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Nancy Grace
Body of Missing Kansas Teen Found
Aired June 06, 2007 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight in the disappearance of a Kansas girl who just graduated high school, shopping at a local Target. A body found just 20 miles from the Target store has been positively identified as Kelsey Smith. This after new surveillance video released in the search for this beautiful Kansas girl, scrubbed in sunshine. A massive search by FBI, DEA, local police and volunteers called to a halt. Authorities on the lookout for a dark Chevy truck also caught on surveillance tape. Now all energy directed to finding Kelsey`s killer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREG SMITH, KELSEY`S FATHER: I have a statement that I`d like to read on behalf of our family. Right now, this is a statement only, and we won`t be taking any questions afterwards, please.
On behalf of our entire family, we want to take this opportunity to thank all of the many, many people who have been so helpful and supportive in the search for our Kelsey. I`m speaking for my wife, Missy (ph), and our children, Stevie (ph), Lindsey, Cody (ph) and Zach (ph), to pay tribute to a special young lady who was described as scrubbed in sunshine.
At this time, we want to thank the volunteers, the business community and the law enforcement agencies for the hard work they have done and are still doing. Their efforts led to Kelsey being found. While the outcome was not what we had hoped for, it did not lessen the effort of those who were out there helping.
There have been more people than we could ever hope to name who provided us with help and support during this difficult time. However, we do want to recognize the special efforts of her boyfriend, John Buyersmith (ph), and his family. We want to thank Band-Aids (ph) West, the Shawnee (ph) Mission West High school band boosters, and the entire Shawnee Mission West school family. We want to thank Target for letting us stage our volunteer effort, and the news media for their dignified treatment and assistance.
The outpouring of help and support was a testament to how deeply Kelsey was loved. She could walk into a room full of strangers and walk out with a room full of friends. Her excitement and passion for life was unmatched. She lived more in 18 years than many people do with a great deal more time. We are particularly grateful for her opportunity to enjoy a truly memorable senior year.
In this difficult time, we are comforted by the words of Psalm 46, The Lord promises to be an ever present help in times of trouble. Please keep us in your prayers. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us tonight. Breaking news in the search for 18-year-old Kelsey Smith.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At approximately 1:30 PM today, investigators discovered a body in the search area. Pending completion of forensics examination, we have reason to believe that we have found Kelsey Smith.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: As you have heard by now, the body of Kelsey Smith has been positively identified not far from the Target where she was shopping that night.
Out to Ed Miller with "America`s Most Wanted." Tell us what happened, Ed.
ED MILLER, "AMERICA`S MOST WANTED": Well, very quickly, her body was found about 18 miles away from where she is believed to have been kidnapped, in a heavily wooded area. And they have confirmed, as you said, it is Kelsey Smith`s body.
GRACE: Joining us right now, Kris Ketz with KMBC. Kris, thank you for being with us. Exactly where is that area that she was found?
KRIS KETZ, KMBC: She was found in an area basically in the far southeast corner of metropolitan Kansas City, in a heavily wooded area near what is known around here as Longview Lake, again, approximately 18, maybe closer to 20 miles from where she was abducted on Saturday night from that Target store in Overland Park, Kansas. Again, a heavily wooded area, specifically in Grandview (ph), Missouri, which, again, a suburb of Kansas City, and the announcement coming here at the command post here in Overland Park, Kansas, an announcement that so many feared, that her body was, in fact, discovered earlier in the day.
GRACE: Kris is joining us from KMBC. He is there on location at the command post. Kris, how did they find her?
KETZ: She was the subject of an intense search that involved upwards of 200, maybe 250 members of local and federal law enforcement that fanned out in basically about a one to two-mile-radius area.
And it was an area that was essentially discovered because what law enforcement did in this particular case was track her cell phone signals, her cell phone signals from that Target store in suburban Overland Park, Kansas, down a couple of highways, down a third highway. And the last ping, as it were -- and as it is described to me, a ping is essentially a signal, whether you`re making a call, receiving a call, making a text message, receiving one. The last ping that they found was on a cell tower not far from where her body was discovered, again, in that wooded area in suburban Grandview, Missouri.
GRACE: Out to Mike Brooks, former D.C. cop and former fed with the FBI. So as long as your cell phone is on, whenever you pass a cell tower, does your cell ping, or was it those text messages the boyfriend was sending her so frantically? I believe that the last ping was around 7:45- ish. We know she was taken around 7:10 to 7:15.
