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Nancy Grace
Missing Ohio Mom Spotted in Wal-Mart
Aired June 11, 2009 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight. Live to Ohio. Mommy meets a convicted sex offender still in lockdown. The sex offender escapes from halfway house and takes off with Mommy on a so-called camping trip to remote and rugged terrain, central Ohio. What do the happy couple take with them? Food, water, provisions, and Mommy`s 4-year-old baby girl. That`s right, alone in the car with a sex predator.
Tonight, is there a break in the case? Was Mommy spotted at a Wal- Mart, Marion, Ohio? The tipster says while Mommy was in plain site, ostensibly returning a tent, there was no sign of little Haylee. A warrant tonight out for Mommy`s arrest after she helps sex offender escape. As a nationwide alert goes out, little Haylee Donathan tonight, according to police, in extreme danger.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking news in the case of 3-year-old Haylee Donathan, who was last seen with her mother and her mother`s sex offender boyfriend. Sources say there has been a sighting of mom Candace Watson at a Wal-Mart. Watson was reportedly spotted by a friend and told the friend she was there returning a tent. Sources say there was no sign of Haylee.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She says, Mom, I`ll be -- I just dropped them off and I`ll be there, and I`ll talk to you when I got there, and hung up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And that was the last time Mary Watson spoke to her daughter, Candace. She and her 4-year-old granddaughter, Haylee Donathan, were supposed to be on a camping trip with this man, Robbi Potter, a tier 3 sex offender recently released from prison and living in a halfway house.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Meanwhile, arrests have been made in the case as investigators reveal the mother`s boyfriend, Robbi Potter, had help escaping the halfway house. Who allegedly helped him? None other than Haylee`s biological father and her maternal uncle, who is also a sex offender.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody is sick and worried to death about them, don`t know if they`re dead or alive and scared that something`s happened to them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right now, the U.S. Marshals are getting involved, and their main priority is to find Haylee.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Also tonight, Dallas, Texas, a young pregnant mom says she steps out of the shower to confront an intruder, who first attempts to assault her. When she fights him off, he then runs out with her 9-month- old baby girl. An Amber Alert issued as a full-scale search is launched, K-9s, police, helicopters searching through the night. Tonight, where is 9-month-old Daisja?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please just bring me my baby back! I need my baby Daisja, my beautiful little girl. I need her!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An Amber Alert has been issued for a Dallas baby girl who was allegedly kidnapped from her own home by a man dressed in red and black.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say the baby`s mother says a man came into her apartment. She says the man tried to rape her, punched her in the face and took the baby.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bring us our child, please!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: K-9 teams, helicopters and officers on foot are searching throughout the area for little Daisja, who was seen wearing a red hoodie.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bring her back! She needs her mom! She needs her dad! She needs us!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, the desperate search for a 2-year-old Florida girl, Caylee. Six months of searching culminate when skeleton remains found in a heavily wooded area just 15 houses from the Anthony home confirmed to be Caylee. A utility meter reader stumbles on a tiny human skeleton, including a skull covered in light-colored hair, the killer duct taping and placing a heart-shaped sticker directly over the mouth, then triple bagging little Caylee like she`s trash.
Bombshell tonight. Is tot mom scheming to set up an insanity defense from behind bars -- irrational behavior, alleged nightmares, blood-curdling screams, according to sources. And tonight, it`s war. Grandparents George and Cindy Anthony try every legal maneuver possible to block the release of 2-year-old Caylee`s autopsy report, set to be public within hours. But why?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) This is Orange County utilities emergency dispatch. We`ve found a human skull.
911 OPERATOR: Oh, my God!
GEORGE ANTHONY, CAYLEE`S GRANDFATHER: If you say "the remains" one more time, sir, I`m walking out this door.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
GEORGE ANTHONY: How dare you say that about my granddaughter? How dare you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The meter reader walked 20 to 30 feet into these woods less than a half mile from Caylee Anthony`s house to relieve himself. He saw a black trash bag and poked it.
GEORGE ANTHONY: I`m not going to answer any further.
CINDY ANTHONY, CAYLEE`S GRANDMOTHER: Again, I`m not answering those questions.
GEORGE ANTHONY: I`m not going to discuss that with you, sir. I`m not going to tell you. I`m not going to discuss anything about my daughter, sir, any further with you.
CINDY ANTHONY: I already answered the question.
