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Nancy Grace
Letter Says Haleigh Died at Oxycontin Party
Aired September 23, 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, Satsuma, Florida. A 5- year-old little girl tucked into bed. Five hours later, she`s gone, vanished, the back door propped wide open. Daddy comes home from the night shift to find not a trace of little Haleigh.
Bombshell tonight. A letter emerges in the search for Haleigh, outlining details of a party the night Haleigh goes missing, a party fueled by drugs. At the party, Misty Croslin. With her, little Haleigh. Reports that night little Haleigh accidentally ingests the heavy-duty painkiller oxycontin and dies. We have the letter.
This as new stepmom Misty Croslin skips town after a bitter fight with Haleigh`s father, Ronald Cummings. Croslin`s brother, behind bars on a gun charge, leading to another break. In a late-night jailhouse interrogation, we learn the brother finally confesses he goes to Haleigh`s house the night she goes missing, pounds on the door repeatedly, nobody home. Phone records confirming Ronald Cummings tries desperately to reach Croslin that night, no answer.
Where was girlfriend turned stepmother Misty Croslin during those crucial hours when Haleigh goes missing? Investigators focusing on a heavily wooded area, draining a local pond in connection with Haleigh. As girlfriend turned stepmom Misty Croslin flunks another polygraph, tonight, where is Haleigh?
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: OK, sir, let me talk to your wife. Let me get some information from her.
RONALD CUMMINGS, HALEIGH`S FATHER: (INAUDIBLE)
911 OPERATOR: OK...
CUMMINGS: (INAUDIBLE)
911 OPERATOR: Can I talk to her? OK.
CUMMINGS: How the (DELETED) can you let my daughter get stole (DELETED)
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was Haleigh Cummings the victim of a drug overdose? According to a letter allegedly from one of stepmom-slash-baby- sitter Misty Croslin`s friends, Haleigh died from an overdose of oxycontin, and then her body was thrown into a pond.
MISTY CROSLIN, HALEIGH`S BABY-SITTER/STEPMOTHER: I`ll do anything to get her back. People think that I had something to do with it. If I had something to do with it I or knew where she was, we wouldn`t be sitting here today, we would have her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The letter claims police were given a sworn affidavit by a friend of Misty`s that states Misty, Haleigh and a group of friends were partying at one of the friend`s homes the night of Haleigh`s disappearance. When Haleigh overdosed, the friends panicked, shoved Haleigh`s body in a black bag and tossed her in a nearby pond.
GRACE: Crystal, what do you make of the recent developments, the developments especially about Misty Croslin flunking a polygraph?
CRYSTAL SHEFFIELD, HALEIGH`S MOTHER: Well, I thought all along that she had something to do with it, and now this kind of just proves it. I mean, she was the last one to see our daughter, and her stories just don`t add up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police say they are completely ignoring the letter and are denying any existence of this alleged sworn affidavit from Misty`s friend. Reports are all of the friends have been cleared.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She is still the most important witness in this case. She`s the last person to see the children. She was with them. She`s an important person to be spoken to, and law enforcement needs to go get her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, live to Connecticut and the sudden disappearance of a gorgeous young Ivy League doctoral student just before she`s set to walk down the aisle, the 24-year-old beauty last spotted on grainy surveillance video walking into a Yale research building. A false fire alarm mysteriously goes off in the building. People rush out. Annie Le never seen again.
At nearly the exact hour Le set to walk down the aisle -- wedding dress on a hanger in the closet, flowers ordered -- the girl`s body found stuffed in a two-foot wall cable space there at Yale`s research building. In the early morning hours, police storm a Super 8 motel to arrest 24-year- old lab tech Raymond Clark on murder one.
Tonight, Clark`s alleged history of stalking, threatening, harassing women resurfaces, his former girlfriend breaking her silence, revealing Clark a control freak during their relationship, lashing out, dictating what she says, where she goes, even what she wears. We have the video.
In the last hours, investigators back at the crime scene, zeroing in on a basement washroom where mouse cages are cleaned. Was this senseless murder over laboratory mice cages? And another twist. Was suspect Raymond Clark fueled by steroids?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A former girlfriend claims the man accused of killing a Yale University grad student was extremely controlling.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a shocking interview with "Good Morning America," Ray Clark`s ex-girlfriend was so scared of the Yale lab tech, telling ABC News Clark would get very angry, often, Frighten me. He`d get this little look in his eye, and sometimes it was just better to do what he said.
