Campus full of students. We were really scared. A mysterious tweet. What do you think it meant . I dont exactly know. Reporter a terrifying phone call my son just called me and told me he killed somebody. Reporter and a terrible truth. I didnt know how. I didnt know who. I didnt know anything. I just know she was gone. Reporter im lester holt and this is dateline. Heres Andrea Canning with after midnight. 3 f2 medianoche. Days at the beach come to an end, students flood back to college. Its the same scene year after year, at campus after campus. And every year, theres that new bunch, the freshmen. I was nervous for classes the first day because, you know, im that scared little freshman. Reporter all those worries, all those questions. Do i really have to go to these classes . And whats this teacher like . And all that kind of stuff. Reporter theyre not quite adults, theyre not quite teens. But now, suddenly, theyre on their own. I mean, leaving home for the first time can be scary. Scary for the kids. For their parents too. Every mom has that, my babys its hard. Going to college, yes. Reporter most of the time, kids sail through the experience. They make new friends, date new people. And move on. But there are others who are not so lucky. They are the victims of a troubling trend thats caught the nations attention. Dating violence. It could happen to anyones daughter . Anyone. This could happen to anyone. Reporter it was late september, 2012. The college at brockport, a state school in western new york, was well into the new school year. 18yearold Alexandra Kogut was having the time of her life. As soon as i met her, i knew we were the Perfect Match for each other. Reporter alex kogut and Samantha Turner met within days of arriving on campus, besties from the beginning. You really clicked with alex. I do. Right away. I did right away. Why did you like her so much right away . I liked her because i could act so funny in front of her and i could act myself. If i had a problem, she was always there for me. Reporter by late september, alex and samantha were inseparable, swapping clothes and confidences. Sounds almost like you were sisters. Pretty much. Every second i saw her, we would have fun and laugh together. Every possible thing just made our relationship grow stronger. Reporter but on friday, september 28, they were going off in different directions. Samantha was heading home to see her family. Alex was staying on campus, counting the hours until her longtime boyfriend arrived for a weekend visit. That afternoon, alex went down the hall to samanthas dorm room to say goodbye. It was around 3 00 maybe. And i was about to go home. And shes, like, can i pick out some clothes in your closet . And i was, like, sure. So, she took three of my shirts and a pair of my shoes. And she was all excited. Shes, like, claytonll be here in a half an hour. Reporter twentyone year old Clayton Whittemore was alexs boyfriend. And he was coming to spend the weekend. But first, alex had a swim team meeting. Reporter shed been swimming since high school, where Paige Whitney was the captain. You were the captain of the swim team. But you call alex more the heart of the swim team . Yeah, definitely. In high school, she definitely wasnt the fastest on our team. But she was one of the most important people on our team because she had the most heart. She would be behind you at every single one of your races cheering you on, wishing you luck. Reporter now paige and alex were teammates again. She mustve loved knowing that she had you to lean on . I feel like there was definitely that sense of security. Reporter that friday, the team meeting ran late. Alexs boyfriend got to town before it ended. Alex texted to apologize that she wasnt there to greet him. Please dont kill me she wrote. No worries he answered. Soon the two got together, with a busy night ahead of them. Midway through the evening, samantha texted alex. And i told her, i was, like, cant wait to see you tomorrow. Love you, good night. You know, and then she said the same. Reporter but later, in the early hours of saturday morning, samantha was awakened by a call. Alexs mother was on the line. What in the world was up . She was scared. She didnt know where alex was, what she was doing. She had a sign, i dont know how. Something was wrong. And her mother her mother contacted just thought something was wrong . Yes. And called you . Yes. Freaking out. And i was, like, im home. I dont know. Reporter a fearful mother on the phone in the middle of the night, searching for her daughter. What had happened to set her off . Why was she so distraught . Sandra whitney is a good friend of alexs parents, becky and mark kogut. Shes paiges mom. The koguts, they had gone off for a weekend vacation. And they had been texting that evening, and becky was sending her pictures of their hotel room. You know, you get to a hotel, hey look and alex didnt respond. And she tried over and over again. And she didnt respond. And thats not how their relationship worked. You text, you call, you always responded. Is that unusual, though, that she wouldnt respond in in college . Its a weekend, her boyfriends coming for the weekend. I imagine the first couple times, maybe she wasnt concerned. But when it was several, thats what raised flags, with becky. Was it a little bit of mothers intuition, do you think . I imagine it was. Reporter alexs mom worked the phone frantically, trying anyone who might know where her daughter was. Finally, at 2 42 a. M. , she called the