The door. I just started sobbing. Reporter they had found her daughter but not the boy she was with. It was if he had never existed. We couldnt find anything about lj. Reporter months went by. Still no trace of lj. And then a rookie took the case. How did you feel about it, that this was now going to be your case . I didnt know if i was capable of doing this. I kricried for two hours. Reporter a teen found dead. We still dont have an answer. Reporter a mysterious missing suspect. You said that lj has killed someone before. Reporter and hers to solve. I get the feeling youre learning how to become a detective as you go. This was the case that taught me. You have no sure fire way to keep your children safe. Hello and welcome to dateline. Social worker Veronica Kasprzak made one of her toughest cases deeply personal when she decided to adopt annie. Over the years, annie thrived, but it turned out she was keeping a secret that was only discovered after her disappearance. Could a fake pregnancy really have been the motive for an all too real murder, or had annie run into the wrong crowd . Heres Dennis Murphy with the girl with the red shoes. Come on, red reporter Veronica Kasprzak is a determined woman. Does someone ever say you cant save them all to you . My mother is probably the one that would say and still says that. But, yeah, i heard that a lot. Reporter she rarely listened, though. The desire to do good, to save a child, was too strong though sometimes in the quiet hours, she wonders if she did the right thing. If i wouldnt have picked that house, if i would have not taken a shower, if i would have done something else, she wouldnt have been in that situation. Reporter of course no one could have known then that it would end up like this. Unified Police Department. I need to report a runaway. My daughter is missing. Reporter her daughter was annie grace kasprzak, though when veronica first met annie, she wasnt a kasprzak at all. She wasnt even her daughter. She was a client, just 7 years old with a rough childhood. She had been through some abuse, and she had a hard time trusting other people. Reporter back in 2005, veronica was a case worker for utahs division of children and family services. Her job was to find homes for kids who no longer had one. Annie was one of those kids. Annie has kind of a larger than life personal at. Whatever annie does, she never did small. If there was something she liked, she loved it. If there was something she didnt like, it was big and there was no question about it. Drama came with it, huh . Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Reporter veronica tried for years to find annie a stable home. But after annie had been flung back to the state nine times, veronica, young, naive, and stubborn, made a surprising decision to adopt annie. Did your superiors tell you, you know, we dont do that, veronica . Oh, yes. Dont cross that line . Uhhuh. You have a professional relationship with this child, but dont bring her into your home . Well, and that was very true and because at the time, i also happened to be about six months pregnant. And so im sure the thought was, okay, crazy pregnant lady. She doesnt know what shes doing. But it was very much, are you sure . You cant save everybody. Reporter but veronica was determined to try. She and her thenhusband dennis adopted 10yearold annie in january 2007. Annie, who had bounced around from house to house finally had a home. Parents and brothers who adored her. And she was the immediate cool big sister. She liked being the oldest, being in charge and teaching them all of this cool stuff. Reporter she was wanted, happy, making memories. Opening gifts on christmas morning. Her first trip to the beach. Not that everything was perfect, mind you. There was still definitely a im going to test you. As much as you say you love me and youre keeping me, i dont believe you. How would she challenge you, for instance . The quintessential, im not going to do what you say. Im going to do whatever i want. So a psychological tussle . Mmhmm. Reporter which only intensified when annie entered her teen years. She was about as boy crazy as i could imagine. She always had a boy that she liked or that liked her, and it was never a, here, let me see. Its, im so in love with you. This is forever. I couldnt imagine anybody being more amazing. She was very all in. Reporter but annie was also into her education and her future. She wanted to be a therapist just like veronica. She even wanted her new family to adopt more kids. Well, what about this other girl, mom . Shes there, and shes really having a hard time. I think we should bring her home. She was really becoming your daughter in a way. Yeah. Reporter veronica eventually divorced and remarried. She and her new husband james settled here in riverton, utah, a quiet suburb of salt lake city. Annie had james wrapped around her finger. I took her with me to help me pick out her mothers valentines day gift, and there was a shoe store right across the way. She had a way with me. She could talk me into just about anything. In one of them was her favorite shoes that she found, and she was so excited about them, and they were a red pair of shoes. Reporter just a few weeks later, march 10th, 2012, annie, now 15, was watching her brothers while veronica and james went out for dinner. Then when we came home, everything seemed the same. I mean annie had changed from running around the house in shorts to jeans, and i just kind of chalked that up to, okay, shes gotten cold. And i had a massive