MIKE BROOKS, FORMER D.C. POLICE, SERVED ON FBI TERRORISM TASK FORCE: It could be either/or, Nancy. If there`s a text message, it was also being -- using the cell phone towers. But as she`s going along, as long as the phone is on or as long as the battery is still operating, it will send a ping out. You know, as long as she`s going past a cellular tower, it will go ahead, pick that up and it will ping exactly where she was. And that`s what brought them to where they are today and where they found the body, because of the pings that her phone was emitting.
GRACE: You know, I just thought, Mike, last night when we were talking, that it was early enough that -- and so many days had not passed, that there was a real chance that we could find Kelsey alive. But you know what? When I look back, this guy had brought her car back within two hours, and he was either holding her alive somewhere or had already killed her within those two hours, Mike.
BROOKS: You know what, Nancy? We talked about that timeframe last night. And you know, there was two hours, and we looked and we talked about it, and we talked with her parents last night about how far they could have gotten and gotten back to that parking lot across the street from Target, in front of the Macy`s at that mall. And you know what? It fits right in that Target we were talking about last night, Nancy. Very, very sad.
GRACE: I`m just sick. I thought that there was a chance.
I want to go to "Johnson County Sun" reporter Jack Miles (ph). Jack, welcome to the show. Thank you for being with us. Uh-oh, hold on. He`s down with the satellite. We`ll be right back with Jack Miles.
To Kris Ketz, KMBC reporter. Kris, I want to talk about this area. How do you get there from the local Target? Is it easily accessible from the interstate, or would you have to be a local -- would you have had to plan this to get to that location?
KETZ: Well, it is, again, about an 18 to 20-mile drive from suburban Overland Park, Kansas, to where her body was discovered. It means traveling on interstates, which are very well known here in Kansas City, interstate 35, interstate 435, and then on to a state highway, 71. And it was south on that highway, which takes you to that Longview Lake area of metropolitan Kansas City, and again, a heavily wooded area. There is a fairly popular golf course, and of course, Longview Lake, which is also popular here in Kansas City. These are fairly heavy traffic areas, but the specific area where her body was found is certainly off the beaten path.
GRACE: How far off the road was her body?
KETZ: I don`t know that we have a specific take on that so far, Nancy. But from helicopter pictures that we were showing here in metropolitan Kansas City, I don`t know that her body was all that far off what appeared to be a dirt road, again, in that wooded area.
GRACE: Joining us now, the director of Texas Equusearch. You know him well, Tim Miller, Tim Miller not only leading searches all around the world for missing people, he is a crime victim himself, his daughter a murder victim. Tim, thank you for being with us.
TIM MILLER, TEXAS EQUUSEARCH: Hi, Nancy.
GRACE: Tim, you were there today. What did you observe?
TIM MILLER: You know, Nancy, law enforcement deserves all the credit in the world, how they organized everything here. We got the call to come up, and in the first area that they sent the big search team after we got here, where that ping came from the phone, and I was actually with the detective there that drew the pie (ph) shape out there, and I was less than an eighth of an mile away from there when the body was found. So they sent us to the right area. They -- I mean, everybody worked together. I don`t know how -- we probably had 60, 70 people on our search team when we went out...
GRACE: Were you there when Kelsey was found?
TIM MILLER: I was less than an eighth of a mile from when -- when her body was found. We was headed that direction. And you know, again, it`s a very, very sad day for this whole community, for this entire family, and we had a...
GRACE: Were you there when they called off the search?
TIM MILLER: Yes. Yes, I was there.
GRACE: That must be the biggest disappointment. There were over 200 volunteers, police, cadets called out of training, people walking shoulder to shoulder through dense foliage, trying to find this girl. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The desperate search for a missing 18-year-old Kansas girl coming to a gruesome end just a few hours ago. Searchers scouring an area where a cell phone ping originated Saturday night confirm they have found the body of Kelsey Smith.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police looking for a missing teenager say they found a body, and one of our local affiliates says it is the body of the girl they`ve been searching for. That body was found just over the Missouri border from where 18-year-old Kelsey Smith disappeared. The body was found right near a couple of nature trails, right where two trails come together. They had been in that area because they believed cell phone signals led them to that area from Saturday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Out to the lines. Lisa in Texas. Hi, Lisa.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy Grace. You are so cool. I love your show.
