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Nancy Grace

Body Found in Chicago Not Stacy Peterson/Mexican Authorities Approve Arrest Warrant for Fugitive Marine

Aired January 28, 2008 - 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: Police scour a vacant lot on the southwest side there in Chicago after a contract worker finds human remains frozen into the ground. A worker conducting soil samples finds skeletal remains just south of the Chicago sanitary and ship canal. What does it mean for the search for 23-year-old mother of two Stacy Peterson? Husband/suspect Drew Peterson seemingly more interested in re-entering the dating scene instead of finding his wife. What`s happening in the Stacy Peterson investigation?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When we heard a woman`s body was found in Chicago Friday, it`s sad to say many of us immediately thought of two people, Stacy Peterson or Lisa Stebic. Peterson disappeared in October. Stebic has been missing since April. It turns out the murder victim found was not either woman.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The recovered remains found Friday afternoon appear to be the remains of a white female. The remains were first discovered when a land surveyor from Lyons, a nearby suburb, contacted the Lyons Police Department and made the report.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight: A gorgeous young Marine vanishes into thin air, Camp Lejeune, eight months pregnant when she goes missing, the burned remains of 20-year-old Maria Lauterbach and her unborn child found in the backyard of suspect Marine corporal Cesar Laurean.

Breaking developments tonight. Finally, an arrest warrant signed by Mexican authorities for the fugitive Marine. And tonight, new and revealing details emerge about how he escaped across the border undetected. We also learn Laurean is now accused of stealing cash from Lauterbach`s body after bludgeoning her to death and then slashing her throat post- mortem -- after death. And tonight: Interpol now involved in the manhunt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An arrest warrant by a Mexican court in the manhunt for Marine corporal and murder suspect Cesar Laurean, Laurean spotted at a liquor store near Guadalajara nearly one week ago. The Onslow County DA agrees not to seek the death penalty in exchange for Laurean`s return to the U.S., all if Laurean is captured in Mexico.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And the disappearance of a 19-year-old coed, Reno, Nevada. Brianna Denison falls asleep on a friend`s sofa, only to vanish. Only clues left behind, her purse, cell phone, clothing and blood evidence on her pillow.

Major bombshell. Police just announce DNA links Denison`s disappearance to the sex assault of another Reno coed, same area, not one, not two, but tonight, possibly three attacks in the last weeks. And tonight, still no sign of Denison.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police in Reno, Nevada, believe the man responsible for the disappearance of a 19-year-old, Brianna Denison, earlier this month also raped a nearby college student in December. Police say they`ve discovered a DNA link between the two incidents. Investigators interviewed the assault victim again, and she provided a description of the attacker, a white male, 28 to 40 years old, described as about 5 foot, 6 inches tall, has a long face and a square chin. The suspect is said to be strong but not muscular, with facial hair below the chin. Denison, Brianna Denison, abducted from her apartment on January 20, and authorities now say blood found on a pillow is Brianna`s and could be consistent with suffocation or the pillow being used as a weapon. Still, authorities are hopeful the 19-year-old will be found alive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. First tonight, female remains found frozen into the ground near a Chicago canal. Is there a link to missing mom Stacy Peterson?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Authorities say frozen human remains found in a Chicago field are that of a female who was stabbed to death. But who is she? Officials haven`t identified the woman. Police don`t know the age of the victim or how long the body was in the field. They do know the victim is a white female with reddish-blond hair.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When Chicago police did arrive on the scene, the land surveyor had left. We were not able to interview the land surveyor, and there was no blue trash container recovered or located at the scene. We do know that the victim suffered multiple stab wounds. That`s what we`ve been able to determine from the autopsy, or at least what the medical examiner`s office has been able to provide.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: The latest news regarding the search for Stacy Peterson, frozen remains believed briefly to have been her remains. Out to Kathy Chaney, reporter with "The Chicago Defender." Kathy, what`s the latest?

KATHY CHANEY, "CHICAGO DEFENDER": The latest is -- of course, there is -- I guess it`s two-sided. One is you`re happy that it`s not Stacy or Lisa Stebic. But then again, there`s still the wonder of, Well, who is this woman, and where is Stacy and where is Lisa?

GRACE: To Kathy Chaney. Where does that leave the investigation on Stacy Peterson?

CHANEY: Still open. State police investigators are still searching, following up on clues, but they`re not telling us if they have anything substantial as far as the case so far.