GEORGE ANTHONY: You`re trying to badger me here. I don`t appreciate that. (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some of the best investigators in the country are here at the scene, sifting through the dirt by hand. They`ve already found dozens of bones and other strong evidence that has led investigators to search the Anthonys` home again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re talking about numerous -- a large area that is being sifted through, being gridded out in order to make sure that no stone, no area is left untouched where the child`s remains were found.
GEORGE ANTHONY: I`m over this. I`m over you. I`m over all this other stuff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where she was...
CINDY ANTHONY: I already answered this question.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you believe she was fabricating...
CINDY ANTHONY: I already answered the question. I`m not answering it again.
GEORGE ANTHONY: Do not ask me that again, sir, because I will walk out of here. Do not do that to me again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m sorry (INAUDIBLE)
GEORGE ANTHONY: Yes, you are! Yes, you are!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Tonight, is there a break in the case? Was Mommy spotted at a Wal-Mart, Marion, Ohio? A tipster says while Mommy was in plain sight ostensibly returning a tent, there was no sign of little Haylee. A warrant out for Mommy`s arrest after she helps a sex offender escape. A nationwide alert, little Haylee Donathan, tonight, according to police, in extreme changer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking developments today in the case of 3-year- old Haylee Donathan, who was last seen with her mother and her mother`s sex offender boyfriend, Robbi Potter. Has there been a sighting at an Ohio Wal-Mart? Sources say mom Candace Watson ran into a friend at Wal-Mart in Marion, Ohio. Reports are there was no sign of Haylee, and the mom told her friend she was there just to return a tent. Also today, three people have been arrested for allegedly helping Potter escape from the halfway house where he was held, including Haylee`s own father, who faces complicity to escape charges.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police have issued a warrant for Candace Watson`s arrest. They believe she played a role in helping Robbi Potter escape from this halfway house. They arrested Haylee`s father, James Donathan, her uncle, Cyle Watson, and James Donathan`s girlfriend, Nicole Kirkpatrick.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The last thing she said to me, that she dropped him off and (INAUDIBLE) she would talk to me right when she got home. And then the phone hung up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You said she sounded afraid. Why do you say that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just the tone in her voice. And she was real short with me. And she`s not like that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are in a 1988 blue or black Chevy pickup truck. It`s a vehicle that Candace was given just recently. That`s the vehicle they`re looking for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Maria Durant with WSYX. Maria, what`s the latest about the possible sighting?
MARIA DURANT, WSYX: Well, that`s right, Nancy. There was a tip that came in to TV 22 here locally in Marion. They contacted us, and then we followed up on this. What I`m told -- I spoke with a woman who actually works here at this Wal-Mart. She works in the salon. She says that she`s a friend of Candace Watson`s. She said that she saw her last Saturday and that Candace came into the store by herself because she was here to return a tent. I asked her, you know, what kind of condition she was in. She said that she looked fine, she looked healthy, and that she didn`t seem stressed at all, as well. She said that she seemed like the normal Candace that she grew up with.
GRACE: What, if anything, Maria Durant, did the mom say as to why she was at the Wal-Mart?
DURANT: She said that she was at the Wal-Mart here because she was returning a tent. She said that she was here in the area. She was here camping. And when she talked to the employee here, she said that, We were here camping. We went to that campground. It`s Hickory Grove Lakes here in Marion. We went there. I spoke with the owner, and the owner says and confirms tonight with us that Candace Watson was at that campground, but she says that she was there on the 29th and the 30th, which puts that at a Friday and a Saturday. She said that the first night when she was at the campground, she registered two adults. The second night, she registered two adults and a child, on Saturday. They left on Sunday.
GRACE: So Maria Durant, I`m trying to get a clear picture of the timeline here. The campground says that they were there at Hickory Grove Lakes campground on the 29th and 30th, Friday and Saturday.
DURANT: Correct.
GRACE: But the friend that works in the salon at Wal-Mart says she saw the mom, no Haylee, mom alone, this past Saturday. Wasn`t that the 6th?
DURANT: That`s correct. And so investigators tell us that they are headed right now to this Wal-Mart that you see behind me. They`re headed here. They`re going to check out this timeline. They`re going to look at surveillance tape. They`re also going to check for that receipt. When you return something, you have to sign paperwork. So they`ll check on the date, check the story out.
But I got to tell you, the woman that we talked to tonight, she said she was sure that she saw Candace. They are friends. And she believes it was last Saturday. Again, that`s what investigators are going to try to figure out.
