Her dear granddaughter had been 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 confidence sailing away with them. for the first time then i felt like i was giving up hope. i was starting to feel like that she may not ever come home, and how would we be able to live
You re really history here. yeah, he i m not going to take your calls, your texts. good-bye. that s it. blocked her. reporter: what s more, danielle had used a friend s cell phone to do an end run around je michael s block so she could keep texting him. in his round about responses to her, je michael seemed to threaten danielle s life. he wrote: come to my house. the way i m feeling right now i ll shoot you with no hesitation. je michael s going to kill danielle. that he would if what? if she didn t leave him alone. so, get off my case. yup. reporter: detectives had confronted je michael about that message early on. oh, i was heat of the moment. i was just angry. i said some things i didn t mean to say. i love her. if i could take it back, i would. reporter: and remember, je michael had what appeared to be a solid alibi. three people put him at home studying the night danielle disappeared. his phone was there too. and he had to have been with it, because he d sent text messages
Danielle s body had started the mourning process for her family. but it was also a turning point for detectives. because danielle knew someone who lived just down the road from the river where her body had been found. her ex-boyfriend, je michael. so he was on his home turf. he s in his backyard. that s rural county out there. there s not even a light in traffic light in that town. reporter: investigators thought that couldn t be a coincidence. but je michael wasn t someone the family had seriously considered as a suspect. at least not at first. he d been supportively by their side ever since danielle disappeared. he would gave me a hug. yep. he was at a balloon release. he was at the search parties, all that stuff. reporter: but there had been moments with je michael that gave them pause. one happened for chena during that big search. it was the strangest thing because he was, like, in the middle of an open circle, and there he stood not talking to anyone, standing there just staring down at his arm.
To anyone that thinks they know when you bundle home, auto, and more with us. what nope is about i would say. nope. you got a summer blockbuster on your hands. it is so hard to predict the mind of jordan peele. reporter: nearly two weeks had passed since 15-year-old danielle locklear vanished into the night. detectives were getting frustrated. almost all theories of her disappearance were still in play. have you eliminated say, the abduction theory at that point? unh-uh. have you eliminated je michael or another boyfriend unknown? nope.
yeah. i felt like i was letting a murderer go. reporter: detectives were now certain that je michael was danielle s killer. and they knew where the investigation was going next. they had to deconstruct je michael s alibi, the one that put him home studying that night. it turns out the family members who said they were with him, weren t actually in the same room with him. they couldn t say they d seen him with their own eyes. we actually could not get confirmation from mother or grandmother that he was there. reporter: which meant the only person truly vouching for him was his study partner and best friend, dominic. we brought him to the sheriff s office, gave him the same opportunity and he lawyered up. reporter: did you go through this scenario, that you re two guys in trouble. and one of you might be able to do yourself some good. we let him know, very bluntly, that the house of cards is falling. the first one on the train gets the ride. reporter: four days later, police got a phone call. it was je michael. i got a call from my supervisor saying that je michael s on his way to the sheriff s office, to confess. reporter: to confess? that was what i was told. but i had got a lotta rumors up to this point. so i was skeptical.