but she rushed home when nathan told her there'd been a break-in. >> i drove out there and the roads were all road-blocked. >> is that a sick feeling when you see all the police and you know -- >> oh, yeah. >> what were you thinking? >> i tried to run up there to go into the house. they were like you can't go in, i said i just want to know, what happened to my daughter, is she in there? where is she? they eventually took me downtown. one of the policemen came in and told me she had been shot. worst day of my life. >> reporter: now she had to tell her husband, denise's father. >> i fell apart and cried. i guess it's every parent's worst nightmare to have a child taken from them. >> reporter: as denise's family reeled from their unimaginable loss, this quiet, central illinois community was just starting to grapple with the fallout of a murder on valentine's day.