GRACE: OK, Maria, what time of the day was it, day or night? Because a lot of Wal-Marts are open 24 hours. What time of the day or night was it that she saw the mom?
DURANT: She said it was during the day. She was working during the day. She actually works at a salon. And she said it was Candace who actually came up to her and said, Hi, you know, we haven`t seen each other in a while, and then they spoke briefly.
GRACE: OK. Maria, so that would have been on Saturday afternoon. this past Saturday afternoon? OK. Back to Hickory Grove Lakes camping ground. Maria Durant joining us from WSYX. The person in charge at the campground says they were there Friday and Saturday nights, correct, leaving on Sunday?
DURANT: That is correct. We even looked at the paperwork. We saw her signature...
GRACE: OK.
DURANT: ... that said, We were here on the 29th and the 30th.
GRACE: OK. Out to Matt Zarrell on the story. Matt Zarrell, police are saying there may be an inconsistency, but as a judge once told me and told many juries, it`s your duty to try to make all witnesses speak the truth. Both of these stories could be true. Think, Matt. She`s saying she`s returning a tent, so they could have camped out on the 29th and 30th, and then even after they used it, returned the tent to Wal-Mart the following weekend. What about that, Matt? Why couldn`t that work?
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, that is a possibility. But one thing that investigators are looking into is they`re doing a nationwide search, including in the Phoenix area, where they`re getting tips that Haylee might have been seen in Phoenix.
GRACE: Well, here`s my concern. The mom is in the Wal-Mart, so that means she leaves the 4-year-old baby girl alone and defenseless with a convicted sex predator. The tip line, 866-492-6833. Please help us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sources say there has been a sighting of mom Candace Watson at a Wal-Mart. Watson was reportedly spotted by a friend and told the friend she was there returning a tent. Sources say there was no sign of Haylee, who was last seen with her mother and her mother`s sex offender boyfriend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He come over and he used by girlfriend`s phone. He had just escaped from the VOA. With Potter, I didn`t know nothing about him. I don`t know him personally, you know? But I found out a little bit about him the last couple days, found out he`s a tier 3 sex offender. He`s -- you know, he`s known for messing with kids. It`s kind of hard to say what I think, you know, because, honestly, I know what I would do to him.
GRACE: Miss Watson, what got into her to romance a convicted sex offender from behind bars? I mean, she knew he was in prison for a sex offense with a minor.
MARY WATSON, HAYLEE`S GRANDMOTHER: No, she did not know.
GRACE: Well, didn`t she meet him behind bars?
WATSON: No. As far as I know, she did not. He has manipulated her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got to realize most of her life, I was locked up. And then when I got home, you know, I was with her for, like, 10 days, and then they come back, rearrested me, sent me back off for six months. You know, and I`m still trying to be a part of her life through all this. So after that six months, then I got out, and then I was seeing her pretty much every day. You know, and it wasn`t until me and her mom split up two months ago that everything slowed down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That is Daddy speaking from behind bars.
All right, to Mark Caudill, reporter with "The Mansfield Journal and News (SIC)." he interviewed Haylee`s uncle behind bars. Mark, what did you learn?
MARK CAUDILL, "MANSFIELD NEWS JOURNAL" (via telephone): Nancy, Cyle Watson told me that he did not help Potter escape. He called it a trick gone bad, is how he termed it to me.
GRACE: OK. In a nutshell, what`s a "trick gone bad"?
CAUDILL: Cyle and Potter apparently had served prison time together before. That`s how they met. And Potter owed Watson money and never paid it back. So when they got reacquainted at the Volunteers of America, the local halfway house, Cyle said he thought he`d try to -- try to set him up to get in trouble by telling him he could arrange for a ride for him by -- he told Potter to go to a local filling station. He was hoping that the authorities would notice that Potter was gone and issue a warrant for his arrest.
GRACE: And how is it, even though it was a so-called trick gone bad, did the mom, Candace Watson, show up with her little girl and agree to go camping with him?
CAUDILL: Cyle told me that she did not know Potter before -- before she gave him a ride. When Potter left the halfway house, he went to Haylee`s mother -- or Haylee`s father`s place. He lives next door to the VOA. And he called her, called Candace Watson, thinking that -- that Cyle Watson had sent Potter there.
GRACE: Let`s go out to Drew Deserto. He is the assistant chief deputy, U.S. Marshal of the northern Ohio area. He`s with the violent fugitive task force. Sir, thank you for being with us. What can you tell us about the search for this little girl?
