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Nancy Grace
Missing Haleigh`s Stepmom Fails Polly Test; 911 Call Released in Model Murder Case
Aired August 27, 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, Florida. A 5-year-old little girl tucked into bed. Five hours later, she`s gone, vanished into thin air, the back door propped wide open. Daddy comes home from the night shift to find not a trace of little Haleigh.
Bombshell tonight. We learn girlfriend/baby-sitter Misty Croslin, the last known person to see little Haleigh alive, flunks a private polygraph, flunks, quote, "miserably." Not only that, reports she flunked a voice stress test, as well. More disheartening, Croslin changes her story, now saying up to four people in the home the night Haleigh goes missing, but calling it a dream-like memory.
This on the heels of police announcing Haleigh was not kidnapped by a stranger. Repeat, it was no stranger that snuck into the home that night and snatched the little girl. Investigators say Croslin refuses to give straight answers and to account for crucial hours surrounding Haleigh`s disappearance.
In another stunning twist, cops reveal physical evidence at the crime scene contradicts Croslin`s story. Tonight, where is 5-year-old Florida girl Haleigh?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mystery Croslin Cummings told Tim Miller with Equusearch she wanted to clear her name, so he set up an independent polygraph. He says she failed it miserably.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It indicated that Misty was -- "deception indicated" is the official statement, which is no surprise to us. We`ve said all along that Misty has been inconsistent in her statement.
MISTY CROSLIN, HALEIGH`S BABY-SITTER: I just woke up and my back door was open, and I can`t find my daughter.
911 OPERATOR: Can`t find what?
CROSLIN: My daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Miller said she told him she wanted to clear her name, so he set up an independent polygraph. He says she failed it miserably. Miller says Croslin Cummings wanted to do more, so she took a voice analysis test. She failed that, too. And he says she was uncooperative with a hypnotist.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you intentionally withhold any information regarding Haleigh`s disappearance? Her answer was no. She failed it miserably with a 99 percent deception.
CROSLIN: And I go in her room, and she`s gone! And that`s all I know, is when I woke up -- when I went to sleep, she was there. And then when I woke up, she was gone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here`s the back door and here`s the lock. It sticks. So there you go. Now we open the back door and here`s the back screen door, the one that was propped open with the cinderblock, OK? Now, if you see, when you close it, it slams. It makes a loud noise. But if you leave this door, this slowly closes, as well.
CROSLIN: I just want everybody to know that I didn`t do anything with that little girl! I love her like she`s my own. And I`ll do anything to get her back!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I agree with the point that was made by Tim Miller`s investigator, which is that Misty`s consistency is inconsistency.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You`ll do anything? Then tell the truth!
And breaking news. Live to LA, a quiet apartment community reeling after a suitcase discovered in a communal dumpster opened to reveal a female body. Identity unsolved for days, much less how she came to be murdered, then thrown away like trash. The body inside that suitcase, 28- year-old swimsuit model Jasmine Fiore brutally beaten, her teeth pulled out of her head, her fingers removed, cut off to conceal identity. How ID the body? Serial numbers off Fiore`s breast implants, her body that traumatized.
In a bizarre twist, a reality TV star wanted for the murder found dead in a hotel room, 32-year-old Ryan Jenkins`s luxury BMW and empty boat trailer abandoned at the U.S./Canadian border, Jenkins dead, hanging by a belt from this coat rack inside this hotel room. Jenkins traveling with an alleged accomplice, a mystery blonde who checks him into the hotel while he stays hidden. Was the blonde with him in LA? Did she help in the task of dismembering and disposing of Fiore`s body?
Bombshell tonight. 911 calls released. We have the audio. And in another stunning development, photos surface of Fiore and her ex-husband just days before the murder. Did the murder occur during a jealous rage? Fiore`s missing black-top Mercedes located in a Hollywood parking lot, at this hour, techs coming every inch of the car. Tonight, Jenkins`s ex- fiancee and his family members fire back.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: How long ago was this body found?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, here`s what happened. I manage the sober (ph) living (ph) in front building and the third building, and the guy that collects the cans said (INAUDIBLE) You might need to go back in the back, I think I found a body. Then he took off.
So I`m, like, OK. I thought he was pranking, but I had to check it out. So I came back and there`s a big suitcase. The back building is empty, OK, and the -- you guys, the police, have been out here a couple times for some people that were evicted or something. I came back here and there`s a big suitcase partially unzipped. And I took my middle finger and I just lifted it up, and sure enough, it looked like the body of a child in a suitcase back here.
