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Nancy Grace
Body in Suitcase Identified as Former Swimsuit Model
Aired August 19, 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: Tonight, live to Anaheim, a quiet apartment community reeling after a suitcase discovered in the communal dumpster opened to reveal a body. The mystery as to the identity went unsolved for days, as well as how the woman came to be murdered, then thrown away like trash. Tonight, we confirm the body folded inside that suitcase is 28- year-old swimsuit model Jasmine Fiore. In a bizarre twist tonight, police on the lookout for a reality TV star in connection with the murder.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I reached over into the dumpster with my finger, pulled up the flap of the thing, and I discovered the body.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The victim in this case has been identified. Her name is Jasmine Fiore. She`s 28 years old and from the city of Los Angeles.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A former reality TV star wanted for questioning in the death of a model may be en route back home to Canada. Police say they want to talk to Ryan Alexander Jenkins about the death of 28-year-old Jasmine Fiore.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The person we are looking for is Ryan Alexander Jenkins. He is 32 years old and from Alberta, Canada. He is 6-1, 195 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. He might be driving one of two vehicles. The first vehicle is a white Mercedes-Benz. He might also be driving a black BMW X-5.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fiore disappeared over the weekend. Authorities say her body was found stuffed in a suitcase inside a dumpster in southern California Saturday morning. Her remains were identified from a description provided by her mother.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jenkins, the man the police are looking for, was a contestant on the VH1 show "Megan Wants a Millionaire."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How they got it in a suitcase that small, I don`t know. It`s unbelievable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, a young mom, just like millions of moms across America, goes out for an evening walk on a country road not far from her own home, talking away on a cell phone. The boyfriend on the other end hears screaming, Please, don`t take me! Her voice has never been heard again. She vanishes without a trace, that cell phone later found discarded, thrown onto someone`s lawn just two miles away.
As we go to air, the search expanding across state borders, targeting hundreds of sex offenders across three states. In the last hours, Kristi`s family releases private home video of the missing mom. We have the video. This as the FBI combs grainy surveillance video from local businesses, hoping, hoping against hope for a glimpse of Kristi or the kidnapper`s car. Where is Kristi Cornwell?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Home video was taken the year Kristi Cornwell became a mother. She`s been missing for more than a week, since investigators say she was kidnapped while she was out for a walk near her parents` home in Union County.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was about 9:00 PM when Kristi Cornwell started her evening walk, starting at her parents` house, where those orange cones are just behind me. Now, investigators say that there were two routes that Kristi could have taken, and it`s not clear which route she intended to take the night that she went missing.
GRACE: Who saw her last? Who can tell me that they saw her go out for a walk? How do I know she wasn`t dead already?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An employee (INAUDIBLE) New Union Baptist Church saw Kristi while she was on her walk. Now, investigators believe that this was the last person to see Kristi before she was abducted.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One of the most difficult problems is she was in the middle of essentially nowhere, where any car coming by could grab her and go any direction.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re still speaking with family, friends, associates, registered sex offenders, screening those names in a five- county area. We`re also doing that at this time in both North Carolina and Tennessee.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Investigators believe that Kristi Cornwell made it to about this point in her walk that evening, about a half a mile away from her parents` home. Now, she was on the phone with her boyfriend. We don`t know the contents of that conversation, but we do know that Kristi told him there was a car following her. The next thing he heard was Kristi screaming and saying, Don`t take me. The phone went dead, and Kristi Cornwell has not been seen or heard from since then.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. A quiet apartment community reeling after a suitcase discovered there in the communal dumpster opened to reveal a body. Tonight, we confirm the body folded inside that suitcase is 28-year-old swimsuit model Jasmine Fiore. And in a bizarre twist tonight, police on the lookout for a reality TV star in connection with the murder.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When my manager opened up the suitcase, the corner of the suitcase, he just lifted it up, you could see, like, a shoulder and an arm, and there was no clothes on it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have made a breakthrough with the investigation. Her name is Jasmine Fiore.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Twenty-eight-year-old Jasmine Fiore, say neighbors, seemed excited to move into her new neighborhood in the Fairfax district with a female roommate and this man, Ryan Jenkins, recently a contestant on the VH1 show "Megan Wants a Millionaire." Some neighbors described him as her husband. Tonight, her fourth-floor penthouse is now a crime scene.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are searching for any evidence that may lead to the suspect in this case.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Inside, forensic investigators dust for fingerprints and shoot videotape of her empty apartment. Police want to know who strangled the 28-year-old swimsuit model and left her body in a suitcase.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our preliminary results and findings from the Orange County coroner were that she was strangled.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was discovered in a dumpster in Buena Park Saturday night.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just isn`t right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That same night, say police, Ryan Jenkins walked into the West Hollywood sheriff`s substation and filed a missing person`s report for his wife. Then police say he went on the run in either a black BMW SUV with Calgary license plates or his wife`s white Mercedes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We believe he may be heading towards Canada.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought it was a young child because it was such a small suitcase, probably about a three-foot suitcase.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Jon Baird at KNX 1070 joining us from L.A. Jon, who is this woman, and who is this reality TV star they`re looking for in connection with her murder?
