. >> reporter: it all began so differently for diren dede. a dream come true. he was an exchange student from hamburg, germany, excited to soak up anything and everything american. at 17 diren had landed in a special corner of the west -- missoula, montana. >> he was definitely charismatic. >> reporter: dana, anna, and chance were three of diren's closest friends at big sky high school. >> he was way different than all of the other foreign exchange students that usually come. he was really outspoken and outgoing, and he just jumped right into, like, the culture. >> he wanted to do everything there was to do in missoula. >> and he was a terrific athlete? >> uh-huh. >> reporter: it was no coincidence that jay boystrom, the teacher who recruited diren to big sky, also happened to be the school's soccer coach. >> no holds barred, just go get it done. and when diren played that's how he played. i think the guys were immediately, like, "this guy's cool," you know kind of a bad ass. >> he was, like, pretty stocky kid. liked to lay people out. [ laughter ] yeah. >> he w