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Nancy Grace
Vick Endorsements in Jeopardy After Dog-Fighting Allegations/Another Wisconsin Student Goes Missing After Night Out With Friends
Aired July 19, 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: Tonight, breaking news. NFL superstar multi- millionaire quarterback Michael Vick indicted by a secret federal grand jury. Why? Allegations of hanging, shooting, body slamming, even electrocuting dogs to death as part of a multi-state underground dog- fighting operation. Now we learn Vick`s multi-million dollar deals with Nike and Airtran on the skids. And is the record-breaking NFL superstar, a former number one draft pick, losing a $130 million contract over dog fights?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The shocking dog-fighting allegations against Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick have put his employers in a pretty tough spot. Do they bench their most valuable player to distance themselves from the scandal, or would that even be fair, since he hasn`t been convicted of anything? The Falcons owner, Arthur Blank, releasing a statement today. He says the Falcons organization is working diligently on exploring its options, saying, quote, "Given the differing perspectives and strong feelings around this issue, we probably won`t make everyone happy, but we are committed to doing the right thing."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, three women trying to live, all near death, in critical condition, after they are doused with gasoline and set on fire, Waco, Texas. Tonight, the manhunt for the 23-year-old Texas man accused in the case. The suspect, one of the burn victims` own son.
And tonight: A 21-year-old straight-A Wisconsin coed vanishes after an innocent night out bowling with friends, Green Bay. The search by land and air for a white four-door Mercury Sable she`s last seen driving. Police play it close to the vest tonight why they are convinced Mahalia went missing not from the parking lot, not from her apartment, but during a simple 20-mile drive home, this after police find the body of another Wisconsin coed, 22-year-old Kelly Nolan, who also vanished after a night out with friends.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mahalia was last seen leaving this bowling alley. She was with a group of friends, including Chung Liu (ph). Her friends say police traced a cell phone call Mahalia made early Friday morning back to this Shell station on Lombardi (ph) and Ashland (ph) Avenue. The person she called never answered, and her trail went cold.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Xiong`s sister-in-law, Ah Ma (ph), says even though there`s no hard evidence, she`s convinced Xiong was abducted.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We definitely think that, you know, someone did take her, possibly someone she knows, because, you know, she wouldn`t just allow anybody in her car.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening, I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us tonight. First, the fallout begins for NFL superstar quarterback Michael Vick after a federal indictment for a multi-state underground dog- fighting operation, much of it at a super-secret estate owned by Vick, Richmond, Virginia, allegations of hanging, shootings, body slamming, electrocuting dogs to death. At stake, $130 million contract and multi- million-dollar endorsement deals, all over dog fights.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At Vick`s property, investigators say they found bloody carpets and training equipment. Vick and his alleged accomplices are also accused of executing dogs who did not perform. The indictment charges that on one occasion, after consulting with Vick about the losing female pit bull`s condition, Purnell Peace executed the dog by wetting the dog down with water and electrocuting the dog, and on other occasions killed dogs by hanging, drowning and slamming at least one dog`s body to the ground.
The brutality described in the charges fits the clandestine world of dog fighting. Witnesses say dogs are often deliberately abused to make them vicious and are held at secret locations.
Vick has not commented on the charges, but earlier this year, after rumors started to fly about Vick, one NFL player said the accusations weren`t fair. The NFL has issued a statement saying it would closely monitor developments and would cooperate with law enforcement authorities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Tonight, we learn that endorsement deals are falling by the wayside for quarterback star Michael Vick. Let`s go straight out to Sandra Golden with sports talk. She`s a co-host at 790 AM "The Zone." Sandra, first of all, Nike is backing off the Vick 5 shoe. It was about to go into the stores. But already Airtran fell by the wayside when these allegations first arose. What happened?
SANDRA GOLDEN, SPORTS TALK RADIO HOST, 980 AM "THE ZONE": That`s right. Well, back in May, the contract was up for Michael Vick, and these allegations were well in the works and the PR machine was starting to go out of control. And they came out with a press release saying, We are choosing not to renew Michael Vick.
Nike was one of the first companies to come forward early on, I believe yesterday morning, saying, We`re going to wait and let the due process and see what exactly is going on. And then some time after noon today, they released a saying the Vick 5 will be suspended or postponed indefinitely to let this due process -- you see what`s happening. People are getting away from this situation, and you know, I can certainly understand that.