JON BAIRD, KNX 1070: Well, Jasmine Fiore is 28 years old -- was 28 years old. She was an aspiring model for a time. She moved to L.A. to open a personal training business. She apparently moved there with this man. She was roommates with him and another woman. She went down to San Diego, apparently for a poker tournament or some kind of poker game. Police aren`t sure. And she ended up dead in that dumpster, in that suitcase, on Saturday morning.
GRACE: Exactly what kind of a model was she?
BAIRD: Well, we understand she did some modeling for some Las Vegas hotels. She also did some stuff for Howard Stern. Her mom said that she stopped doing that some time ago. So she was trying to get started down in L.A. as a real estate agent. We understand she got her license, and also the personal training business.
GRACE: Straight out to the lines, everybody. To Beverly in New York. Hi, Beverly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I was just wondering, who was the last person to have seen her alive? And why are they looking at the husband, you know, since he went into the police station and then took off? I understand that`s why they may be looking at him. But those were my questions.
GRACE: Thank you, Beverly. To you, Clark Goldband. What can you tell me?
CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: It was her husband who last saw her alive, according to law enforcement, Nancy. Ryan Alexander Jenkins saw her on Friday night at a poker tournament down in San Diego, California. Law enforcement says that`s the last time she was seen alive. That suitcase was found on Saturday around 7:00 AM, and Jenkins actually reported her missing Saturday evening.
So those two factors is why law enforcement is saying he`s a person of interest. They`ve been trying to track him down. They have made contact with him, but he has not returned calls. Law enforcement fears he could head over 1,000 miles away, back up towards Canada.
GRACE: So not only is he a reality TV star, he also is a successful real estate mogul up in Canada?
GOLDBAND: Extremely successful, Nancy. Our understanding is he sells homes north of $1 million a clip (ph).
GRACE: Joining me right now from Buena Park, California, a special guest, Lieutenant Gary Worrall. Lieutenant, thank you for being with us. Lieutenant, how could her body, her whole body, be folded up inside this suitcase without being dismembered?
LT. GARY WORRALL, Buena Park POLICE DEPARTMENT (via telephone): It was a very large suitcase. It could easily contain the body of an adult person.
GRACE: Lieutenant, was it her suitcase?
WORRALL: I can`t confirm anything of evidentiary value in this case. I don`t have any information regarding who actually owned the suitcase.
GRACE: Lieutenant, I understand that you made some contact with the person of interest. He`s a person of interest because he was with her last, saw her last, or reported her missing?
WORRALL: That`s not accurate. There are quite a few media outlets that are putting out information that are being -- are being obtained from sources outside of law enforcement. We have not made contact...
GRACE: Well, good. Please correct me. Why is he a person of interest?
WORRALL: He`s a person of interest because he is the last person to see her alive and...
GRACE: Well, that`s what I just said, Lieutenant. I just said he`s a person of interest because he was the last one to be with her, to have seen her alive. And it`s my understanding, he called in a missing person`s report.
WORRALL: Right.
GRACE: Well, you just said that was incorrect. How is that incorrect?
WORRALL: No, I -- that`s not what`s incorrect. What`s incorrect is the information I`m seeing on some of the press reports from various media outlets. For example, I don`t know their marital status. I can`t confirm whether they`re married or not. And there have been several other reports that have been put out in the media that have come from sources outside of law enforcement that have been misinformation.
GRACE: Well, let me rephrase my question, Lieutenant. I asked you, Why is he a person of interest? Is it because he was the last one to have known -- to have been with her and because he called in a missing person`s report? And you told me that`s incorrect. So I`m trying to get clear, why is this reality TV star a person of interest?
