I think that was the worst part. Who in the world could do this . And, are they going to do it again . This was personal. Clue after clue. There were footprints in megans blood. Suspect after suspect. Did you kill meghan . No. I was in shock. They were looking at everyone that she had contact with. Twist after twist. Instant panic. Instant, instant panic. I still get chills. People have secrets. People have a lot of secrets. The family that lived in this cozy house on this quiet street never came back after the awful thing that happened here. Its terrifying. Its terrifying to think of. It was april 10th, 2008. Portsmouth, virginia, Police SergeantRobert Mcdaniel was right nearby when the all Points Fullerton went out to Law Enforcement. And then the call comes out and its literally one block away from where im standing. Did the address ring a bell . It did and it didnt. All he knew was that someone had been killed inside that house. So, you go there and what do you discover . I went into clear the house out of anybody who was inside of the house to make sure this Scene Status Pristine as possible. And when i looked down, i realized, then, that it was meghan. Meghan landowski the teenage victim was someone he knew. He knew her whole family. It was her stepfather, chris, who found meghan as he came in from work. She was just wide. Just like in as if she can be. And i went and i looked again and then i saw blood. My daughter, shes, looks like shes been sexually assaulted and shes bleeding to death. Wait a minute, wait a minute, slow down. Who, whats wrong with there . My daughter is bleeding. Theres blood all over the floor looks like her throat is cut. She was a tiny 16yearold girl who cared about people and loved to dance. He couldnt comprehend what had just happened to her. Could you tell how she had been killed . I recognized what i saw. But i wasnt processing what i saw, does that make sense . When i found, chris he was thrown into a State Of Shock and he had this distant look in his eyes. I still had the phone in my hand. And he was the one trying to bring me out of the trance that i wasnt. He pointed out his eyes and said, you need to look at me. Chris pulled himself together and called his wife angie at her office. Her coworkers drove her home. So, we get there and there, theyve got the house taped off and im running towards the house. And i had a guy grabbed me and said you cant go out there. I said, oh, im going up there. Thats my child. That is my house and im like, i want to make sure that it is her. I want to see her. I want to make sure that its her. And chris grabbed me and said, its her. So, you are trying to protect or did not have to see what you saw. Right. With good reason. Megan had been stabbed over and over. There was blood everywhere. She never stood a chance. It was a terrible sight, even for veteran Law Enforcement. You cant get it out of your head. And its something that you want to go home and hug its okay, i know how hard it is given what you saw. New york. You just want to go home and hug your children. Investigators put aside their personal feelings and started to decipher the story told by the evidence. They learned fairly quickly that after school, meghan dropped in on a neighbor. So, they had a conversation, for a few minutes, a short one. A short conversation. Did she say if anyones coming . That if shes expecting a visitor . Maybe. Anything . Shes talking about school, normal stuff, how shes feeling, that kind of stuff and then she tells her that im going to get back in and make macaroni and cheese for my brother when he gets home. Susan and her husband karl are Crime Scene Investigators. They arrived at the house and quickly started to identify clues. Like a small leaf found on a bedroom floor. That told them how the killer might have gotten inside. Finding this leaf was kind of a surprise. When we went outside there was this big bush right under the parents window that actually had this type of leaf to it. The bedroom window was unlocked. The screen, pushed up. They surmised the killer climbed over the bush and through the window. And forced meghan upstairs, where she was bound with tape and sexually assaulted. Her underwear and her skirt were on the floor. There was also she had a watch and a hairclip and it was thrown through the room. So it looks, like at that point, that there probably had been a struggle. She had been fighting back. We believed that somehow as she gets up and gets down into the kitchen. It was there that the killer finished his attack with a knife from the kitchen, he stubbed meghan about 40 times. Seven of those wounds were inflicted after she was dead. Just the mere body of the stab wounds has a whole lot of anger involved in that. Thats not what you would typically find on a random attack. This was personal. This somebody knew meghan. At the base of the sink, where bloody shoe prints. The investigators noted how the prints led from the kitchen to the front door. You could see them leading from the body coming out of the door. Based on the fact that there was blood on the door coming out, from the inside, so we know that he came out the front door. Was megans blood found on the doorknob to the front door . It was a mix. There was a little bit of hers and the suspects. Police believe the killer was still carrying a second knife taken from the kitchen. It was from the Butcher Block . It was the missing knife. Do you believe the killer had dumped the Murder Weapon as he ran Down The Street . Yes, as he was running Down The Street, we believe he just tossed it down the sources he was running away. While police launched a murder investigation, then you spread quickly through the community. Heather manassas was a friend from a constand square. My Dance Teacher called a meeting, they wanted everyone there who knew her. Most of