911 OPERATOR: And it looks like there`s a body of a child inside this suitcase?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, it`s a body.
911 OPERATOR: It`s for sure a body?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I mean, yes. It`s a small body. It`s a small child folded. And it looks like there was some dried brown or (INAUDIBLE) you know, I didn`t look long. I didn`t want to (DELETED) up whatever was there for you guys.
911 OPERATOR: Right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, and I just called you guys immediately, so...
911 OPERATOR: How old is this -- do you know about how old?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Little. I mean, the suitcase is, like, two feet by three feet. It`s little.
911 OPERATOR: Like, two to three foot, you`re saying?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know what, small suitcase, I mean...
911 OPERATOR: Are you saying two to three feet or two to three years?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, here, let me go back and I`ll give you a better estimate.
911 OPERATOR: I`m sorry, what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me walk back over there. I`ll give you a better estimate (INAUDIBLE)
911 OPERATOR: OK, I don`t want you to go around or touch anything. That`s OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m not touching it, I`m just looking over into the dumpster.
911 OPERATOR: OK. Don`t even touch the dumpster.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no. It is a foot-and-a-half deep by two- and-a-half feet by three feet.
911 OPERATOR: The suitcase?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. It`s like one of those zipped-up roller carry-on type bags with a rigid front on it -- like, a semi-rigid front, and it`s unzipped at the bottom. And there`s a lot of ants going into it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Did the last known person to see little Haleigh alive, girlfriend/baby-sitter Misty Croslin, flunk a polygraph, quote, "miserably," racking up a score of 99 percent deceptive? Not only that, Croslin reportedly flunks a voice stress test. This as cops announce it was no stranger that kidnapped little 5-year-old Haleigh from her own bed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RONALD CUMMINGS, HALEIGH`S FATHER: Hello?
911 OPERATOR: OK, sir, let me talk to your wife. Let me get some information from her.
CUMMINGS: (INAUDIBLE)
911 OPERATOR: Can I talk to her?
CUMMINGS: (INAUDIBLE)
911 OPERATOR: OK.
CUMMINGS: (INAUDIBLE) my daughter (INAUDIBLE)
CROSLIN: I laid down. It was about -- I`m not positive what time. It was, like, 3:00. You know, it was -- I seen 3:00, 3:00 o`clock in the morning. I got up. And I got up because I had to use the bathroom, but I didn`t make it to the bathroom. I seen the kitchen light on. And I walked in the kitchen, and the back door was wide open. And I didn`t notice about Haleigh then until I seen the back door open.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The back door has two locks on the door. The second lock, which you would have to turn, is a tight lock, so it wouldn`t be likely that little Haleigh would have been able to turn the lock and then let herself out the door.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Misty Cummings was the last person to see the girl before she disappeared from the Florida home in February. She insists she has no idea where Haleigh is. But the director of the Texas company Equusearch says Cummings failed the polygraph test that she took voluntarily to try to clear her name.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know where Haleigh is now? She answered that, No. It was 95 percent deception. Fourth question was, Do you know who took Haleigh? She answered no, and it came back 42 percent deception.
GRACE: Obviously, you`re saying that this laceration was caused by the father. It came from a fall from the monkey bars, according to this school report.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to T.J. Hart, program and news director at WSKY, joining us from Gainesville. This is a major development in the case. The last known person, which is where every investigation starts, was Misty Croslin, the last known person to see the little girl alive. This case has been stymied at a standstill for months, and now we learn she flunks -- not flunks, but flunks with flying colors, a polygraph, T.J. Hart.
T.J. HART, WSKY (via telephone): Indeed, she did. And in fact, she asked to take this polygraph in order to clear her name. Now, the last time we spoke on your program, we talked about a message that was issued by the Putnam County sheriff`s office in a press release on Haleigh`s 6th birthday that asked the public to come forward with any information they may have had on Misty Cummings`s whereabouts the night the child disappeared. They said the story had been inconsistent.
Now, it appears that Misty had asked to get this -- a polygraph taken care of through Tim Miller with Texas Equusearch. He arranged a team, and like you said, flunked with flying colors. And on top of that, still some more inconsistencies arose from some of the stories she told them, and that`s according to the Putnam County sheriff`s office, who`s received copies of this so far.
And one of them is with that timeline once again, where she claims she put Haleigh down at 8:00 PM and herself went to sleep at 10:00, to wake up abruptly at 3:00 to find Haleigh gone. Well, guess what? Ronald Cummings says that bed was made, didn`t appear that anybody had been to bed. And it kind of contradicts a few things that have been mentioned earlier in that stream of inconsistent stories. So a lot of things...
