have called for help from other departments. the girls, one 14 and the other 13 at the time say they were raped by two 127-year-old classmates. one is accused of recording the i want on his cell phone. the local prosecutor dropped the charges and saying that there was insufficient evidence and the victims refused to cooperate. >> it's unfortunate that the prosecutor was put in a position where he had to dismiss the charges. >> reporter: but the parents and the girls say they did cooperate. but they say the charges were dropped because one of the attackers was an outstanding football player and from a prominent family. >> reporter: a nub article led to an online campaign that fueled new interest in the story. now a special prosecutor has been assigned to reopen the ca case. >> i'm thankful. >> ultimately the truth and t

darren white is the sheriff of nottoway county missouri. >> you believe a sexual assault occurred?>> reporter: the sheriff says all three boys confessed. >> which is why that we were within four hours of receiving the call able to have people in jail. >> reporter: the 15-year-old who was accused of sexual assaulting paige was dealt with by juvenile authorities. but 17-year-old barnett and the teen said to have taken the video saw their felony charges dropped. >> you ever told by the prosecutor's office why he dropped the charges? >> no. >> not even today you don't note reason? >> no. >> reporter: then incredibly, people started ganging up on the girls. they found themselves shunned around town and at school. they were bullied in person and online. daisy's mother was fired from her job. it was all too much for daisy. >> ultimately, i tried committing suicide at numerous amounts of times. and i [ inaudible ]. >> i hope you're better now. are you? >> i am. >> reporter: these families and others in the community think the prosecutor was pressured into dropping the charges because of po

. >> reporter: sheriff darren white arrested the accused boys, but local prosecutor robert rice droppedisy and her marie fused to testify in court. coleman say that's a lie. they believe the real reason charges were dropped, one of the accused, matt barnett, his grandfather is a former state representative. >> special prosecutor announced. what's your reaction to that? >> i think it's great. i think that this actually may be the one thing that finally gets the truth out. >> reporter: after it does, this missouri town of 12,000 will begin the tough job of asking itself the tough questions. >> after this process is complete and the media attention dies down that we're going to have to work together as a community to increase awareness in our community about events and how young people treat each other. >> and kyung lah joins me now from maryville, missouri. amazing story, kyung. you were at that vigil tonight. members of daisy's family also there. they've been run out of town essentially. what's the reaction to how the community's now responding to all this? >> reporter: i was standing ne

darren white is the sheriff of nottoway county missouri. >> you believe a sexual assault occurred?ly. >> reporter: the sheriff says all three boys confessed. >> which is why that we were within four hours of receiving the call able to have people in jail. >> reporter: the 15-year-old who was accused of sexual assaulting paige was dealt with by juvenile authorities. but 17-year-old barnett and the teen said to have taken the video saw their felony charges dropped. >> you ever told by the prosecutor's office why he dropped the charges? >> no. >> not even today you don't note reason? >> no. >> reporter: then incredibly, people started ganging up on the girls. they found themselves shunned around town and at school. they were bullied in person and online. daisy's mother was fired from her job. it was all too much for daisy. >> ultimately, i tried committing suicide at numerous amounts of times. and i [ inaudible] >> i hope you're better now. are you? >> i am. >> reporter: these families and others in the community think the prosecutor was pressured into dropping the charges because of

." >> reporter:nodaway county sheriff darren white is certain daisy is a victim. the suspects even confessed to what happened. >>"which is why that we were within 4 hours of receiving the call able to have people in jail." >> reporter:arrested and charged -- but then daisy's case was dropped. >>"the only reason the prosecutor didn't move forward with this case is because he didn't have any victims. the victims chose not to be involved in this case, they chose to not cooperate." >>"she told them everything. and i also talked to the sheriff and the captain and told them everything i knew. and that is also in the police report. so that is absolutely not true." >> reporter:but instead of the boys facing charges, daisy and her siblings say they faced an onslaught of bullying and vicious name- calling at school and online. >>"you hear it so often that you're all these different things. you start to believe it and i started to hate myself." >> reporter:it got so bad the family says, daisy tried to commit suicide, twice. the family felt forced to move. >> reporter:then, a