brought a deluge of tips, some totally farfetched. >> there's a lady that was calling saying that she had her and was taking care of her, and -- and that she was sick. and it was just crazy. >> how many leads do you think you chased down? >> over 1,000 leads. i'm positive of it. >> reporter: one of those leads had the authorities convinced danielle was alive. some tipsters said she was at a restaurant near the north carolina-virginia border, 150 miles away. and she's there right now. >> these people were adamant. "look, we've seen her. this is -- she's with a guy." >> reporter: fbi agents were dispatched to check it out. >> they were sending pictures back. like, they were sitting in the parking lot watching and taking pictures and stuff. and we were like, man, that looks like her. that's -- >> spitting image, huh? >> oh god, yeah. it was like, okay, this is it. we're done. we -- we found her. >> reporter: but when the agents made contact with the girl. >> it wasn't her. >> reporter: all those leads had chena second-guessing her own instincts. maybe danielle had run away. >> i actually started seeing