WORRALL: OK. Let me try to finish now. He`s a person of interest because we believe that perhaps he might have information that would be beneficial to the investigation. He happens to be the person who was last seen with her while she was still alive and he did report her missing to the Los Angeles County sheriff`s department subsequent to her death. And given the fact that he has some celebrity status, we`re quite certain that he has been made aware of the media frenzy regarding this case.
And we have made some attempts to get in touch with him. Where you said we have actually spoken to somebody in an effort to get him is incorrect. We have not spoken to anybody. There`s been misinformation in the media regarding a publicist or some sort of agent for Mr. Jenkins having talked to us, and that is inaccurate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re definitely asking for the public`s help in trying to help us locate him or his vehicles. Definitely like to encourage him to contact the Buena Park Police Department just so we can at least speak to him about what might have happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For 10 hours, police forensics experts examined the gruesome scene, the body of a young woman stuffed inside a small dark green suitcase. It was left inside this dumpster in an alley between two apartment buildings, one of them abandoned.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The victim in this case has been identified. Her name is Jasmine Fiore. She`s 28 years old and from the city of Los Angeles.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn`t hear from her on Friday and I was kind of worried. I didn`t hear from her on Saturday and I was getting very worried.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our preliminary results and findings from the Orange County coroner were that she was strangled.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police want to know, who strangled the 28-year- old swimsuit model and left her body in a suitcase?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That same night, say police, Ryan Jenkins walked into the West Hollywood sheriff`s substation and filed a missing person`s report. Then, police say, he went on the run.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our fear is that he might possibly be en route to Canada. We were able to ascertain his involvement with the help of the Los Angeles Police Department. Mr. Jenkins reported Miss Fiore missing the evening that we discovered her body. And with the help of the Los Angeles Police Department, we were able to put the two together and determine that -- or determine who our victim was and determine his possible involvement. He was the last person seen with her. The last information we have was that the two were at a poker game somewhere in San Diego. We don`t have that location. That is the last time they were seen together, and that was on Friday evening.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Clark Goldband, our producer on the story. Clark, Lieutenant Gary Worrall tells us that they are not married and that no contact has been made with the person of interest. Response?
GOLDBAND: OK, Nancy. Our team here at the show was able to obtain the marriage information from the state of Nevada. That shows Jenkins married Jasmine in March of this year. So they`ve been married about five months. Our understanding is law enforcement has attempted contact with Jenkins and he has not responded.
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Let`s unleash the lawyers, Alan Ripka joining us out of New York, Christopher Amolsch joining us out of Washington, D.C. Christopher Amolsch, let`s talk about it. This guy is not only a reality TV star, he also is a real estate mogul in Canada. If he has gone back across the Canadian border and this case results in a prosecution wherein the death penalty is sought, they may not send him back to the U.S.
CHRISTOPHER AMOLSCH, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That`s exactly right. So oftentimes, what`ll happen is the Canadian government or the Mexican government will only agree to extradite him if the government who`s prosecuting him agrees not to seek the death penalty.
GRACE: Ripka?
ALAN RIPKA, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That`s correct. They`ll have to show that -- he`ll have to show that he did not intend on killing her, we`re not seeking the death penalty, and then we can bring him back.
GRACE: To Jon Baird with KNX 1070. Do we know the cause of death, Jon?
BAIRD: We do know it was strangulation. I just checked with the police again just a short time ago, and they confirmed it was strangulation.
GRACE: So Ripka, how could they go about showing he didn`t intend to kill her?
RIPKA: Well, obviously, if the investigation plays out, Nancy, and he`s able to show that he never intended on murdering her, it happened because of, who knows, violent sex, or who knows what else...
GRACE: Wa! Wa! Wait! Wait! Stop! Stop everything. Put Ripka up. Ripka...
RIPKA: Yes?
GRACE: Why? Why do you inject the preppy killer defense? You find a woman dead, strangled to death, folded up in a suitcase, thrown in a dump like she`s trash, and you, before her body is even cold in the grave, jump up and say rough sex. Why?
RIPKA: I say there are plenty of reasons why you could...
GRACE: And that`s the one you throw out?
RIPKA: I throw out the one that can happen, amongst many, many others. Why do you think...