JESSICA DEL ROCCO, CLARK`S FORMER GIRLFRIEND: He would frighten me. It escalated a lot after -- I mean, with the controlling issue, it escalated from there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jessica Del Rocco tells ABC`s "Good Morning America" Clark told her what clothes she could wear and who she could have as friends. Del Rocco says Clark sometimes got so angry, she was frightened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a matter of weeks, Jessica says, Clark went from the perfect boyfriend to becoming manipulative, controlling.
DEL ROCCO: It was anger, yelling. As the relationship progressed, like, if things didn`t go his way, then he`d make them go his way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. Was 5-year-old Haleigh taken to a late-night party fueled by drugs, where she ingested the heavy-duty painkiller oxycontin?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROSLIN: I know I didn`t do anything to that little girl. I would never hurt her. I mean, they love me. I mean, they look at me like their mom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did Haleigh Cummings die from an overdose of oxycontin? A letter obtained allegedly from a friend of Misty Croslin claims that Haleigh got her hands on the powerful narcotic while at a party with Misty and her friends the night of the disappearance.
GRACE: Now that you have been told, whether you accept it or not, that your wife has flunked a poly, have you asked her what happened?
CUMMINGS: I asked her, but I don`t get any answers from her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The letter states that cops were given a sworn affidavit from a friend of Misty`s, who claims everyone at the party, quote, "freaked out" when the toddler overdosed, then put Haleigh in a black bag and threw her into a pond nearby.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at her body language. There are so many tells that she`s not telling the truth. She`s saying no when it`s supposed to be in the affirmative, a lot of shoulder shrugging, the tears that don`t look very genuine. It`s very disturbing to watch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police are denying any friend has come forward making these allegations and are said to be completely ignoring the letter. All of Misty`s friends have reportedly been cleared, and there are still no suspects in the case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: As we go to air, we have just heard from local police, who say, in fact, they are not ignoring this theory, that they have been vetting this theory, along with several other theories about what has happened to little Haleigh, and that many points behind this letter are, in fact, credible, and they are, in fact, investigating it.
We are taking your calls live. First out to Marlaina Schiavo, our producer on the story. Marlaina, what do you know about this letter? But most important, its contents. Was there a party the night Haleigh went missing?
MARLAINA SCHIAVO, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: That`s what this letter is saying, Nancy. This letter came from a girl behind bars who is friends with Misty, who`s a party friend of Misty`s, who`s saying that Misty was with her that night and -- or this letter`s claiming Misty, this girl and some other people were together that night and that Haleigh was with them partying -- they were all partying, and Misty got -- excuse me, Haleigh got her hands on oxycontin and ingested it and died. And that`s when this other friend at the party panicked, put Haleigh allegedly in a bag and threw her in a pond. And that`s what this letter is saying.
GRACE: Now, if the letter is true, I am expected to believe that everybody at this so-called party has managed to keep their yaps shut for this long? That is the hard part for me.
What about it, Art Harris at Artharris.com? What can you tell me? You`ve been investigating this theory for weeks.
ART HARRIS, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Well, Nancy, investigators told me exclusively that this letter was legitimate. Got a copy of it right here. And in fact, they are taking it seriously. They did confirm that they talked to this friend of Misty`s in jail, confronted her with this sworn affidavit of a witness, and that she is denying it, but she wrote her boyfriend in this letter saying, Don`t you remember, we were together that night, as if she wants to make sure she has an alibi.
GRACE: To T.J. Hart, program and news director WSKY 97.3 FM. T.J., what do you make of this theory? Did such a party take place? Has that much been confirmed? And this letter is from who to whom?
T.J. HART, WSKY 97.3 FM: I`m not going to mention names. It`s from...
GRACE: I don`t care about the names.
HART: But the recipient was, indeed, her boyfriend. That has been verified. This boyfriend read this to several people over the phone. We had it scan-faxed to us, and that`s how we got it. It is legitimate as far as where the letter came from and who it was sent to.
Now, the party, that has not been confirmed. However, you remember they talked about a pond. Well, in that letter, they also talked about the black bag being dropped in a pond at the Mondex. Well, that`s exactly where a pond was drained over the weekend. The L pond at the Mondex. So there is something to this letter.
GRACE: Out to the lines. We are taking your calls live. Kimberly in Washington. Hi, Kimberly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. So nice to finally talk with you. You`re my hero, and I watch you every night.