GRACE: So Ronald Cummings...
HART: ... happening really fast.
GRACE: With me, T.J. Hart from WSKY. T.J., are you telling me -- let me get this straight. She says she realizes the little girl is gone at 3:00 AM, the little girl`s bed about three feet away from her own. But Ronald Cummings comes home from the night shift and the bed is made up?
HART: That is what we are being told are the results of the questioning that took place over that two-day period, Nancy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All I can say to that person is you`re tearing us apart. We just exist. And I want you to please have a heart. Let our little baby girl go. Let her come home to her family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CUMMINGS: I just got home from work. My 5-year-old daughter is gone. I need somebody to be here now!
CROSLIN: I got up because I had to use the bathroom, but I didn`t make it to the bathroom. I seen the kitchen light on, and I walked in the kitchen and the back door`s wide open.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right beside me on my left is the bed where Misty Croslin was sleeping, and here on the right we have the bed where little Haleigh was sleeping. And you can see, it is all but about three- and-a-half feet from each other. And this is right where Misty said she got up and she had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
Now, where I`m facing right now, Nancy, is a bathroom. It`s the master bathroom. Through the living room behind me is the other bathroom in the house. And you have to remember, she said that she -- when she got up to go to the bathroom, she saw that the kitchen light was on. The kitchen is over this way. So that means she would have had to have gotten up and gone out this door and then have noticed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you believe that Misty was, indeed, home and that she`s been telling the truth?
CUMMINGS: Yes, I believe she`s telling the truth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s my understanding that Misty did execute the polygraph and was pressured to do so. She was apparently -- I`ve confirmed this with Mr. Terry Schumaker (ph), who is Mr. Ronald Cummings`s new attorney, and it`s my understanding from both Misty, Ronald and Ronald`s grandmother that Mr. Miller was present and he apparently made a statement that if they did not -- she did not take the polygraph, they were not going to bring the search teams in and search for Haleigh.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. In a stunning development in the search for little Haleigh Cummings, missing out of Satsuma, Florida, we now learn that the last known person to see her alive, the person that allegedly put her to bed around 8:00 PM, realized she was missing at 3:00 AM, has flunked a polygraph. She was not forced into this polygraph. She asked for the polygraph. That`s our understanding.
What about it? To Mark Nejame. He is the attorney for Tim Miller with Texas Equusearch. What about it, Mark?
MARK NEJAME, ATTORNEY FOR TIM MILLER, TEXAS EQUUSEARCH: Good evening, Nancy. No, she -- she made the request. We got contacted by Teresa Neves, and they all -- the family all wanted to know what happened to this child. And it was made very clear that we were only there to help out concerning finding this child. And she wanted to clear her name, so we started out that way.
GRACE: And she flunked up to 99 percent?
NEJAME: As I understand it, three of the questions were 95 percent to 99 percent.
GRACE: To Mark Nejame, a well-respected attorney, joining us out of the Orlando area. Mark, did she also flunk a voice stress test?
NEJAME: Yes. After the results came in clearly not in the direction that she wanted, it was her position that she wanted to continue clearing her name. So Tim went to Satsuma, the town where they -- where they`re from, and two different tests were administered. One was, in fact, the voice stress analysis. And apparently, the results and the opinion was...
GRACE: Let me guess, she flunked that, too?
NEJAME: Same type of results, according to Tim, and the same -- same percentages, basically. And then hypnosis was requested and attempted, and unfortunately, the results were that she was not willing to allow herself to be -- to go under. And if somebody`s not willing to do that, then the tests are really of little value.
GRACE: So she would not go along with the hypnosis?
NEJAME: According to Tim.
GRACE: Straight out to Mike Brooks, former fed with the FBI. Explain to me how a polygraph and a stress test -- a voice stress test works.
MIKE BROOKS, FORMER D.C. POLICE, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, Nancy, a polygraph basically monitors changes in the body. It monitors your vital signs, your blood pressure, your respiration, your -- the sweat.
GRACE: Your sweat.
BROOKS: Exactly, the sweat on your hands, you know, as the polygrapher is giving the test. Now, I`m not real crazy about voice stress analysis. I think the polygraph is a better investigative tool. It`s been used for years and years.
And apparently, you know, Tim Miller is saying that the -- you know, the person who gave the test, who administered the polygraph, is very, very experienced because -- I tell you, you know, I`ve used it very -- many times when I was with the FBI as an investigative tool, and it`s only as good as the person who`s administrated it, Nancy.