GRACE: You know, Robi Ludwig, joining us, psychotherapist and author -- Robi, I noticed on Friday night, when we first learned that a worker had discovered human remains frozen into the ground, joining us that night was Joel Brodsky, the defense lawyer, the lawyer for Drew Peterson, husband/suspect in the disappearance of his young wife, Stacy, the mother of two of his children. And he was dead sure -- he was absolutely sure on Friday night that this was not Stacy Peterson.

Now, the fact that they continued to argue she has gone off with another man, if that were true, would not preclude her from being dead. So how are they so sure her remains aren`t buried there?

ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Well, I mean, I think it`s spin. He`s obviously protecting his client. He has to protect his client`s innocence. I don`t think he`s necessarily doing a good job, but I think that`s what`s going on here.

GRACE: Well, Tom Shamshak, that`s not where I`m headed -- Tom Shamshak, private investigator out of the Boston jurisdiction. For all he knew, if she had left with another man, she still could have been killed and found, her remains found, but they were absolutely sure that`s not where her remains were buried.

TOM SHAMSHAK, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: That suggests to me, Nancy, that maybe the client really knows the location of the remains of his wife. He`s pretty confident that -- the way he`s been coming across in public, he`s pretty certain that they`re not going to discover her remains.

GRACE: Take a listen to Brodsky on this broadcast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOEL BRODSKY, ATTORNEY FOR DREW PETERSON: It`s not Stacy. I can tell you it`s not Stacy. I guarantee you that. I mean, Stacy ran away with another man. That`s the case. But they`re not going to find the blue barrel. They`re not going to find Stacy`s body parts in a blue barrel. Just -- you know, the whole blue barrel thing, that was the initial -- when that whole case started, I think it was Stacy`s sister who said that there was some blue barrel, 55-gallon drum of chlorine in Drew`s garage that was missing, and that`s just simply not the case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Back out to Kathy Chaney with "The Chicago Defender." What can you tell me about the remains? I know it was an adult female. What more do we know?

CHANEY: We know that -- I believe it was just a leg and another small body part pretty much frozen to the ground. I believe it still had some clothing materials on it. But other than that, there`s nothing more.

GRACE: Well, how many women are missing in that area for them not to even know who it could be?

CHANEY: In that area, it`s hard to tell. There aren`t many women that are missing in that area. But they say they have definitely -- and it took them a day to rule out that it was Stacy Peterson or Lisa Stebic.

GRACE: Joining us tonight, let`s unleash the lawyers, John Burris, defense attorney out of San Francisco, Darryl Cohen out of the Atlanta jurisdiction, both veteran trial lawyers. First to you, John Burris. Anything that the lawyer says cannot be attributed to the client. So even if this were to go to trial some day, the fact that the lawyer was so convinced right out of the chute that this was not Stacy Peterson, that can never come in against the client.

JOHN BURRIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Absolutely right. I mean, unfortunately, it cannot in any way. Just because lawyers make statements, they`re not under oath. Someone said they`re making spin. Whatever, but they`re trying to defend their client. But it`s not evidence and cannot be.

No, on the other hand, the arguments that you have made and others have made that if he`s speaking in a way that sounds like he is so certain, that then raises the question of why is he so certain? And it may be something his client has told him. I think it draws more suspicion on his client that his client knows more than what he`s saying than otherwise. So I think the lawyer would have been better served to say nothing about his certainty about this in any way. I think it hurts his client when he makes these kind of definitive statements.

GRACE: To Darryl Cohen. That`s one class they don`t teach you in law school, sit down and shut up.

DARRYL COHEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Boy, isn`t that the truth, Nancy. this guy absolutely has something called "reckless speech." He should have kept his mouth shut or said, if it happens to be her, We`re delighted we found out who it is. He never should have said anything, just absolutely bad lawyering.

GRACE: I want to go back to Kathy Chaney and the latest in the Drew Peterson date-a-thon. You know, apparently, he`s still telling his children that their mommy is on vacation. I mean, how long can Mommy be on vacation? So what`s all this business about a date-a-thon on a radio show?

CHANEY: Well, he had been appearing as a, you know, call-in guest on a local radio show for a while, and the host of the show thought it would be funny to say, Well, let`s do a "Win a date with Drew." He agreed. Then, of course, the radio station received some backlash about that and they canceled it. Drew and his attorney said that, you know, they chickened out. They`re scared. They were for it in the beginning, now they`re not. So it was just put on the back burner.