GRACE: Thank you, dear.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m wondering if, when the guy was in Target, if the surveillance cameras in the store filmed him touching anything, could they possibly get fingerprints off of those?
GRACE: You know what? That is a brilliant idea. And I`m wondering if there are his fingerprints inside her car. Of course, we`re all jumping the gun. This guy is just a person of interest. Elizabeth, please -- there`s his photo, down there at the bottom left of your screen. If we could enlarge that, Liz, I`d like everybody to see that.
What do we know about his movements inside the store, Kris Ketz with KMBC?
KETZ: We don`t know a lot at this point, Nancy, but I can tell you that Kelsey`s car, which as you pointed out at the top of the broadcast, was returned to that Target store parking lot in Overland Park, Kansas, later that evening. Police have had that car ever since Saturday night, and I`m certain that an extensive crime analysis has been done of any sort of evidence that was possibly found in the vehicle. It is something, at this point in the investigation, that police are not willing to talk about, what they found, what they haven`t found.
And the bottom line in all of this is tonight, no arrests in this case, no suspects. They are talking, as they say, to numerous people. These aren`t necessarily people that they would categorize in police custody, but they are just talking to numerous people tonight.
GRACE: Yes, I`d like to show again -- if we could, Liz, I`d like to show the person of interest again. It`s amazing to me -- it`s interesting to me, Caryn Stark, psychologist -- certainly, this guy has seen himself on TV. If he`s not involved, why doesn`t he come forward and say, Hey, here I am, I had nothing to do with this, start looking for the real killer?
CARYN STARK, PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, Nancy, that really tells you that there`s a good chance this is the real killer, or why would he not have come forward? You`re absolutely correct. And I have to say that, in fact, if he`s watching all this and he is the killer, this is somebody who`s totally removed from the situation, an anti-social personality. There`s no guilt involved.
GRACE: And everybody, tips are still coming in. All attention now -- take a look at this 1970 Chevy pickup, dark in color -- 816-474-TIPS. All energy now directed to finding this girl`s killer, this girl working two jobs at a local movie theater and at a local veterinarian`s, honor student, wanted to go to vet school, had just graduated from high school -- just graduated from high school -- her whole world in front of her.
I want to go back to Ed Miller, with "America`s Most Wanted." Ed, what do we know about them talking to various people they are not calling suspects?
ED MILLER: Very good question, Nancy. They`re actually talking to three or four young men that they believe could possibly match the description of this so-called person of interest -- in other words, wearing that same kind of outfit. And again, they are not in custody, they`re simply questioning that man. One very important clue from that videotape - - he walked out of that store without buying anything. Very unusual for anybody to walk out of a Target-type store without buying something.
GRACE: You know, Ed, I know it`s anecdotal, but even if you don`t find what you`re looking for, you find something else inside a Target. I`ve never seen anybody but this guy walk out of a Target without anything. And another thing, Ed -- Ed`s joining us from "America`s Most Wanted" -- isn`t this the guy that they said stood out in the video? In other words, he wasn`t tracking her, but -- you know, three inches from her, but where she would go, he would go. Where she would move to another section, he would move to another section. Then when she went up to pay, he came out right before her.
ED MILLER: Right, absolutely, which obviously is the spooky feeling that she was being followed. And of course, the advice for any young girl is to sort of always be aware of your surroundings, and if it feels like somebody`s looking at you or staring at you, you might want to be aware of that.
GRACE: Out to the lines. Annie -- Annie, where are you from?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kansas City, Missouri.
GRACE: Kansas City, Missouri. Welcome, Annie. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With the pictures of the person of interest being so clear, really, if family members or very close friends don`t come forward to police to tell them who he is so he can at least be talked to, can -- and if they find later he was her killer, can they be held as aiding and abetting him?
GRACE: What about it? Let`s go to the lawyers, Renee Rockwell out of Atlanta, Kimberly Lerner (ph) out of New York. What about it, Renee?
RENEE ROCKWELL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No, absolutely not, Nancy. Only if they knew that he had that girl and they were a part of helping him...
GRACE: Well, that was the question.
ROCKWELL: No, but not...
GRACE: If they suspect -- if they know that she -- that this guy had something to do with it?
ROCKWELL: Not unless they helped him secret her. They don`t -- they`re not under any obligation to come forward and say, That`s my son, that`s my cousin, that`s my ex-boyfriend. No obligation.