GRACE: Really? Really? How many rough sex that result in murder cases have you seen?
RIPKA: Well, it doesn`t have to be just rough sex. The question is...
GRACE: That`s what you said!
RIPKA: Well, this is what I said. In order to get the death penalty...
GRACE: I know why you said it. You said it because she`s a swimsuit model. You said it because of these photos of her. That`s why you said it.
RIPKA: I said it...
GRACE: You`re playing into every stereotype of a woman or of a model that exists.
RIPKA: That`s not what I`m doing.
GRACE: That`s what you`re doing.
RIPKA: I`m showing...
GRACE: Yes, you are.
RIPKA: I`m saying you have to show intent to kill, premeditated murder, to get the death penalty, aggravated circumstances, and that just because they found her -- and I feel terrible about it -- does not mean...
GRACE: Yes, you feel so bad...
RIPKA: ... that`s what happened here.
GRACE: ... you blurt out "rough sex." OK, Marc Klaas, president and founder of Klaas Kids Foundation, an expert in missing people`s cases, have you learned, Marc, how her mother found out she was dead? It`s shocking.
MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: No, I haven`t heard that. I haven`t heard that.
GRACE: Oh, OK. Hold onto your seat. Clark, explain what happened with the mother.
GOLDBAND: Our understanding, Nancy, is she was at the bank, opening a new account, had heard about this suitcase that was found, didn`t really think that much of it but then thought again. While at the bank, she asked the teller to search her daughter`s name in the computer, in Google, and when she came back, she was absolutely floored and broke down in the bank.
GRACE: Marc Klaas, as a crime victim yourself, the mother finds out through a random bank teller. She just asks, Hey, will you Google my daughter`s name? That`s how she found out.
KLAAS: You know, nobody seems to be showing this young woman the respect that she deserves. It seems to me that she was moving towards being a pretty successful entrepreneur. I can tell you this. This guy can run, but he can`t hide. Everybody knows what he looks like. And when they get him, he`s going to have to explain why he ran, what happened between Friday night and Saturday, and why he waited so long to report her missing.
GRACE: And repeat, Ryan Alexander Jenkins, age 32, is not a suspect.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Family members say 28-year-old Jasmine Fiore recently left Las Vegas and moved to L.A. to pursue some modeling projects. She moved into this new Fairfax district apartment building about a month ago. The manager told us she lived in a top-floor penthouse. Her mother, who lives in northern California, told us she spent all of last week visiting her daughter here in L.A. Fiore posted her bio on the Web site Modelmayhem.com. She says she`s an experienced model looking to shoot in her new hair color, brunette.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Let`s take a look at the person of interest, Ryan Alexander Jenkins. Here he is in his reality TV show. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RYAN JENKINS, "MEGAN WANTS A MILLIONAIRE": Time with Megan alone was enough to let her get in touch with my deeper side and redeem myself for, you know, some of the silly things I said at dinner.
I guess we`re waiting on my card.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh! I hope it`s not declined.
JENKINS: That would suck.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For you!
(LAUGHTER)
JENKINS: We might have to do some dishes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We?
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`ll meet you at home. Just joking!
JENKINS: (INAUDIBLE) You`re cute.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You`re cute.
JENKINS: So is this the best date ever?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe.
JENKINS: Maybe?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`ll tell you at the end.
JENKINS: I don`t know if Megan and I have had enough time together for her to actually loosen up and really get to know me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like you`re manipulating me.
(LAUGHTER)
JENKINS: I wanted to show her a little bit of vulnerability to, you know, maybe make her a little more comfortable with me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: OK. I`m almost speechless. That`s from VH1`s "Megan Wants a Millionaire." It is from 51Minds Entertainment. That is the person of interest. Hello? What`s he doing in a dating reality show? He`s married! We`re taking your calls live. The body of Jasmine Fiore has been found, folded into a suitcase in a dumpster. Tonight, person of interest, Ryan Jenkins.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 28-year-old Jasmine Fiore, a former swimsuit model, her body was found last Saturday in a dumpster in Buena Park.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The person we are looking for is named Ryan Alexander Jenkins. He is 32 years old and from Alberta, Canada.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jenkins was a contestant on "Megan Wants a Millionaire," which airs on VH1. Jenkins is believed to be driving a BMW similar to this one with Canadian plates or Fiore`s white Mercedes. They fear he may be headed back to Canada.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Jenkins reported Miss Fiore missing the evening that we discovered her body. He was the last person seen with her. The last information we have was that the two were at a poker game somewhere in San Diego.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kind of gruesome to find something like that at 7:00 in the morning. You`re getting ready to go work and have something like that happen. Why our neighborhood? Why here? You know because it`s probably 200, 300 feet back there where they dropped the body into the dumpster.
