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Nancy Grace
Cops Arrest 22-Year-Old Pregnant Mom for DUI
Aired May 02, 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: Speeding down a busy Florida thoroughfare, the car turns into a deadly weapon, swerving erratically into oncoming traffic. Cops flip the blue light and brace for a showdown, the smell of marijuana pouring from the car, the daredevil driver none other than a woman eight months pregnant, reeking of pot -- eight months pregnant! -- the car loaded with pot and drug paraphernalia. And to top it all off, it`s not her first time.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A woman eight months pregnant in central Florida has been charged with DUI and possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Twenty-two-year-old Nicole Van Neil was pulled over after deputies say she was swerving, crossing the line while she was driving.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Van Neil was arrested for DUI and taken to jail. We caught up with her to ask if the allegations were true.
Were you under the influence of drugs or alcohol?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Van Neil denied the allegations and was very upset.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She said that the police released that video, the video when they arrested me!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She has had previous DUI arrests, and now she`s facing up to a year in prison.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, Amber Alert, a teen girl believed to be on the run, crisscrossing the country with a convicted felon now believed connected to the violent murder of a senior citizen found brutally murdered in his own home, his truck missing. The manhunt and the Amber Alert play out tonight.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A nationwide search is on for 15-year-old Morgan Leopard (ph). Investigators do believe she is with her boyfriend, 23-year- old Toby Laurie (ph), last seen just after midnight on Thursday in Katy (ph), Texas. That is outside of Houston. And police say they were in this truck, a 2003 Toyota Tacoma pick-up, four-door with the license plate number of 193-KLR. Police now know that that truck was owned by this man, James Stewart (ph), who was found dead inside his Putnam County home yesterday. A phone call from Stewart`s home was made to Leopard`s cell phone. That`s how police were able to make this connection.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sheriff`s investigators very shortly, not very long ago, told us that Mr. Stewart, James Stewart, died a very violent death. They won`t tell us the exact cause of death. They say they know it, but they say only the people who were in the house with him at the time of his death would know what happened, so they want to preserve that part of this investigation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us tonight. At eight months pregnant, women are known to prepare the baby nursery, take prenatal vitamins, avoid coffee, stay away from spicy foods, but this mom snags another DUI at eight months, her car loaded with pot and drug paraphernalia, drunk off her gourd, according to cops.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s not the type of test typically given to a pregnant woman, but recently 22-year-old Nicole Van Neil, who was eight months pregnant, was given a field sobriety test for suspicion of driving under the influence. Deputies say they asked the mom-to-be to take it April 17 right after they witnessed her swerving and crossing the yellow line while driving on Hannel (ph) Road in Lux (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t believe that you`re going to be under the influence of alcohol, I believe it`s going to be drugs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Deputies say they smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from Van Neil`s car. They also found marijuana in a pill container, as well as a pipe under her seat and drug paraphernalia in her car`s center console.
The sheriff`s office says Van Neil refused a breathalyzer and urine test. However, they say she failed a field sobriety test and showed signs of impairment. Van Neil was arrested for DUI and taken to jail. We caught up with her to ask if the allegations were true.
Were you under the influence of drugs or alcohol?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Van Neil denied the allegations and was very upset.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She said that the police released that video, the video when they arrested me!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Roger Schulman, news director with WWBA Newsradio 1040. Eight months pregnant and her car is reeking of pot? What happened?
ROGER SCHULMAN, WWBA NEWSRADIO 1040: Well, it looks like that mother is not going to be going to Harvard any time soon. It`s unfortunately typical down here. This is not that unusual a situation. Hillsborough County, where Tampa is located, has the highest drunk driving fatality rate in the state of Florida. It`s a serious problem.
GRACE: To Ed Miller with "America`s Most Wanted." Ed, thank you for being with us. What exactly happened in this case?
ED MILLER, "AMERICA`S MOST WANTED": Well, you know, the police stop people for any number of reasons, and they saw this van swerving across the center line. They followed the van for a little while. And at one point, obviously, the officers thought, This has gone too far, she`s actually a danger to other people on the road. So they stopped the van. This is on April 17. They pulled it over. They got her out. She refused to take a blood test, but she did fail the field sobriety test. And as you saw on the videotape, she`s stumbling all around.
Remember, you have to have a license to drive a car. You don`t have to take any sort of test or license to have a baby. And that`s what`s really shocking to everyone, including the officer on the scene.
