Hae Min Lee & Adnan Syed at homecoming

The Start of Something Sweet

Hae Min Lee was 17 when she fell in love. Not a casual kind of love. A sneak-out, pass notes,write-about-it-in your-diary kind of love.

She and Adnan started dating in late 1998. He was her classmate- funny, well-liked, charming. She was drawn to him, even though her life was busy and full of rules. Their relationship had to be a secret. His religion didn’t allow dating. Her family was strict.

Adnan Syed in 1999.

But they made it work. For a while.

“I think I’m going to marry him. I know we’re not supposed to be together, but I feel like it’s meant to be.” -Hae’s diary

The Cracks That Started to Show

By December 1998, things were getting complicated. They were both under pressure- from school, from their parents, from the secrecy. And from each other.

Hae started to feel like she was losing herself in their relationship. Adnan may have been feeling insecure and conflicted, too.

“I just need space. I still care about him, but I need to breathe.”

They broke up in early January 1999. It wasn’t explosive. Just…emotional.

Hae started seeing someone else-Don, a 20-year-old coworker from LensCrafters. She seemed happy. Nervous, but happy.

“Don is such a sweetheart. I love it when he holds me. I can’t wait to see him again.”

The Last Days:

January 1-12, 1999.

• Hae is back at school after winter break.
• She’s writing about Don in her diary.
• She’s hanging out with friends. trying to move on.

Adnan is seeing acting normal. he’s still going to track. He’s still talking to friends. Some say he was cool and composed. Others say he seemed quiet. What nobody says: that he was violent or angry.

January 13, 1999- The day She Disappeared

• Hae leaves school around 2:15pm
• she was supposed to pick up her cousin from daycare-she never shows
• According to her friend, Debbie, Hae said she planned to meet Don after school.
• Her car vanishes. So does she.

Nobody knows what happened in those missing hours. Just that by nightfall, the world had already started to lose her.

Girlhood Interrupted:

Hae never got to see where that new relationship went. She never got to finish her college applications. She never got to grow into the woman she was becoming. She was still writing about love. Still baby.

This isn’t just a timeline. It’s a tragedy-not because she was foolish, or reckless, or naive-but because she was a girl trying to live, and someone stole that from her.

We remember Hae not just because she died-but because she lived. Because she loved. Because her diary still speaks for her.

And because even now, we’re still trying to find the truth buried between those last few pages.