GRACE: Well, I have great faith in polygraph tests for the most part, if I know what the questions are and who is giving the polygraph.
We`re taking your calls live. Out to Susan in Maine. Hi, Susan.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. God bless you. Thank you for being there for all of us.
GRACE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would like to know, if a person consistently flunks a polygraph test, as this young woman has, why don`t the police have the right to arrest her, or do they?
GRACE: Well, there`s a little thing called the Constitution that gets in the way of that. Unleash the lawyers, Mickey Sherman, criminal defense attorney, author of "How Can You Defend Those People?" and Richard Herman, veteran trial lawyer out of the New York jurisdiction. What about it, Richard?
RICHARD HERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, you know these tests are not admissible. And I`d like to know...
GRACE: Wa! Wait!
HERMAN: When you were a rock star...
GRACE: Before you say that, if both parties consent...
HERMAN: Yes.
GRACE: ... then it is admissible. So be careful what you say and how you phrase these assertions you`re making.
HERMAN: OK. When you are a rock-star prosecutor in Atlanta, if I sent you a polygraph exonerating my client, what would you do with that report, Nancy?
GRACE: If that`s what you sent me and I knew nothing more about it, I would do absolutely nothing. But if I arranged the polygraph myself at the Georgia Bureau of Investigations, I might pay it a little more attention.
We`ll be back with Mickey Sherman, taking your calls line. The last known person to see little Haleigh Cummings, Satsuma, Florida, alive flunks a polygraph. Is it finally a break in the case? Where is Haleigh Cummings?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And she says, Is there any way we can do a voice test? I hear they work. And they contacted (INAUDIBLE) contacted a hypnotist that`s actually retired from NYPD, a detective, and everything was just miserably failed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Not only does she fail a polygraph "miserably" is the quote, and that`s a good way to put it, she apparently fails a voice stress test, as well, and refuses to go along with a hypnosis test. I`m talking about Misty Croslin, the girlfriend/baby-sitter turned teen bride that says she put the little 5-year-old girl to bed at 8:00 PM while Daddy was at the night shift, only to find her missing at 3:00 AM.
Here`s what she had to say on the "Today" show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Help me out, Misty. Why were there inconsistencies? Why did you say one thing one time and one time the other -- one thing the other?
CROSLIN: I don`t know.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But you know you did do that?
CROSLIN: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you`re not sure why?
CROSLIN: No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Misty, as you sit here, do you believe in your heart that they see you as a suspect?
CROSLIN: No, I don`t.
CUMMINGS: I don`t either. I talked to a detective. His name is John Rungeon (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he said...
CUMMINGS: No, he doesn`t think that she`s a suspect.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That is Misty Croslin and Ronald Cummings on the "Today" show with NBC. Out to the lines. Charlene in Georgia. Hi, Charlene.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy.
GRACE: What is your question, dear?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have -- I`ve been wondering, the blanket that she supposedly washed in the middle of the night after she put the child to bed, has anybody tested that blanket for blood residue or...
GRACE: Excellent question. What about it, Natisha Lance?
NATISHA LANCE, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Investigators have collected all the evidence so far, and they say that the only hindrance that they have at this point is Misty Croslin. She is the key, and she is holding up the investigation with her inconsistencies time and time again.
GRACE: Weigh in, Mickey Sherman.
MICKEY SHERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: The problem is, it`s not an exact science, neither polygraph or voice stress. I mean, you might as well get a fortune teller, as well. Why question is, Why do we know about her flunking?
GRACE: Well, hold on.
SHERMAN: We should not be knowing about this.
GRACE: Put Sherman up. Mickey Sherman, isn`t it true that you have submitted some of your clients to polygraph tests?
SHERMAN: Absolutely, but I`m not telling you about it.
GRACE: Well, then why are you saying that it`s like reading the tarot cards?
SHERMAN: Because it`s...
GRACE: You`ve done it yourself.
SHERMAN: Absolutely. But...
GRACE: Don`t be dishonest, Sherman!
SHERMAN: I`m not. It provides a road map and it gives you an idea. But you don`t...
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MISTY CROSLIN, RONALD CUMMING`S WIFE, LAST SEEN HALEIGH: I`m trying to do everything to find her. You know, I`m answering questions I have to because I know I didn`t do anything to that little girl. I would never hurt her. They love me. They love -- I mean, they look at me like their mom, you know. If you ask little Junior, he`ll tell you. You know? They talk lovely about me and I`m so good to them kids.