GRACE: You know, they say that she flunked the field sobriety test. Out to Brian Reich, deputy chief, Bergen County sheriff`s office. Brian, what exactly is in a field sobriety test?
BRIAN REICH, DEPUTY CHIEF, BERGEN CO. SHERIFF`S OFFICE: Well, you know, every jurisdiction has a unique test, but basically, most of the field sobriety tests are going to test balance and they`re going to test your ability to drive a car. Some of the tests are standing on one leg and balancing for a certain amount of time.
There`s also a test called nystagmus, in which an officer either a pen or his finger and actually tests the nystagmus, which is a natural twitching of somebody`s eyes in response to a finger that`s being moved from left to right. And it`s a little more complicated than that, with a point system. But in a sense, the field sobriety tests are extremely accurate ways of determining whether someone`s impaired or not because this doesn`t have to be alcohol, it could be a drug that they`re on, as well.
GRACE: Well, from the smell of her, it was definitely pot. But I notice the police report also says alcohol.
We are taking your calls live Out to the lines. Eileen in North Carolina. Hi, Eileen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, Nancy. Great to talk to you again.
GRACE: Likewise.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wondered if she has any other children, and I wondered if child protective services is going to take this baby when it`s born?
GRACE: To Roger Schulman with WWBA Newsradio 1040. Does she have other children? And what`s to become of this baby?
SCHULMAN: There`s no indication she has other children. And I was talking to law enforcement officers before we came on, there is no law against doing things of this nature before the child is born in this state. You can drink, you can take drugs. It`s an individual choice. But once the child is born, it`s different. Before it`s born, all bets re off.
GRACE: Let`s unleash the lawyers. Joining us tonight, a veteran trial lawyer out of the Texas jurisdiction, Barry Sorrels. Also with us, Joseph Rem out of New York. Barry, what do you make of it as it relates to the custody of the baby when the baby is born?
BARRY SORRELS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I think that it`s going to depend upon what this woman`s situation is at that time. You know, like the gentleman said, I don`t know of any laws where CPS gets involved prior to this child`s birth on these type of issues. After the child`s born, it`s possible, if they receive in that she`s being an unfit mother, they`d get involved and do an investigation to see what`s...
GRACE: Well, hold on.
SORRELS: ... in the best interests of the child.
GRACE: Hold on. Hold on, Barry Sorrels! PS, Barry, take a look at your screen, Barry, because as you`re talking, you`re seeing one DUI child victim after the next after the next after the next. And the way I see it, that`s what this baby is, a victim of a DUI. Barry Sorrels, what about if the baby is born with fetal alcohol syndrome or some other health-related problem because of the mom boozing it up and high on chronic?
SORRELS: Well, I mean -- well, first of all, you know, any pregnant mother`s first concern should be the welfare of their unborn child, and that includes what they put in their mouth or what they don`t put in their mouth. And this woman, like every other mother, has an obligation to do that. On the other hand, I`m not willing to throw her in jail and throw away the key because there`s -- I`ve seen too much success for women with drug and alcohol problems, if she has one, of getting in recovery, finding long-term...
GRACE: If she has one?
SORRELS: ... sobriety and working through this and end up being...
GRACE: OK...
SORRELS: ... a law-abiding citizen. So I`m not willing to say...
GRACE: Thank you, Barry.
SORRELS: ... throw her away.
GRACE: Thank you, Barry. I`ll let her move home with you and take care of your kids. Maybe she can drive them to piano recitals
Joseph Rem, defense attorney out of New York, what`s the likelihood she`ll lose the baby, if that baby is born with fetal alcohol syndrome?
JOSEPH REM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That`s up to a judge. The first thing that...
GRACE: Yes, I know it`s up to a judge. I`m asking you, as a defense lawyer, what`s going to happen?
REM: What`s going to happen is that the Bureau of Child Protective Services will come in and do an evaluation. If she has a drug problem, if she has an alcohol problem, if she had an addiction problem, the first step usually will be to monitor her, make sure that she`s on urine monitoring, make sure that there`s frequent visits by agents of the agency to make sure that the child is being well treated. People do recover, and just because someone has an incident such as this doesn`t mean that it will continue to recur in the future.
GRACE: You know, I really appreciate that, but what you two gentlemen are avoiding is the fact that this is her second known DUI. And it`s not just about her. The two of you are singing (ph) second verse same as the first, on and on and on about, She can get better, she can get rehabilitated. Hello? Wake up and smell the coffee! It`s not just about her anymore. She is about to give birth!