GRACE: But still in the store are three Nike shoes. Let me see -- four Nike shoes, four Vicks, plus three different Vick shirts. They`re still on the shelves.
GOLDEN: They`ll still on the shelf. They have not pulled them. And also, I saw today where Michael Vick`s jersey was number 2 last year. It has dropped to number 33 in the NFL sales of the last six months.
GRACE: Rosie (ph), let`s see the Atlanta Falcons` statement in response to everything that is going down. "This situation has been troubling to many people, including our fans, during the last few months. Our club and team will continue to be tested as Michael works through the legal process toward a conclusion. We are disappointed one of our players, and therefore the Falcons, is being presented to the public in a negative way, and we apologize to the community and fans for that. We`re prepared to deal with it, and we will do the right thing for the club as the legal process plays out. Our plan is to continue to do everything we can to support our players and coaches."
You know, to me, Sandra Golden, it sounds like they`re saying, Gee, we`re really sorry we`re being attacked by bad PR. Somebody clarify for me -- how about 66 dogs, many of them bloodied and scarred, were taken off of this estate, Michael Vick`s home, there in Virginia. How can he not notice the black buildings inside, the walls covered in blood, the bloody carpets, the syringes, the rape stands where female dogs were "bred," let me say, euphemistically. There were even car axles buried in the ground, where the dogs would be chained and they would not be able to touch each other but yet close enough to want to fight.
I mean, how can you visit your home and not know all of this is going on in the back yard, Sandra Golden?
GOLDEN: Well, every single gruesome detail you just said is absolutely true, and it`s in the indictment.
Let me back up a little bit. And that statement is not necessarily from the Falcons as much as it is the owner, Arthur Blank. And Arthur blank has been criticized for being too close to one Michael Vick. He`s been accused of somewhat coddling this young man because this is not his first time in trouble. There are at least six occasions in the last, say, year-and-a-half where his name`s been in the paper for the wrong reason.
And Mike somewhat doesn`t go through the head coach and all. He goes straight to the top. He`ll go to dinner with Arthur Blank, and Arthur Blank takes this very personal. And Nancy, Arthur was in the studios at 790 "The Zone" on or about June the 12th. And he hasn`t spoken on camera or over audio at all until this day. His body language, even in the chair -- he`s taking this whole thing very personal. And he was very reasonable when he spoke, in my opinion, in saying, I want to see what`s out there. I want to see exactly what`s written.
So he flew back -- he was on a vacation with his family in Africa on a safari. He flew back. I understand that he arrived at the Falcons` complex yesterday, sometime around 1:00 o`clock. No one heard hide nor hair of him until late this afternoon. From what I understand, though, he has been in close contact with many people in the NFL.
First and foremost, Arthur Blank is a businessman. He started a little company called Home Depot, customer-service oriented. So you`ll notice the verbiage in that release. It is all about the customers. It is all about the fans.
Roger Goodell, by the way, the NFL commissioner was -- when I got into work 5:00 AM, the Associated Press was reporting that Roger Goodell and the NFL said they were going to let him play, let the legal process work its way out. And to that -- to my -- my personal opinion is they`re going to wait and see what Arthur Blank and the Atlanta Falcons decide to do.
GRACE: Well, as you alluded, this is not the first time Vick had been in trouble, but nothing along these lines. First of all, remember back in Miami, Vick made headlines when he refused to surrender a suspicious water bottle to airport security. You know, when I go through security, they take out my makeup, my mascara. They inspect it. He refused to turn over this water bottle.
He was fined $10,000 for making an obscene gesture to fans after a game in November. And then to top it all off, just the cherry on top of the ice cream, he settled a civil suit brought by a woman who claims he infected her with genital herpes.
OK, so this is not his first run-in with trouble. Let`s go to the lawyers. Joining us tonight, Susan Moss, Rikki Klieman and Alan Ripka. Out to you, Susan Moss. Weigh in.
SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: Well, this is certainly way more devastating than any of the other examples that you`ve brought in. But I want to know if these allegations have been out there for so long, why haven`t we heard about this sooner, and why hasn`t it been stopped sooner? Apparently, the first rule of doggy fight club is you don`t talk about doggy fight club. But that`s devastating because hundreds of thousands of teenage boys look up to this man, and we, as adults, have to stand by and say this is absolutely wrong, and if true, he will pay dearly for these crimes.