GRACE: Wait. Are you telling me that Drew Peterson and his attorney chickened out?

CHANEY: No, no, no.

GRACE: The radio show?

CHANEY: Drew said that the radio show chickened out. They were all for it in the beginning, but since they`d come under scrutiny and then there was this backlash of, you know, Why would you even do this, poor humor...

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: Back to John Burris and Darryl Cohen. You know, if this ever does go to trial, this is going to be brought into evidence, just like the behavioral evidence that was brought in against Scott Peterson, John Burris.

BURRIS: I don`t think that the lawyer...

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: On, I`m talking about Drew Peterson...

BURRIS: Oh, yes, of course...

GRACE: ... instead of out trying to find his wife, the mother of his children, he`s on a local radio show, trying to get set up with young women.

BURRIS: No question his behavior is not consistent with a person who`s really concerned about his wife who may be dead or not, or trying to find her. So obviously, that kind of evidence, they will try to get it in. I think the defense lawyer`s got to work really, really hard to keep it out, and I think they could probably do a good job of keeping most of this kind of evidence out. Of course, one would expect him to be out looking for his wife, and so the prosecution would make a lot of positive gains in this area.

GRACE: Darryl?

COHEN: Nancy, I think, first of all, his conduct is reprehensible and stupid. If someone has died and you`re looking for that person that`s supposed to be your wife, you`re looking for her. You`re supposed to be sad. You`re supposed to be lonely. You`re supposed to worry about your kids. And his type of conduct -- Yes, I`ll take the date, absolutely, it`s a good thing for me to do -- how dumb can you be? Even if he happens to be innocent, a jury could convict him just on pre-trial publicity the jurors have never heard or seen.

GRACE: Everybody, when we come back, details uncovered about rape and murder suspect Marine Corporal Cesar Laurean, wanted in the murders of 20- year-old Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach and her unborn child. Tonight, we learn how he slipped into Mexico undetected.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An arrest warrant by a Mexico court in the manhunt for Marine corporal and murder suspect Cesar Laurean, Laurean spotted at a liquor store near Guadalajara nearly one week ago. The Onslow County DA agrees not to seek the death penalty in exchange for Laurean`s return to the U.S., all if Laurean is captured in Mexico.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A local press contact had told us that the authorities in Guadalajara had received a request for cooperation, not an arrest warrant, but a request for cooperation. Again, what does that mean? It does not necessarily mean that a proactive manhunt will ensue, it simply means that if the authorities happen to come across this guy, they`re asked that they detain him and they let the U.S. authorities know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: The very latest in the search for Corporal Cesar Laurean. And tonight, we learn police accusing him of stealing money off her person after she is bludgeoned to death.

I want to go straight out to Harris Whitbeck, the CNN Mexico City bureau chief with CNN. Harris, I understand that, finally -- finally -- there`s been a provisional arrest warrant signed by Mexican authorities. What can you tell us?

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That`s correct, Nancy. The U.S. embassy told us this morning that a Mexican judge had signed a provisional arrest warrant based on the same charges Laurean is facing back in the United States. The embassy told us this, however. Mexican law enforcement -- we spoke to law enforcement both at the federal and local levels in Guadalajara, and they are still not confirming that that arrest warrant has been signed. They haven`t even confirmed that there is any cooperation between the United States and Mexico on this. So obviously, there are two very different messages coming out from the United States and Mexico. It has to make you wonder what kind of cooperation is going on in other areas of this endeavor.

GRACE: Harris, why are there two completely different stories? And why do you think, in the Mexican jurisdiction, they`re dragging their feet in helping us find this guy?

WHITBECK: Well, I mean, they`re dragging their feet and telling us they`re helping him or telling us they`re not helping officially. I mean, might -- one of the people we spoke with in Guadalajara told us that it might very well be that they`re running some sort of undercover operation or a very, very low-key operation to try to find Cesar Laurean in the Guadalajara neighborhood, where we found out that he had been just a week before. But again, officially, the U.S. embassy is saying one thing, the Mexican authorities are saying another. It`s not the first time, however, that Mexican law enforcement is not very forthcoming in terms of its ongoing operations.