GRACE: What about it, Kimberly?
KIMBERLY LERNER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think they could be charged with obstructing -- obstruction because if they know he committed a crime and if they aided and abetted or hid him or helped him hide the body or helped him hide evidence, they could be charged with obstruction, Nancy.
GRACE: Take a listen to this. This is a presser from the family just moments ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: I have a statement that I`d like to read on behalf of our family. Right now, this is a statement only, and we won`t be taking any questions afterwards, please.
On behalf of our entire family, we want to take this opportunity to thank all of the many, many people who have been so helpful and supportive in the search for our Kelsey. I`m speaking for my wife, Missy, and our children, Stevie, Lindsey, Cody and Zach, to pay tribute to a special young lady who was described as scrubbed in sunshine.
At this time, we want to thank the volunteers, the business community and the law enforcement agencies for the hard work they have done and are still doing. Their efforts led to Kelsey being found. While the outcome was not what we had hoped for, it did not lessen the effort of those who were out there helping.
There have been more people than we could ever hope to name who provided us with help and support during this difficult time. However, we do want to recognize the special efforts of her boyfriend, John Buyersmith, and his family. We want to thank Band-Aids West, the Shawnee Mission West High school band boosters, and the entire Shawnee Mission West school family. We want to thank Target for letting us stage our volunteer effort, and the news media for their dignified treatment and assistance.
The outpouring of help and support was a testament to how deeply Kelsey was loved. She could walk into a room full of strangers and walk out with a room full of friends. Her excitement and passion for life was unmatched. She lived more in 18 years than many people do with a great deal more time. We are particularly grateful for her opportunity to enjoy a truly memorable senior year.
In this difficult time, we are comforted by the words of Psalm 46, The Lord promises to be an ever present help in times of trouble. Please keep us in your prayers. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police looking for a missing teenager say they found a body, and one of our local affiliates says it is the body of the girl they`ve been searching for. That body was found just over the Missouri border from where 18-year-old Kelsey Smith disappeared. The body was found right near a couple of nature trails, right where two trails come together. They had been in that area because they believed cell phone signals led them to that area, from Saturday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You know, that right there says to me this guy knew the area very, very well. How would he know where two nature trails converged? As you know by now, the body of 18-year-old Kelsey Smith has been positively identified.
Out to the lines. Dawn in New Jersey. Hi, Dawn.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I was wondering, since the father`s in law enforcement, if it could possibly be some kind of retaliation for someone he may have arrested because it seems like she was stalked.
GRACE: It does seem like she was stalked. But how likely is that, Mike Brooks?
BROOKS: Well, Nancy, he was a -- he was an officer at the largest community college there in that area. And you know, it`s highly unlikely, but I`m sure right now they`re taking a look at anyone that he has arrested in the recent past that may have had some problems with him. But they`re also going back to see if there`s anyone that she may have had problems with, even in high school, because if you look at the age...
GRACE: Well, even in high school? She just got out of high school. It was only a few weeks ago.
BROOKS: Exactly. But we`re going to go back. If you look at the -- if you look at the age range of this -- of this person of interest that we`re looking at the picture of, it`s right in that -- it`s right in that wheelhouse (ph), Nancy. It`s -- it`s in her age group. So we`re going to go back and take a look and see if she`s had any other problems. She had a boyfriend. He`s been a lot of help. But again, you never know who may have had some kind of beef with her.
GRACE: Or some kind of crush on her.
BROOKS: Exactly.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: She could walk into a room of strangers and walk out with a room full of friends. Her excitement and passion for life was unmatched. She lived more in 18 years than many people do with a great deal more time. We are particularly grateful for her opportunity to enjoy a truly memorable senior year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: As you know by now, the body of 18-year-old Kelsey Smith has been found in a rural area where two nature trails converge. We know nothing more. We don`t know cause of death. We don`t know condition of the body. We don`t know whether she was covered, unclothed, nothing. We know nothing yet, and we`re hoping to find out. What you just heard was a press conference just given in the past few moments by her mother and father.
Out to the lines. Diana in Wisconsin. Hi, Diana.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy.
GRACE: What`s your question, dear?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`d like to know why it took four days for the cell phone ping to be picked up.
GRACE: We`ve been wondering the same thing. What about it, Mike Brooks?