the other students in the room were a lot younger so i think she was trying to be very very sensitive to that. And i just remember her saying that meghan had died. And it was at that point that i asked, you know, did she get into an accident and they told us we dont really have any details right now. But, it wouldnt be long before details of the killing did come out. Brittani hopper was a friend from school. It is hard enough to lose somebody. Sorry. It was just so brutal. And she was all by herself. I think that that was the worst part. Megans lonely, painful death was something everybody took to heart. Friends, family police. They remember the girl gleaming with a life. Now, finding her killer would require determination, imagination and help from everyone her life had touched. Coming up i didnt know if it was somebody who had targeted her, specifically or if it was just a random. To me, it sounded like someone who would have been pretty angry with her. A sudden realization hits meghan stepfather. One earlier obvious suspect. I was in the back of the police car and i called the agent in the ncis. And i told her, that thats killer. When dateline continues. Theos nose was cause for alarm, so dad brought puffs plus lotion to save it from harm. Puffs has 50 more lotion and brings soothing relief. Dont get burned by winter nose. A nose in need deserves puffs indeed. Americas 1 lotion tissue. How do i love thee . A nose in need deserves puffs indeed. Let me count the ways. Love can get a little messy. Good thing theres resolve. Love the love. Resolve the mess. The savagely of Meghan Landowskis killing, prompted the reaching response by Law Enforcement. Is this all Hands On Deck . Everybody was. Theyre a lot of our resources were used on that case. As investigators begin talking to megans Friends And Family, they were hearing pretty much the same thing. Meghan had really close friends. And, then she had basically, she was friends with everybody. More than that, they heard that meghan lived to make people happy. Their parents say, she was happiest when she danced. She was really good at it and she was so small, she was so tiny. And she just would float across that stage. And she was beautiful. Just beautiful. I remember her parents coming in with this wild child. [laughs] you could kind of tell when they first walk in what they like. And she just had tons of energy. Her after school dance coach, kelly, derek says her favorite kind of dance was also the most rigorous. As soon as she started belly it just it just it looked good on her. It looked right on her. She had really, really great ballet feet. We used to call them ballot banana feet. She had perfect arches. Is that what you call ballerinas with good feet . Thats what we called them, yeah. The girl with the banana feet also had a sense of empathy on her years. I met her at my audition for the kelly dance explosion dance team. I was really, really nervous. I have no friends there, i didnt know any of the teachers. And megan was the first person to approach me. And kind of walk me through the audition. Investigators learned that kids and adults just liked being around. She always had her hand hugging or jumping on somebody. She was just always in your face, always, if i had walked on the hallway she was always, what are you doing miss kelly . What are you doing . Where youre going . Do you need any help . One of the jokes that she started a monarch dance school, im not sure if i should say this are not sure, go ahead. She would say my balls hurt. Like, the balls of repeat. So, that became a saying that we joked around the school for many, many years because of her. Megan and her family lived right across the Elizabeth River from the naval station in , virginia. Had a construction company. Her husband chris, worked at the naval hospital. So, megan was her stepdaughter but really like your daughter . Absolutely. We just headed off as just she was my daughter. I, mean we joked and carried on. She was the protective older sister. She was the comedian of the family. She was the entertainer. And the boss. And the boss. And, as it turns out, a pretty chatty boss. There was a joke in the family that was, meghan, five minutes, can you go five minutes without talking . And she goes, okay. Timely so im like, okay. So we did it one day. She couldnt, she couldnt do it. From what ive been told, she cared a lot about a grades. Yes. So everything it seems like everything with meghan was, was she like a perfectionist . I wouldnt say she was a perfectionist, she just wanted to please everyone. Her freshman year, she got into a high school with the special arts program. She found herself surrounded by talented dancers, singers, classical musicians. She was putting in long hours, commuting on the bus. Would you to sit to get on the bus . Yes, all the time. What did you talk about . Anything and everything. Just friends, people that she had met. Would you talk about boys on the bus . Yes. Yeah. We would hear in there. For sure. She did talk quite a few times about sitting guys. But it wasnt anything serious. It was all just, little crushes here and there. Was there type of guys that she liked . Was there like an athlete . Not that i know of. I mean, like i said, she just kind of liked everybody in their own way. It didnt matter where you came, from what you looked, like what your story. Was she was going to be your friend. And thats how it was, until it seemed that meghans smile started to disappear. She just wasnt herself. A little over halfway through the, year her grades started slipping a little bit and she kind of changed. Out of nowhere and she was kind of just rebelling a little bit. She was getting into trouble a little bit lets go. Which he confided in you and all about what was going on . Yes. Typically she would. But this, it was a complete