GRACE: Joining us tonight, CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti. Susan, a lot of developments. You`ve learned a lot about how Laurean managed to slip across the border undetected. What do we know?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I wanted to know more, Nancy, from the bus driver and what observations he had and what he told authorities about what happened when Laurean got on that bus in Houston -- remember, Laurean left North Carolina on a Friday and was in Mexico by Sunday, just two days later.

And what I learned is this, and I learned this through an attorney who is now the spokesperson for this bus company. I submitted questions, and this is what the driver said, that Laurean didn`t act suspiciously, didn`t act oddly. He was wearing a T-shirt and jeans and casual shoes, and he carried with him for some reason a rolled-up blanket. The bus driver recalled for me that all he remembers was that Laurean said -- he was talking about going to Mexico, trying to get to the Guadalajara area to visit some family and that he had not been there since a child.

Well, certainly, that much is true because he left there around the age of 10 or 11 years old. But he didn`t get dropped off in Guadalajara, he got dropped off in another city and had to make his way to Guadalajara. That`s what we got from the bus driver.

GRACE: Susan, do we know if law enforcement has spoken to the bus driver?

CANDIOTTI: Well, since I found out my original information about the bus trip, yes, I can tell you that law enforcement does know about it. As a matter of fact, the attorney representing the bus company also said that that company and the driver has cooperated fully with the FBI.

GRACE: Out to the lines. Loretta in Texas. Hi, Loretta.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy.

GRACE: How are you, dear? What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: First of all, congratulations on your beautiful twins.

GRACE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is -- the only person I`m aware of that has seen this guy is the cousin. How do we know that that`s true? How do we know that it`s not just a family member kind of thwarting our efforts and he`s really somewhere else?

GRACE: To Harris Whitbeck, joining us in Mexico. Harris, what can you tell us about the sighting of Cesar Laurean there at that liquor store?

WHITBECK: Well, I mean, the cousin, when we finally tracked him down, was very open about it. I mean, I asked him, Have you heard from your cousin Cesar back in the States? And he said, yes, he was here just a week ago. He was very, very nonchalant, very casual about the whole thing. Many of us here at the bureau in Mexico City have been wondering what might have really been going on. Some speculate that the family might know a bit more than it`s saying. On the other hand, if they knew more about what`s going on, knew his whereabouts or were even involved in hiding him, they certainly wouldn`t be telling the media. You know, CNN comes knocking on their door, they wouldn`t (ph) just come out and tell us, Oh, yes, he was here just a week ago.

GRACE: Back to Tom Shamshak, joining us, private investigator. Tom, the reality is, though, you`ve got the cousin at the liquor store who observed him, but you also have a totally disinterested party that doesn`t have any skin in the game, doesn`t have a dog in the fight, a bus driver who will identify him, actually had a conversation, according to him, with Cesar Laurean.

SHAMSHAK: Yes, I would speculate that the bus driver is being truthful, and I`d put some credence into what the cousin has to say. But Nancy, what we need to do is to get going quickly here with this long chain of communication that`s impeding the obtaining of the warrant. Secondly, the United States government should be offering a substantial reward for the return of this man. This was an employee, a member of our armed forces, who was murdered. And what we need to do is to move forward here.

GRACE: I want to go straight out to Dewey Hudson, the Onslow County district attorney. He`s joining us there out of North Carolina. Mr. Hudson, did you have any idea this arrest warrant has been signed in Mexico? Have they told you that?

DEWEY HUDSON, ONSLOW COUNTY DA: Good evening, Nancy. No, I spoke with the attorneys in the Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice, later on this afternoon, and they informed me that -- or my office did, that that process is taking place on course, but they didn`t give us any indication that any warrants for arrest have been issued by any Mexican judge yet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The search continues for the Marine accused of murder.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have new photos. They give us a better look at Laurean`s tattoos. You can check them out right here. The FBI says there`s a phoenix rising from ashes on his left arm. And it`s a pretty large tattoo, as well. Also what appears to be a skull over another image. That is on his right arm, so you might be able to identify him that way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: How did Cesar Laurean manage to cross the border undetected? Forget about that. How did he cross the entire U.S. on public transportation, the bus, and not get caught? All the while, back home, funeral arrangements being made for Maria Lauterbach and her unborn child, found buried in a barbecue pit in his backyard. He even leaves a note, according to his wife, saying Lauterbach slit her own throat and then he, in fear, buried her.