Campus Police to ask them to go to her daughters dorm room to check on her. Officer Michael Johnson. You took that call. I did. And you headed over to the dorm. Yes. And then what happened . Well, when we went there, i knocked on the door, i knocked twice. And since it was a welfare check, i say, well let me, let me see if this doors unlocked. Reporter it was. And officer Michael Johnson will never forget what was inside that room. It just seemed that something really bad happened there that night. Reporter what had happened in room 108 . Police were about to confront a frightening and confusing scene. You never come to work thinking youre going to see Something Like that. A young victim. But who is it . They were just telling everybody. You know, keep your door shut. Dont come in the hall. and we didnt really know what was going on. Usaa. We know what it means to serve. Get an Auto Insurance quote and see why 92 of our members plan to stay for life. Hurry into lowes and find big Summer Savings for this 4th of july, like 4 bags of stagreen garden soil for only 10. Plus get 20 off neverkink hoses. Dont miss out on summers best savings at lowes. Everyone loves how they feel in dark clothes. 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Common side effects were pain, redness, or swelling at the injection site. Limited arm movement, fatigue, head ache muscle or joint pain less appetite, chills, or rash. Even if youve already been vaccinated with another pneumonia vaccine, prevnar 13® may help provide additional protection. Get this one done. Ask your healthcare professional about prevnar 13® today. Officer Michael Johnson, a cop at the college at brockport, was on a routine welfare check at a dorm room early one saturday in september, 2012, when he got the shock of his life. We dont see that level of violence that often. Reporter room 108 was wrecked. There was blood everywhere. On the bed, on the door, on a pillow on the ground. And in the center of the room, was a young woman, lying on the floor, facedown, her bloody hair falling over her face. It seemed very unnatural the way she fell, the blood splatter that was in the room, even the bloody footprints that were around her, all indicated that something violent had happened in that room. What feeling do you have when you when you see Something Like that . Well, the adrenaline kicks in and luckily, you know, you need that adrenaline at that moment. And it was just time to go to work. And if she was alive, i had to do all i could for her. Reporter officer johnson knew he needed help fast. I heard this guy yelling. And i thought it was a drunk college kid. Reporter hailey plymale lived across the hall from alexs room. The commotion woke her up. And i noticed the man, was like yelling for help and stuff. So i woke up and i started looking my peephole. And it was a Police Officer yelling. Reporter lieutenant Daniel Vasile works with officer johnson on the campus force. He radioed me for the a. E. D. , so whats a a. E. D. . Thats the defibrillator. Okay. So, i arrived. I grabbed it. I went running to his location. What did you think when you saw what you saw . I couldnt believe it. I guess, you know, you never come to work thinking youre going to see Something Like that. Reporter hailey plymale was now glued to her peephole. She saw residence officials everywhere. They were just telling everybody, you know, keep your door shut. Dont come in the hall. And we didnt really know what was going on. Reporter the news was spreading. Hailey was fielding a storm of texts from worried students. Everyone was just so confused. And it was all just like, i dont know, you know. I think somebodys hurt. But i dont know whats happened. Reporter by now, the cops realized the young woman on the floor was dead. Hailey soon learned that too. What happened was the ambulance showed up. And the Police Officer said to the paramedic, we only need one of you to go in and to pronounce her. And the paramedic went in and came out, pronounced her jane doe. And it was just, like, oh, wow. I knew that that meant that they couldnt identify who it was and they left. And i woke my roommate up. And i said, you know, somebodys died. And she didnt believe me at first. And i told her, you know, like, they left. The stretcher had nobody on it. Reporter the students, on their phones, tried to stay calm, but it wasnt easy. After all, a College Residence is supposed to be safe. But now there might be a killer on the loose. We were really afraid. And, i mean, the Police Officers were like, youre okay. Like, were here. Youre safe. But we were really scared. Reporter hailey went over and over the events of that night in her mind. And she remembered something. About 1 15 am, as she was trying to go to sleep, an unusual sound. But was it related . It was, like, like, little, like, thud, thud. And then, it was, like, maybe, like, a pause. And then, it was, like, thuds more. And then, like, kind of another break. And some of them were louder than others. Reporter now, as the activity in the hallway intensified, hailey heard a line straight out of a cop show. The Police Officer said, this is now a crime scene. Nobody touch anything. So at that time, i knew that we had to just do our jobs and we had to preserve everything, you know, for the safety of the rest of the campus. Reporter the officers had a million questions. Number one, who was the girl lying with her face to the floor . Alex kogut, the girl theyd been asked to check on, had blonde hair. There were pictures