GRACE: Kimberly, thank you. And thank you for calling in. What is your question, dear?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, I keep on thinking about little Junior.
GRACE: Right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was allegedly there that night. I know early on in the investigation, they said possibly he said there was a man there. I was wondering if police are still questioning him.
GRACE: Let`s go to a special guest joining us tonight. The grandmother of Haleigh and of Junior, Teresa Neves, is with us. She has staunchly supported Misty Croslin throughout. Ms. Neves, thank you for being with us. What about Junior? Have police continued to question him? Has he been questioned at all by police?
TERESA NEVES, HALEIGH`S PATERNAL GRANDMOTHER: He has been questioned, Miss Nancy. He gave them information the night -- or the morning that this happened. And they`re not questioning him now, you know?
GRACE: Yes. I understand. Ms. Neves, at one point, I recall that Junior, the little brother, had stated that there were other people in the home that evening. What do you recall about his statement?
NEVES: Junior`s initial statement to the law enforcement was that he saw a man in black, I believe was what they said.
GRACE: Yes.
NEVES: And then it changed, you know? But he didn`t change it. Other people changed it.
GRACE: Yes. Ms. Neves, what do you make of this letter? Do you put any stock in it?
NEVES: Nancy, I`m like you. I do not think that that many people, with a $70,000 reward, are going to sit at home and not say anything. I do not believe for one second that my granddaughter would take something like that because of the taste of it, just simply for that fact.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: OK, sir, let me talk to your wife. Let me get some information from her.
CUMMINGS: (INAUDIBLE)
911 OPERATOR: OK...
CUMMINGS: (INAUDIBLE)
911 OPERATOR: Can I talk to her? OK...
CUMMINGS: How the (DELETED) can you let my daughter get stole (DELETED)
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CUMMINGS: Somebody stole my child out of my bed. I come home from work and my child was not there.
CROSLIN: I put her to bed and -- about 8:00 o`clock. And I woke up, and she was gone. And that door was wide open.
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: What we need is for Misty to come down here and tell us the truth.
CROSLIN: I didn`t hear anything at all. I mean, I was really exhausted that day, you know, really exhausted. And when I lay down, I guess, you know, I just was out.
NEVES: I was told, you know, that she went to bed at 10:00 o`clock. Being that exhausted, I think that maybe you could sleep through somebody beating on the door.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: The officers are going to come out there and do what they can. We can`t have him screaming and yelling at the officers whenever they get there, OK?
CUMMINGS: Give me my (DELETED) phone! I`ve got better people to talk to than (DELETED) that ain`t coming!
(END AUDIO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight back out to Marlaina Schiavo. You have been in the home. What do you think? How far away is that front door from where Misty Croslin says she was sleeping? Could you really not have heard somebody banging on the door, if she goes to bed at 10:00 and the brother gets there between 9:30, bangs on the door until 10:00, and then waits for her to get home, no sign of life inside?
SCHIAVO: I find it really hard to believe that no one could hear that. The bedroom is in the front of the house eight, maybe ten feet away from that room. And Nancy, remember, this is a trailer. It`s not a big place. It`s not soundproof. And if he`s banging away like the cops say he was, there`s no way she couldn`t have heard that.
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Let`s unleash the lawyers. Joining me tonight out of New York, family law attorney Susan Moss. Also with us tonight out of Atlanta, defense attorney Renee Rockwell. And also in New York, defense attorney, former federal prosecutor Doug Burns. Sue Moss, what about it?
SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: Did he really go to the trailer door or was this just some folklore? I mean, if he was at the trailer door, there`s no way she was in that trailer. There`s no way she could have slept through this. There`s no way the kids could have slept through him banging on the doors. Somebody is lying, and that`s the key to this case.
GRACE: To Renee Rockwell, I want to get back to this letter, this letter that has been written by a woman who is now incarcerated. What do you make of it? Whenever I find out a letter -- hey, Art, was this letter written from the jailhouse, Art Harris?
HARRIS: Sure was. It was written from the jailhouse, Nancy, and she asks him to, Send me some money.
GRACE: OK. Didn`t ask you that, but thanks for the nugget. Renee Rockwell, I`m always suspicious, since I`ve gotten so many letters from the jailhouse all over the country. When I was prosecuting, I always wonder if there`s an angle. What do they want? What do they want? What`s the motive? That`s a problem.