RONALD CUMMINGS, FATHER OF MISSING 5-YR-OLD HALEIGH CUMMINGS: I pulled into the yard, the front door was wide open. She was standing in it. I asked her what she was doing up. She told me that the back door was wide open and Haleigh was gone. I turned the house upside down. Started to call 911.
CROSLIN: I did take a polygraph.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And you passed it?
CROSLIN: I mean, my understanding is that I passed it.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Have you and your girlfriend both taken a polygraph, right?
CUMMINGS: Yes, I have. Passed with flying colors. She has, passed hers.
GRACE: And you volunteered to do that, and you`ve been cooperating with police, right?
CUMMINGS: Yes. Why not? I don`t have anything to hide. I just want my daughter back. Anything that`s going to help them eliminate more people. That`s the best thing.
ROBERT FIELDS, ATTORNEY FOR MISTY CROSLIN: Well, I got a call from Misty. And I missed a call and I`d gotten a text. At the third call, I got a third call from her, and I -- at that call, I determined that it must be an emergency.
Misty was on the phone. She was upset. She mentioned that Mr. Miller was there and that he had taken a polygraph of her. And I was, of course, shocked. And I didn`t really know what to say.
At that point, she asked Mr. Miller if he would speak to me. He got on the phone. I spoke to a person that I was informed was Mr. Miller. He read to me verbally the statement that Misty had written. I asked him why he was speaking to my client.
He knew she was represented and she -- he basically reiterated that there was a waiver of some type and he also informed me that she failed miserably.
CALLER: Hello?
911 OPERATOR: OK, sir, let me talk to your wife. Let me get some information from her.
CALLER: Man.
911 OPERATOR: OK. `
CALLER: (INAUDIBLE)
911 OPERATOR: Can I talk to her? OK.
CALLER: How the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) can you let my daughter get stole, (EXPLETIVE DELETED)?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Great out to Bethany Marshall, Dr. Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst, author of "Dealbreakers," what do you make? How do you discern her demeanor? Misty Croslin`s demeanor?
BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST, AUTHOR OF "DEALBREAKERS": I think she is so arrogant, deceptive and manipulative, and lacks big-picture thinking. She thought she could cheat on and ace a polygraph as a scheme to get EquuSearch in to detract the attention away from her.
It`s just an elaborate ruse. And what that makes me wonder is, is she feeling the heat from her husband? Is she feeling the heat from a relative or, more importantly, is she feeling the heat from the police?
But it is so arrogant and so cruel to exploit EquuSearch. That`s such a valuable organization, just to distract the attention away from her. It`s small-minded, arrogant and mean.
GRACE: Marc Klaas, founder of KlaasKids Foundation. Marc, what do you make of it?
MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: Well, I don`t -- I usually agree with Bethany, but in this case, I don`t. I almost think that EquuSearch is exploiting the situation.
I know what my role is in these kinds of cases when we`re called in to search. It`s exactly to do that, to get our teams out there, to physically search for the person. But to conduct or own private polygraphs and then go out and spread the word out of -- around the world that somebody had failed the polygraph that we had put together for them, I think is -- is the height of irresponsibility.
And I really don`t see how it serves anybody more than Tim Miller. It certainly doesn`t seem to serve the case at all. And I`m very concerned about this personally.
GRACE: Well, Marc, I`m a little more concerned about the fact that she flunked the polygraph and the voice stress test.
KLAAS: But we know.
GRACE: . and would not submit to hypnosis. That`s a little more disturbing to me than whether Tim Miller may or may not have overstepped his bounds. He`s not a lawyer.
KLAAS: But then again that.
GRACE: He didn`t violate any legal code. She asked him to set up a polygraph, and he did it.
KLAAS: But that`s -- but that`s according to Tim Miller. He`s the person whose word we have on that. We`ve all known and we`ve all said, Nancy, from the first time this show -- this story was reported that Misty has been deceptive, that her stories don`t make sense, and that the key to this case lies with her. Nothing has changed as far as that goes.
GRACE: Well, to me, our suspicions are confirmed if, in fact, she failed a polygraph miserably.
Let`s get a response from Miller`s attorney, Mark Nejame. What about it, Mark?
MARK NEJAME, ATTORNEY FOR TIM MILLER, TEXAS EQUUSEARCH: Yes, let me straighten him up. Tim Miller`s role with Texas EquuSearch is to find lost and missing people. There was a request for him to come in and do whatever was needed to help find this child. There`s not a rule book that says you can only do it one way.