switch that kind of changed. Something was seriously wrong. And, a few months later, meghan was killed. I just didnt know what to think. I didnt know if it was somebody who had targeted her specifically or if it was just a random. To me, it sounded like someone who would have been pretty angry with her and i couldnt think of who that would be. She didnt have any enemies that you know . Not that i know of, nobody. But her parents knew something that friends didnt. In his grief and panic, his home, now a murder scene, his stepfather made one more phone call. This want to investigators with the navy. I was in the back of the police car and i called the agent in and see a yes. And i told her, i said, the bastard killed her. A secret was about to come out. A secret that meghans family believed had everything to do with her murder. Coming up i said, tell me what happened tell me whats going on megans shares are explosive secret. First with their parents then with the police. This has got to be excruciating for a 15 year old. Yeah. I was hurt, i was mad. It was betrayal, plain and simple. When dateline continues. Until, i saw how easily it picked up my hair every time i dried it only takes a minute. Look at that the heavy duty cloths are extra thick, for amazing trap lock. Even for his hair. Wow. And for dust, i love my heavy duty duster. The Fluffy Fibers trap dust on contact, up high and all around without having to lift a thing. Im so hooked. Youll love swiffer. Or your money back every parent knows when its time to go into protect mode. Adding lysol laundry sanitizer kills 99. 9 of illnesscausing Bacteria Detergents leave behind. Clean is good. Sanitized is better. Attention hearing loss sufferers do you have trouble keeping up with conversations . Do you listen to tv on max volume . 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She was very emotional and we finally told her, we said, okay, your grades are our only concern right now. We have to get them out. Whenever we have to do, lets do it. Megans parents thought the school was the problem. So, they switched her to a different high school, closer to home for her sophomore year. It was that fall that went even had there noticed the change. I hadnt seen her in probably about a month and a half. So, i was excited to see. And she did not seem like herself. She just seemed i dont know, not her bubbly personality. It was almost like she didnt even want to say hello. Like a light had gone up. Kind of. Yeah. Her parents also wondered about some of the kids she was hanging out with. They suspected one of them was involved with drugs. We noticed that she came home a couple of times and all she wanted to do was sleep. Which threw up red flags with us. They had to take a drug test. It was positive for marijuana. We confronted her about it. And she finally admitted it. That she had tried it. And i was like, okay lets try not to do that anymore. So, she agreed. But meghan continued to have problems. I asked, or what is going on . And she told me, nothing. And im, like no, this is not nothing. So, this is more than just pod at this point. You feel like your gut is telling you some things up with meghan. Right. She actually ended up leaving dance. Her parents were kind of having her take a break for a little bit, hoping that she would bring her grades back up. And then, that she would be able to come back. Did you tried to call her or text or to talk about it . No. I just figured i didnt want to do it on her. Maybe she just needed some space. At home, the problems were getting worse. Chris says, he threatened to do something he had never done before. I told, or i said, if you dont tell me right here and now, youre gonna be severely punished. I told her, i, said im going to blister your but until you tell me the truth. She told chris something that changed everything. Something that convinced him the grades, the attitude, the pot werent the problem. They were symptoms of something far more serious. Then she tells me that rob hickey had been touching her. Robert hickey, a married father of four daughters. A navy health specialist, a close friend of the family. He picked up for officer. He was on his way to make captain. Their families hung out together. Birthday parties. Summer cookouts. Grownups and kids. This is your close friends. This is my best friend. And i trusted him more than i would trust just about anybody else. Chris immediately called megans mother and told her what he had just heard. And im like, are you serious . Are you sure . And she got on the phone with me and i told, or i said, tell me what happened. Tell me whats going on. And then she told me and i said, are you sure . Because this is someones life youre going to ruin. And she goes, mom, i am absolutely 100 sure. How did you feel on the phone when you were told this news . I was hurt. I was mad. I was said for his family because of what theyre about to go through. And i was more hurt for chris. Because that was chriss best friend. It was betrayal. Plain and simple. But you dont expect it from a guy that you trust with your life. Isnt that feeling but youve got this news, you want to just like run over there and, you know, i dont to say it but, you know oh, trust me oh yeah. 100 . Megans parents decided she needed to talk to the police. And thats when she first met Sergeant Robert mcdaniels. I was a detective in the specials victims unit. Thats right. The officer who would go on to investigate megans murder was the officer who first heard megans story about robert hicke. So, this is gotta be excruciating for 15yearold to come in and talk to a total stranger, even though you get there to help her. It was. To put expose this potential secret. He remembered she started slowly, fearfully. And then i told her i said, ive heard just about anything that youre going to say, youre