A mother in Roswell, Georgia was told something had happened at the pool, and police needed her to stay calm and help them. Her 17-year-old daughter, Mercedes, had snuck out at 1 AM to meet someone and never came home.
Her younger sister had to describe her to officers while barely holding herself together: shoulder-length hair, blonde and brunette. Then she gave them the name that mattered: "CJ, but his real name is Courtney," and she could show them exactly which building he lived in.
The officers didn't rush to his door. They wanted eyes on the apartment first, because if they made contact, they had to be sure they'd get him. The mother couldn't understand the wait: "I gave a description. You know what you got."
Courtney Foster, 20, lived in the same complex and had been texting Mercedes past midnight. When detectives questioned him, he had a story ready. She said she was getting dressed to come back, he said, and he simply went to sleep.
Her grandmother found her near the pool the next morning. The death was ruled a homicide by drowning, and Foster was charged with concealing a death.
He said he went to sleep, but his phone was awake the whole night.
Mercedes was 17 and should have walked back through her front door that morning. Watch how her sister's few words gave police the name they needed.