the water with lights. >> reporter: the cinderblocks were tied to the body with bright yellow rope. and they were unique. >> old-style is how i would categorize it. it was very old. >> reporter: not like you get at a modern-day building supply place. >> no, this one had a lot of pebbles and actual rocks in -- in it. so that stood out to me. >> reporter: on the banks of the river, they found shotgun shells. perhaps a clue as to how she died. but a shotgun had nothing to do with it. the next day, the medical examiner concluded danielle's cause of death was asphyxiation. it seemed danielle had been strangled. and a particularly gruesome detail. stuffed in danielle's mouth, the medical examiner found a nightsock. hamilton had seen one just like it before. it was a match to a sock that aunt chena had discovered on the trail? >> yeah, i was gonna say aunt chena actually found that sock. >> reporter: so this was the pair. >> it was definitely the match. >> reporter: remember, the sock at the creek had been covered in debris. detectives theorized that whatever happened to danielle started there creekside.