BROOKS: Well, I`ll tell you what, Nancy. I think early on, the investigators were trying not to give away too much because there was a number of leads they were trying to go -- you know, play out because they had over 200 leads. As they worked towards that, they were able to say, OK, let`s concentrate our efforts here, you know, because early on, they said, We`re not getting a signal, no activity on the ATM card. I think they weren`t giving up some things because they had some leads going.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The desperate search for a missing 18-year-old Kansas girl coming to a gruesome end just a few hours ago. Searchers scouring an area where a cell phone ping originated Saturday night confirmed they have found the body of Kelsey Smith.
GREG SMITH, KELSEY SMITH`S FATHER: I have a statement that I`d like to read on behalf of our family. Right now, this is a statement only, and we won`t be taking any questions afterwards, please.
On behalf of our entire family, we want to take this opportunity to thank all of the many, many people who have been so helpful and supportive in the search for our Kelsey. I`m speaking for my wife, Missy, and our children, Stevie, Lindsay, Cody and Zach (ph), to pay tribute to a special young lady who was described as scrubbed in sunshine.
At this time, we want to thank the volunteers, the business community, and the law enforcement agencies for the hard work they have done and are still doing. Their efforts led to Kelsey being found. While the outcome was not what we`d hoped for, it did not lessen the effort of those who are out there helping.
There have been more people than we could ever hope to name who provided us with help and support during this difficult time. However, we do want to recognize the special efforts of her boyfriend, John Byers Smith (ph), and his family. We want to thank Band-Aids West (ph), the Shawnee Missions West High School band boosters, and the entire Shawnee Mission West School family. We want to thank Target for letting us stage our volunteer effort and the news media for their dignified treatment and assistance.
The outpouring of help and support was a testament to how deeply Kelsey was loved. She could walk into a room of strangers and walk out with a room full of friends. Her excitement and passion for life was unmatched. She lived more in 18 years than many people do with a great deal more time.
We are particularly grateful for her opportunity to enjoy a truly memorable senior year. In this difficult time, we are comforted by the words of Psalm 46, "The lord promises to be an ever present help in times of trouble."
Please keep us in your prayers. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And they are in our prayers tonight. For those of you just joining us, the body of 18-year-old Kelsey Smith has been positively identified. That body found in a heavily wooded area only about 20 minutes from the Target where this young girl was shopping. She just had graduated from high school, looking forward to college and going onto veterinarian school, this life taken just days ago in the evening hours.
The way the body was found, to my understanding, Ed Miller with "America`s Most Wanted," is through pings, cellphone pings.
ED MILLER, REPORTER, "AMERICA`S MOST WANTED": Absolutely, Nancy. And if there is a lesson to be learned from this, it is that every parent in America should know that a teenager should keep their cellphone on their person, not in their purse, not in the backpack, not in a briefcase, but on their person. That is really what broke this investigation.
GRACE: And, you know, Mike Brooks, don`t tell me this is someone that`s not a local, because how in the heck would they know where two nature trails out in the middle of nowhere -- did you see that place? -- converge. That`s where they found Kelsey.
MIKE BROOKS, FORMER D.C. POLICE: Absolutely, Nancy. And I just want to add on to what Ed was just saying, that if you have a cellphone, keep it on. It doesn`t do you any good if it`s off.
But you`re absolutely right, and that`s why I think that this is probably someone who knew her or had some kind of contact with her over the last number of years, last number of days, because you just don`t happen upon a lovely young woman like this and decide, "OK, I`m going to do it." Yes, it does happen, but it`s very rare that a crime of opportunity like this happens.
You know, the question is, was she a victim of a random act of violence or did she know her attacker? Most likely, she knew her attacker.
GRACE: Wait, wait, random violence, random violence, let`s think this thing true. She goes into the Target. We see this guy kind of following her around. That`s what we`ve been told, anyway. I haven`t seen the video myself. Then he goes out just as she goes up and pays to get a drop on her. She comes out. He`s already out in the parking lot somewhere and then makes a run for her.
BROOKS: Exactly. And apparently...
GRACE: How did he pick her out of the thousands of people going in and out of Target if he had never seen her before?
BROOKS: That`s exactly my point, Nancy, and probably he most likely did. And, you know, we look at his truck, it`s an old `70s truck. These are not common trucks anywhere in the United States, whether it be Overland Park, Kansas, or Atlanta, Georgia, or Washington, D.C.