If, in fact, she wanted to take a polygraph and she wanted to take these other tests to exonerate herself, then she was given an opportunity by a civilian who`s out there trying to help people.
And so for somebody to suggest that he`s done something improper is ridiculous. He`s out there trying to find children. And if he could do it by this means, then he did it by this means. And if he could do it by another means, so be it. But to limit somebody to find a child, we`re getting to these political rules, that`s nonsense, absurd, and inappropriate.
GRACE: Hold on. I want to go back to the callers. Terry in New Jersey, hi, Terry.
TERRY, CALLER FROM NEW JERSEY: Hi, Nancy.
GRACE: What`s your question, dear?
TERRY: I have a comment more or less. Didn`t the cops figure this out when the child was missing and Misty and Ronald got married all of a sudden?
GRACE: Well, here`s the deal on that. A lot of people including myself first suspected -- did they get married so they couldn`t testify against each other? But in Florida, the husband/wife privilege does not apply in cases where a child victim is the center of the case. So if they got married for that reason, they were wrong.
And out to T.J. Hart with WSKY, are they still together even after she`s flunked a poly and will not answer police`s question? Is Ronald Cummings still married and living with her?
T.J. HART, PROGRAM & NEWS DIR., WSKY 97.3FM, COVERING STORY (via phone): Yes. As a matter of fact, they just got them making a nice little comment to First Coast News just a minute ago stating that both -- Misty made the statement just a moment ago that she and her husband, saying that they`re both together, will now have nothing more to do with Tim Miller in -- in this case. And there`s more coming down the pike on this. This is just breaking. But yes, they are still together to answer the initial question.
GRACE: Well, you know, it seems to me, and I`ll throw this to the lawyers, Mickey Sherman, Richard Herman, that if she`s going to make a public statement, she should have said something like, well, I didn`t flunk that polygraph. Instead, she`s going on the attack on Tim Miller.
Why, Mickey Sherman? How does that help anything?
MICKEY SHERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, AUTHOR OF "HOW CAN YOU DEFEND THOSE PEOPLE?": Well, first of all, she`s underage, and also she has a lawyer. I mean that is totally inappropriate to bypass the lawyer because the overriding reasons is where to find the child.
GRACE: I`m not asking you -- Miller is under no duty to get the polygraph or not get the polygraph. That`s just like asking somebody out of the street, can you help me set up a polygraph? It wasn`t his duty to go, oh, no, I don`t think that`s not appropriate. Leave Miller alone. That`s not the problem.
Am I -- am I the crazy one? Mike Brooks, is everybody ignoring the fact the last person to see her alive has failed a polygraph? And a voice stress test. And would not submit to hypnosis.
Brooks, throw me a bone.
MIKE BROOKS, FMR. DC POLICE DETECTIVE SERVED ON FBI TERRORISM TASK FORCE: Nancy, I totally agree with you. You know and remember early on.
GRACE: Crazy.
BROOKS: We just saw -- we just saw the -- you know, they had taken a polygraph earlier from the FBI. We don`t know what the results of that is. You know what? I don`t blame Tim Miller. If she`s asking for his help, and he`s going to put all his resources and volunteers out there, hey, let`s find out whether she`s telling the truth or not. That`s why he paid for this.
GRACE: I`m going to go straight to Dr. Keri Peterson, internal medicine, Lenox Hill Hospital, highly respected.
Dr. Peterson, is it possible that her body is there but in such a state it has not been found? I mean, what state would it be in if it had been outside all this time?
DR. KERI PETERSON, M.D., INTERNAL MEDICINE, LENOX HILL HOSPITAL: Hi, Nancy. What`s it been, about six months now? I mean, at this point in time, the body -- all the soft tissue has decomposed and all that`s left is bone. I mean this really almost reminds me of the Caylee Anthony case where -- when so much time elapsed, they just found bone and hair.
And it`s very possible at this point that the body could be missed because all that`s left are these subtle remnants.
GRACE: With me, Dr. Keri Peterson joining us from Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. We are taking your calls live, but to tonight`s case alert. Miracle. An 11-year-old little California girl snatched walking to school two decades ago, found alive. Jaycee Duggard forced into a gray van, Salt Lake, Tahoe, 1991.
Her stepfather watching helplessly just one block away. A 58-year-old Bay Area sex offender who was out from behind bars and his wife under arrest. Duggard set for a reunion with her mother and the babysitter she -- the baby sister she never saw grow up.