Why they picked that particular dumpster, I don`t know. Or this particular neighborhood, but I don`t think it`s anyone from around here. You would think that probably someone came here and dropped the body.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Straight out to Steve Kardian, former police detective joining us out of New York. What do you make of him calling, reporting her missing on Saturday evening, her body having been found and - - well, not necessarily identified so quickly, but found on Saturday morning?
STEVE KARDIAN, FORMER POLICE DETECTIVE: Well, Nancy, the body was deposited in another jurisdiction, so he -- and the body hasn`t been identified at the time it had been discovered, so he put some distance and time between the discovery of the body or disposal of the body and him reporting her missing.
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Out to Marcia in Pennsylvania. Hi, dear.
MARCIA, CALLER FROM PENNSYLVANIA: Hi, Nancy. Thank you for taking my call. I just want to tell you really quick that your twins are really cute.
GRACE: Thank you.
MARCIA: And that my baby cousin was born premature two months before your twins were. And you look at him you never would have thought that he was premature. The same can be said for your twins.
GRACE: Thank you, thank you. Lucy was born at two pounds. Two pounds. Thank you.
MARCIA: My question is, if her body was found on Saturday and her family was so concerned about her, they said on your Facebook, last seen by her family on Thursday, why did it take them two days to figure out she was missing?
GRACE: Well, it`s my understanding, Marcia, that she was, and they all knew she was going to a poker tournament, I believe, in Vegas. She was going to this poker tournament for the weekend, so they didn`t really realize anything was amiss.
What about it, Jon Baird? Jon, joining us from KNX 1070.
JON BAIRD, REPORTER, KNX 1070, COVERING STORY: Well, I talked to her mother just before she got word that her daughter had been killed. She sounded very worried to me. And you know, like you say, she was going to the poker tournament, she`s 28 years old.
So how many people are going to check in with their parents every day? I think the mom actually jumped on it pretty quickly when she didn`t hear back from her daughter.
GRACE: Out to the lines. Rhonda in Florida, hi Rhonda.
RHONDA, CALLER FROM FLORIDA: Hi.
GRACE: Hi, dear. What`s your question?
RHONDA: I want to tell you, your twins are just adorable. I saw them on "Larry King." And I can`t over the.
GRACE: Listen, Rhonda, tonight I had the worst good-bye I`ve ever had in their nearly two-year existence. They were -- when I had to go to work, they were hanging on so hard, both of them, four little arms, I had to take my shirt off and leave my shirt with them.
The whole crying, you know, it`s hard. You`re probably a working mom, you know what it`s like.
What`s your question, dear?
RHONDA: I want to ask you, first of all, do you think the motive might have been jealousy?
GRACE: OK. Let`s go out to Davida Sullivan. This is a very dear friend of Jasmine Fiore. They worked together. She`s joining us exclusively tonight out of L.A.
Davida, thank you for being with us. This guy has not been named a suspect, he`s a person of interest, but what was their relationship, Davida?
DAVIDA SULLIVAN, FRIEND F MURDERED MODEL, JASMINE FIORE, WORKED TOGETHER AT THE PLAYBOY CLUB (via phone): Well, you know, I believe it was short lived. I met Jasmine when we were Playboy Bunnies together in Las Vegas at the Playboy Club -- no nudity -- and she was just a light, you know.
She`s kind of a bit reserved. A little, you know, kind of quiet and everything, but I`m not really quite too sure about this relationship. I hadn`t heard very much about it.
GRACE: I knew it was very, very brief, but we have uncovered evidence of their marriage. Davida, she went to a poker tournament, apparently. Everyone is very confused what could have brought this on, what possible motive. You say she was very quiet and reserved?
SULLIVAN: She was a bit reserved. I mean, she wasn`t a shy person, but, you know, with all of those girls, you know, you have a ton of personalities and I`m really outgoing and everything, she`s kind of -- she was kind of more -- the best way I could describe it is like a southern lady.