This is something that the public needs to look for, an old truck like this, old, blue truck that this guy has. Put it together with the pictures we`ve been showing for the last two days with this person of interest. Now, keep in mind, it could be someone else, and we don`t want to concentrate...
GRACE: Yes, it could.
BROOKS: Absolutely. And we go back to the sniper case...
GRACE: Yes, I don`t want to narrow it down too much on this one guy who just happened to be walking out of a Target.
BROOKS: Absolutely not.
GRACE: And another thing, to you, Caryn Stark, when you look at this guy coming out of the Target, he`s very young. I would place him somewhere between 18 and 25. At that age, there is so much volatility. That`s why we have so many juvenile predators. I don`t really think their conscience has been fully formed yet. They don`t appreciate the nature of their acts yet.
CARYN STARK, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: They don`t appreciate the nature of their acts, that`s correct, Nancy. But you have to take a look at the fact that someone who`s capable of killing, they don`t have a conscience to begin with. And so, in fact, it doesn`t matter how old you are. If you`re going to kill someone, if you`re capable of murdering them, then, in fact, that`s what you would find, somebody who can do this without even thinking twice about it.
GRACE: Out to the lines, Juanita in Oregon. Hi, Juanita.
CALLER: Hi.
GRACE: How are you, dear?
CALLER: I`m fine.
GRACE: What`s your question?
CALLER: Yes, I was wondering, is there any way that they could enhance the picture of the person of interest coming out of the store? It looks like either he has a bracelet or a watch on.
GRACE: You know, I`ve noticed that, on his left hand. Can they enhance it further, Mike Brooks?
BROOKS: Nancy, we talked about this the last couple of days. They`ve sent this video to three different forensics labs, the state lab, the FBI has the capabilities of enhancing this, and so does the Target Corporation. Last night, we talked about the Target Corporation having the capabilities of enhancing this kind of thing.
Absolutely, and they can bring up different little points, whether he has a watch or a tattoo, facial hair. But again, keep in mind, this might be one person. We have to keep in mind that this person may have not been acting alone.
GRACE: Out to the lines. Sonya in Kansas, hi, Sonya.
CALLER: Hi, Nancy. You`re fabulous.
GRACE: Thank you, and thank you for watching tonight.
CALLER: I have a quick question regarding the time frame and the customers that were in Target. Is there any way, legally, that, for a specific duration of time, they could identify individuals that, you know, made purchases to proactively contact them for information?
GRACE: Interesting, I`ve never heard of that happening. What about it, to Renee Rockwell, Kimberly Lerner, they could, yes. You know what? You can subpoena receipts, but I don`t know that the customers, Renee, wouldn`t have some right to privacy in what they`ve bought.
RENEE ROCKWELL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Nancy, they would, but what we have here is an all-out investigation. And you have to think that this guy`s picture, which is being blasted all over the nation, somebody should be going up to him saying, "Hey, dude, I mean, is that you?"
It`s interesting that, if he knows about his picture, that he`s not coming forward. Not that he needs to give a statement, because here`s the defense attorney, don`t give any statements, but you think that he would come forward if he`s just an innocent person there at the same time.
GRACE: I agree. And, Kimberly Lerner, I believe you and Renee are right. I`ve been thinking about it ever since the break. There is no duty to come forward and turn somebody in, in our society. You can`t hinder an investigation. But you have no duty, in American jurisprudence, to be a volunteer.
KIMBERLY LERNER, ATTORNEY: You know what, Nancy, though? The people who were in Target should come forward and talk to investigators, because oftentimes you see things and you know things and you don`t even realize. If you look back at the little girl who was kidnapped in Portugal, the mother`s friend had seen a man holding a little girl. And until she spoke with investigators, she didn`t even realize the importance of that tip.
GRACE: You know, another thing, Ed Miller, we`ve been looking at this young girl`s Facebook, which is kind of like MySpace. What can we learn from that? In fact, on MySpace, I believe it was, we see a guy that looks very much like this guy. Are they investigating those alternatives?