GRACE: And to you, Rikki Klieman. Before you can say it, yes, I know he`s innocent until proven guilty.
RIKKI KLIEMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Thank you.
GRACE: But explain to me, Rikki, how someone cannot notice in their own estate where they live, 66 fighting dogs, many of them taken out with scars and bloodied, the inside of the structures covered in blood, the carpet blood. Syringes, these rape stands we`ve learned about, where the female dogs are forcibly bred. I mean, how can you not see that when you go home?
KLIEMAN: Well, Nancy, let me say this first. If he did this, whatever punishment he gets could not be enough. While saying that, if I or any other criminal defense lawyer is representing him, what he has said is very clear back in April. He says, Look -- and I`ll quote it -- "I`m never there. I wasn`t at the house. I left the house with family members and my cousin." And he continues on to talk about the fact that he was taken advantage of by those people.
Now, it`s very simple, it seems to me, for him to either be proven guilty or for him to walk away from this as an innocent person. It all has to do with his travel records, his phone records, his cell phone records. He either was there, and of course he saw it, or he wasn`t there.
GRACE: You`re right, Rikki. And Alan Ripka, this is allegedly an underground dog-fighting ring that spanned seven states up and down the Eastern seaboard. But I got to ask you this, a legal question regarding pulling back of these endorsements. Now, Airtran pulled back immediately when they heard the allegations. But who wants to buy a shoe that Michael Vick wore to a dog fight, a death match? You know these dogs had to fight until one of them died. And if they didn`t, the weaker one would have been executed in front of the crowd. Who wants to wear a Nike shoe that Vick wore to a dog fight? I don`t.
ALAN RIPKA, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Nancy, come on now. You`ve convicted this man already.
GRACE: No, I haven`t. I`m talking about a shoe.
RIPKA: Well, you`re talking about a shoe, but you`re saying is because he wore the shoe and thus he`s guilty, thus nobody should be wearing those shoe.
GRACE: That`s actually not what I was saying. If these allegations are false -- if they are false -- is there any recourse Vick can have for Nike or Airtran pulling their endorsements?
RIPKA: Well, I`m sure that Nike and Airtran have contracts with him that indicate that if they decide to pull the contracts because of allegations, they probably have the civil right to do so. Otherwise, they would not put themselves up for that kind of liability.
GRACE: Got you. Another question. Back to you how, Rikki Klieman. What about the possibility of state charges? We understand state prosecutors are mulling similar charges. Why is that not double jeopardy, since we have federal charges?
KLIEMAN: Well, they`re different because the federal charges are talking about crossing state lines for the purpose of dealing with these dogs in an inhumane way. The state has simple, very factual-based laws. We`re dealing with simple animal cruelty. We`re dealing with dogs fighting against dogs. They`re separate. They may seem connects and they may seem the same, but if one has elements -- that is, the federal -- that the state does not have, it`s not double jeopardy. And I`d be really surprised if the state does not go forward with these charges.
GRACE: I agree. Out to the lines. Sandy in Delaware. Hi, Sandy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. Absolutely love your show.
GRACE: Thank you, dear.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just wanted to know where has PETA been in all this? I`ve pretty much been keeping up with, you know, all the news and everything, and I haven`t heard anything out of them. Are they going to make a statement about this?
GRACE: Oh, Sandy. Yes, yes, yes. PETA is in the thick of it. What do you know it, Sandra Golden?
GOLDEN: I know I got a press release sitting on my desk this morning when I went in to work from PETA and Al Sharpton and a team of -- I believe there were six individuals` names, urging the NFL to distance themselves from Michael Vick while letting this due process work its way out, if these allegations are true. There will be protests at everything that has an Atlanta Falcon logo on it.
And let me tell you, there`s another thing. Arthur Blank runs his training camp, which, by the way, opens up a week from today. It is...
GRACE: That`s the same day as Vick`s court date.
GOLDEN: Yes, and within the same hour...
GRACE: Hey, Coach, can`t make it. Got a stomachache.
GOLDEN: Yes. But I mean, Arthur Blank invites your kids and your family and there are circus rides. I mean, it`s fantastic. He puts on such a show. Can you imagine what this is going to be like? It`s going to be a three-ring circus if, in fact, people are protesting. It`s just going to be -- it`s a PR nightmare for Atlanta.