DREW DESERTO, ASST. CHIEF DEPUTY U.S. MARSHAL (via telephone): Nancy, thank you for having me. And I`d like to thank you for all of your assistance in this investigation, getting the word out there.
GRACE: Thank you.
DESERTO: We really need the help to bring this little girl to safety.
GRACE: I`ve got a bad feeling, Drew Deserto. I`ve got a very bad feeling. I mean, according to these sources, the little girl was alive as late as the 29th and 30th, but she is with a sex offender and with a mother who apparently left her alone while she was in Wal-Mart.
DESERTO: Yes, this is an intensive manhunt. This is a top priority for our task force. We`re pulling out all the resources we can get. We have Marshals working nationwide. We`re following up every tip that comes in. We really ask the public to continue to call in the tips, 866-4-WANTED is our hotline. We`re following up on all of them. We really need the help from the public because this is definitely a danger to this child. We want to bring her back safe.
GRACE: There is still a chance that she is alive. Marc Klaas, president and founder of Klaas Kids Foundation, as much as we are disconcerted by the fact this child and her mother are with a sex offender, at least we have reason to believe she was alive as late as this last weekend. Marc Klaas, what do you think?
MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Well, I think that with a family like this, nobody needs enemies. We have a situation here where Mom, Dad and uncle all worked to get this little girl in this incredibly dangerous situation. If and when she`s returned alive, I hope CPS will take her away from this family because if they don`t, I think we`re getting a little look into what her future will be. She will just be the next generation of degenerate.
The other thing that really blows my mind is that there was apparently a federal warrant for bank robbery out for this guy, who had recently been released from state prison. Is there no synchronicity between these criminal justice systems?
GRACE: Well, Marc, I could give you that answer in a nutshell. No.
Out to the lines. Jessica in Ohio. Hi, Jessica.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. How are you?
GRACE: I`m good, dear. What is your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It seems like in the Dad`s police -- well, not police, but prison -- he just seems to not even care at all. And I was just wondering, do you think maybe the sex offender and him were in cahoots to set up his ex-girlfriend and daughter so maybe he wouldn`t have any financial responsibilities?
GRACE: You know, number one, I doubt pretty seriously, Jessica, he was paying any child support.
To Dr. Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst and author of "Dealbreakers." What do you make of his affect during that interview, the father`s demeanor?
BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST: I think this whole story stinks to high heaven. Sex offenders, when they are in jail, they have notoriously poor relationships with others. They`re picked on. So when they escape or are released, they`re usually angrier and even more ready to offend then ever before. And that`s what puts this little girl at even greater risk.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Miss Watson, what got into her to romance a convicted sex offender from behind bars? I mean, she knew he was in prison for a sex offense with a minor.
WATSON: No, she did not know.
GRACE: Well, didn`t she meet him behind bars?
WATSON: No. As far as I know, she did not.
GRACE: Well...
WATSON: He has manipulated her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Joining me now, special guest, Haylee`s grandmother, Mary Watson. Miss Watson, what is your reaction to learning the mom, anyway, your daughter, has been spotted at a local Wal-Mart?
WATSON: Where`s my granddaughter?
GRACE: That`s my question, too.
WATSON: I want my granddaughter home.
GRACE: Why would your daughter leave the grandchild, your grandchild, little Haylee, with a man she`d just met at a gas station?
WATSON: I don`t know, but I want to know. And I want my granddaughter.
GRACE: Do you know...
WATSON: She`s got to be found.
GRACE: Do you know this acquaintance that says that they spoke with her at the salon?
WATSON: No, I don`t. I don`t know who they`re talking about.
GRACE: Has your daughter ever in her life gone camping before?
WATSON: She just went, like, in a camper trailer. As far as I know, she -- no tents or anything that I know of.
GRACE: And again, Miss Watson, has she ever taken the child away this long and not communicated with you?
WATSON: No. Definitely not.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It appears that Haylee Donathan with her mother, Candice Watson, 24 years old, and apparently her mother met this convicted sex offender, Robby Potter, a couple of days ago through Candice`s brother.
We understand they are in a relationship that`s fairly new. Last they were heard from was the grandmother heard from Candice on May 31st. And the best we can tell, they went to a camping site in Delaware County, which is just north of Columbus, according to police.
JAMES DONATHAN, MISSING GIRL, HAYLEE`S FATHER: I found out shortly after that weekend, but it was my understanding that she was going to go down to southern Ohio to her cousin`s graduation for the weekend. That was -- that was supposed to be the plan. You know, she let me know this earlier in the week. And it wasn`t until the last couple of days I found out about the whole camping trip.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Straight out to the lines. Cara, South Carolina, hi, Dear.
