Aunt Chena News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

the word "help" was scratched in the ground. >> we found two shovels that had what appeared to be blood on them. >> that just did it for me. >> i can't even think about how scared she was. >> a mother's worst panic. ♪ ♪ there are no signs to get there. just follow the rough, sandy trail from the subdivisions above, turn a corner and there it is, a creek, a low-twisting moving body of water in north carolina, that's nothing less than a garden of eden for teenagers playing hooky from high school. >> it was like a beach. >> if the weather was good, her decision was made, go right ...

At the hospital, visiting her. >> we thought they had found her and that just done it for me. >> reporter: on march 29th, almost three weeks after danielle disappeared, her family and friends gathered for a balloon release. her friend alexis was there. so was je'michael. she remembers he was holding out hope that danielle was alive. >> he's like, "hey," and gave me a hug. and he said, "i just, you know, hope we find her and she's okay." >> reporter: up until then, danielle's aunt chena had managed to stay strong for the family. but with the release of those balloons she felt her resolve and co...

Yeah. but it even made me feel more nervous that it was by 95 because i'm like she -- we're looking around here and she possibly could be somewhere else. >> reporter: after several days of searching the rv park, there was no sign of danielle, and no sign of her cell phone that last pinged by the highway. both could be anywhere. >> 95 is different than a county road. she could've been five states away at that point. >> absolutely. absolutely. i mean, on i-95 an hour either way and you're in a different state and a few hours and you're in a different region of the country. >> reporter: a bad, ba...

>> yeah. >> really he was just a really soft-hearted guy. he would always be there for anybody who needed him. >> reporter: in the end police couldn't find any electronic trail linking derek to danielle. detectives' latest lead had fizzled out, and with no explanation for that word, help that chena found scrawled at the creek, they were down to their two main clues. >> so you got the sock on the trail, and you got a phone out at 95, more questions than answers. >> danielle's last cell phone ping was miles away from her neighborhood. >> we can see that she's moving in a fairly quick fashion, fa...

Trampling, officials are looking into rumors about laced drugs. the show was eventually stopped in the interest the public safety. we'll stay on top of that story. now back to "dateline." >> reporter: on the morning of april 2nd, 2014, chena papa did what she'd done almost every day since her niece disappeared. she went to her family church to pray for danielle's safe return. but this time, her prayer was different. >> it was, "please just allow us to bring her home and lay her to rest." >> reporter: somehow you cr -- >> if that is what -- >> reporter: you had crossed that line. >> yeah. i f...