On Wednesday January 10, Michael Dillard said he was having "the best day of his life." According to his older sister Brittany Craft, he'd hung out with a friend, gone to church and was in a "really good mood."
The next day -- Thursday -- the good mood continued.
"He went to school and everything was fine," Brittany told Dateline. "He was being kind of obnoxious, but for him to be hyper and stuff is not unusual."
Michael, 15, lived with his adopted mom and dad at their home in Calvin, West Virginia. Brittany lives just a few miles away and spoke to Michael almost every day.
Friday January 10 was no different in that regard. But when Michael and his mom came over after school, Brittany said his mood had changed.
"On Friday, when he got off the bus [from school], he was in a weird mood," Brittany told Dateline. "He came over to my house and would hardly talk to me. He was acting kind of down."
Michael and his mom left Brittany's and arrived back at their house around 4:30 p.m. After helping his mom carry some things from the car to the house, Michael ran behind the house.
"He didn't say anything, he just ran back there," Brittany said her mom told her. "But he never came back."
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