CARA, CALLER FROM SOUTH CAROLINA: Hi, Nancy. I just want to tell you that my mother and I really, really appreciate the voice that you give to the victims of these horrendous crimes.
GRACE: Thank you.
CARA: No problem. OK. My question is, has the father of this little girl and the uncle of this little girl, have they been questioned by police? Because something stinks. It`s not just -- it`s just not adding up.
GRACE: To Drew Deserto, he is the assistant chief deputy, U.S. Marshal out of northern Ohio. You know what, she`s right. Their stories don`t make sense. The whole story about they didn`t mean to help him escape, it was all a trick gone bad and then suddenly the mom, Candice Watson, just manages to show up and he hops in the car and they take off and they`ve been gone all this time. It doesn`t gel.
(ON THE PHONE)
DREW DESERTO, ASSISTANT CHEF DEPUTY U.S. MARSHALL, NORTHERN OHIO VIOLENT FUGITIVE TASK FORCE: You know, Nancy, you`re absolutely right. And that`s one of the reasons why they`re in custody. Our investigators have spoken to them to answer the question. And this is still on ongoing investigation.
So I can`t release.
GRACE: OK.
DESERTO: . specific details as to what they`ve said and what`s going on with that, but they have been spoken to, and they had enough that we were able to get charges for complicity to escape on them.
GRACE: You know what, you`re right. That says it all right there. To Cara in South Carolina, you`re right, Cara. Authorities have charged them all in helping him escape. Now he`s with this little girl, alone with the mommy, who clearly is not protecting her.
To Sherry in California, hi, Sherry.
SHERRY, CALLER FROM CALIFORNIA: Hi, Nancy.
GRACE: What is your question, dear?
SHERRY: I was just wondering if investigators could track down the tent that the mom returned and track down any DNA or other evidence from that tent.
GRACE: Interesting question. Let`s unleash the lawyers. Susan Moss out of New York, child advocate and family law attorney. Anne Bremner, high profile lawyer out of the Seattle jurisdiction. Paul Batista, defense attorney and author of "Death`s witness."
Sue Moss, what about it?
SUSAN MOSS, CHILD ADVOCATE, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: Absolutely. That`s one of the first things that they`re going to be doing. But if this mom knew that her boyfriend was an SOB, sex offender boyfriend, and she took this child with him, then she is also guilty of any crime that this guy does on this child under a conspiracy theory.
And if she didn`t know that he was a sex offender boyfriend and just took this little girl with a guy she just, you know, got out of prison or the halfway house, she`s also guilty of being stupid.
GRACE: To Anne Bremner, I agree with Sue Moss about trying their best to track down this tent. I mean, they found out fairly soon after it was returned. But Wal-Mart, it`s just like a Vegas casino. There are surveillance cameras everywhere. They are not letting one potato chip leave that store if they can stop it.
ANNE BREMNER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That`s right.
GRACE: All right? So the only problem is, have they taped over the surveillance video to confirm this story that they were there on the 6th?
BREMNER: Well, and that`s the problem in terms of a disclosure being late. But you`re right, Nancy. Not a potato chip, nothing. It`s going to be on the surveillance tape and they can sure see if she was there and take a look at that tent.
GRACE: And you know, Anne Bremner, if she is there and she has left this child alone and unsupervised with a sex predator, to me, those are charges of child neglect, proven.
BREMNER: Well, I think it can be there just like Casey Anthony. That was the initial charge. I don`t agree with Susan Moss, in for a dime, in for dollar just by virtue of being in proximity, but leaving the child, you know, I think.
GRACE: OK. What about it, Paul Batista? Is that a charge?
PAUL BATISTA, DEFENSE ATTORNEY, AUTHOR OF "DEATH`S WITNESS": Obviously, I agree with Anne. We don`t know, Nancy, whether something really dire has happened. The woman has custody of her daughter. She has a right to travel with her daughter. She may have very bad judgment, but we don`t know that she`s committed a crime.
GRACE: All right. OK. You know what? You have children, don`t you, Batista?
BATISTA: Oh, two. Two beautiful children, Nancy.
GRACE: As I thought I can remember, and I can just imagine you having them alone with a sex offender at age 4. You know darn well that that is child endangerment. But you know what, stick to your story. I`d be mad if you didn`t.