GRACE: We`ll just see how badly they want to win, how much they want to win as opposed to responding to this indictment.
Out to the lines. Lisa in Virginia. Hi, Lisa.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I think you`re fabulous.
GRACE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And congratulations. What I want to say is, when this first broke out, all I ever saw was the head constable from that county say, Well, we`re not going to do anything until we know all the facts. But then when the feds got into it, he turned a totally different ball of wax. And I want to know if he was in on the take, as well, and will he be checked into?
GRACE: I doubt very seriously that anyone suspects that the local prosecutor is in on the dog fights. But let me tell you something. Once the feds get involved, they`ll be all over everybody like a cheap suit, Lisa in Virginia. If there is any wrongdoing, or if the prosecutor drags his feet -- even Rikki Klieman, consummate defense attorney, says the state will bring charges. If they don`t, I guarantee you that is a decision that will not be handled lightly.
I want to go to Dr. Marc Siegel, internist and author. Dr. Siegel, the stats on dog fighting -- incredible.
DR. MARC SIEGEL, INTERNIST AND AUTHOR: Just incredible, Nancy. I mean, first of all, they breed these animals to just tear each other apart and they just -- they gouge each other and they actually -- it`s a very ugly situation. They bleed to death and they die of infections.
Plus, it`s a culture where more and more dog fighting occurs because they`re out in the community. We`re talking about four to five million dog bites a year. It`s the number one cause of kids under 12 going to emergency rooms. One half of all children under 12 have been bitten by a dog, and we`re only increasing that by putting violent dogs like this out into the community. This is something that`s got to be shut down.
GRACE: And I want to go out to Mike Brooks. You all know Mike, former D.C. cop, former fed with the FBI. You`ve actually busted dog fights before. It`s incredible, when you look around at the people attending these dog fights, you would never suspect people actually pay to get in and watch dogs fight to the death, and then one of them are hanged at the end.
MIKE BROOKS, FORMER D.C. POLICE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: It`s sickening to me, Nancy. If you figure there are 40,000 -- the Humane Society of the United States said there are 40,000 people involved in this underground dog fighting. And there`s another 100,000 people that are involved in what they call street fighting. These are the ones that you see just in people`s back yards.
You know, here in Atlanta, Nancy, right down on the Hosea Williams, right down the street from my house, I drive down the road and I see these pit bulls being walked by their owners with these big, thick chains around their necks. There`s only one reason for that, Nancy. They`re strengthening up their necks so they can fight. And you see little nicks out of their ears. Just makes me sick!
GRACE: And Bethany Marshall, psychotherapist, what we were mulling is why somebody with so much money, women, cars, mansions -- what thrill do you get out of watching a dog fight to the death?
BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST: I think there are three things. I think you have to think about primary sadism, which is getting a thrill off of inflicting cruelty. If he was my patient, I would wonder, in his sex life, does he pinch, bite, hit his girlfriends during a sex act? You have to think it`s a mafia culture, where he`s maybe like the Don Corleone of this little world. Are they passing favors back and forth?
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Xiong`s sister-in-law, Ah Ma, says even though there`s no hard evidence, she`s convince Xiong was abducted.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We definitely think that, you know, someone did take her, possibly someone she does know, because, you know, she wouldn`t just allow anybody in the car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Friends are hoping to raise awareness of the case by holding a candlelight vigil on Friday night at the Lambeau Field parking lot.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think this is scary (INAUDIBLE) and especially for women, that this can happen to anybody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: To the Green Bay area. A straight-A student goes missing after an innocent night of bowling with friends. Police seem convinced that she was not taken from the parking lot, not abducted from her own home, but somewhere in that that 20-minute drive between bowling alley and home, this young girl, Mahalia Xiong, vanishes.
Out to Jon Leiberman with "America`s Most Wanted." Tell me the story.
JON LEIBERMAN, "AMERICA`S MOST WANTED": Well, I`ll tell you, you know, this young lady is a straight-A student, as you mentioned, a leader at the college. She`s out with some friends, having some drinks at the local bowling alley there. At one point, she leaves the bowling alley with a group of friends, goes to a sports bar, and then returns back with her friends to this parking lot, to the bowling alley parking lot.