headache i couldnt get rid of, so i went to take a shower. Annie had gone downstairs to her room to listen to music, and we just figured it was another saturday. Reporter but it wasnt. When veronica finished her shower, annie was gone. James searched her bedroom. The note was tucked underneath her blanket, and i grabbed it. And it just said, im sorry, mom, that i havent been totally honest with you. Reporter annie, it turned out, was keeping a secret. In the note, she wrote, i lied to my friends. I told them i was p. Veronica and james knew that stood for the word no teenagers parents want to hear, pregnant. Just a few months earlier, they had learned that annie had had sex for the first time. Shed had sex, and so to annie, she assumed that well, because weve had sex, i could be pregnant or i am pregnant. Reporter but the pregnancy test was negative, and annie was now on birth control. Why would she lie about being p . Even more alarming was where annie said she was going. By the time you read this note, ill be on my way to california. Please dont try and look for me because i dont want to be found. The first thing we did is we called the police, and then the second person i called was chris. Reporter 14yearold Chris Bagshaw. Annie had brought him over to the house a few times. He was kind of quiet. I kind of took it as the, all right, im here with my girlfriends parents and i want to make sure they dont kill me, so was he in and out of the picture for her as the boyfriend of the moment . Mmhmm. His stock would rise and fall . Yep. She was crazy about him. Reporter chris told veronica he didnt know where annie was. But he did have some potentially significant information. Chris said annie told him she was running away with a guy named lj. We were shocked because, i mean, we didnt know all of her friends because they changed a lot depending on who she was hanging out with at the moment. But it wasnt familiar at all. Reporter a Police Officer came and took a report. James, meanwhile, called up the gps function on annies cell phone. It put her around or about the golf course out in riverton, within a mile of that, which is around the bridge area. Reporter the bridge at the jordan river, just a couple of miles from their home. A place joggers and horse back riders frequent during the day and young lovers at night. James, veronica, and the officer watched as annies phone pinged across the computer screen in real time. Youre watching her move . Yes. And it moved so fast. Our immediate assumption was, okay, shes getting in a car. So this is a hot pursuit now, looking for your girl. Yep. Reporter and then the signal just stopped. Veronica drove to a walmart near where they tracked annies phone. And i have her picture on my cell phone, and im showing it to the people that are sitting at the front, the greeters, going have you seen this girl . Are you collected or are you a wreck while all this is going on . I am frantic. Reporter veronica went back home. She and james watched the front door, and they kept calling annie, but her phone went straight to voicemail. In the best of worlds, shes out about some young boyfriend you may or may not know. Uhhuh. Off on a lark of some kind but it will come to an end and youll get her back and regroup. Our worst Case Scenario is shes going to come home pregnant. Reporter worstCase Scenario not even close. Coming up he had told us that lj had driven by the house threatening chris. And a jogger makes a grim discovery. 911, what is your emergency . Im at the river bottom. Theres some pools of blood. When dateline continues. Confidence, reassurance youre doing whats right, to protect your dog from fleas and ticks for a full month. This one little nexgard chew is the 1 vet recommended protection. And its the only chew, fda approved to prevent infections that cause lyme disease. Plus, its safe for puppies. Theres a lot of power in this one little nexgard chew. Nexgard. What one little chew can do. So to breathe better i started oncedaily anoro. 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Im at the river bottom, and theres some pools of blood. And im guessing its just an animal, but in the water right by the river theres a shoe. Reporter sergeant Chad Carpenter was one of the first on the scene. We called forensics out and did a presumptive test, which was able to tell us that it actually was human blood. Reporter human blood. That changed things. That made us think, okay, we might have a body in the water. So we called the Highway Patrol helicopter. Reporter the helicopter was in the air for just under an hour before it spotted something about a mile north of where the jogger saw the blood. It was caught up in some branches. As the chopper got closer, it was clear. There was a body in the river. Sergeant, when the divers pulled the victim out, what were the injuries they observed to her face . She had a laceration here on her forehead. Her face was very swollen. So we werent able to tell to what extent the injuries were, and we couldnt even identify who she was. Reporter their jane doe, dressed in a red and white plaid shirt, looked to be about 20 years old. Her features possibly asian. And obviously she had been murdered. Leading the investigation was a young detective named Derek Johnson. Tell me about him. Right when he came into the academy, he sat next to me and started teasing me and the rest of the class time we just harassed each other and laughed and giggled all day. Reporter Jacqueline Moore met derek at the police academy. She and derek hit it off