And the verdict is in. Tonight, iReport winner of the "Number One Fan" contest, California`s Kathryn. She never misses this show, even turned her oldest daughter into one of our biggest fans. Not only has Kathryn been following the show from the very beginning, but I want to thank her for all of her prayers for me and the twins when we`re all in intensive care following their delivery.
I believe God heard your prayers, Kathryn. You get that new signed copy of the thriller, "New York Times" best-seller, believe it or not, "Eleventh Victim."
Kathryn, thank you, friend.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How long ago was this body found?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Here`s what happened. I manage the Sober Living in the front building and the third building and the guy that collects the cans said (INAUDIBLE), you might need to go back in the back. I think I found a body. Then he took off.
So I`m like, OK. I thought he was pranking but I had to check it out so I came back and there`s a big suitcase. The back building is empty, OK? And the -- you guys, the police had been out here a couple of times for some people that were evicted or something.
So I came back here and there`s a big suitcase partially unzipped and I took my middle finger and I just lifted it up and sure enough it looks like a body of a child in a suitcase back here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, (INAUDIBLE) reports that they did have a previous relationship that included marriage or we haven`t been able to confirm that by seeing a marriage certificate. But that was at some time before the marriage and relationship with Jenkins, the suspect.
They obviously had some kind of an ongoing relationship. We don`t know to what extent. He -- we did receive a report that she did pick him up and had visited him at least once since the time he had been released from prison. And we don`t have any details as to whether their relationship was being rekindled or if it was simply for old times` sake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Jon Baird with KNX 1070, these photos that are just emerging -- we`re showing you photos we`ve obtained by "Inside Edition," exclusive photos of Jasmine Fiore just a few days before her brutal murder with her ex-husband.
JON BAIRD, REPORTER, KNX 1070; COVERING STORY: That`s what they`re saying.
GRACE: Explain, John Baird.
BAIRD: That`s what they`re saying. This is a shocker to everyone. Apparently, this parolee, she picked him up from prison. She was with him a couple of days before her murder. He apparently -- my understanding is he called his parole agent and came out. Maybe he didn`t want to be blamed for this after he found out she had been killed. And they went out and interviewed him.
They determined he`s not involved in the murder, but they did arrest him on a parole violation and sent him back to prison. But this is an entirely different person involved with Jasmine Fiore and may be an ex-husband.
GRACE: Well, it`s my understanding he`s an ex-fiance, but there may be more to that story.
Ellie Jostad, what can you tell me? Could this explain motive for murder? Not that I think it`s valid, but if Jenkins, her husband, finds out she just spent two or three days with her ex, here are the photos to prove it.
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: Right. Yes. This guy actually was married to Jasmine Fiore from about 2004 to about 2005. As he explained, he was in prison. He just got out apparently around August 11th or 12th.
She went and picked him up. They apparently celebrated, they spent some time at the beach. There are also reports they may have spent the night there together. And we don`t know if Ryan Jenkins knew about it, but that would certainly explain a lot of things.
GRACE: But Ellie, back to what we know about the night or two before she was murdered. Wasn`t she sending -- going to the restroom at a restaurant or the poker game and sending a lot of text messages on her cell phone and witnesses say Jenkins became furious, wanting to know who are you texting, who are you calling?
JOSTAD: Exactly. Exactly. He kept asking her apparently, according to people who were there, kept asking who is that on the phone and she said, oh, it`s my mom. And really now her ex-fiance Robert Hasmin (ph) has come out and said she was texting me. We were talking.
It actually sounds like they were planning to reconcile. She said she was going to come visit him.
GRACE: Now, we understand that his family, his aunt in particular, and his fiance are coming out swinging. What did the fiance have to say?
JOSTAD: Well, the fiance says, and this is an actress and model who lives up in Calgary, she says that he was a great guy, he was a sweetheart. She never saw any red flags that would indicate something like this.
GRACE: OK. Let`s take a listen to what the fiance had to say just a few hours ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT LAUER, CO-HOST, NBC`S "TODAY" SHOW: Hearing accusations of abuse and murder, is this the guy you knew?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
(LAUGHTER)
This is what is so surprising because, you know, I was with him for 2 1/2 years. And of course, we fought, you know, just like any normal relationship. And there was no signs of, you know, violence and -- or even a -- potentially, well, at some point that person might, you know, commit a murder. Nothing.
LAUER: So not even a hint. Not even a hint that this would be a man, in your opinion, who would be capable of doing what he`s now accused of doing?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
LAUER: Why did your relationship end?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We actually ended off on a good note, but he wanted to have an open relationship. He was definitely a lady`s man. Love the attention.
