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 start to get ridiculously out of control. >> a clique of mean girls. were they mean enough to kill? >> she was like, well, she'll blackmail me. >> it was such a shocking and scandalous kind of case. >> this was diabolical. >> evil comes in all shapes and sizes. hello and welcome to "dateline." for skylar neese's parents their teenage daughter was all they could have hoped for. a straight-a student with lots of friends and happy at her part-time job. but then their world turned upside down when their only child seemed to vanish without a trace. at first police thought she ran away. but hints on social media would point to a more sinister reason for her disappearance. here's andrea canning with "something wicked." >> in the gentle rolling hills of northern west virginia, in a sweet college town in the heart of coal country lived three teenage girls. their photos capture a moment in time. they were smart, talented, lovely. everything a parent could hope for in a daughter. and so who could have guessed 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-old daughter. she has not been home, hasn't went to work. i am scared to death. >> these teens played a strange and haunting game. >> would you guys rather suffocate or get shot? >> get shot. >> a game of betrayal that went way beyond typical teenage drama. >> she's calling out help me. you know, why, why, why. >> and at the center of it all was a girl named skylar. david and mary neese welcomed their only daughter skylar to the world in 1996. tell me about the day she was born. was that the greatest moment of your life? >> i wouldn't go that far. >> first time you saw her. >> first time i saw her, yes, i can say that was the greatest moment of my life. yeah. it was instant love. >> they live in star city, a small suburb ever morgantown, west virginia, where dave works at walmart and mary at a medical office. skylar was a whirlwind, a rambunctious, precocious toddler who owned her parents' hearts. >> hey, gorgeous. >> hi, daddy. >> you're beautiful, baby. >> she was reading way before she was supposed to, doing math and stuff way before she was supposed to. so 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 giggle and the laugh. >> the girls' families became good friends too. morgan's parents, dave and sheryl, say morgan and 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 just wanted 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 they would always be there for one another. and you would both be in each other's wedding parties? >> everyone has a sister to put in their wedding, and we had each other. >> as freshmen at morgantown's university high school, the two girls drifted apart a little. with a new school came new friends. classmate daniel hovater said the bubbly skylar fit in right away. >> friends came first with her. she was always about hanging out with friends if she didn't have work or school. >> soon, skylar had two new bffs, sheila eddy who the neeses had known for years and rachel shoaf, a striking redhead with broadway aspirations. it wasn't long before they were calling themselves the three musketeers. and in pictures they looked the part. >> they were literally together every second of every day, it seemed like. they hung out all the time. >> and like all teenage girls they shared videos and photos with each other and online. giving us a glimpse into their world. skylar and sheila just having fun. >> let me try to go on your back. >> and of course they occasionally got into trouble, but even then it was for typical teenage things. dave and mary weren't too concerned. >> she is a straight-a student who loves her parents. did you sort of chock it up to, 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 her mom, gave her a kiss and hug and said, "i love you, mom," turned to me and said, "i love you, dad," and she went to the room. >> the next day, dave planned to meet skylar in their apartment at lunchtime. he was surprised she wasn't there. a little worried, he called mary. >> i thought she was out with 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 near skylar's window, and the window screen was missing. >> at this time i called skylar'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 calm down. she said skylar was expected at work at 4:00. >> i said, we're not going to worry. i'll call them about 10 after 4:00, give her time to clock in, everything, see if she's there. >> but mary didn't get a chance to call wendy's. >> they called us first wanting to know if she was coming to work. >> was that a big moment for you? >> yeah. >> a few minutes later, there was another big surprise. a call from sheila. >> she said she had to tell me the truth. and i said, well, what truth? she said, well, we snuck out last night. >> mary's heart fell. skylar had done that once before, gone on a late-night joyride with rachel and sheila. that time they had been caught for being out after the town curfew. and now here was a worried sheila saying they'd done it again. >> i said, where did you go? where's skylar? and she said skylar insisted they drop her off at the end of the street so we wouldn't hear her sneaking back in. >> now that missing screen and bench outside skylar's window made sense. skylar had put it there to boost herself up so she could get back in. but it left them with a terrifying possibility. >> my first instinct was someone abducted her from the 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 she hasn't been seen since. none of her friends can get a hold of her. i can't find her. >> what's her name? >> skylar neese. >> the neesess world had fallen apart. their only daughter had disappeared into the night and