You know, you`re from the south, I`m from the south, just kind of very careful with her words, very, very sweet girl. You know, with all of the girls involved, I think it was about maybe 25 of us that they picked and we all lived in Vegas together at the Palms while we were in Bunny training.
And you know, there can be a lot of cattiness and, you know, girls talking about other girls. She was never like that. She was just always very positive and yes, and a bit reserved.
GRACE: You know, this is a young woman that had so much initiative, so much -- so many dreams. She had gone and gotten her real estate license, was trying to start a business as a personal trainer, and she certainly has the physique to do it.
To Caryn Stark, psychologist joining us out of New York. I am really stunned at the nature of the disposal of her body. Folding her up in a suitcase and throwing her body into a trash dump and then just driving off and leaving it. To be, I guess, crushed and then incinerated.
CARYN STARK, PSYCHOLOGIST: Nancy, it`s such disrespect and it shows you whoever did this really did not care about her. Nudity and folded up in a suitcase. No attempt to cover up the body. Somebody was very, very angry and could care less about her. That`s evidenced, very clear.
GRACE: I want to go to Dr. Gerald Feigin, medical examiner for Camden County, joining us out of Philadelphia. What do you believe took so long to identify her?
DR. GERALD FEIGIN, M.D., MEDICAL EXAMINER, CAMDEN COUNTY: You don`t know how long it took. Sometimes they don`t release it right away.
GRACE: Right.
FEIGIN: Sometimes you have a visual I.D., but you always have to confirm it with either fingerprints or get next of kin to come in and do it. And that can take a while, until someone feels up to coming in and actually doing it.
Every jurisdiction can actually do it differently. Some people can just use fingerprints if there`s some that are on record, others require a visual as well. So every jurisdiction is different.
GRACE: Dr. Feigin, cops say she was strangled. Why would there have been blood inside the suitcase?
FEIGIN: After death, the membranes inside the nose and mouth dry out very rapidly and the small blood vessels break and quite a lot of fluid can leak out. It`s a bloody fluid we call it perched. And it can collect and be quite extensive. So that`s not uncommon. In fact, I`d expect to see it in virtually every case.
GRACE: Again, let me restate, Ryan Alexander Jenkins is not a suspect. He is a person of interest. He is a reality TV star and we have a clip of him on his TV show. Let`s see that, Norm.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RYAN ALEXANDER JENKINS, REALITY TV STAR: I`m with Megan alone. It was enough to let her get in touch with my deeper side and redeem myself for, you know, some of the silly things I said at dinner.
I guess we`re waiting on my card.
MEGAN HAUSERMAN, REALITY TV STAR: Oh! I hope it`s not declined.
JENKINS: That would suck.
HAUSERMAN: For you.
JENKINS: We might have to do some dishes.
HAUSERMAN: We?!
JENKINS: Just kidding.
(LAUGHTER)
HAUSERMAN: I`ll meet you at home.
(LAUGHTER)
I`m just joking.
JENKINS: You`re cute.
HAUSERMAN: You`re cute.
JENKINS: So is this the best date ever?
HAUSERMAN: Maybe.
JENKINS: Maybe?
HAUSERMAN: I`ll tell you at the end.
JENKINS: I don`t know if Megan and I have had enough time together for her to actually loosen up and really get to know me.
HAUSERMAN: I feel like you`re manipulating me.
(LAUGHTER)
JENKINS: I wanted to show her a little bit of vulnerability to, you know, maybe make her a little more comfortable with me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: OK, whatever. This guy is a person of interest in the murder of this young woman, Jasmine Fiore, found dead, folded up in a suitcase, thrown in a dumpster. You just saw video from VH1`s "Megan Wants a Millionaire" from 51 Mines Entertainment.
Caryn Stark, what does this say to you?
STARK: He has a narcissistic personality, Nancy. It`s way beyond whatever when you take a look at this guy. He seems sleazy, self-involved. And she said to him, I feel like you`re manipulating me, and he was manipulating her, even telling her she`s going to do the dishes, like inciting her. Really, really not a good guy. Doesn`t come across that way at all. What do you think?
GRACE: Well, I think really what speaks the most is that police have been trying to contact him and he is not getting in touch with police.
STARK: True.
GRACE: Everyone, quick break. To tonight`s "Safety Tips." Children at risk every time they`re online. Here are warning signs and tips to protect them from predators.