Let`s go to the lines. Holly in Texas. Hi, Holly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. How are you?
GRACE: I`m good, dear. I was just remembering how I gave up coffee when I was carrying the twins, concerned about the effect that just coffee might have on them. And I was a really coffee fiend. What`s your question, dear?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, my question is, you know, I mean, she refused to do a blood test, so I mean, is there a way to, you know, figure out exactly what else she might have been on, too?
GRACE: What about it? Out to Ed Miller. What do we know?
MILLER: First of all, too much time has passed, at this point, to know exactly what she was on. And of course, many drunk drivers do that. They purposely refuse to take a blood test, feeling that by the time they get to wherever they`re going, you know, that they`re going to sober up.
But I believe we should point out that this is the third DUI arrest, according to my information. So some might wonder, does she care more about the booze than the upcoming baby? I mean, that`s a very important question to ask.
GRACE: You know what? I`m trying to find out about that, Ed Miller, because when I was first researching it, I found this was her third, then I found it was her second.
But the reality is -- let`s go out to Glynn Birch. He is the national president of MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, his son killed by a drunk driver. The reality is, Glynn, that for every time you catch a DUI -- how many times is it estimated that person has driven drunk or on weed before?
GLYNN BIRCH, NATIONAL PRESIDENT, MADD: Well, conservatively, it`s about 87 times before they`re caught. You know, we`ve got a system-wide problem, and the problem`s not only just in Florida, it`s nationwide. You know, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration took a look and asked for data by the Department of Motor Vehicles. And let me give you some data just for the state of Florida. In the state of Florida, we are sharing the roads with three or more people with three or more convictions, and they have 108,854 people that are driving with three or more convictions. Thirteen thousand have five or more convictions. And there is someone driving in the state of Florida with 27 convictions.
You look at this woman, who`s been driving, at the age of just 22, one year older than the legal limit, yet she`s been arrested at least three times. She, unless we do something different, is going to wind up having just as many arrests. We`ve got to do something different.
And a new way of taking a look at the data is applying alcohol (INAUDIBLE) laws with anyone who`s convicted of drunk driving. This is how we`re going to take care of the problem.
Now, I want to point out this, too, that it had other drugs related to this. You know, they called out a drug recognition expert on this because often what happens is, they`ll take their drug of choice and try to mask it with alcohol. So you may have a low -- you may have low DAC (ph), as well.
GRACE: Interesting point. You know, I`ve heard of that, but I`ve never heard it explained the way you just did. Joining us tonight, special guest Glynn Birch, the president against Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Glynn lost his little boy, beautiful little boy, to a drunk driver.
You know, to Marc Klaas, president of Beyondmissing. Marc, I appreciate everybody talking about her getting rehab and her healing herself, but the damage that she`s doing to this baby -- you know, Marc, if she wanted to have an abortion, whether you agree with abortion or disagree with it, she could have had one. Have an abortion, all right, if you want to kill your child. But -- that`s legal. But this, what she`s doing to the child, this way, totally illegal, unacceptable.
MARC KLAAS, BEYONDMISSING. COM: Well, she has absolutely no sense of responsibility for herself, for her unborn baby or for the public at large. And in fact, she`s endangered all of those -- all of those entities over the course of her -- her brief run-in with alcohol and driving.
I think that -- you know, MADD has done an amazing job. They`ve been the most effective advocacy organization in the United States and really brought drunk driving to a new level. And I think that now the states have to respond with much harsher laws for penalties involved in drunk driving. This woman should not be on the street. She should not be behind the wheel of a car with the kind of record that she already has. And I think it`s a failure of the state to allow her to do that. She needs to be in prison. She needs to be get -- she needs to -- she needs to be in prison. She needs to be recovered. And she needs to have that baby taken away from her.
GRACE: To Dr. Jeff Gardere, psychologist and author. Dr. Gardere, one thing is, if you don`t want the responsibility of being pregnant in the United States, you can obtain an abortion. It is legal in this country. Why would you go through a pregnancy and then destroy the baby with drugs and alcohol during pregnancy?
JEFF GARDERE, PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, this is a woman who obviously may be an alcoholic, may be abusing marijuana. We already know this. But I think this is probably a pattern in her life, where she wants to retain some sort of control. And so when she`s been advised by other people, I`m sure, Stop smoking, stop drinking, you`re hurting this fetus, you`re hurting your baby, she`ll say, No, I`ll do whatever I want to, I`m taking control of my life.