Out to Dr. William Morrone, medical examiner and pathologist joining us out of Michigan. Dr. Morrone, she was bludgeoned to death with a blunt force object. Didn`t he understand that when her body was eventually found, they could tell his note was a big lie?

DR. WILLIAM MORRONE, MEDICAL EXAMINER, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: They`ll be able to reconstruct the timeline of death, and based on the reconstruction of the skull, could see what position she was in when she was killed, and none of his story is going to make sense.

GRACE: Well, the position to me seems kind of irrelevant, when he claims she slit her own throat. I mean, they can look at her throat, Morrone, and see it`s not slit. Forget about the position of the head!

MORRONE: Well, they`ll want to know from marks on the skull whether she was down on the ground and he beat her on the ground or whether he hit her when she was standing up, just as part of the investigation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The FBI searching for fugitive Marine Cesar Laurean. Laurean, on the lam since January 11th, wanted for first-degree murder and the death of Marine Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach.

Maria Lauterbach and her unborn child found buried in Laurean`s own backyard in North Carolina. Cause of death? Blunt force head trauma. A sighting of Laurean in Mexico and now after weeks of being on the run, Mexican authorities finally issue a provisional arrest warrant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight out to the lines. Out to Pam in Illinois. Hi, Pam.

PAM, FROM ILLINOIS: Hi, Nancy. Congratulations on the twins.

GRACE: Thank you, dear.

PAM: And I want to know -- since he`s in the service, why can`t the federal government go after him? And why do we have to give up the death penalty? Because her parents deserve justice for their daughter and their grand baby.

GRACE: I agree with you, Pam, it is an absolute shame. But the DA who was with us tonight was put between a rock and a hard spot. If this guy is in Mexico, they do not return U.S. citizens. They don`t return anybody wanted in the U.S. unless the U.S. agrees not to seek the death penalty.

Let`s go to Meg Strickler, international law attorney, extradition expert.

Meg, explain to me why the military or the federal government cannot be involved in this?

MEG STRICKLER, INTERNATIONAL LAW ATTY, EXTRADITION EXPERT: They can be involved in it and they are involved in it. In fact, the Depart of Justice is doing that. They`re going through the proper process and going through filling out all the paper work and they did the exact thing by doing a provisional arrest, it`s expediting the entire process. They`ve done an excellent job.

GRACE: Expediting?

STRICKLER: Yes.

GRACE: Expediting? This has been anything.

STRICKLER: That`s expediting. You know our government, we`re not exactly quick. The bureaucratic process is never quick. Come on.

GRACE: Yes. I was so sad for many years. I`m very familiar with the federal government, Meg. But this has been anything but expedited. It has taken forever. In fact we`ve let Laurean slip through our fingers on multiple occasions.

STRICKLER: Oh I don`t disagree with you.

GRACE: Starting off at the get-go, Meg, you had the local law enforcement pointing at the military, the military pointing at local law enforcement. What happened? Laurean leaves, he takes a pouter and leaves. She`s buried in the backyard. Please. Surprise me, Laurean, do something different for a change. No, buries her in the backyard. Then he parks his car by the airport, gets on a bus, and takes many days` bus trip across this country, totally apprehended.

STRICKLER: I totally agree.

GRACE: .probably uses a fake ID to get into Mexico, Meg. Not only that, bet you a dollar, he has got a military discount. They actually give military discounts.

STRICKLER: Oh yes. I`m in total agreement with all of that. It`s actually embarrassing our Border Patrol. I mean hello? The passport and all that. I mean he just got -- I know he`s a Mexican citizen and a United States citizen, but as you have seen all through the media, where was the bus driver`s head? Does he not watch any TV or read any papers? I mean come on. I agree with you on that.

GRACE: Susan Candiotti, Meg Strickler is right, when you were getting the answers to your many, many questions for this bus company, did you happen to throw in, where was the bus driver`s head? Was that on your list?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I had a lot of questions, Nancy, that weren`t answered, only a limited number of questions were answered. But the question does remain, as you said, what kind of controls are there when someone is on a most wanted list and how is that information getting out there to train stations, to bus companies, so that if a fugitive, a terrorist, anybody who were leaving the United States, where are those people checked out?

How is that information transmitted from authorities to these companies?