At that point, her friends say they see her get into her 1996 white car. It was a rental car because her car was in the shop. They say they see her get in the car. They go one way, because her friends prefer to take the highway, but Mahalia always liked to take some of the back roads because it was a more direct way to her house. So they see her go of in that way.
She does make a cell phone call at about 2:30 in the morning. Cops say she makes a cell phone call to her boyfriend`s friend`s cell phone because her boyfriend`s phone wasn`t working.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Family and friends did what they could today, putting up flyers with Mahalia`s picture. Police are treating this as a suspicious missing persons case. They`ve assigned all available detectives to track down leads.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Somewhere in the span of a moment, the 21-year-old straight-A student goes missing in the Green Bay area. This is very soon on the heels of another young girl, her body found only two hours away, same circumstances. Are they connected?
Let`s go to Mike Kemmeter, reporter with WHBY 1150 AM. Why are they so convinced that Mahalia went missing on the drive from the bowling alley to her apartment?
MIKE KEMMETER, WHBY 1150 AM: Well, Nancy, they obviously have concerns that she did disappear in that time period. They are asking businesses along the road that they believe she took to turn in their surveillance cameras, their surveillance videos, to see if there`s any glimpse of Mahalia. The road that she took has businesses along it, including Lambeau Field, where the Packers play, and they`re hoping that any of these cameras caught a glimpse of her car, or maybe she even stopped somewhere along the way.
They`re also hoping, if they do catch a glimpse of the car, that they might see her or if there`s someone else in it or maybe even someone else driving it.
GRACE: Jon Leiberman joining us, with "America`s Most Wanted." You they say that they dropped her off around 2:00, after everybody had gone out bowling, and there was a cell phone call to boyfriend around 2:00 AM, correct?
LEIBERMAN: That`s correct. The cell phone puts her at a gas station not too far from the parking lot.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pictures of Mahalia Xiong are plastered on gas station doors and windows across Green Bay. Her friends say they`ve hung hundreds of these posters, hoping they`ll help find their friend. Mahalia was last seen leaving this bowling alley. She was with a group of friends, including Chung Liu (ph). Her friends say police traced a cell phone call Mahalia made early Friday morning back to this Shell station on Lombardi and Ashland Avenue. The person she called never answered, and her trail went cold.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Interesting that she was last there at that gas station. Back to you, Jon Leiberman with "America`s Most Wanted," you mean she was driving by it, she was in the gas station? Did she purchase something? Did she get gas?
JON LEIBERMAN, CORRESPONDENT, "AMERICA`S MOST WANTED": We believe she actually got gas. She was at the station. And that`s what concerns me, Nancy. They`ve had aerial searches over. They`ve had searchers by foot. If this young lady did drive off the road, let`s say, you would think that police would have found her vehicle by now.
That`s what really concerns me. Even though there`s no clear evidence of foul play, if she was indeed car jacked, she could have been taken out of this area. And that is why there`s been no sightings of the car in this area, very few tips even coming into investigators. That`s very concerning. This was not the type of young lady who would just walk away, drive off into the sunset, not at all.
GRACE: Take a look at this white four-door Mercury Sable, Wisconsin plate, the Wisconsin license number TFD-715. Tip line: 920-440-3208. Where is Mahalia?
Out to you, Mike Brooks, why are you so convinced she never made it home to her apartment?
MIKE BROOKS, FORMER D.C. POLICE: Well, Nancy, they have not found the car. And, you know, this area, it`s not a huge area. Green Bay is a good size town, but this particular area is not that well-congested. And the other things investigators are going to need to take a look at, Nancy, number one, the video surveillance. That could lead to a lot of clues, a lot of leads. But as we just heard, there`s not that many leads right now.
They`re also going to interview everyone as to her state of mind, because, keep in mind, there`s always that possibility that she could have gone missing on her own accord. But it doesn`t seem like she was that type of person, but that`s also a possibility. They call this a suspicious missing person. Now, they`re also going to take a look at computers, Web sites, anything else that could glean any positive intelligence on what actually happened to her.
GRACE: Well, don`t you see, to me, the obvious connection is stopping in that gas station?
BROOKS: Absolutely.