RENEE ROCKWELL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, you can`t always talk about and trust a snitch from the jail. But this is not anything that someone from the jail is trying to go to the police with and make a deal with and get a free pass out of jail. This is a letter that has arisen and has emerged and was not necessarily for the eyes of the police. So you`ve got...
GRACE: That`s a good point.
ROCKWELL: ... to give a little more trust to a letter like that.
GRACE: To Doug Burns, former prosecutor turned defense attorney. Doug, listen, I`ve used jailhouse rats on the stand before...
DOUG BURNS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes.
GRACE: ... if I believed them and if I could corroborate what they had to say. And Renee makes a good point. This is not a letter this woman sends trying to get a deal, trying to get a sweetheart deal. This is to her boyfriend asking for some money. This has nothing to do with any ulterior motive.
BURNS: Right. Exactly right. But the most important point you just made is you can use this as a great source as long as you can corroborate it. So the police can go through every little detail, and hopefully, there`ll be kernels of information in there that lead to additional roads, and that`s where it can be really good. And as you said at the beginning, and you`re right, you can use these witnesses, but you`ve got to corroborate them.
GRACE: Well, sometimes you`ve got to go to hell to get the witness to put the devil in jail, unfortunately.
To Caryn Stark, psychologist joining us in our New York studios. Caryn, weigh in.
CARYN STARK, PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, I`ll tell you, Nancy, it sounds so suspicious. And if you take a look at the grandmother, who`s supporting Misty, that also doesn`t make a lot of sense, compared to her own mother, who doesn`t seem to be supporting her. So there`s so much confusion, and it`s very hard to piece this apart...
GRACE: But I find it important that Teresa Neves, who`s her paternal grandmother, supports Misty Croslin, where her own blood mother doesn`t. To me, that speaks volumes in Misty Croslin`s favor.
STARK: Well, I don`t know about that because, usually, parents stand by their children. I mean, take a look at Casey Anthony. That mother was swearing by her, no matter what. So that`s confusing.
GRACE: You`re right.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROSLIN: I just wish they would have took me instead of her. What do they want with a little 5-year-old?
CUMMINGS: Could have been any one of us and our children, any one. Nobody knows where there`s a psycho or sicko. Nobody knows.
CROSLIN: She is scared of the dark. She would not go anywhere by herself.
I did take a polygraph. I mean, my understanding is that I passed it.
GRACE: Is there any possibility that she left the home that evening and hasn`t told you?
CUMMINGS: If there is a possibility of it, I don`t know anything about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: To Mike Brooks, former fed with the FBI. Mike, you and I have both seen a lot of jailhouse letters, but Rockwell makes a good point. This is not asking for a favor, Hey, I`ll give you information if you`ll give me straight probation.
MIKE BROOKS, FORMER D.C. POLICE, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: No, not asking for that at all, Nancy. And you know, just like she said, this was not for the eyes of the police. You know, this was, like, Hey, we were together that night, remember? And you know, and hopefully, Nancy, this will rattle some of the cages, and hopefully, this will rattle the cage that Misty`s in right now since she took off from home because I think she is still holding the key to where little Haleigh is.
Two flunked polygraphs from law enforcement, one flunked polygraph from Tim Miller`s group, inconsistencies all over the place. She`s the one that holds the key to this. I still believe that, Nancy.
GRACE: To chief medical examiner of Broward County, author of "When to Call the Doctor." Dr. Joshua Perper is with us tonight. And it`s an honor to have you on the air with us, Dr. Perper.
DR. JOSHUA PERPER, CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER, BROWARD COUNTY: Thank you.
GRACE: Dr. Perper, what is oxycontin? And how would, for instance, one pill affect a 5-year-old child, let me just say weighing maybe between 30, 35 pounds?
PERPER: Well, oxycontin is a form of oxycodone, which is long-acting. And it`s taken primarily against pain, but people also take it for so- called recreational purposes, for basically, addiction, getting a high. Obviously, it`s not given to children at all, and it`s not recommended for children. So if, unfortunately, she died as a result of an oxycontin overdose and there are still soft tissue available, then from the examination of the soft tissue, it`s going to be possible to make a determination that she died as a result of that.
GRACE: But from one pill, could a child 39 pounds overdose, Doctor?