Cyberspace predators are always online. You must monitor the amount of time your child is on the computer. Beware of those chat rooms, a key area predators are known to troll for victims. Review what your child is doing by looking at their computer history.
Porn is often used by sex offenders to lure young victims. Question your child if you investigate and you catch them quickly turning off or changing the screen when you walk in the room. Talk openly about computer sex predators.
And for more information, please school yourself. Go to FBI.gov and click on BeCrimeSmart.
ANNOUNCER: "Nancy Safety Tips" brought to you by.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The victim in this case has been identified. Her name is Jasmine Fiore. She`s 28 years old and from the city of Los Angeles. We have reason to believe that somebody who may be.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Kristi Cornwell in home video from several years ago when her now teenage son was a baby. Each passing day in her disappearance is agonizing for her family, who prays for her safe return.
Authorities continue to canvass the neighborhood where she had been talking to her boyfriend moments before she was abducted August 11th. Her brother told us the family was establishing a reward fund to help find Kristi.
RICHARD CORNWELL, BROTHER OF KRISTI CORNWELL, MISSING YOUNG MOM: And we`re trying to get this reward fund built up and we want this awful predator or predators put behind bars.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The FBI came into the investigation. They`re helping us in several different ways. One, they are going to bring a behavioral scientist expert out of Quantico, Virginia to come down and help create a profile. They`re also assisting us with some cell phone information, both looking at cell phone towers and that sort of thing.
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GRACE: How many millions of moms, millions of women across the country go for a walk in the evening after work, chatting away on their cell phone? Well, that is exactly what Kristi Cornwell did. It was barely dark outside, just 9:00 p.m., in a very rural country road setting.
She was not far from her own home, her parents` home. On the other end of the line, her boyfriend hears her screaming, "Don`t, don`t take me!" That is the last time her voice has been heard.
You are seeing video just released, private video released by the family in the hopes that someone will see it and it will jar some memory, some identification. What happened to Kristi Cornwell?
Straight out to Eric Jens, reporter with WRGA News Radio. Eric, what`s the latest?
ERIC JENS, REPORTER, WRGA NEWS RADIO, COVERING STORY: Well, Nancy, of course, eight days now into the search. You`re starting to hear words of people scaling back, but that`s really not accurate. It`s really more of a change in focus now that the FBI is involved and we have a whole new set of resources to use.
And speaking to the GBI just a short while ago, they`re not giving up. I asked directly, when will this -- you know how much longer will this search go on, and I heard from John Bank, and he said, when we find her.
So they have changed their focus, shifted some of the responsibility back over to the FBI now, who, as we mentioned, have a whole new set of resources from laser detection to the VICAM database where they can match similar cases, similar situations with known suspects and known criminals, look for patterns and see if something unfolds.
GRACE: Straight out to Natisha Lance joining us there at the command center in the search for Kristi Cornwell.
Natisha, a lot was made last night as we were reporting about the boyfriend. We now know he is the one that initiated that phone call to her when she is abducted during the cell call. He called her, she was apparently expecting the phone call and had already gone out walking, waiting for him to call.
He was in Atlanta, she was in Blairsville, about two hours away at the time this happened. Now, tell me, Natisha, who can place her, visually place her out walking that evening around 9:00 p.m.?
I mean, a lot of viewers were wondering, how do we know she wasn`t already dead or abducted at the time that call was made to her cell phone?
NATISHA LANCE, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: That`s right, Nancy. Well, according to investigators, who I spoke to today, Kristi Cornwell was seen by an employee who was leaving a church not too far away from her parent`s home. It`s about 0.2 miles away, and around 9:00, once again, when she had just left her home, a very short distance.
This employee did see Kristi Cornwell as she was on her walk. They said -- they were able to tell them which direction she was going, and also Richard Cornwell, when he did come back into the area, he was able to talk to this person and get some more information from them.
GRACE: So we know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, Natisha, that she was in fact walking along that country road not far from her parents` home at the time she was abducted? We know that?
LANCE: That`s correct.
GRACE: OK. Joining me right now along with Natisha there in Blairsville, Joanne Cornwell, this is Kristi`s mother, and Richard Cornwell, her brother. They are asking for your help tonight. She is the mother of a teenage boy who needs her, desperately.
First to Mrs. Jo Ann Cornwell. Mrs. Cornwell, thank you for being with us. What are police telling you?