GRACE: That`s where she was last seen. That`s where someone had the last opportunity to look at her. And as I very often argue to juries, people covet what they see, somebody at that gas station, somebody that has seen her at that bowling alley. On the lines, Rachel in Illinois, hi, Rachel.
CALLER: Hi, Nancy, love your show.
GRACE: Thank you, dear.
CALLER: My question is the cell phone. Why was she calling that number? Did she reach anyone? And was there any type of voice message left or any sounds they left that they can kind of pick on maybe what had happened?
GRACE: Good question, Rachel. And joining us right now is a special guest. This is Addison Lee. This is Mahalia Xiong`s boyfriend. Addison, thank you for being with us.
ADDISON LEE, BOYFRIEND OF MISSING COLLEGE STUDENT: Thank you.
GRACE: She called that line trying to get you around 2:30 a.m. What did she want?
LEE: You know, I`m guessing it was probably a distress call or something like that. She did call my brother`s cell phone, because my cell phone was not working.
GRACE: Why do you think it may have been a distress call?
LEE: No specific clue, but, you know, just because how things ended up. That`s what I tend to have leaned on.
GRACE: Had she called that number earlier in the evening?
LEE: Yes, she did, she did call that number earlier in the evening. And we did talk for a bit right before she got to the bowling alley.
GRACE: And you were, to my understanding, discussing an upcoming trip that you were making.
LEE: Right. We were supposed to go to Wisconsin (INAUDIBLE) with her sister and her sister`s husband. And she wouldn`t be the type to just miss out on something like that, because she was talking about it to all of her friends, as well.
GRACE: With me is Mahalia`s boyfriend, Addison Lee. He`s joining us from Green Bay. She reached out to him by trying to call him at 2:30 a.m. It could have been, out to you, Alan Ripka, something as simple as her trying to -- Addison, did she leave you a message of any type?
LEE: No, she did not leave a message. And that was -- it wasn`t unusual or anything, because she usually doesn`t leave a message. She would just call back.
GRACE: Call back until she got you. Alan, it could have simply been her hitting the redial or the send button, and he was the last -- that number was the last one that had been dialed. Alan, it was a rental car. How, if it does, does that complicate matters?
ALAN RIPKA, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I mean, at the end of the day, obviously, wherever it was rented from, I guess they`re going to look into that. And I guess some people looking out for this car -- first of all, it`s a very typical looking car, white, four-door car. So it might not be something everyone is looking at and trying to recognize to help.
GRACE: You know, another question to you, Rikki Klieman, the boyfriend, the husband, the lover, the ex, they`re always the first suspect. But Addison Lee, the boyfriend of Mahalia, has been cooperating in full.
RIKKI KLIEMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, it certainly seems to me that Addison Lee seems as innocent a person who can be and who is also highly distressed about his missing girlfriend. However, Nancy, the police will always begin with two things in a case like this: number one, the boyfriend, relatives, friends, people close to the person who is missing; and, number two, the video surveillance that they can find or glean from anywhere.
So as far as Mr. Lee goes, he should continue to cooperate with the police as much as he can and considering his own distress, but he should always be aware that they will be looking at him.
GRACE: And I want to go out to the lines, Bea in New Mexico. Hi, Bea.
CALLER: Hi there, Nancy. Congratulations. My answer might have been already done. I was wondering if there`s any lakes or riverbeds or anything?
GRACE: Oh, Bea, one of my first questions. Out to Jon Leiberman with "America`s Most Wanted," obviously there`s Green Bay. But isn`t there a river? I mean, for a car to just disappear, Bea`s question is dead on.
LEIBERMAN: Yes, that`s a great, great question. And there is one waterway along her route, the route she normally took. So if we suppose, which we can, that she took that back route, there is a waterway. They`ve done a superficial check of it, and they haven`t found anything yet. But that`s an excellent question and something police are looking into. Keep in mind, every single investigator on the Green Bay police force is looking for this young lady tonight.
GRACE: Out to the lines, Eloise in Kentucky, hi, Eloise.
CALLER: Hi, Nancy. My question is, have the investigators on this case been in contact with the investigators on the other young lady`s...
GRACE: Kelly Nolan.
CALLER: Yes, on her case. Have they compared? Is this possibly connected?
GRACE: What about it, Mike Kemmeter, reporter with WHBY 1150 AM? The similarities are pretty strong. Two hours apart, both young ladies similar in appearance, both college students go missing in the early morning hours after being out at bars or here at a bowling alley. Have they made any connections, Mike?