I`ve actually worked with people like this in inner city clinics, and this is exactly what they say. It`s just a history of dysfunction for them.
GRACE: Out to the lines. We`re taking your calls live. Matt in New Mexico. Hi, Matt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi. Yes. I live, actually, in one of the states with the worst DWI record. We`re pretty much number one. And my question is, Why have states lagged on making any law against this?
GRACE: You mean against consuming alcohol when you`re pregnant...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly.
GRACE: ... or pot? Well, I`ll tell you -- to Barry Sorrels and Joseph Rem. Forcing pregnant women, legislatively or by statute, not to drink is a complete double standard. There`s no way that would hold up under the Constitution, Barry Sorrels.
SORRELS: Well, I think that there would be arguments along those lines, just like you just described, as far as determining someone`s status and discriminating against them because of the fact that they`re pregnant. But I do think that there`s a lot of room in this area for improvement, as far as future laws.
GRACE: Well, I know one thing. Driving and being high on pot and then getting on the road is legislative. It is in the black and white code there in Florida. And here she is on either her second or third DUI, eight months pregnant.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t believe that you`re going to be under the influence of alcohol, I believe it`s going to be drugs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Deputies say they smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from Van Neil`s car. They also found marijuana in a pill container, as well as a pipe under her seat and drug paraphernalia in her car`s center console.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The sheriff`s office says this isn`t the first time Van Neil has been arrested for driving under the influence. February 2004, she was arrested and charged with DUI and sentenced to probation. And then in April 2005, she was arrested again for DUI. However, this time the charge was dropped to reckless driving. A check with the Hillsborough County state attorney`s office, they say the likelihood of this charge being dropped is slim. They`re taking Van Neil`s latest DUI arrest very seriously and say this mom-to-be could very likely be spending the next year behind bars.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Out to Laura in Massachusetts. Hi, Laura.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, Nancy. How`re you doing?
GRACE: I`m good, dear. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Devil`s advocate just for a moment. When you`re pregnant, your gravity is displaced somewhat. And I want to know how valid is a field sobriety test to a pregnant woman?
GRACE: Excellent question. Let`s go out to Brian Reich, deputy chief at Bergen County sheriff`s office. Brian, what about it?
REICH: Well, that`s a very good point and something I was thinking about as I`m watching this video. It`s something that you definitely want to take into consideration...
GRACE: Hey, hey, hey, hey! I`m having a flashback, Brian.
REICH: Well, no, I`m not defending her. I...
GRACE: Did you know...
REICH: Nancy...
GRACE: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on. I want to see Brian`s face, please. When I was about -- let me see, I guess I was five months pregnant with the twins, I missed a step and came down the wrong way and broke my foot. So your center of gravity is totally, completely off. But I can tell you this much. I don`t know how that would generate the smell of pot pouring out of your car!
REICH: Absolutely. Has nothing to do with the smell of pot coming out of your car. But could it impair your ability to perform some of the balance tests? Absolutely. But that`s why they have the nystagmus test and that`s why they have the chemical tests for taking your blood. And the refusal of that in many states, like in Jersey, equivocates into a fine in and of itself. And that`s why those other things are there.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The sheriff`s office says Van Neil refused a breathalyzer and urine test. However, they say she failed a field sobriety test and showed signs of impairment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Van Neil was arrested for DUI and taken to jail. We caught up with her to ask if the allegations were true.
Were you under the influence of drugs or alcohol?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Van Neil denied the allegations and was very upset.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She said that the police released that video, the video when they arrested me!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Oh! Oh~! She`s upset because we saw the video? She should be upset that she`s driving under the influence of marijuana, that we know of, and probably alcohol.
And to you, Ed Miller with "America`s Most Wanted." You are correct, there were two previous DUIs before this. This would make her -- this would make her third one. Just wanted to tell you your research was absolutely correct -- 2004 and 2005.
MILLER: Hey, Nancy, does the word "selfish" mean anything to you as a mom and me as a dad? You know, when you have kids, you`re supposed to be selfless, not selfish. Do you know what I mean?
GRACE: Yes. Yes. Did you see those mug shots?
MILLER: Yes.
GRACE: Did you see them? Would you put this back up, Liz?
To Dr. Michael Bell with Palm Beach County. He`s the chief medical examiner there. Just tell me quickly, fetal alcohol syndrome.
DR. MICHAEL BELL, PALM BEACH COUNTY CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER: Well, the complications that are associated with fetal alcohol syndrome range from growth retardation, small brain, developmental delays and mental retardation.