E. MILLER: Yes, they are investigating those alternatives. And, as I said, they`re talking to three or four gentlemen that may possibly match the description of the person of interest. It may be one of those; it may not be.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have not shown the body to the family of Kelsey Smith, but they did say, without forensic analysis so far, it does, indeed, appear, at 1:30 today, they found the body of Kelsey Smith in a remote area called Longview Lake on the Missouri-Kansas border in that area there. The devastating conclusion here, not good news for anyone in this metropolitan area, and a lot of folks here really had their fingers crossed. A lot of people pitching it that had no knowledge of this woman before this case came forward trying to help out.
G. SMITH: On behalf of our entire family, we want to take this opportunity to thank all of the many, many people who have been so helpful and supportive in the search for our Kelsey. I`m speaking for my wife, Missy, and our children, Stevie, Lindsay, Cody and Zach (ph), to pay tribute to a special young lady who was described as scrubbed in sunshine.
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GRACE: And she was, Kelsey Smith, as you know by now, her body has been identified. Her remains found where two nature trails converged, in a heavily wooded area, only about 20 minutes from the Target where this young girl was shopping for a graduation gift for someone else. Tonight, that video taken from the Target parking lot being enhanced beyond belief to try and identify the so-called person of interest.
Out to the lines, Connie in Missouri, hi, Connie.
CALLER: Hi, Nancy.
GRACE: What`s your question, dear?
CALLER: I was wondering, in the Kansas City area, we have a series of scout cameras that can pick up cars on the highway, if they`ve looked at those tapes to see if they`ve found the person of interest in her car, or if they`ve backtracked to see if maybe the truck has taken the same route.
GRACE: You know, we see those on the road all the time, Ed Miller, especially on interstates, at intersections. What about it? Has that resource been tapped yet?
E. MILLER: Absolutely. They are gathering as many of those as they can. As of now, I believe they have not found the truck in question or the car, but they are...
GRACE: Whoa, whoa, did you say they what?
E. MILLER: As of now, I don`t believe they have found her car captured on that tape.
GRACE: What I want to find is the plate, the license plate, to that `70s Chevy pickup that we believe the perpetrator was in. And why do we believe that? Did we see him go to this particular truck, Mike Brooks?
BROOKS: Apparently so, Nancy, because the surveillance cameras in the Target parking lot, that`s where they were able to glean the positive intelligence exactly about this truck. And it`s not a common truck, as we talked about before. But I`m telling you, you know, they`re going to go out to the scene, also, and see what they can get there, also.
GRACE: Joining us tonight is a very special guest, Dr. Daniel Spitz, forensic pathologist and medical examiner, joining us out of Michigan, an expert in his field. Doctor, thank you for being with us. Tonight, we know that her body is being processed. What will that entail?
DANIEL SPITZ, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Well, the medical examiner involvement begins at the scene. And let me tell you that this case really hinges on a meticulous examination done by crime scene technicians and medical examiner personnel at the scene, because you really need to collect trace evidence, biological evidence. It`s not just a matter of determination of cause of death; you really need to collect that evidence so that that can be analyzed and linked to a particular suspect.
GRACE: Dr. Spitz, what is the technology of actually taking fingerprints off of a body? And here`s the deal with fingerprints. It`s very elementary. You`ve got to have something to compare it to. You can`t just have the latent print; that gets you nowhere. You`ve got to have the known print to get the comparison.
SPITZ: Well, you do. And that known print may come from somebody who`s been printed in the past. So you don`t need to actually have a suspect in custody; you just need to have that person being printed in the past. But let me tell you, it`s very difficult to get latent prints off of the human body. It has been done. I`m sure that may be being attempted on this case, but it is very, very difficult, and I wouldn`t hold out hope that that`s going to be the answer here.
GRACE: What can we learn from the scene itself?
SPITZ: Well, the scene will tell you whether this is a primary crime scene, in other words, is this where her body -- where the homicide occurred?
GRACE: Or was she just disposed here?
SPITZ: Exactly, or was she taken to this location after the fact?
GRACE: And what`s the significance of that? What`s the distinction?
SPITZ: Well, you want to find that primary crime scene, because that`s going to hold a lot of evidence. It`s going to have potential blood evidence, other trace evidence. So if you can localize that primary crime scene, it`s going to be very critical.
GRACE: So you think we should determine where the killing occurred in order to get trace evidence from the crime scene itself, not just a disposal scene?
SPITZ: Correct. You may never find the primary scene if, in fact, there is one. It may be that he took her to this remote location and that the actual homicide occurred there.