PERPER: Probably from one or two pills, she could have died. And it`s possible that children sometimes think that that`s candy, and we see sometimes accidental death in those cases, unless somebody gave her intentionally the pill, which I don`t think it would be very likely.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RONALD CUMMINGS, FATHER OF MISSING 5-YR-OLD HALEIGH CUMMINGS: I want to get to the bottom of what happened. I don`t know if hypnosis is going to do it. They`ve already tried to hypnotize.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Are you of the mind that you should try anything?
R. CUMMINGS: Absolutely. If that`s what we need to, do then that`s what we can do.
MISTY CROSLIN-CUMMINGS, RONALD CUMMING`S WIFE, LAST SEEN HALEIGH: I`m trying to do everything to find her, you know, I`m answering any questions I have to, because I know I didn`t do anything to that little girl.
MARLAINA SCHIAVO, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Here`s the back screen door. The one that was propped open with the cinder block. OK? Now, if you see, when it closed, it slams. It makes a loud noise. But if you leave this door, this slowly closes as well.
M. CUMMINGS: 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: What we need is for Misty to come down here and tell us the truth. We know that it applies pressure in an area where pressure needs to be applied, and that`s on Misty. And Misty can relieve this pressure by telling her attorney that, you know, we need to go down to the sheriff`s office and really lay out in clear terms what I was doing from 8:00 p.m. until 3:00 a.m.
UNIDENTIFIED DISPATCHER: OK, sir, let me talk to your wife. Let me just get some information from her.
R. CUMMINGS: Man. (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED DISPATCHER: OK. Can I talk to her?
R. CUMMINGS: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED DISPATCHER: Can I talk to her? OK.
R. CUMMINGS: How the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) can you let my daughter get stole (EXPLETIVE DELETED)?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to the lines, Katie, North Carolina. Hi, Katie.
KATIE, CALLER FROM NORTH CAROLINA: Hi. I was curious because when Tommy came by the door had to be locked but when Misty woke up it was open. So was the lock broken? I mean how did the door get unlocked?
GRACE: Good question. Marlaina Schiavo, what can you tell us? You`ve actually tested out the door.
SCHIAVO: Well, the door Tommy was knocking on was the front door. The door that was propped open was the side door. So the lock was not -- the lock wasn`t broken. It just -- the door was just propped open.
GRACE: Out to the lines, Tracy, Ohio. Hi, Tracy.
TRACY, CALLER FROM OHIO: Hi, Nancy. I just love you.
GRACE: Thank you, Tracy in Ohio. I`ve got to tell you, I could use that love tonight. I`ve been up since 4:30 this morning with the twins. They`re wearing mommy ragged, but I tell you, when I take a look at this story and I think about Ronald Cummings, Teresa Neves, never seeing their daughter and granddaughter for all these months, maybe never again, they can wake me up every morning at 4:30 for the rest of my life. I`m just so grateful.
What is your question, dear?
TRACY: My question, Nancy, is I wanted to know if there was a party that Misty was at with Haleigh. Would there -- would the other people involved in that party be involved in this too? Would they be charged?
GRACE: Good question. Sue Moss, Renee Rockwell, Doug Burns, again, I`ve got to reiterate. It`s very difficult for me to believe that a bunch at a drug party can keep their pie holes shut these many months, although maybe they think they could be implicated.
Or, Renee Rockwell, I could see a scenario where there had been a party, maybe Haleigh was in the car, maybe she came in to one of the rooms, maybe everyone didn`t see her. There are a lot of scenarios where this could in fact be legitimate.
RENEE ROCKWELL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Legitimate? Well, I can say this, Nancy. If there was a party and there were illegal drugs or even if they were prescribed but they were left out for a 5-year-old to come in contact with and eat and then die of an overdose, I can absolutely see the whole bunch of them being charged with at least a negligent homicide.
GRACE: Out to the lines, Mary Jo in Florida. Hi, Mary Jo.
MARY JO, CALLER FROM FLORIDA: Hey, friend. I`m a big fan of the show. Thanks for what you do.
GRACE: And thank you for calling in, dear. What`s your question?
MARY JO: I have a two-part question.
GRACE: OK.
MARY JO: I was wondering what Misty was wearing when Ronald got home. Was she in pajamas or was she in.
GRACE: Good question.
MARY JO: And then how much time in between when she allegedly woke up and Ronald got home?
GRACE: Teresa Neves, this is Haleigh`s paternal grandmother. What was she wearing when Ronald got home?
TERESA NEVES, GRANDMOTHER OF MISSING GIRL, HALEIGH CUMMINGS: She was wearing a little pajama top and boxer shorts.