GRACE: With us tonight, Dr. Michael Bell. He`ll be back with us when we come back. We`re taking your calls live.
And when we come back, Amber Alert, a teen girl believed to be on the run, crisscrossing the country with a convicted felon, now possibly connected to the murder of a senior.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Her name is Morgan Leppert. That is the child we`re talking ability. She`s been missing since April 22nd and police think she`s with her boyfriend. His name is Tony Lowry and police say he is bad news because they say that he is a person of interest in a homicide. A man thought he was found yesterday morning in Melrose, Florida. That`s about 20 miles from Gainesville. Police want to talk to him about the case.
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GRACE: We take a look on MySpace and found out his name is the Baddest MF in Palatka, and I`m sure that`s saying something. And hers is Blue-Eyed Devil. And she goes on and on and on about how much she loves her convicted felon boyfriend. Whatever. She is a minor. She is missing. There is an AMBERT Alert tonight. Now a senior citizen found violently murdered in his own home. His truck missing. Are the two criss-crossing the country in his truck?
Out to Jared Halperin with WOKV 106.5FM, what`s happening? What`s the latest?
JARED HALPERIN, REPORTER, WOKV 106.5FM: Well, the latest is they think that this couple is now as far away as Texas, maybe even points west of that, Nancy. That`s because as recently as four days ago -- and actually as recently as two days ago, this truck that they believe the couple is traveling in that truck that, by the way, belongs to that man who was killed in Melrose, was found along different parts of Interstate 10. First in Biloxi, Mississippi, then in Crowley, Louisiana. And then, almost 48 hours ago, it was spotted in Katy, Texas near Houston.
That`s the last sighting police have pulled up of this -- of the two. And one of those cases, not only was the truck seen, but a sheriff`s deputy locally saw both the girl and Lowry inside the truck. So right now they really think that this couple is pretty far away. That`s why they issued a nationwide AMBER Alert early today and really casting that very big net to find the girl.
GRACE: Well, maybe I`m crazy, but maybe the Sheriff Dean Kelly with Putnam County Sheriff`s Office can help me out on this one. If a sheriff`s deputy saw them in Texas, actually spotted them, why didn`t he stop them?
SHERIFF DEAN KELLY, PUTNAM CO., SHERIFF`S OFFICE: Well, at that particular time he did not have any information that anything was wrong back in Florida. We actually discovered the deceased body probably 10 hours after he saw them in Texas.
GRACE: Now how did he remember -- what alerted him, if there wasn`t a lookout on the vehicle? Why did he suddenly remember seeing this vehicle plus the two in it?
KELLY: Well, what he told us was that he had -- he saw the vehicle backed into a parking spot at a truck stop and did not see a tag on the front bumper, which is required, apparently, in Texas.
GRACE: So that.
KELLY: So he went and checked the back tag, found it was from Florida, ran that tag, it didn`t come back as stolen, so he felt like everything was OK. But he did remember the folks that were in the vehicle.
GRACE: Well, Sheriff, I`m glad you cleared that up. I was about to give him a little H-E-L-L. But what he actually did was good police work because he was -- looking at a vehicle that didn`t have a front tag and then found out, well, it`s OK because they`re from a different jurisdiction.
OK.
Out to Ed Miller with "America`s Most Wanted." What more can you tell me, Ed?
ED MILLER, CORRESPONDENT, "AMERICA`S MOST WANTED": Well, we can tell you, first of all, this is not just a murder of a senior citizen, but James Stewart was also handicapped. So we`re now looking for a punk, some punk that took advantage of a handicapped man. James Stewart was born with no hands, so I don`t think it was much of a fight.
GRACE: How awful. How awful.
I want to go to Michael Bell, Dr. Michael Bell. He is the Palm Beach County chief medical examiner.
Dr. Bell, I want to talk for a moment about the body of James Thomas, Jimmy Stewart, as Ed Miller pointed out, he was born without hands. He was extremely handicapped. This is the man found murdered in his own home. Police are keeping it close to the vest as to the mode of homicide.
He had not been seen for several days. So, is there any way that police and the medical examiner there can determine the time of death?
MICHAEL BELL, PALM BEACH CO. MEDICAL EXAMINER: Well, not the precise time of death, but what they`ll start with is when was he seen alive last by a realible witness and when was he found dead. And that`s your range of time of death. And they`ll try to narrow that down by looking at how decomposed is he, you know, body temperature if he isn`t decomposed very much.