now she'd been gone for almost 24 hours. where was skylar? >> the investigation begins, and concern for skylar begins to grow. >> coming up -- >> just had this horrible feeling in my heart that something terrible had happened. >> mary told me that night, she said something's wrong, something's bad wrong. >> a grainy piece of videotape is about to give police one giant clue. what can they glean from this? >> she slowly walked down to a car and she got in the back seat. >> when "dateline" continues. when eye allergens attack, the itch can last 24 hours. but with pataday once daily relief extra strength you get fast, 24-hour relief in one drop. make it a pataday with the drop that's right for you. now without a prescription. everywhere. these are real people, not actors, who've got their eczema under control. with less eczema, you can show more skin. so roll up those sleeves. and help heal your skin from within with dupixent. dupixent is the first treatment of its kind that continuously treats moderate-to-severe eczema, or atopic dermatitis, even between flare ups. dupixent is a biologic, and not a cream or steroid. many people taking dupixent saw clear or almost clear skin, and, had significantly less itch. don't use if you're allergic to dupixent. serious allergic reactions can occur, including anaphylaxis, which is severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems, such as eye pain or vision changes, or a parasitic infection. if you take asthma medicines, don't change or stop them without talking to your doctor. so help heal your skin from within, and talk to your eczema specialist about dupixent. if your financial situation has changed, we may be able to help. i'll be observing your safe-driving abilities. play your cards right, and you could be in for a tasty discount. 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[ tires screech ] well, that came out of nowhere. advil dual action fights pain 2 ways. it's the first and only fda approved combination of advil plus acetaminophen. advil targets pain. acetaminophen blocks it. advil dual action. fast pain relief that lasts 8 hours. star city, west virginia has just 1,800 residents, only one stoplight. >> skylar going missing was a tough pill to swallow for the entire community. >> police officer jessica coalbank caught the skylar neese 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 eddy had said skylar was home around midnight. so what was this car doing pulling up around 12:30 a.m.? who was in it? dave neese watched horrified as there on the tape out walked skylar. >> she slowly walked down to a car that was sitting there waiting on her. and she got in the back seat. i could tell that. and she drove away. >> police couldn't quite make out a license plate or tell the make or model. skylar's mom mary had a theory. >> she made it home, snuck back in the window, then a second person or persons had parked behind the building and she 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 since it looked like skylar left voluntarily. >> once that video came out that she willingly got in this car, they're not going to come out and look for somebody driving around in a car. >> skylar's friend sheila came right over. >> she spent a lot of time here telling us that it'll be okay, she'll be home and i really miss her, i love her, i want her back. >> the next day sheila sat with mary on skylar's bed, both of them crying. >> did it bring you comfort when sheila would come by, being skylar's best friend? >> it did me a little bit, yeah. knowing that how could skylar leave her behind? >> mary and sheila took to the streets together, posting flyers for skylar. >> they would knock on doors and ask, have you seen this girl? and we kept showing the picture to people. nobody had seen her. >> sheila was very, very worried about what had happened to skylar. >> chrissy swanson is a close family friend of sheila's and saw sheila's distress firsthand. >> she was trying so hard to help them find anything, so hard to help them figure out what had happened. >> the star city police are still looking for a missing 16-year-old. >> dave made a plea for help on 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 horrible feeling in my heart that, you know, something terrible had happened and it wasn't like her to run away or disappear like she did. >> mary told me that night, she said, "something's wrong, dave. something's bad wrong." >> the community held a 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. >> the only thing mary could say was, what can we do to help these girls? how can we help these girls? >> skylar's family friend morgan lawrence was upset too. she was away at camp when she read on facebook that skylar was missing. >> how worried were you? >> sick to my stomach the whole time worried. >> so was officer coalbank. she was at it nonstop. >> i'd come back to the office in the evenings, watching the video, getting facebook records. >> coalbank was swamped with tips from people saying they'd seen skiel frr morgantown to new york and even california. each sighting was a dead end. at the same time, coalbank pulled skylar's records. and what she found was ominous. skylar wasn't using her cell phone or her atm card. coalbank now had serious doubts that skylar had run away. >> usually runaways take items with them they want. especially if she had contacts and glasses. she didn't take that stuff with her. >> and then police got an important new lead in the case. there had been two bank robberies in the nearby town of blacksville. both of them had gone down around the time skylar vanished. >> i was working with other investigators on those bank robberies. >> while looking into the robberies, ronnie gaskins