JO ANN CORNWELL, KRISTI CORNWELL`S MOTHER: Well, they`re just telling us that they`ve not found her yet, they`re searching, they`re expanding their search. They`ve searched within three or four miles of our home and have found nothing, so we`re encouraged about that. And now they`re going to be searching and when they get a lead, they`re going to search those places.
GRACE: Miss Cornwell, why does it encourage you that they found nothing within about a three to four-mile radius of your home?
J. CORNWELL: Well, it just gives me hope that she`s out there somewhere and that she could be -- we live in a rural area. She could still be nearby, but we know it`s not within four or five miles of our home, and so it`s just encouraging that they`ve not found anything.
GRACE: Agree. To Richard Cornwell, her brother. Richard, thank you for being with us. What do you think.
R. CORNWELL: Thank you.
GRACE: . is important for the viewers to know? What is your message? How can we and how can the viewers help you?
R. CORNWELL: Well, we`ve set up a reward fund, we`ve set up a nonprofit, charitable organization and we`re collecting funds to try to establish a reward that we could give to a person that would provide a tip, and United Community Bank is collecting those funds in Blairsville.
GRACE: There`s the number, 706-745-2151. Please help us find this missing mom. Like so many women taking a walk in the evening after her studies, she was studying to follow her dream. She gets home, taking a walk for exercise, on her cell phone, the boyfriend hears her screaming, "Don`t take me! Don`t take me." That`s the last time her voice has been heard.
Richard, she has never disappeared or taken off for a period of hours or day before, has she, Richard?
R. CORNWELL: Absolutely not. This is very uncharacteristic. She walks routinely for exercise but we know she was abducted. There`s no question about it. The evidence spells that.
GRACE: And how is the son? How is her son doing tonight?
R. CORNWELL: He`s doing well. He`s a strong, young man.
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GRACE: This is 38-year-old Kristi Cornwell. A mother. A typical mom who goes walking in the evening when she gets home. Chatting away on a cell phone. She`s never seen again.
I want to go to a special guest, Michael Gast, the president of National Academy of Police Diving. Train special response divers.
Michael, they have been searching a body of water. How does it work?
MICHAEL GAST, PRESIDENT, NATL. ACADEMY OF POLICE DIVING, TRAINS SPECIAL RESPONSE DIVERS: Well, when you search a body of water you`ve got to systematically cover the area. And normally you`ll do that with a search line or what we call a (INAUDIBLE) and it`s just a 50-foot line that keeps the diver on a track.
And as the diver moves through a segment of the bottom they`re able to cover the bottom. And when they sweep out through the area they move to another area and you want to cover the whole bottom.
GRACE: Tell me, Michael, if it is a murky, for instance, lake, how does the diver go about covering it? It`s like you`re looking through pea soup.
GAST: Well, it`s because the diver has got to be trained to not only use his eyes or need his eyes but be able to use his whole body, his tactile senses have got to be in gear to be able to sweep the bottom.
GRACE: Marc Klaas, what`s your suggestion for the family?
MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: Well, I think the family is doing an absolutely magnificent job. They have a Web site. It is KristiCornwell.com and if somebody would go there you`ll find that it`s a very well organized Web site.
It shows pictures of her. It lets you download her flier. It tells you the resources that they really need. They`ve also got a petition on Facebook and interestingly enough I think they`re being very pro-active by telling people not just to look at the picture and say I haven`t seen her but to go out there and to do something about it.
I would suggest that anybody in that community should go to unoccupied houses, apartments, outbuildings, et cetera, to assist in the investigation.
GRACE: Marc Klaas of KlaasKids Foundation.
Let`s stop and remember Army Sergeant Emerson Brand, 29, Rigby, Ohio, killed Iraq on second tour. Also served Kosovo. Loves God, country, family, his pet dogs and cats, his family called him Em.
Dreamed of being an elite Green Beret and a Texas State trooper. He leaves behind grieving parents John and Debbie, grandparents Mary and Gabriel.
Emerson Brand, American hero.
Everyone, I want to thank you for your calls and e-mails supporting my first mystery. As we go to air, we`ve learned "Eleventh Victim" has hit "The New York Times" bestseller list. I only have you and him to thank.
Thank you to our guest but especially to you for being with us. Happy birthday to our star, Dave Weber.
Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night. 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
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