They`ll look at the scene for evidence of any activity that will help narrow down that time of death range.
GRACE: Back to Sheriff Dean Kelly. He`s the Putnam County sheriff joining us there in Palatka, Florida.
Sheriff, again, thank you for being with us. How did this girl get hooked up with a convicted felon and how did you trace them all the way back to the deceased, Mr. Stewart?
KELLY: Well, it`s still -- you know, gets sort of rambled but what happened is back in November of last year, apparently these two met and started a relationship. Early into January, the mother of Morgan realized the age difference and put a stop to the relationship. Unknown to her, though, Morgan continued to see Toby and -- for several more months.
And then on April 22nd, she reported her as missing. At that time, we start our investigation. We were looking at a lot of factors here locally in Putnam County. It wasn`t too long until we discovered a phone number on her, on Morgan`s cell phone that her mother found. We tracked that phone number which ended up being the residence of Mr. Stewart who is the deceased person here.
After we discovered the phone number, we backtracked that and then we got a call to the residence that he had not been seen. We made entry to --into the resident yesterday morning and found him deceased. As we continued our investigation, we discovered that the pick-up truck was missing. We linked again phone call to Lowry and that just raised the stakes to us.
We say, you know, we`ve got this girl who may or may not be with him, because he wants to be, but the bottom line here is this is a convicted felon. She`s 15 years old. He is 22 years old. A homicide has occurred. He is a, you know, person of interest because they have seen in that truck in Texas. And so that`s when we had the AMBER Alert issued to try to find out where they are located.
GRACE: And to Dr. Jeff Gardere, psychologist and author, yes, she goes on and on and on on her MySpace about how much she loves this convicted felon, but the reality is, she`s a girl. She is only 15 years old.
JEFF GARDERE, PSYCHOLOGIST, AUTHOR OF "LOVE PRESCRIPTION": That`s right. And she`s still does not have the maturity emotionally. She doesn`t know what she`s really involved in and maybe she does right now, but the fact is, he is probably controlling her whether she`s party to this voluntarily or not, he`s calling the shots.
GRACE: Out to the lines. Lisa in Mississippi. Hi, Lisa.
LISA, MISSISSIPPI RESIDENT: Hi, Nancy. Thank you for taking my call. I was just wondering what responsibility the mother plays in this. I am a mother and can`t imagine not knowing what goes on with my child.
GRACE: Back to you, Jeff Gardere. What about it?
GARDERE: Quite often we don`t know what`s happening with our kids these days, because we want them to be so independent. That`s what the so-called experts are telling us all the time. But what we have learned, Nancy, is that we must know the comings and goings of our children.
GRACE: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, Jeff.
GARDERE: Yes.
GRACE: Look at the rap sheet on this guy. Go ahead.
GARDERE: Yes. And so if she had known what was going on with this young girl, perhaps this may not have happened. But I`ll tell you this, she knew enough to find out about his age and then did try to put a stop to it so we have to give a kudos for that.
GRACE: Well, taking a look, a cursory look, I`ve got 12 entries on this guy`s rap sheet and he`s only 22.
We are taking your calls live. Out to Jackie in California. Hi, Jackie.
JACKIE, CALIFORNIA RESIDENT: Hey, Nancy, nice to talk to you.
GRACE: Likewise.
JACKIE: I just have a question why is the AMBER Alert coming out so late? I mean, it`s, you know, she came up missing, what, 4/22, and it`s the second now.
GRACE: That`s a good question. What about it, Sheriff Kelly?
KELLY: That`s an excellent question. The AMBER Alert is an absolutely wonderful system in place throughout this nation to find those missing endangered children. But you have to get them termed as that. There is a requirement to meet that threshold are very, very strict and for a good reason. You don`t want to put out too many false alarms. And in this case, we had nothing to indicate that she was endangered until such time as were able to link Lowry to this homicide and that`s what triggered the AMBER Alert.
So it`s just like hurricanes coming into our Florida area here. They are on their way, everybody`s getting prepared. It turns away, oh another false alarm and you`re complacent the next time it happens. So we want when those AMBER Alerts go up on the highways, on television or radio, for people to pay attention, not to say, oh it`s just another false alarm. So we`re very cautious about those AMBER Alerts going out nationwide.
GRACE: Sheriff, I understand what you`re saying.
Marc Klaas, I believe you might see it differently.