GRACE: Miss Neves, just hearing you upset, we`re all throwing around legal theories and this letter and whether it`s true or not. What is your message tonight?
NEVES: I believe Haleigh is alive. I have faith in God to take care of my baby girl and find her. And I don`t care who had something to do with it. Those are the people who need to be put away and bring my baby girl home.
GRACE: Miss Neves, why are you so sure Haleigh is still with us?
NEVES: Because I stand on God`s promise that if you pray and believe that he will give you what you pray for.
GRACE: Miss Neves, tell me how Ronald is holding up. I mean, he comes on our show frequently, and he`s always so strong. How is he holding up?
NEVES: He`s not as strong at home as he is on TV. But he has to be strong for Junior. You know? So he does the best that he can. He keeps his crying to his self at night and just tries to make Junior happy until Haleigh comes home.
GRACE: How is Junior? Does he even realize at this juncture that Haleigh is gone?
NEVES: Junior thinks that Haleigh is lost and she`s finding her way home. He actually drew her a map so she could find her way home. But he doesn`t realize the longevity, I think, of it.
GRACE: You know, I focus so much on where is Haleigh, what happened that night. You know, Junior has been lost in the mix. I cannot imagine, God forbid, the thought that I would ever have to explain to one of the twins where the other one was, why they were not at home. What do you tell him?
NEVES: The angels are watching Haleigh and she`ll be home soon.
GRACE: Miss Neves, when you hear about, for instance, this letter.
NEVES: Yes, ma`am.
GRACE: How does that affect you? Whether you believe it or don`t believe it. When you hear there might be a break in the case.
NEVES: Miss Nancy, we would love to have a break in this case, and we really would not care who it implicates as long as it brings Haleigh back to us. You know, this letter is a little farfetched, I think, because Haleigh didn`t like medicine and Oxycontin.
I`ve had to take it. I think it`s a very nasty taste. And I can`t imagine Haleigh taking it. So -- but you know, anything that would bring Haleigh home, that`s what we want.
GRACE: With me is Teresa Neves. This is Haleigh`s paternal grandmother.
Miss Neves, you stand very strongly behind Misty Croslin`s story. What do you make of police saying that she has the answers?
NEVES: I have to leave the investigative part of this to law enforcement because, you know, if I go with every whim and every accusation then I`m going to be flipping back and forth in my life and, you know, what we stand -- you know, we just stand for Haleigh here. We just want Haleigh to come home. And I want them to find whoever this is, and I don`t care who it is. But we want Haleigh to come home.
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. With me is Teresa Neves, Haleigh`s grandmother.
Out to Lynn in Alabama, hi, Lynn.
LYNN, CALLER FROM ALABAMA: Hi, Nancy. I love your show.
GRACE: Thank you, dear.
LYNN: Thank you for everything you do.
GRACE: What is your question?
LYNN: If Misty Cummings` brother went to the house that night when no one was home, are his fingerprints -- have they checked the brick for fingerprints or on the door to the trailer?
GRACE: Art Harris, what do we know?
ART HARRIS, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST, ARTHARRIS.COM: No fingerprints on the door. But they found a fist, a bloody fist print when Ronald was so upset he punched the door as hard as he could, Nancy.
GRACE: Everyone, I want to give you the tip line again. It is 888- 277-TIPS. 888-277-8477. There is a $70,000 reward in connection with the Haleigh Cummings disappearance. $70,000 for information about Haleigh Cummings.
And I want to remind Miss Neves as we go to break that while we are all throwing around legal theories and arguing the evidence please know that not a day passes that you and your family are not in prayers and thoughts and especially little Haleigh.
Everyone, as we go to break, tonight`s "Safety Tips." It`s about choking. It can be a life-threatening emergency, especially if it`s a child. Every second counts. Look for signs of choking. When someone turns blue, of course, grabbing at their throat, unable to breathe, cry, make noise.
And try the Heimlich maneuver immediately. If the throat way still isn`t clear, call 911, of course. If unconscious, begin CPR. Parents and caregivers should be trained in CPR and the Heimlich.
Also, beware of toys or tiny items that can be swallowed. Don`t let young children eat foods that are choking risks. Toddlers can swallow things without chewing them. Serve food in small manageable bites. If your child has a cough or trouble breathing or swallowing after a choking episode, take them to the doctor.