Back to Maria Durant with WSYX. What about thought of getting DNA off a tent? I don`t see it.
MARIA DURANT, REPORTER, WSYX ON LOCATION OUTSIDE WAL-MART: Well, this tent is the big key. I actually spoke with investigators, and, in fact, we were the ones who told them that this woman here at the Wal-Mart saw her on Saturday. When I spoke with investigators, they said, yes, they`re coming down here tonight. What they want to do is look at the tent and they also want to look for receipts that she signed saying that she was here.
GRACE: Everyone, the tip line, 866-492-6833. Her grandmother, praying tonight along with many of us, that this child is unharmed.
Right now, we are taking you to another story about a 9-month-old baby girl and an alleged assault on the pregnant mom. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I need my baby, Daisja. My beautiful little girl. I need her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tamara Crea (ph) desperately pleads for the safe return of her 9-month-old daughter, Daisja Weaver.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She has little short, curly hair. She has a big, beautiful face.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say the 19-year-old mother called 911 Tuesday night saying a man broke into her old apartment at the Okran (ph) Complex, tried to rape her and then took off with her baby.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to find that child and once we find that child, then we`ll start try to determine what happened and what took place.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say they don`t know what could have happened to this baby. So far they`ve had no ransom demands and no signs of this child. The couple was moving from this apartment complex to this one on Marsh Lane when the kidnapping occurred.
The crews spent the day combing the area surrounding the family`s new apartment complex, searching for anything that might lead them to Daisja.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Out to Dr. Joshua Perper, renowned chief medical examiner out of Broward County, author of "When to Call the Doctor."
Dr. Perper, welcome. The mother, who is pregnant, says the would-be rapist punched her in the face. Now when she got to the hospital, the medical evaluation revealed nothing, no injuries. How could that be?
DR. JOSHUA PERPER, MEDICAL EXAMINER, AUTHOR OF "WHEN TO CALL THE DOCTOR": Well, the only explanation was if, indeed, this occurred, it was a very gentle blow. A very, very mild blow. Because if it was a severe one, there would have been some kind of damage to the gingival of the mouth or some bruising on the nose. So it seems that the entire story is a bit concocted. Why would the rapist come and -- or an attempted rapist try to kidnap the child? It doesn`t make much sense.
GRACE: To Michael Board with WOAI Newradio. Michael Board, welcome back. What can you tell me?
(ON THE PHONE)
MICHAEL BOARD, REPORTER, WOAI NEWSRADIO: This is the only thing that`s a little bit fishy about the story that`s going on here now, according to police up in Dallas, the mom has changed her story a couple of times. But her story doesn`t exactly jive with the dad`s story as well.
First she said the attacker was black, then Mexican. She couldn`t give a description of the person. She couldn`t say why she went after her child. You know, these are things you start to think about, you start to put the puzzle pieces together.
You figure if someone attacked you and someone tried to rape you, would probably be able to give a pretty good description of that person. But apparently she couldn`t give police hardly any information about her attacker and that`s why it took so long to issue the Amber Alert. Police up in Dallas, they thought they started smelling something fishy early on in this investigation.
GRACE: Well, Michael Board, you said her story was inconsistent with the father`s. What is his story?
BOARD: We`ve not been told much about the dad. He was not actually at the apartment. In the intro they talked about the couple moving from one apartment to the other. The father says at the time that this happened that he was at the other apartment.
Now what I`ve been told by the police is that he has been cleared in this investigation. He`s not what they call a suspect, but they`re both, you know, people of interest.
GRACE: Right.
BOARD: Which means they`re not, you know, they haven`t been charged with anything.
GRACE: But they haven`t been totally cleared.
Everyone, hanging in the balance is a 9-month-old baby girl, Daisja Weaver.
We are taking your calls live and as we go to break, happy birthday to an Alabama friend of the show, Harris Emerson. A Navy veteran. He met his wife, Doris, his wife of 62 years. She immediately dropped her fiance and a couple of months later, they were married.
Three children and eight grandchildren later, they are still going strong. Here he is pictured with his beautiful daughter, Dee.
Happy 91st birthday, Harris Emerson.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please just bring me my baby back. I need my baby, Daisja. My beautiful little girl. I need her. She has little short, curly hair. She has a big, beautiful face. They`re looking in the wrong areas. They need to be where it happened. Over here is not it. Bring us our child, please. Bring her back. She needs her mom. She needs her dad. She needs us. She needs us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Corp. Kevin Janse, the PIO with the Dallas Police Department. Thank you for being with us. The police are stating that there are no persons of interest. Is that correct?