of the west virginia state police was called into skylar's case. there had been a tip that somehow skylar had been at a party with the suspected bank 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 so they hid the body. >> it seemed unlikely. skylar didn't use heavy drugs. >> it was just a lot of tracking down rumors. tons and tons and tons of rumors. >> all leading nowhere. by now skylar had been gone for more than a month. gaskins vowed he would find her. >> i don't like to make promises in my line of work but the only promise i made was we would never stop, we would never give up in trying to find out what 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 university high. coming up -- >> i started posting on facebook things about karma. karma will get you. you can't hide. >> twitter, instagram, and facebook things start to get ridiculously out of control. >> whispers in the hallways. was someone hiding something? police are about to get a break. >> that was an a-ha moment. finally we have something to go on. >> when "dateline" continues. sleep from sleep number? because quality sleep is scientifically proven to help improve your overall health and wellness. introducing the new sleep number 360 smart bed. the only bed that effortlessly adjusts to both of you. proven quality sleep, is life-changing sleep. see every delivery... every yikes... and even every awwwwwwww... wait, where was i? introducing self protection from xfinity. designed to put you in control. with real-time notification and a week of uninterrupted recording... all powered by reliable, secure wifi from xfinity. gotta respect his determinatio. it's easy and affordable to get started. get self protection for $10 a month. the first day of school the fall of 2012 was heartbreaking. one of university high school's top students, skylar neese, had disappeared during the summer. classmate shania ammons. >> starting school without her, like that was probably one of the hardest days through the whole thing. like skylar was a go-to person and she was just gone. >> skylar's friend morgan 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 the teacher we don't know if she's coming back. >> sheila, come here. >> in some ways, life seemed normal. skylar's good friend sheila eddy seen here in this video taken in the classroom was back in school. >> i don't want my baby to look like him. >> so was bff rachel shoaf. rachel got the lead in the fall play. but everyone was worried about skylar. and in hallways and on social media rumors flew. >> between twitter and instagram and facebook you just see things start to get ridiculously out of control. >> kids saying things from skylar had overdosed and things that skylar is in a different country. >> daniel hoevatter was in drama with rachel and knew how close the three girls were. he wondered if rachel and sheila might be helping cover something up for skylar. >> there had been rumors going around, oh, rachel and sheila know where she's hiding. >> daniel knew rachel and sheila were the last ones to see skylar. he wondered if they were protecting her or maybe protecting someone else. either way, they had to know something. >> there were probably a good three, four, five times where i told rachel, if you know anything, you need to say what happened or where she's at. >> daniel wasn't alone. writers dalene barry and jeff fuller live in the morgantown area and have written a book about skylar's case. they've spent hours combing through what kids were saying on social media. >> the one thing that stood out to me is that people, teens were tweeting sheila and rachel 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 showed up and started interviewing students. >> i was only interviewed once. i guess i was nervous because i was like it's the fbi, like they're serious. they asked me about rachel and sheila, if they seemed any different, and i was telling them they didn't seem different but they were secluded to themselves more. >> the normal fall rituals like football and homecoming were punctuated with police visits to rachel and sheila. kids say rachel left play rehearsal to meet with the fbi. mary and dave neese, desperate to find their daughter, thought the police were wasting their time investigating the girls they knew so well. >> i even went to the police and said will you leave sheila alone, please? i said you guys are harassing her 24/7. the kid's going through enough right now. leave her alone. she was like our daughter. >> but investigators were convinced the two girls knew more than they were saying. that fall, ronnie gaskins interviewed each girl repeatedly. how was sheila's demeanor in these meetings you'd have with her? >> calm. collect. would look at you right in the 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 a lot. >> their story never varied. they picked skylar up, drove around morgantown, smoked a little pot, and dropped her off a few blocks from home. >> it was like a recording with these two. >> in the meantime, the officers had begun to collect physical evidence, and it didn't match up with the story the girls had been telling. surveillance video from a convenience store put the girls' car not heading east as they had said but heading west toward blacksville. and the girls' phone records from that night showed rachel's phone pinging off a cell tower in blacksville. >> that was an a-ha moment. finally, we have something to go on that's different from their story. >> now even skylar's parents joined the chorus of people trying to get the girls to talk. >> i started posting on facebook things about karma, karma will get you, you can't hide. we were pushing. we were pushing the girls to get them to say what happened. >> by late n