And remember, the way you treat a child choking is different from how you treat an adult. You`ll learn that in child CPR. For more information go to Nomore`s Kids Health at KidsHealth.org.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police looking into whether Clark`s attitude may have led to a deadly confrontation.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Annie Le was strangled to death in the lab where she worked. Clark, who also worked there, is charged with doing it and then trying to hide her body behind a wall in the lab`s basement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Apparently, he was very concerned about how people kept their mice, their cages. There have been some reports that he got very upset when people wouldn`t wear plastic booties into the lab or when people wouldn`t keep their cages clean.
ANNMARIE GOODWIN, NEIGHBOR OF RAYMOND CLARK: As I got to know him, I quickly discovered, I just jogged it as a mental memory that he was controlling, and I was going to stay away from him. I thought he was a control freak.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Co-workers tell police he was a control freak. He was also territorial when it came to the lab and the mice that he took care of.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Jessica Del Rocco telling ABC News Clark would get very angry, "often frighten me."
JESSICA DEL ROCCO, RAYMOND CLARK`S FORMER GIRLFRIEND: He would get very angry, you know, often.
(CROSSTALK)
DIANE SAWYER, HOST, "GOOD MORNING AMERICA": Why is he very angry? Frighten you?
DEL ROCCO: Yes, he would frighten me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You are seeing Raymond Clark`s former girlfriend, Jessica Del Rocco, on ABC`s "Good Morning America."
Out to Jean Casarez, legal correspondent "In Session." These are pretty stunning developments. Also we learned police back at the scene today.
JEAN CASAREZ, CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": That`s right. New Haven Police, they went back to the lab building. The building is open for research and investigation. They, though, went down to the basement.
They went to a washroom, Nancy. And it had lab technicians right in it. Asked them to get out. Cordoned it off as a crime scene, saying they were looking for what could be potentially important evidence.
GRACE: I want to go to Rupa Mikkilineni, our producer on the story. Rupa, the girlfriend, the former girlfriend that speaks out saying that Clark, when she was with him, was manipulative, controlling, but how did the relationship start off?
RUPA MIKKILINENI, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: The relationship started out, according to Jessica Del Rocco, very sweet. He was very charming, kind, sweet, took her out to dinner. But then it progressed over a period of three months where he became more and more controlling, Nancy, and would tell her what to do, would tell her what to wear, how to act, when to speak, when not to speak.
GRACE: You know, to you, Dr. Caryn Stark, psychologist, telling her what friends to have, what to wear. He said you talk too softly, you breathe too loudly.
CARYN STARK, PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, it`s typical of somebody who`s a control person, Nancy, that he feels out of control inside, so he needs to control everything around him, including the person he`s with. And somebody who`s like that with a woman doesn`t feel good about himself as a man. So he keeps trying to refine her and get her to be the way he thinks she should be.
GRACE: So how does that fit into this case, Mike Brooks?
MIKE BROOKS, FMR. DC POLICE DETECTIVE SERVED ON FBI TERRORISM TASK FORCE: Nancy, I think what they might be trying to show is a pattern of prior behavior. You know, if this is -- is this the way he was there? Is this the way his controlling -- his controllingness was in the lab with all these Ph.D. candidates, with the people that came across him?
I think that`s exactly what they`re trying to do, is to show a pattern of behavior leading up to this alleged murder.
GRACE: But you know what, to Thomas Kaplan, the editor in chief of the "Yale Daily News," it`s our understanding that behind bars Raymond Clark has clammed up. We`re not going to learn a lot from him. He`s not talking. Not to anybody.
THOMAS KAPLAN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, YALE DAILY NEWS, PAPER BROKE STORY ABOUT MISSING STUDENT: That`s true. He hasn`t spoken, even before his arrest, when police initially talked to him. He failed a polygraph according to reports and clammed up at that point. And from what we`ve been told he has not spoken to the authorities since then. So that`s why the motive here is such a mystery.
GRACE: Back to Jean Casarez with "In Session." Jean, now the possibility of steroid use is rearing its ugly head.
CASAREZ: This is interesting. The "National Enquirer" actually reporting.
GRACE: But wait a minute, take a look at those guns this guy`s sporting in court.
CASAREZ: I saw them.
GRACE: Together with the tattoo around them to really show them off.
CASAREZ: I saw them. And what the "National Enquirer" is reporting is that Raymond Clark was taking steroids possibly. And you remember the Chris Benoit case, the wrestler that murdered his wife, baby, and himself. He had 10 times the amount of testosterone.