(ON THE PHONE)
CORP. KEVIN JANSE, PIO DALLAS POLICE DEPT, ON THE CASE: Right. We have no suspects at this time. We`re still actively looking for the little girl.
GRACE: Corporal, who called in the kidnapping?
JANSE: The mother. She called in once the attacker had fled with her 9-month-old daughter.
GRACE: Is it true that she could not identify the race of the attacker?
JANSE: From what she`s told us during the extensive interviews that we have done with her, she has not been able to give us a real thorough description of the suspect, but you have to realize the dramatic ordeal that she went through and she continues to go through today, which we totally understand and are working with what she has given us to try to come up with a little better description of the suspect.
GRACE: Corporal, was she attacked from behind?
JANSE: I`m not sure the exact way the suspect approached her prior to taking the baby, but we do know the suspect did confront her prior to taking the baby.
GRACE: To Bethany Marshall, weigh in, Bethany.
BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST, AUTHOR OF "DEALBREAKERS": Well, I would wonder were there a history of domestic violence between this couple and the baby got caught up in the fray? Was there crazy drug abuse happening in the neighborhood? Was there a non-custodial relative who wanted control of the baby, wanted to take the baby?
Or given that they were moving out of one apartment at midnight into another, she was pregnant, could they not afford this baby and did that play a role in this alleged rape/abduction?
GRACE: To former investigator and author of "Cyber Lies," John Lucich. John, what do you make of it?
JOHN LUCICH, INVESTIGATOR, AUTHOR OF "CYBER LIES": You know, if you take a look at her statements, they`re inconsistent. They don`t match what all the witnesses say. Plus the fact that if she got into a fight with this guy, you`d think, and the doctor would agree with me, I`m sure, that there would be some type of DNA transference and nothing was found and that`s very suspicious.
GRACE: Whatever happened, I know this much. A 9-month-old baby girl is gone. Who will search for her? Who will stand up for her tonight? The police mounting their best search. Won`t you help us? Phone number, 214- 671-4268.
Right now, switching gears, is tot mom, Casey Anthony, scheming behind bars to set up an insanity defense at her murder one trial?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROY KRONK, METER READER, FOUND CAYLEE ANTHONY`S REMAINS: I`m in the wooded area down by the school. I need you like now. I just found a human skull.
CASEY ANTHONY, CAYLEE ANTHONY`S MOTHER: The (EXPLETIVE DELETED) detectives pulled the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) They got all of their information from me. Yet at the same time, they`re twisting stuff. They already said they`re going to pin this on me if they don`t find Caylee.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, you purposely misled us so (INAUDIBLE).
C. ANTHONY: That was a lie.
GEORGE ANTHONY, CASEY ANTHONY`S FATHER: Let`s just cut through the chase. Why won`t we end this right now? Today. I`m not going to do this too much longer, Brad.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How come everybody is saying you`re lying?
C. ANTHONY: Because nobody is (EXPLETIVE DELETED) anything that I`m saying.
KRONK: I went to the bottom of the bag. I pulled it and I pulled it the second time and then a human skull dropped out with hair around it and duct tape across the mouth. And I went oh, god and immediately came up and called my supervisor and then called Orange County Utilities and notified them that I had found human remains and that I need the police.
C. ANTHONY: My entire life has been taken from me. Everything has been taken from me.
G. ANTHONY: I`m getting ready to end this. I`m getting ready to walk out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Well, there`s tot mom talking about how her entire life has been ruined. Her child`s remains found just 15 houses from the Anthony home.
To Ellie Jostad, our chief editorial producer. Ellie, reports surfacing that tot mom may be scheming to mount an insanity defense from behind bars. What have you learned about alleged nightmares, erratic mood swings and behavior, blood-curdling screams coming from her cell?
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: Right. Well, the "National Enquirer" has a source inside the jail. They say claims that they`ve heard Casey Anthony waking up in the middle of the night, screaming Caylee`s name, waking up other inmates. They also say her behavior has become increasingly erratic.
She`ll be quiet for day, only pouring over law books, not talking to anyone. Then it will switch and she`ll be chatting with the guards, asking what`s going on at the night clubs in Orlando. Doing push-ups in her jail cell. Just very strange behavior according to this unnamed source.