MIKE KEMMETER, REPORTER, WHBY 1150 AM: Both departments, Madison and Green Bay, have been talking to each other. But right now they don`t think that there is any connection. They are sharing information. Obviously, authorities in a case like this have to look at all the possibilities. But, again, right now they don`t believe that there is any connection between these two missing person cases.
GRACE: You know, I`m really concerned about the fact that they can`t find the car. Everyone, this car is a white 1996 Mercury Sable. It`s a rental car. Her car was in the shop. Wisconsin license TFD-715. Tip line: 920-448-3208. Take a look. The car, the girl, totally gone.
Out to Bethany Marshall, psychotherapist and author, do kidnappers typically strike once? Remember Michael Devlin, the pizza parlor manager, had taken multiple little boys.
BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST: Yes. Well, I say this fits more the profile of an abduction homicide, which usually is sexually motivated. I hate to say it, but often the victim is killed, not so the victim won`t I.D. the perpetrator, but because the infliction of cruelty and death is sexually exciting to the perpetrator. And usually what we see is the perpetrator strikes out, and then there`s what we call a cooling-off period, and then they strike out again. This is one of the most premeditated of all crimes, so often, because of the level of premeditation, the person also prepares -- the perpetrator prepares a dump site for the body. So that`s why I`m not surprised that we haven`t found her car.
GRACE: And to Dr. Siegel, if Mahalia is possibly trapped, how long could she survive without food or water?
DR. MARC SIEGEL, AUTHOR OF "FALSE ALARM": Well, Nancy, if she`s trapped underwater, you know, if it actually went into the river, that would only be a matter of minutes or hours. If it`s an issue of dehydration or exposure, you know, the problem is that you really can last weeks without any food, but water, you really can only last a few days. And that`s the biggest problem. So by now a week has gone by. The chance is that she really hasn`t been able to survive this long.
GRACE: Everyone, when we come back, three women fighting for their lives after being doused with gasoline, set on fire. Waco, Texas, a manhunt for the 23-year-old suspect goes on.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A horror film come to life. Police say a 23-year- old man doused his mother and another woman with gasoline, subsequently setting them on fire. Cop says the fire started after suspect Ishmael Reuben Lopez pulled a knife on his mother and the women tried to intervene. Lopez`s mom called 911. And when police arrived, he was seen running from the home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Three women fighting for their lives tonight near Waco, Texas. One of the women, the suspect`s own mother. Out to Jennifer Kent with KXXV TV, what happened?
JENNIFER KENT, REPORTER, KXXV-TV: Well, right now Waco police are still looking for Ishmael Lopez, like you said. And he does have burns on his legs, his back, and his crouch area that happened from this incident.
What actually happened was, it was early yesterday morning. He got into a fight with his mother, like you said. He pulled a knife on her. The aunt and another woman come in. They`re trying to break things up. He pulls out a jug of gasoline that was in the kitchen for some reason, pours the gasoline all over the three women, sets them on fire. The neighbors were actually woken up, because, as you can imagine, the women were screaming so loudly. Even a few doors down, people were woken up.
GRACE: I want to go to a special guest joining us, Sergeant Ryan Holt with the Waco Police Department. Sergeant Holt, thank you for being with us. It`s my understanding there is no pain like that suffered by a burn victim. How are the victims tonight?
SGT. RYAN HOLT, WACO POLICE DEPARTMENT: Well, two of the victims, the mother and the aunt, were transported to Parkland Hospital in Dallas. They have a very good burn unit up at the Metroplex. The third victim, a friend who was in the residence at the time, remained at Hillcrest Hospital here in Waco, we understand, with burns that were just a little bit less severe, but like you said, any burn is a bad one.
GRACE: How is the search going for the suspect?
HOLT: Well, the detectives in the case and the fire marshals office have both been in contact with the suspect. Our understanding is that he`s trying to get some affairs in order.
GRACE: Oh, really?
HOLT: And has been talking about turning himself in.
GRACE: What was the fight over, Sergeant?
HOLT: Well, we don`t want to go too into specifics other than to say it was a fight that had been going on through the evening. And, of course, any time alcohol is introduced into a scene, that can aggravate a situation. And it appears that that`s what happens.