It was said at that point it was steroid overdose. You can have a situation where you can have anger management issues and impulsiveness.
GRACE: Out to the lines, Kathy, Wisconsin. Hi, Kathy.
KATHY, CALLER FROM WISCONSIN: Yes, hi. I just love your show. We already have your book. I have a question.
GRACE: Thank you.
KATHY: Even though the murder occurred in the basement with animal smells and chemical smells, I find it strange that no one smelled a dead body in four or five days.
GRACE: I find that odd, too, Dr. Joshua Perper. What do you make of that? The decomposition. How quickly would it take place?
DR. JOSHUA PERPER, MEDICAL EXAMINER, AUTHOR OF "WHEN TO CALL THE DOCTOR": Usually, the body starts to decompose immediately, but it becomes evident by smell within a day or a couple of day. And I understand that here there were three days.
The only explanation would be that the area in which the body was pushed in was somewhat closed, in other words, was not open to the remainder of the room and, again, the other smells in the room also masked the -- whatever odor could have come out of that particular location.
GRACE: Everyone, we are taking your calls live. But quickly, to tonight`s Amber Alert. The search for a missing 12-year-old Texas girl believed to be in extreme danger. Karla Yrigoyen-Rivas last seen Tuesday, Laredo, Texas, kidnapped by suspect 28-year-old Jose Giovanni Cruz.
The 12-year-old victim five feet, 100 pounds, black hair, brown eyes, wearing a white blouse and blue jeans, black sandals. Suspect, 5`6", 200 pounds, bald, brown eyes, skull and medusa tattoos to the right arm and leg.
Please, help us find this girl. Take a look. If you have info, call 956-795-2800.
And a happy birthday to Georgia friend of the show Virginia Gunn. She never misses the show. She loves watching with her dog Pumpkin and four wiener dogs, Rascal, Pixie, Oliver and Isabella. News junkie, loves reading, fried chicken and breakfast or dinner.
Happy birthday, beautiful V.G.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: New Haven police chief says his detectives had eyes on 24-year-old Raymond Clark as soon as Yale Police turned over Annie Le`s investigation to them. He`s accused of strangling Le, then stuffing her 90-pound body into a basement wall.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Out to the lines, Peggy in Florida. Hi, Peggy.
PEGGY, CALLER FROM FLORIDA: Hi, Nancy. I love you.
GRACE: Thank you for watching and for calling in. What`s your question, dear?
PEGGY: I was just going to say that I was married to someone in the late `80s that was on steroids and he had the same -- he reacted the same way that this girlfriend has explained and even worse. And my question is, will they try to use this as a defense?
GRACE: I think that`s an excellent question. What about it, Doug Burns?
DOUG BURNS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think it`s an uphill battle. I mean, obviously where it goes is to some type of mental deficiency as a result of the steroids. But people raise that with alcohol and other drugs. I mean, that`s a very good question that the caller poses, but I think it`s going to be an uphill battle. As Jean Casarez mentioned.
GRACE: Doug, you`re so right.
BURNS: Yes.
GRACE: Because you`ve got to convince a jury. First of all, voluntary intoxication or use of drugs is not a defense unless you`re absolutely comatose.
BURNS: Right.
GRACE: And if you`re comatose, you`re not committing a murder. You know, that`s a catch 22 right there.
BURNS: Right.
GRACE: So what jury is going to forgive you if your defense is hey, it was `roid rage? Sorry.
BURNS: It`s no different than really just total loss of control like you guys were discussing earlier, and an anger problem. I mean the sad part of the case is it, you know, looks like sort of a regular person who just went absolutely nuts. So maybe a straight insanity plea. But this is going to be a very tough case to defend.
GRACE: Well, if he went insane, he certainly healed himself within a couple of hours when he was doing the cleanup, according to police.
Everyone, let`s stop and remember Marine Lance Corporal Christopher Fowlkes, 20, Gaffney, South Carolina. Airlifted to a hospital, Germany. Died with his parents by his side. On a second tour, proud to be a Marine like his grandfather and uncle.
Awarded a Purple Heart, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. Dreamed of college. Leaves behind parents Steven and Donna.
Christopher Fowlkes, American hero.
Thanks to our guests, but especially to you, and a special good night tonight from Australia and Connecticut friends of the show, Dave, Cheryl, and Greg. Aren`t they beautiful? And handsome.
Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night. 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then good night, friend.
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