LAUER: He wanted to see other people?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, yes. And, you know, it was kind of a mutual understanding. We said, you know what, not so much. You know I`m engaged to you. At some point I`d like to have a family and a solid marriage. And I said, well, no -- and we kind of ended off on a good note. I wished him all the best with everything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That is Ryan Jenkins` ex-fiance on NBC`s "Today" show just a few hours ago. To Bethany Marshall, Dr. Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst, author of "Dealbreakers," hold on. Did you just hear, oh, he was a nice, nice guy, but he wanted an open marriage? Mutually exclusive.
MARSHALL: Well, I wouldn`t -- she may not be the most reliable historian of this relationship and what -- if you look at O`Hare`s 20-point checklist, this is the checklist that is used in forensic settings to determine if someone is a psychopath.
At the top of the checklist, you have promiscuity and ability to form a commitment, unwillingness to get a job, glib, superficial, charming. I mean it`s just sort of goes pathological jealousy, rage. Treating a woman like she`s an object and a possession, but the minute she disappoints you, you kind of strike out, slice and dice.
I mean this is a classic profile of a psychopath and I think she`s really minimizing the severity, possibly of what was going on in that relationship or what was brewing.
GRACE: OK.
MARSHALL: . for him psychologically.
GRACE: To the lawyers. Mickey Sherman, Richard Herman. We`re taking your calls live.
Richard Herman, you and I and Mickey, of course, have handled a lot of homicide cases on two different sides of the fence. But I find it hard to believe that he had the wherewithal to dismember this body without an accomplice.
RICHARD HERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Unbelievable, Nancy. And the way she was brutalized, there were reports that are coming back, every teeth removed, fingers removed. I mean I -- he had to be in some kind of rage like an O.J. situation. I mean I don`t understand this.
GRACE: We`ll be back with Sherman, but as we go to break I want to thank two little crime fighters for this special crime scene book made just for the show out of blue Post-It notes.
Note the bloody crime scene drawn -- there`s the bloody crime scene in great detail. Caroline and Huck are the beautiful children of cold case expert Sheryl McCollum.
Thank you, Caroline and Huck. I can always use a little more evidence.
And happy birthday coming up this weekend to Georgia friend of the show, Anne Lynch. Happy birthday beautiful, Anne.
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GRACE: To Carolyn Jarvis, global national reporter with CNN affiliate Global News. What`s happening on your end? She`s joining us from British Columbia.
CAROLYN JARVIS, GLOBAL NATIONAL REPORTER, CNN AFFILIATE GLOBAL NEWS; COVERING STORY: Hello, Nancy. Everybody is waiting for word from the Buena Park Police Department.
They`re going to hold a news conference in just over a half hour`s time to tell us what they found from those forensic tests in the white black-topped Mercedes that were found in the Trader Joe`s parking lot yesterday afternoon. Everybody wants to know was how that vehicle may have been linked to this crime.
Now here`s an interesting sidebar. Dan Jenkins, that`s Ryan Jenkins` father, who`s from east of here, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, released a statement today saying he was pleased that the vehicle was found.
And the reason why he`s maintained Ryan`s innocence is because he believes there will be surveillance video from the neighborhood that will prove ultimately who drove that vehicle to that parking lot and then, of course, we know the rest of the story.
GRACE: Sounds like a severe case of denial. To Mickey Sherman, you know what could be found in that car? Remember the Wayne Williams case?
SHERMAN: Yes.
GRACE: The serial murderer who was ultimately convicted on fiber evidence. In that car there may be fibers from the crime scene where the murder or the dismemberment occurred. You know, carpet, towel, whatever.
SHERMAN: I just don`t think they`re going to find anybody else to prosecute here. He`s dead, she`s dead. And I know the father, as you said, may be in denial, but why did he kill himself? I mean that`s somewhat persuasive that he may have been guilty.
GRACE: Everyone, let`s stop and remember Army Sergeant Douglas Bill, 29, (INAUDIBLE), Pennsylvania, on a second tour. Also served in Germany. Awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, National Defense Service Medal and Army Service Ribbon.
Never met a stranger. Had a smile that lit up a room. Loved football, paintball with friends. Leaves behind grieving parents Chris and Mary, and widow, Tara, 6-year-old daughter, Arianna, and 3-year-old son, Jamie.
Douglas Bull, American hero.
Thanks to our guests but especially to you for being with us. I`ll see you tomorrow night 8:00 sharp Eastern, and a special welcome back to our chief line producer Liz Gillies (ph).
Until tomorrow night, good night, friend.
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