GRACE: To Natisha Lance, our producer who`s been in Orlando since the get-go. Natisha, isn`t it true that she alleged has stated to jailhouse guards that she wants venue moved to Miami so when it`s all over, she can go straight to the beach?
NATISHA LANCE, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: That`s also according to this report, Nancy. She is saying that she wants the trial to be moved to Miami so that she can go to the beach, work on her tan once this -- if this trial does go to Miami.
GRACE: Leonard Padilla, bounty hunter who will be under oath in this case, what do you make of these allegations?
LEONARD PADILLA, BOUNTY HUNTER, WILL BE DEPOSED IN TOT MOM CIVIL CASE: It`s typical Casey. Ten minutes at a time. That`s how she puts her life together. As far as making statements about going to the beach as soon as it`s over and all that, that`s her -- that typifies her statements, her mental state of mind.
As far as the insanity thing, one of the first things I said to Jose when I met first him was that he had a built-in insanity situation in the case. But you know, you being an attorney, there`s a lot that goes into an insanity plea. She would have to cop to the fact that she killed her child before she can use the insanity plea.
GRACE: Absolutely. It`s called an affirmative defense. In other words, Anne Bremner, you have to say, yes, I did it, but I was crazy when I did it. That`s what the insanity defense means.
BREMNER: That`s right, Nancy. Of course she has to say I didn`t know right from wrong and I didn`t know the nature and quality of my act at the time.
GRACE: And Susan Moss, family law attorney, child advocate, George and Cindy Anthony fighting tooth and nail to keep the autopsy report set to go public in just hours a secret. Why?
MOSS: There`s probably something substantially that`s going to make us crazy when we see that report. I have a feeling you`re going to be screaming bombshell a lot once we see that report and we will see that report.
GRACE: Paul Batista, I`ve got the motion here in my hand where they`re trying to keep the autopsy report a secret. Isn`t that public record in?
BATISTA: The autopsy report? It will eventually be a public record, Nancy. It has to be used at the trial. But the Anthonys now are claiming that they would suffer anguish. I take them at their word. And there is a statute in Florida that exempts autopsy reports from public disclosure until it trial.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your daughter throughout that time was indicating that Zanny had her, right?
G. ANTHONY: At the beginning, sir, that`s what I was told. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did sometime during the time she was missing before the remains were found.
G. ANTHONY: You know something. If you say her remains one more time, sir, I`m walking out this door.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
G. ANTHONY: How dare you say that about my granddaughter? How dare you? How dare you?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Bethany Marshall, what do you make of these reports that she is acting crazy behind bars?
MARSHALL: I thing it`s a transparent, pathetic attempt to appear as if she cares about her daughter. It fits no pattern of psychiatric issues I know of. And remember when Cindy Anthony said that she had once been suicidal? There is a genetic link with psychiatric illnesses.
And I wonder if even way back then a couple of months ago the whole family wasn`t planning to set up a psychiatric defense.
GRACE: Out to the lines. Amy in Pennsylvania. Hi, dear.
AMY, CALLER FROM PENNSYLVANIA: Hi. Do you think that Casey Anthony`s parents will still be in denial after everything is done? Like, they`ll still believe that she didn`t do it?
GRACE: I think that they will always be in denial because this is what they`re choosing to believe over the evidence. If they believed otherwise they could simply remain silent, but they are strenuously supporting her not guilty plea.
Donna in Kentucky. Hi, dear, what`s your question?
DONNA, CALLER FROM KENTUCKY: Yes, ma`am. I would like to know, this girl, how does she -- who`s paying all her bills? Who`s.
GRACE: Good question. Ellie Jostad, who`s paying for all this defense?
JOSTAD: Well, we don`t know who exactly is paying for the defense. We know Casey Anthony had no job. Her parents had very little resources we learned at the bail hearing. And we also learned that Casey Anthony had rang up bills on her parent`s credit cards.
GRACE: And we also know that they got over a quarter million dollars from ABC for licensing rights for photos for interviews. That`s a chunk of change right there.
Let`s stop and remember Air Force First Lieutenant Roslyn Schulte, 25, St. Louis, Missouri, killed Afghanistan. The first female Air Force grad killed in Iraq and Afghanistan wars. An all American lacrosse player. Graduated with honors.
Loved sports and James Bond. Dreamed of being a fighter pilot. Leaves behind parents Robert and Susie, brother, Todd.
Roslyn Schulte, American hero.
Thank you to our guests but especially to you for being us. I`ll see you tomorrow night 8:00 sharp eastern, but until then, good night, friend.
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