Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

In the criminal justice system,

sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous.

In New York City, the dedicated detectives

who investigate these vicious felonies

are members of an elite squad

known as the Special Victims Unit.

These are their stories.

Good morning.

Hello World, it's me, Mandy.

It's Friday, September 8th, and in case you can't tell,

I'm actually excited to go to school today.

It's the fall pep rally.

And the first thing is to change.

That's better.

I don't know why they interrupt school to announce

sports team, especially the football players.

It's like, "We get it. You're popular."

Also, the whole rah-rah high school thing,

everyone says it's suppose to

be the best four years of your life,

you know, dances and parties and romance.

I like it but, I mean, sometimes I wonder,

you know, if I'm doing it right.

I've only been a sophomore for a week.

Hopefully this year will be different.

Hey, hey. It's Tuesday, September 19th.

The day the winners of the art competition are announced.

Oh, my gosh. Look at my parents.

We want to wish you good luck.

So embarrassing.

Well, at least my parents love me.

But what I really want is

to fall in love.

What I don't get is how do you know?

Like, if you feel like you're in love,

does that mean you're in love?

Isn't love just a bunch of chemicals swooshing

around in your brain?

My head hurts trying to figure it out.

Hello again, internet peeps.

It's me, Mandy.

I'm here with Stacey

and Ashley.

And the Sophomore Semi-Formal is coming up and we need dates.

I think Stacey should go with Mark.

Totally babe-soda, but he'd never go with me.

Maybe... Daniel.

No, I'm not going to. She isn't that into me.

Whoo, I could so see that.

Then Mandy could go with Andrew.

Uh, no way, guys, he's like my brother.

Hey, guys. Say "hi", Andrew.

Hi.

These cool kids? They're my crew.

And this is my fun, crazy life.

Take six for the talent show.

[Alessia Cara "Scars to Your Beautiful" playing]

What are you doing Saturday night?

We just got invited to a party.

Look.

That one text, it changed everything.

Hey, it's me.

It's October, 16th.

The worst day of my life.

My reputation is ruined.

And I'm done with Wollman High,

and I'm done with my so-called friends.

When was the last time you saw Mandy?

This morning at breakfast.

She'd left for school at 8:00. And she never came back.

We tried her cell, and it went straight to voice-mail.

And we called the school. They said that she'd been

in homeroom but not in any classes after that.

I checked her computer,

- found this. - Uh, and Mrs. Fowler,

you told 911 dispatch that there were photos

of a sexual nature.

"Mandy is a grade-A slut."

"Whore."

"Skank-ass bitch."

These were the nicer messages that I woke up to yesterday.

The rest are way worse.

And this.

Someone did this to me.

Whoever did this,

and you know who you are,

please, just tell me why.

Why.

Please, just tell me why.

Mandy Fowler, 15,

she posted this on her blog this morning

and then disappeared.

The photo was being texted by her classmates,

and it was apparently taken at a party on Saturday night.

So she's a victim of cyberbullying, and worse.

What else have we got?

Well, her last ping on her cell was at 10:00

this morning from Wollman High.

We're tracking her cell phone records

and contacting her friends,

and of course she's active on social media.

- Okay. - So we're going through

- all her accounts. - And the parents are here?

Yeah and they seem loving, supportive.

There's no evidence of family issues.

- Okay. - Hey.

Mandy hasn't used a debit or credit cards.

We got photos of her out at the

subway stations, bus terminals.

Okay, has she ever run away before?

The parents say, "No." She's a straight A student.

She's got no trouble with her peers.

- Until this weekend. - Hold on.

TARU got her cell log.

Before she powered down,

she texted an Andrew Drake ten times.

- Can we get an address? - Yeah. Upper West Side.

That's two blocks from the high school.

I'm on it, Lieutenant.

Listen, I'm so sorry to drag you back in here.

I know you left early to be with Noah...

No. You did the right thing.

Is everything okay at home?

Yeah.

Yeah, all good. Let's, uh...

Let's go talk to the parents.

Mr. and Mrs. Fowler, I'm Lieutenant Benson.

Did you find Mandy?

Not yet, but I can assure you

that we're doing everything we can.

I should have realized how upset she was,

made her talk to me.

After the party on Saturday?

She was...

so excited to go, and..,

What they did to her... I just want to kill them.

Well, I can understand that. So...

do you know where this party was and who was there?

At Daniel's.

All Honors classmates.

Would she say anything when she got home?

I fell asleep on the couch.

When I check on her, she was asleep.

Does Mandy have a boyfriend?

Was she dating anyone?

- No. - Did she mention

meeting someone online maybe?

No.

Is this because of her vlog?

We never should have let her do that.

How could we stop her? She...

She was so proud of it.

She had over 1,000 views last week.

Maybe one of those perverts tracked her down.

You know, we're checking into that.

And this Andrew Drake?

Do you know if he was at the party Saturday night?

Yes, but I can't imagine he'd have anything to do with it.

Mandy and Andrew were friends since first grade.

I swear, I don't know where Mandy is.

Do you know why she texted you

ten times this morning?

- No. - No?

You didn't read the texts?

Okay.

Listen, Andrew, I've been doing this a long time,

and I don't ask questions

I don't already know the answers to.

Okay, okay.

She wanted to know why.

The same thing she asked in her vlog.

Andrew, what is this about?

Mrs. Drake, your son was at a party where somebody...

wrote some pretty awful things

on an unconscious, half-naked teenage girl.

- What? - Then they took a photo of it

- and texted it. - I deleted that picture.

Well who took the photo?

I don't know.

Everybody thinks that Mandy and I are... are so tight,

that I know what's going on with her, but I don't.

What do you know, Andrew?

Mandy and her best friends.

They gossip all the time.

You should talk to them.

Any friend in particular?

Stacey Vanhoven, Mandy's bestie.

They had their heads together all morning.

Intense, like arguing.

- Arguing about what? - I don't know.

But I heard Mandy say,

"You aren't my friend anymore."

Stacey.

This detective wants to ask you about Mandy Fowler.

Oh, my God, did you find her?

Not yet, but we would like to ask you a few questions.

Yeah, um,

Dad, I got this.

- You sure? - Yeah.