of her in the room. The girl on the floor was a brunette. Was she alexs roommate . It was hard to know, her face was bloody, unrecognizable. So, then you must be wondering, well, wheres alex . Right. Yes. Reporter the cops learned that alex had entered the dorm with her boyfriend after midnight. And then they made a startling discovery when they looked closer at the photos in the room, they saw a young man they recognized. In fact theyd issued him a ticket that very night. So we knew who we wanted to look for at that time. Reporter it was Clayton Whittemore, alexs boyfriend. They needed to find him, and fast. He might lead them to alex. If we have someone that did this violent act here in this specific room, you know, what is he capable of doing when he leaves here . Coming up, a missing boyfriend. An anxious best friend. I left here. 4 00 in the morning . 4 00 in the morning. And a mystifying murder. There were so many things that didnt make sense in the room, it was very hard to say, okay, this is what happened. Case closed. When dateline continues. When you got married . When you had kids . Family isnt defined by who you love, but how. Tylenol®. Lets worry proof our walls. With paint made to stand up to this. And look beautiful for years. Lets do this. Right now get 10 bucks of one gallon cans of behr paints and stains. The home depot. More saving. More doing. 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As he kept coming, we intercepted him right here on the sidewalk. I requested his i. D. I could see that it was an open beer can. And i explained to him that we have a local ordinance here that says that you cannot have an open container. Did he seem angry, was he agitated . No, he was actually did he very cooperative. So i gave him the ticket and they started to walk away right down the sidewalk right here. Reporter the young man who got the ticket was Clayton Whittemore, returning home from a party with his girlfriend, alex kogut. And when they left, did they seem fine . They seemed normal to me. In fact, i was even doing smalltalk with the female that he was with, and was able to make her laugh a little bit, so if anything was bothering her, she didnt let us know. So, just a normal couple out on a friday night. And wasnt quite the last of him . No, as he, as they both started walking away i observe him drop the beer can. And he just dropped it right onto the ground. And i made a comment that that could be another 100 fine. And he did comply and he went back and he picked it up and after doing that, thats when i saw him cross the street here. And the same time, the female stayed on this side of the street. And then they both continued to walk on separate sides of the street. Reporter alex and clayton had been dating for a year and a half by then. They were both from the town of new hartford, in central new york. They got together when alex was in high school. Hed already graduated. Now, they were trying to make a go of a longdistance relationship. They really wanted to make it work and stuff. And i think it was working. I think she really did love him. What kinda things did she say to you about clay, describing him or the time they spent together . It was kind of just Little Things here and there. Like, oh, i cant wait to see him. Like, i miss him. You could just see it in her eyes, that she really did want to be with him. Reporter clayton, number 21, had been a standout hockey player in highschool. After he graduated in the spring of 2010, he spent a season playing for a college prep team in florida, living with a host family there. He was like the star player. He was the guy that scored the goals. Reporter Hunter Fernandez, one of claytons teammates, lived with the same host family. Paint a picture of clayton for us. He was hard working. He was a really nice guy. He was funny. We always had a good time. Did you guys ever get into a little bit of trouble . No we never really got into trouble. We were, we were always busy. What about girls . Did you hang out with girls . Or was there time . Nope. Partying . Never. Drinking . He drank once. This sounds like the tamest bunch of hockey players i think ive ever heard of. Yep. Reporter it was hardly surprising that alex was drawn to another athlete. And clayton was a catch. Paige whitney, alexs swim team pal knew that. Shed gone through high school with clayton, sat beside him in senior year math class. She felt like he deserved a lot more and that she was very, very lucky. Really . Yeah. So she considered herself lucky that he had chosen her . Absolutely. Watching them together, did it seem that he really cared about her, that he really liked her . He was absolutely. Happy to be in that relationship . Yeah, you know, you see them laughing together. You see them, you know, getting along so well. Reporter their twitter messages were lighthearted. They called each other dork and freak and lived out their lives in the twittersphere. Before clayton arrived that friday, alex had tweeted ahhh see you soon. Her family liked him, too. Theyd given him a care package for her; and her mom had contributed 20 towards gas for the trip. Reporter once alexs swim team meeting ended that day, the couple met up, had some alone time in her dorm room, then went to dinner. Alex and samantha were texting of course. I asked, you know, like, how she was doing, what she was doing. And shes, like, oh, well, were out to dinner right now. And then they went out to a friends house. And then they came back to the dorm. Reporter on