GRACE: Another question. Out to you, Mike Brooks. Maybe you can tell me this. I`ll try Tim Miller and Ed Miller, as well. Mike, do we know if this jurisdiction has a DNA database. I mean, if this guy even had a juvenile record, did he ever have to give his DNA for anything?
BROOKS: That`s a great question, Nancy. And there are a number of states that do have a DNA database. You know, Canada has a national DNA program. They`re working on it here in the United States. But going back to...
GRACE: I don`t get it. We can put a man on the Moon, and Canada can have a national database for DNA, but not us? Why not us?
BROOKS: You know, Nancy, that`s a great question. A number of states do, but we still don`t have a national DNA database. Now, the Department of Justice has been working on that, along with the FBI lab, but we still don`t have a national DNA database.
GRACE: Back out to Tim Miller, the director of Texas EquuSearch, who came in on the search. Tell us what happened today. Describe when the search was halted, called off.
TIM MILLER, EQUUSEARCH DIRECTOR: Well, I actually got a phone call that Kelsey`s body had been found. And like I said, when that phone call arrived, I was less than an eighth of a mile from there. And it was another searcher that was actually in a group of dogs up there. So, you know, we did get that call to call off the search again. We`d seen tire tracks around there. It was an area of interest. And, again, that ping led everybody out there that they detected...
GRACE: Who found her? Was it a volunteer?
T. MILLER: I don`t know exactly right now who did find it. They did the proper thing when the body was found. Everybody stepped away. They flagged it off, treated it as a crime scene, and let the investigators take over from there. And they needed to keep as many people out of that area at that time, and they did a wonderful job of that, too. So law enforcement, again, Nancy, has done a tremendous, tremendous job in this case.
GRACE: They certainly did. Out to Ed Miller, "America`s Most Wanted," Ed, it`s my understanding -- I`m just getting information that there`s no visible plate on the truck, according to cops, no visible plate. I don`t know if it can`t be enhanced enough or it has been enhanced and it doesn`t have a plate.
E. MILLER: It`s my impression, from what I understand, that it does not have a plate.
GRACE: Oh, good lord in Heaven. No plate? But why? Why is it out on the public street and hasn`t been stopped without a plate?
E. MILLER: Well, again, I mean, from the front. We don`t know about from the back whether or not it had a plate, but, you know, many people take plates off the front.
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G. SMITH: She could walk into a room of strangers and walk out with a room full of friends. Her excitement and passion for life was unmatched. She lived more in 18 years than many people do with a great deal more time. We are particularly grateful for her opportunity to enjoy a truly memorable senior year.
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GRACE: As you know by now, the body of high school grad Kelsey Smith has just been found. Those were her parents, giving a statement, just as we went to air tonight.
Out to the lines, Christine -- oh, here is a vigil, a local vigil, a prayer vigil that is occurring during our show. Out to the lines, Christine in New Hampshire, hi, Christine.
CALLER: Hi. How are you tonight?
GRACE: I`m good, dear. Thank you for calling in.
CALLER: You know, I`m curious to know, if this truck that`s in question is so unusual and so -- you know, a 1970s Chevy pickup, how come they can`t run it through the DMV to see if it has a current registration or a past registration?
GRACE: Good question. What about it, Ed Miller?
E. MILLER: We have nothing to compare it to. If they don`t have a plate, what are they going to compare it to? There`s not a separate listing of old, beat-up trucks in the DMV listing. They have to have a plate.
GRACE: Is there anything at all they can do, Mike Brooks?
BROOKS: Well, I`ll tell you what, Nancy. They can go through the state patrol or the state police highway patrol in Kansas and Missouri and look up by year to see if there`s any `72 or `70s registered in that particular area, go out, run it down, run the leads out.
GRACE: Everyone, let`s stop to remember Army Staff Sergeant Christopher Hamlin, just 24, London, Kentucky, killed, Iraq. On a third tour, he served in Afghanistan and Kosovo, received the Purple Heart and Bronze Star. He loved life, poetry and serving his country. Favorite food, crab legs. Hamlin leaves behind a loving family, mom, Autumn, dad, Ronnie, five half-sisters, grandparents, Thurman and Zola. Christopher Hamlin, American hero.
Thank you to all of our guests, but especially to you for being with us. And a special good night for friends of the show, you know him, Tom and Diane. You might remember Tom from our coverage of the Neil Entwistle case. See you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And to Kelsey`s family, you`re in our prayers.
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