GRACE: I mean it just makes -- me believe, Susan Candiotti, we keep talking about this agreement that the U.S. has with Mexico, it`s not worth the paper it`s written on. And I believe Dewey Hudson, the elected district attorney, although he`s much more circumspect than I am, would probably agree with me. They haven`t even told him the warrant has been signed, am I right, Mr. Hudson? You`re having to learn everything on TV?

DEWEY HUDSON, ONLOW COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Well, Nancy.

GRACE: It`s a shame.

HUDSON: Well, it`s sort of surprised to me that I had to hear about it on CNN rather than.

GRACE: This is headline news.

HUDSON: Correct.

GRACE: Mr. Hudson, I want you to answer Pam in Illinois. I want to get it from the source. Your thoughts on having to table even seeking the death penalty in this case, in exchange for his return from Mexico.

HUDSON: Well, it`s a very difficult decision, frankly. I mean I weighed all the options and I came to this conclusion that I have very few options, in fact, I have no options other than to not request the provisional arrest warrant and then if I were to do that, I was frightened he might go and kill someone else because he hasn`t been convicted but I`m scared someone might be hurt as a result of may not (INAUDIBLE) inside.

GRACE: Out to Lee in Wisconsin. Hi, Lee.

LEE, FROM WISCONSIN: Hi. Congratulations on your blessings. They`re beautiful.

GRACE: Thank you. Double blessing.

LEE: Double blessings and they`re just gorgeous.

My question is, she was killed on the 14th. And he did not go to buy supplies until the 24th. Where was this dead woman, his wife had to have known something, she couldn`t have been gone that long.

GRACE: To Lori Mack, North Carolina correspondent with Westwood One Metro Networks. Lori, what do you think about that? The wife actually helped him paint, correct?

LORI MACK, N.C. CORRESPONDENT, WESTWOOD ONE METRO NETWORKS: Yes, according to neighbors, the neighbor, the Alenders(ph) told an Ohio newspaper that Christina Laurean told them that they were repainting the living room and then they would do the garage after they finished the living room.

GRACE: So she was in on the painting job, unless he turned into a complete fix it upper, this was totally out of character, not only that, he suddenly builds a pit in the backyard.

Out to Cindy in Illinois. Hi, Cindy.

CINDY, FROM ILLINOIS: Hi, Nancy, welcome back and congratulations.

GRACE: Thank you, dear.

CINDY: A couple of quick question, have they heard any more on Laurean`s wife and have they determined the sex of the child yet?

GRACE: Lori Mack, what do we know about any possible charges against Christina Laurean and what about the sex of the baby?

MACK: Well, at this point, the last we heard about Christina Laurean was at Mr. Hudson`s press conference last week and he said she remains a cooperating witness and she has returned from -- what authorities last said about her, she has to her duties on the base, but they say she`s still cooperating. So at this point, we don`t think that there are any charges pending against her and if they are, they haven`t released that information.

GRACE: That cooperation really kicking in after he had high tailed out of town. I believe those supplies were bought at the local Lowe`s store on the 16th, not the 24th. But that still it`s a two-day laps.

Back out to the line, Cindy in Indiana. Hi, Cindy.

CINDY, FROM INDIANA: Hello.

GRACE: What`s your question, dear?

CINDY: How can he be that much of a pig.

GRACE: I don`t know.

CINDY: .and do that to a tiny baby and pretend to love your own? My question is where is his baby?

GRACE: Oh just hearing your voice, you know, we get so caught up, Cindy in Indiana, on the logistics and the developments of the case and the search for Cesar Laurean. This is about a 20-year-old girl and her unborn baby. Funeral arrangements being made right now. Her mom insisting that the baby have its own casket. All this is happening while the search for Laurean seemingly is going nowhere.

Take that one, Robi.

ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOTHERAPIST, AUTHOR, "TILL DEATH DO US PART": Well, I mean I think with this kind of personality, they put themselves above everybody else. So they don`t think about a baby, they don`t think about the woman, they don`t think about anybody other than somebody`s getting in my way, somebody`s going to get me in trouble, I have to look out for, number one, I have to look out for myself, and they`re very rageful people who act impulsively and I think even the way that she was killed shows an intimacy and aggressiveness.

GRACE: Out to Nolanda in Utah. Hi, Nolanda.

NOLANDA, FROM UTAH: Hi, Nancy, and welcome back.

GRACE: Thank you. I`m happy to be back.