MARC KLAAS, BEYONDMISSING.COM: Well, no, I think that everybody is saying exactly the right thing and this has been handled very, very well. I do have issues with the AMBER Alert, there`s no question about that because I think the set of criteria does give law enforcement justification not to follow their own instincts and not to use their own judgment sometimes.
And I`m also concerned about the fact that an AMBER Alert that`s issued near the border of the state might go all the way down Florida but would not enter into Georgia or into Alabama, which might be more relevant to the location of the missing people.
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(NEWSBREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sheriff`s officials staff said that James Stewart died of violent death in his home but they`re not really saying exact cause because they want to preserve that for investigation. They`re saying only the people that were there when he died would know how he died so they don`t want to let anybody, they don`t want to give any clues away now.
As far as the relationship between him and the other two, they`re saying the only link they have is a phone call made from Mr. Stewart`s house to Morgan Leppert`s cell phone. And right now they`re saying, other than that, they don`t know much about how the three might have known each other. They do know a lot about how the 15-year-old and 22-year-old know each. They say they`ve known each other very well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: And they`ve been spotted in the deceased man`s vehicle.
Out to the lines, Michael in Florida. Hi, Michael.
MICHAEL, FLORIDA RESIDENT: Hi. I have a couple questions I`d like to ask your people.
GRACE: Panel.
MICHAEL: Yes. If they are known couple and she`s 15 years old, then he`s also going to be charged with (INAUDIBLE) assault when he`s captured and does he gets also charged with kidnapping, and will it turn -- will it become a federal case because they are crossing state lines?
GRACE: Excellent questions.
MICHAEL: And.
GRACE: Hold on, I`m writing them now as fast as I can. What`s yours last one, Michael? OK. I think we lost Michael.
To Barry Sorrels and Joseph Ram. Barry Sorrels, yes, I can see a charge of statutory rape. You`re going to need a witness for that. Don`t know if she`ll testify. Kidnapping, I would say not likely because she may be with him willingly. But what about bringing in the feds, Barry?
BARRY SORRELS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I agree with your statement about she`s with him voluntarily. There`s not going to be kidnapping charges and in the absence -- if she is with him voluntarily, I don`t know if the feds would prosecute. But your comment about -- I have heard no evidence he`s in a sexual relationship with her. And there`s no law against being with her but if the government.
GRACE: OK, so, Barry, you think he just crossed state lines with her to have a picnic in a dead man`s vehicle?
SORRELS: Well, you`re willing to presume facts that we don`t know about. I`m not willing to do that.
GRACE: OK. Can I ask you -- yes?
SORRELS: I believe in due process of law and knowing all the facts before I make assumptions.
GRACE: Thank you, preacher.
What about it, Joseph Brown?
JOSEPH BROWN: Well, this is too minor a case for the feds to get involved in. They know that there`s more than enough penalties present and all the evidence is present in the state of Florida. Only if they felt that there was insufficient statutory protections in the state of Florida to fully prosecute this case would the feds get involved.
GRACE: Out to the lines. Robin in Louisiana. Hi, Robin.
ROBIN, LOUISIANA RESIDENT: Hi.
GRACE: What`s your question, dear?
ROBIN: If she is linked to him when the murder happened, can she be charged with the murder?
GRACE: Absolutely, and most likely treated as an adult. As you know, Robin, if you`re watching the show, you`re probably a legal eagle. There are certain designated felonies under which, like murder, rape, child molestation, arson, armed robbery, aggravated assault, certain designated felonies that will be bound over, it`s a term of art, from juvenile court to adult court.
She could not, under any circumstance, face the death penalty. He could, if convicted, but yes, she can be charged for murder if she was involved in any way.
Out to the lines. Toni in New York. Hi, Toni.
TONI, NEW YORK RESIDENT: Hi, Nancy. Love your show. Your babies are beautiful.
GRACE: Thank you.
TONI: I have a question about the time of the murder.
GRACE: Yes.
TONI: Since you have the cell phone records, my cell phone records show the day I made the call and the time. Can`t they put a date of death or the time of death closer using the time on the phones?
GRACE: To Sheriff Dean Kelly, have they examined the body as it related to the time of the cell phone call?
KELLY: Yes, the autopsy is being completed as we speak. And of course, as you well know, some of that information we`ve got to keep closed to the vest as to not hinder the investigation. But the lady talking about the cell phone records and things that nature, we absolutely have looked at that and are piecing together a timeline to help us out.