GRACE: So the gasoline was being kept there in the home and not in his car?
HOLT: Well, our understanding is that the gasoline was just outside of the kitchen, that they had possibly been doing some yard work during the day, and that the gasoline was -- just happened to be convenient there, just outside of the kitchen.
GRACE: With us, Sergeant Ryan Holt with Waco police. I want to go to a special guest. You all remember Yvette Cade. She was working at her job when her ex came in, doused her with gasoline, and set her on fire, this after she had begged a judge, a Maryland court judge, to give her protection, and he scoffed at her and told her to work on her marriage.
Yvette, first of all, welcome. And you look beautiful.
YVETTE CADE, SURVIVOR: Thank you so much.
GRACE: Yvette, when you first learned of this case, what was your immediate reaction?
CADE: I was devastated and tears came to the lid of my eyes, because this horrific, horrendous attack, each time it happened, it happens to women. We have to do something about it. I talked to the state`s attorney of Upper Marlboro, Glen Ivy, and he and I discussed putting forth effort. And if someone douses somebody with a flammable material, we have to give specific parameters.
GRACE: More stringent punishment. Yvette, the suffering that you endured, the pain associated with this type of burn, what is it like?
CADE: Well, when you inhale super-heated materials, you can be suffocated, for instance, when it`s hot outside and it`s very sunny and humid, well, it dries your skin out and it can -- it makes you feel like as if though you`re suffocating, being burned at 1,500 degrees.
GRACE: Oh, gosh.
CADE: It just melts your skin off. I saw it dripping to my feet. And, you know, everything happened so fast in the heat of the moment, but I say that this young man has heard stories, and I think it`s a copycat crime.
GRACE: With us, everyone, is Yvette Cade, a survivor. We`ll be right back with her and more on the story.
But, first, "CNN Heroes."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How did this start?
BOB KUNKEL, "COMMUNITY CRUSADER": The new injured have no idea how dramatic their lives have been impacted. And I have experience in that area, and I knew I had to do something.
I was with the Ninth Infantry Division. My knee joint was blown out, so they took the bottom part and welded it to the top. I did not cope well. You name the self-destructive behavior, I did it times 10. Now I view all that experience as training for what I`m doing now.
My name is Bob Kunkel. I have the privilege and honor of being allowed to interact with the new injured at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. I function as a friend. I teach jujitsu so that the injured person can become empowered in protecting themselves.
He went that way, so you step here.
There`s a connection. Been in combat? I`ve been in combat.
You`re laughing? They know.
My purpose is to steer someone to make better choices in life. If you`re injured, you`re still the same person.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For me, I feel fortunate to have met somebody like Bob, you know, someone that can kind of understand the disability, but that can also teach me a skill that I can pass onto other people.
KUNKEL: I`ve taken soldiers out for coffee, out for a drive, and dinner. And you can just see people relaxing. It`s my way of showing my true appreciation for their sacrifice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Three women fight for their lives tonight in a Waco, Texas, hospital after being doused with gasoline and burned. To Dr. Bethany Marshall, is this the new form of torture and attack on women?
MARSHALL: I would guess, with this guy, he has a long history of torturing his mother when he doesn`t get his way. He probably only sees her as a need-satisfying object. He may have problems with the prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain that puts the brakes on bad behavior, have a meth problem, other problems.
GRACE: Well-put.
And to you, Yvette Cade, final thought?
CADE: I hope no one is harboring this criminal. If you are, you need to turn him in, because he may turn on you.
GRACE: Yvette Cade, a survivor of a similar attack, still suffering all of this time later. And tonight, our prayers with the ladies struggling to survive.
Let`s stop to remember Army Private First Class Steven Davis, 23, Woodbridge, Virginia, killed, Iraq. Awarded the Purple Hurt and Bronze Star on a first tour, loved ice hockey, dreamed of a military career, leaves behind a loving family, all in the military. His mom, Tess, a paramedic in Iraq. Younger brother, Chris, a soldier currently in Iraq. Grandfather, Rick, a mechanic in Iraq. His dad, Buck, an Army vet. He also leaves behind grieving widow, Ayla, and a baby girl, Elizabeth. Steven Davis, American hero.
Thank you to our guests, but especially to you, for inviting us into your homes. See you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
END