NOLANDA: We missed you.

Hey, my question is quick. It`s about her -- the young lady`s mother that was killed. I heard a comment that was made that the mom was saying that the daughter was a pathological liar which really bothered me because I`m a parent and I`m wondering if maybe mom hadn`t have been so aggressive and negative towards her daughter, what`s the possibility that maybe that young lady would be alive today because it made it seem like nobody believed her so no one helped her and that`s how he was able to take her.

GRACE: Well, Nolanda, I`ve got to tell you, when you put it out there to the police that your daughter is a compulsive liar or has been a compulsive liar, it makes them naturally discount the whole story and think that you`ve just taken off. I think that that did play a role in the police`s action.

Everyone, when we come back, will DNA be the key to solving the disappearance of 19-year-old coed Brianna Denison?

Tonight, APB, all points bulletin, for special moms and dads. If you know a parent who deserves to be recognized, get your camcorder. Go to CNN.com/Nancygrace and click on "i-Report," enter that parent in the "Extraordinary Parent Contest."

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The last time anyone saw Bre Denison was around 4:00 Sunday morning. She was spending the night on the couch at a friend`s house. A few hours later someone went to check on her and discovered Bre had vanished.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She held a teddy bear to help elevate her pillow from what I was told and the bear is gone as well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: According to Brianna Denison`s family, what police did find at this house is the missing 19-year-old`s purse, cell phone and some clothing. Brianna went to sleep at the house after a party. Her family says blood was found on Brianna`s pillow and no one has heard from her.

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GRACE: Tonight, not one, not two, but possibly three attacks in the same area linked to Brianna Denison.

Out to Jaclyn O`Malley, crime reporter with the "Reno Gazette- Journal."

Welcome, Jaclyn. What`s the latest in the search for Brianna Denison?

JACLYN O`MALLEY, CRIME REPORTER, RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL: Well, Nancy, Sunday the Reno Police Department announced that they had linked Brianna`s abductors through DNA to the man who abducted and raped a UNR student in December just days before Christmas.

GRACE: Now they`re doing that through DNA, correct?

O`MALLEY: Right.

GRACE: To Dr. William Morrone, medical examiner and pathologist, typically you get the DNA off the rape victim. But then you don`t have anything to which you can compare it. You don`t have the known DNA. For instance your DNA, I can`t compare anything unless I have your DNA to match it to.

So long story short, what we`ve got is not a match to a specific individual, but DNA linking up we now know two cases.

DR. WILLIAM R. MORRONE, MEDICAL EXAMINER AND FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: It`s anonymous DNA sample. But the DNA structure and sample is known and all we`re going to have to look for is the name. When they find the person, the name.

GRACE: Joining us tonight, Lieutenant Robert McDonald, a special guest joining us from the Reno Police Department.

Lieutenant, thank you for being with us.

LT. ROBERT MCDONALD, RENO POLICE DEPT.: Pleasure to be here.

GRACE: Lieutenant McDonald, we all know about the fingerprint bank that is used all across the country. But what about a DNA bank?

MCDONALD: Federal authorities maintain a bank called CODAS, wherein people are entered into that national database where we can compare offenders we have DNA on to that database so see if we can determine, like in this particular case, an unknown offender against a known offender in their database.

GRACE: Now, Lieutenant McDonald, I know that that CODAS is federal but how far back are, for instance, sex offenders -- how far back have they`ve been required to give their DNA to CODAS?

MCDONALD: Sex offenders, I think, only have been required to provide their DNA to the CODAS for the last few months. There are a lot of them that aren`t entered in there anyway and on top of that, there`s a lot of DNA databases that are maintained -- state repositories maintain those. We`re comparing this data that we have from our cases to the, no only the federal databases, but also the state databases in the other 50 United States.

GRACE: Lieutenant McDonald is joining us in the search for Brianna Denison, our coverage tonight.

Lieutenant, I know that the unidentified white male, and we`re getting this description from the other rape, that DNA matches up to DNA connected to the Brianna Denison case, correct?

MCDONALD: That is correct.

GRACE: He is a white male, 28 to 40, long face, square chin, brown hair, taller than 5`6". Quarter to half-inch long facial hair below the chin.

What else can you tell us about the unidentified male?