GRACE: With us, Sheriff Dean Kelly of the Putnam County Sheriff`s Office handling this case.
Back to Ed Miller. Ed, since they have been already spotted and we see the general direction in which they are going, any idea where they are headed?
MILLER: Away. We know for a fact that they`ve already been seen 900 miles away from the murder seen. So, I mean, that`s quite a distance, which mean they`re -- you know, they`re making tracks. Again, we don`t know whether or not she was directly involved in the murder just to make that crystal clear. We don`t know that or whether she is there willingly with him or whether he`s dragging her along with him.
GRACE: Out to the lines, Nel in Georgia. Hi, Nel.
NEL, GEORGIA RESIDENT: Hi, Nancy. Congratulations on your baby.
GRACE: Thank you.
NEL: I`ve already listened to most of your show tonight and most of my questions already have been answered. They did know the -- the guy that they killed or supposedly killed?
GRACE: I don`t know that they`ve been able to make that connection.
Out to Jared Halperin with WOKV, how did they know the handicap senior citizen that was found murdered?
HALPERIN: Well, that`s the big question we all have, Nancy. Really the only connection police have told us about this is that there has been a phone call made from that man`s house to the young girl`s cell phone. Beyond that, that`s really the only connection being made. Police have not said how or even having said if they know.
GRACE: OK.
HALPERIN: .how all three of them may know each other.
GRACE: Silver four-door Toyota. Florida plate number 193KLR.
Now "CNN HEROES."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was happy little train. Her cars were filled full of every kind of food little boy and girl could want.
YOHANNES GEBREGEORGIS, CHAMPIONING CHILDREN: I was born in small town in the (INAUDIBLE) Ethiopia. When I was 19, I found a book. This book was really the first book that I read outside of school. And this book really changed my whole life.
My name is Yohannes Gebregeorgis. I`m bringing literacy in the children of Ethiopia.
Most Ethiopian children have only access to text books in the classroom. Books that children read outside of the school, those are the spices of education.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were toy trucks, airplanes and boats. That was not all.
GEBREGEORGIS: I came to the U.S. as a political refugee. I just wanted to come back to Ethiopia and help children have a future, have hope. Children could imagine everything from books, connections to other cultures, to other people, to other children and to the universe at large.
The reward is seeing children reading every day, eager children who have never had books in their hands coming and sitting and reading quietly. With literate children, there is no limit as to how much we can do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: What a week in America`s courtrooms. Take a look at the stories and more important the people who touched our lives.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The details are getting worse for that polygamous ranch in Texas. We`re now hearing some young boys were possibly molested and there also could be physical abuse as dozens of children show evidence of having broken bones.
GRACE: Well, 41 broken bones. Now allegations of sex abuse on the little boys, as well. And overnight, a teenage girl gives birth. An underage girl gives birth?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Disgusting, filthy and dreadful conditions discovered in a Ft. Pierce, Florida home. But what`s even more shocking (INAUDIBLE) this stomach-churning photos, a 1-year-old baby boy allegedly forced to live in biohazardous conditions.
GRACE: We think we`ve seen it all. I`ve been to a lot of crime scenes, but a biohazard? Your home is declared a biohazard?
They sat by while their daughter wasted away, went into a comma, and finally died. That`s right. The 10-year-old little girl was suffering from type one diabetes.
I want to go to a special guest now, Brian Gordon. This is little Kara`s step-grandfather.
BRIAN GORDON, GRANDFATHER: So I stand with my daughter, I stand with my son. There was no abuse. There was no kind of neglect.
UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: Are you there?
GRACE: Can you imagine if that happened on a 911 call? That`s exactly what happened.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: Tonight, let`s stop and remember Army Staff Sergeant Juantrea Bradley, 28, Greenville, North Carolina, killed Iraq. On a second tour, awarded the Purple Heart and army commendation medal. A devoted father. The door mat at his front door spoke volumes. It says "Enter as a guest, leave as a friend." Leaves behind dad Melvin, brother Montreal, sister Shineka and Stacy, widow Eva and four children.
Juantrea Bradley, American hero.
Thanks to our guests, but especially to you for inviting all of us into your homes. And tonight, a happy 52nd birthday to Texas friend of the show, Mary Claire Howard. Happy birthday. And tonight a special good night from the New York control room.
Everybody -- oh there`s Brett, Liz, Rosy, a.k.a. Evil.
Everybody, I`ll see you tomorrow night 8 o`clock sharp Easter, and until then, good night, friend.
END
