From NBI Studio, this is Truth Injustice, a crowdsourced investigation in real time.

I'm Bob Robb.

Today's story takes place on September 17th, 2006.

George W. Bush was in the middle of his second term as president, and the war on terror was

starting to wind down.

At this point in time, Saddam Hussein had been convicted and was awaiting his execution.

Things were going pretty well in the United States on the surface at least, but the

autumn of 2006 was kind of the beginning of the end for our booming economy.

The housing market bubble was beginning to pop, and the great recession was right around

the corner, although no one knew it yet.

But for the teenagers living in and around the Coachella Valley, none of that really mattered.

September 17th was a beautiful day with a high of 95 degrees and not a cloud in the

sky.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers' Danny California was on top of the charts, and cell phones

were getting more and more popular.

Lots of kids had them at that point.

Text messaging was around, but not a lot of people were using the technology just yet.

But for Becky Friedley and her friends, their first summer after graduating high school

had come to an end.

Was that awkward time between childhood and adulthood?

When friend groups both expand and begin drifting apart.

Some went off to college, some joined the workforce, some still lived at home while others

...