MCDONALD: Several important clues in his description, one of them is he has a shaved pelvic region. He has light hair covering his arms, on his arms. He has facial hair about a quarter inch long, below the chin, is very soft. We know he doesn`t have any distinguishing oddities. We know he doesn`t -- wasn`t wearing cologne, didn`t have smoker`s breath.

So that`s -- we have a pretty good description of him, (INAUDIBLE) the victim didn`t see his face, but we have a lot of information about him, for the fact that he`s muscular but not a body builder. He`s very strong. He has a -- when seated, has kind of a belly roll, but when standing he does not. And we know that he`s somewhere between 5`6" and approximately 6`2".

GRACE: His vehicle described as an extended cab, pickup or sports utility vehicle, with a dome light above the windshield, a step to get inside, it has a floor mounted skinny console. The LAD readout on the radio blue and red, cloth seats in the vehicle, automatic transmission and stunningly, a baby shoe, a baby shoe on the front seat floorboard.

To Dr. Robi Ludwig, according to Lieutenant McDonald, the perpetrator, the known perpetrator shaves his entire pelvic area. You`ve got to shrink that.

LUDWIG: No, I know. My first thought is he trying to emasculate himself, is he trying to make himself child like in some way? It`s certainly a preoccupation with the genital areas. And it`s -- I mean it`s just a disturbing image to think why would somebody do that. Obviously there`s a preoccupation there that`s not healthy.

GRACE: Lieutenant McDonald, in all your years of policing have you ever had a suspect with a shaved pelvic region?

MCDONALD: Not that I can remember.

GRACE: Me either. Me either and I have been prosecuting, I think, all the way back to 1987.

To John Burris, Darryl Cohen, where do they go from here, Darryl Cohen?

DARRYL COHEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I think, Nancy, the first thing that they do, is when they find this guy, and this may not help find him. But clearly what we`ve got the two DNAs that matched, it`s going to help with all of the evidence.

What I would do is I would put that description out. What I would do is have everybody very vigilant on all of the local stations and mostly headline news, some CNN, just keep going and keep looking piece by piece.

But the most important factor here, at least in my view, is that every young woman needs to make sure she has her mace out, she has her gun out, if she has a gun, that she needs to make sure that the doors are double locked. They just cannot look and be oblivious.

GRACE: John Burris, a problem with the description. A lot of those things can be changed, like the facial hair, the shaved pelvic region, what he was wearing, the car he was driving, a lot of that can easily be changed.

JOHN BURRIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Absolutely, it can be changed instantly and I think when you give out this kind of information, I think that a person would change.

I tell you what I`m most struck by, though, and that is that a person would come in to the house where someone is sleeping which suggests to me that maybe that person has been at her house before. The dogs didn`t bark. I think you go back and start looking for people who have been in that house in the last weeks or so.

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GRACE: Out to Lieutenant Robert McDonald. Lieutenant, I know you`re matching up DNA related to the Brianna Denison case. But where was the perpetrator`s DNA found in the Denison case?

MCDONALD: We`re not releasing what type of DNA evidence we have or where it was located at the crime scene at this point.

GRACE: When will you release it?

MCDONALD: When we have a suspect in custody.

GRACE: OK.

To Terry in West Virginia. Hi, Terry.

TERRY, FROM WEST VIRGINIA: Hi, Nancy.

GRACE: What`s your question, dear?

TERRY: I was wondering does the man that reportedly gave her a ride home or any of his known associates match the description from the other girls?

GRACE: Out to Lieutenant McDonald, what can you tell us?

MCDONALD: We`re still, you know, talking to him, but we got to tell you that he`s been eliminated by DNA from being involved in this.

GRACE: He gave them a ride home, everyone, and came in to the police station voluntarily, cooperated with police. He`s only guilty of giving them a ride home at this juncture.

Everyone, let`s stop to remember Army Private First Class Dwane Covert Jr., only 20 years old, Tonawanda, New York, killed in Iraq. Awarded the army good conduct medal and bronze star, loved taking naps with his 1-year- old. Playing Xbox with his friend who had muscular dystrophy. He leaves behind parents Dwane and Teresa, sister Jennifer, brother Matthew, grieving widow Janet, son Cameron, and a newborn daughter he named Zoe. He`ll never get to meet her.

Dwane Covert Jr., American hero.

Thank you to our guests but most of all to you for inviting us into your homes. And tonight a special good night from California friends of the show, Josh and Simon.

Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.

END