A popular crime documentary has laid bare the chilling true story of a cheerleader who vanished in the middle of the night amid a series of 'cryptic clues' before her body was found four years later.

Megan Nichols, 15, disappeared from her family home in Fairfield, Illinois, in 2014 - leaving a wiped cell phone and handwritten note behind.

She had quarreled with her mom over her relationship with boyfriend Brodey Murbarger, who was two years her senior, which led many to initially believe she was a runaway.

But, tragically, Megan's remains were found buried on a farm nearly four years later with Murbarger eventually facing justice for killing the teen.

Here, FEMAIL has laid bare the disturbing realities after an episode of NBC's Dateline explored the case.

Megan Nichols, 15, disappeared from her family home in Fairfield, Illinois , in 2014 - leaving a wiped cell phone and handwritten note behind

The chilling tale began when Megan, who had a talent for music, first met 17-year-old Brodey at their high school glee club.

The pair soon began to develop feelings for one another but Megan's mom Kathy Jo Hutchcraft, who was just 19 when she gave birth, believed that he daughter was too young to date - particularly with someone who was two years her senior. 

She told Dateline: 'I had this rule - we're not going to have a "boyfriend." You can be friends but we're not going to have this boyfriend thing going on until you're 16. 

'That was my preference. You don't need a boyfriend. You don't need to put a label on it.'

Her friends also disapproved of the romance as Brodey was reportedly seeing Megan and another girl from school at the same time in a messy high school love triangle.

Brodey, whose mom had recently passed away, continued to string Megan along until Kathy eventually put her foot down and demanded that her daughter put an end to all contact with him.

But just days later Brodey himself turned up on Kathy's doorstep when he reportedly told her: 'Look, you are way too controlling, you're concerning me and I think you need to be on medication.'

Her friends said that following the altercation, Megan began hiding things and became more secretive.

Megan's mom Kathy Jo Hutchcraft, who was just 19 when she gave birth, believed that he daughter was too young to date

Megan's iPhone had been wiped clean and elsewhere in the house there was a handwritten note in an envelope addressed to 'mom'

Yet, things took another dramatic turn on July 3, 2014, when Megan and Kathy had been helping a family friend settle into a new place. 

Megan complained of a stomach ache and so her mom took her home before popping out once again to finish up.

Kathy returned at about 11.35pm and said that she suddenly was hit with a 'heavy feeling of fear.'

She went up to the teenager's room but her daughter was nowhere to be found.

Meghan did not answer her phone or respond to texts and Kathy went straight to the sheriff's office to report her as a missing person.

The panicked mother returned home and began frantically searching Megan's room in an attempt to find some indication as to where she might have gone.

She said: 'I pulled back her blankets and I saw her cell phone. This phone had no phone case, it was just upside down and it looked different because I'm used to seeing purple or pink or something flashy.

'I picked it up, pushed it button and it said "hola, hello" as if it was a brand new phone.'

Megan's iPhone had been wiped clean and elsewhere in the house there was a handwritten note in an envelope addressed to 'mom.'

Fighting back tears, Kathy summarized that the note said: 'Mom, I love you but I'm never going to be happy here. Don't come looking for me because why spend a lifetime looking for someone who doesn't want to be found.'

Megan's mom, adamant for answers, drove round to Brodey's house at around 7.30am where she found him washing his car. 

Megan had quarreled with her mom over her relationship with boyfriend Brodey Murbarger, who was two years her senior, which led many to initially believe she was a runaway

Tragically, nearly four years after she initially vanished, her fears were met as Megan's remains were found buried on a farm

He denied knowing where Kathy was and told her: 'All I know is she doesn't want to live with Kathy any more and she went to go live with her dad.'

But Megan's father, who had been largely absent from her life until just one year earlier, denied that he had had any recent contact with the teen. 

In a breakthrough in the case, CCTV cameras picked up Megan withdrawing $200 from the family's bank account which led investigators to believe she had simply run away.

Brodey himself was questioned by police nonetheless but he claimed that he and Megan were just friends, adding that he had been at his girlfriend's house the night of the disappearance. 

Police continued to dig into his relationship with Megan and soon found that the young lovers exchanged more than 150 text messages every day.

It became clear that Brodey had lied about it just being a friendship with evidence it had turned sexual.   

The messages also showed that he had known about her plans to run away and had even talked about going with her - but police had nothing further to go on.

Local man Carl Vaughan had gone out to look for firewood when he stumbled across a human skull which was later identified as that of the teen

An examination found evidence of human blood in the trunk of Brodey's car which later came back as a match to Megan

Years passed, and following what would of been Megan's 18th birthday, Kathy said: 'I remained hopeful for a very long time but once she was officially an adult and she still had contacted nobody, I knew she wasn't coming home.'

Tragically, nearly four years after she initially vanished, her fears were met as Megan's remains were found buried on a farm.

Local man Carl Vaughan had gone out to look for firewood when he stumbled across a human skull which was later identified as that of the teen.

It was later determined that strangulation or suffocation had been the cause of death.

Following the horrific discovery, investigators decided to do a more thorough examination of Brodey's Dodge - which he had owned at the time of Megan's disappearance. 

Brodey was then sentenced to 50 years in prison

It found evidence of human blood in the trunk with police using luminol to discover yet more under the lining. 

DNA came back as a match for Megan and Brodey was eventually apprehended in 2020 after being recorded by his roommate using a wire.

He went on trial two years later but Kathy refused to sit through it, revealing: 'I don't want to. You don't see the nightmares I see every night. The last thing I need is the details of everything he did to my little girl.'

Brodey testified that the blood found in the trunk was from when he and Megan had had sex in his car while she was on her period.

Prosecutors were skeptical and remained adamant in their claim that there had been a fight between Megan and Brodey about their plans to run away.

The jury deliberated for under two hours before finding him guilty of first-degree murder.

Brodey was then sentenced to 50 years in prison.

In the aftermath of the trial, Kathy concluded: 'Where do I go from here? How do I exist in a world without my daughter?

'I need to figure out what God's plan is for me, because I know he has one.'

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