Keith Morrison

Her dark eyes sparkled as we stood around in her kitchen and she talked about the daughter who felt like a soulmate, too.

Back up a little bit.

She started college in seventh?

What do you mean?

Michelle was all set to get her associate's degree in the spring at the tender age of 18.

She had a couple of jobs.

Receptionist at the beauty parlor where her mom was a manager.

And because they lived only two hours from Hollywood, she also scored some walk-on jobs in film and TV.

That bit from a home movie was pure Michelle.

She was a natural around a camera.

How did she get into that stuff?

As an extra.

On February 22nd, Michelle was up early.

She padded down the hall and ran into her sleepy-eyed 12-year-old brother, Jason.

And this one?

This one was going to be good.

Michelle and her best friend Jennifer Peterson were both booked on the same shoot, and Michelle was hitching a ride in Jennifer's car to L.A.

But then, since the ninth grade, they'd always done everything together.

As usual, Michelle had everything planned down to the smallest detail.

First, she was going to drop her car off close to the college campus.