immediately. A detective spot came open and we both applied and he got it. Did you think rats . I did. He got it and i didnt . Yes. Reporter now derek had caught his first case, which was also the first homicide the small town of draper had seen in years. Someone called police after 10 00 this morning to report they had come across a gruesome scene. Reporter by the time veronica and james saup the reports, annie had been missing for nearly 20 hours. The information its an asian woman under 20, i think was the initial report, that would seem to rule out annie certainly. Initially were thinking, no, thats not possible. That theres no way. Reporter but then a detail sergeant carpenter shared with salt lake citys nbc affiliate ksl tv. There was a shoe found at the crime scene, and there was one on the body. Reporter a red shoe, the same kind james had bought annie for valentines day just weeks earlier. Veronica and james tried to stay calm. We called the police, and we said, hey, our daughters missing. I think logically i was going, theyre going to rule it out. I just need them to rule it out. Reporter but they couldnt rule it out. After i called the police, i called my parents to come pick up the boys and i just started sobbing. Reporter police soon determined the 20something asian victim was really 15yearold Annie Kasprzak. She had been killed by Blunt Force Trauma to the head. Veronica and james had thought the rapid pinging of annies phone meant she was driving away. Theres the very worst moment of your life at that point. Here they are, three people at the door. They confirmed that it was annie. I think we were in shock. We went into automatic what do you need from us . Tell us what you want. You can have it. Look at anything. Reporter veronica told investigators what she learned from annies on again, off again boyfriend, Chris Bagshaw, that annie had run away with a boy named lj. When you talked with lj, how did you talk to him . I talked to him once. Okay. Actually on the phone. Okay. Reporter police spoke to Chris Bagshaw and his father at their home. And when you talked to him on the phone, did he speak with an accent, or did you notice anything distinctive about his voice . No. Reporter naturally police also had to ask chris where he was. I was with my grandma, and at one point i did walk up to see if my friend could hang out, but he wasnt home. Okay. Reporter they went through the usual questions. When you walked to your friends, what did you have on . Just regular jeans and a tshirt and a red jacket. Just blue jeans . Yeah, blue jeans, his nike shoes. He had a tshirt underneath, and he had his red hoodie on. Do you mind if we see your nikes . Sure. Reporter chris wanted to help. He gave those nikes to investigators as well as his clothes. He even gave a dna sample. And after his interview, chris dad called up sergeant carpenter. He had told us in this phone call that lj had driven by the house, was threatening chris. So heres more information that this lj is a very real and threatening person. Yes. Reporter detectives also spoke to chris and annies friend spencer kridle. Spebs spencer said he was at the gym with his brother the night annie was killed. Did she have an interest in james . Not that she told me. Maybe she does because of some person named lj. All i know is she told me he was in i agang. Reporter before he left the interview, spencer shared one more thing with police. She said that lj has killed someone before. She never gave me the name, but she said that she knows that or Something Like that. Thats why she was scared when apparently lj threatened chris to come kill him. You thought lj was your killer . We thought lj was involved. Reporter did boy crazy annie fall for a gang member . In her room, they found a poem and for the first time a name, layton jendon, but police couldnt track him down. Jacqueline wasnt working the case then, but she remembers crossing paths with spencer at the station. He immediately tensed up, glench clenched his fist. I thought this kid has done something wrong and he thinks im coming to arrest him because im approaching him in uniform. Did you share that with derek . Yes. He said, weve received more information now and we think we have another suspect. Reporter another suspect, a new name altogether. Based on information from an eyewitness who may have seen Annie Kasprzak the night she was killed and knew who killed her. Coming up, is this how annie was murdered . And is this the man who murdered her . I didnt do it. When dateline continues. Awesome internet. Its more than just fast. It keeps all your devices running smoothly. With builtin security that protects your kids. No matter what theyre up to. It protects your info. And gives you 24 7 peace of mind. That if its connected, its protected. Even that that petcamera thingy. [ whines ] can your internet do that . Xfinity xfi can because its. Simple, easy, awesome. [ barking ] reporter Annie Kasprzak had been brutally murdered and dumped into the jordan river. We kept asking, are you sure it wasnt an accident . The idea that somebody else could do that to her was just even now its hard to imagine that thats even possible. Reporter and now Draper Police were working hard to catch her killer. Were trying to actively locate suspects in this case, any witnesses so that we can actually bring this case to a conclusion for the parents. Reporter and within a week of annies murder, they found that witness. Her name was joanna, and she had been picked up on a fraud charge by neighboring west jordan p