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Nancy Grace
Misty`s Mother Returned to Florida Police From Tennessee
Aired October 15, 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. The last person to see the 5- year-old alive that night, the stepmother, Misty Croslin.
Just hours after Croslin handcuffed by cops on alleged road rage, she flies to New York, taking to the air to declare she`s innocent. But even in one brief interview, she can`t keep her story straight, first claiming she knows nothing about Haleigh`s whereabouts, then blurting out the other side of the family took Haleigh, then a 180 on the failed lie detector, claiming she passed, then admitting she failed.
After her brother tells cops he was at the home that night, no sign of Croslin, completely debunking her story, her own mother says Croslin`s not coming clean. Croslin`s TV response, They betrayed me. They`re the bad guys. Look at them, not me. Minutes after Croslin`s debacle on national TV, her lawyer dumps her.
Bombshell tonight. Croslin`s mother now transferred from a Tennessee holding cell on forgery to a Florida jailhouse. At this hour, she faces police interrogation on just what she knows about Haleigh`s disappearance and her own daughter`s alleged involvement. And why, police want to know, is she so convinced Croslin`s lying? Will she crack behind bars?
Also, whenever the investigation heats up, Croslin goes AWOL, but now we know her wingman, the woman who took her to Orlando and New York, was undercover to befriend Croslin and get the truth. Did it work? This while Haleigh`s father publicly stands by his new bride. In a fit of depression over Haleigh, Cummings reportedly threatens to shoot Croslin dead if she`s involved.
Croslin and Cummings now file divorce papers in a Florida court. What does it mean to the investigation? Croslin claims the holes in her story have nothing to do with the split, but have Cummings`s worst fears been confirmed, that his new wife, Misty Croslin, implicated in the disappearance of his own 5-year-old girl?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Misty Croslin`s mom -- will she be questioned by Florida police? What does she know?
LISA CROSLIN, MISTY`S MOTHER: She told me when she woke up -- she always keeps the lights out. She said she woke up and she noticed -- she was going around to the bathroom when she noticed that the kitchen light was on. And she said when she made it around the corner, because you have to, like, go around the corner, she noticed that the back door was open, and that`s when she ran back to the bedroom and Haleigh wasn`t in there.
GRACE: Changes, even subtle, small changes in Misty Croslin`s story about the night Haleigh went missing bothered you. What changes...
RONALD CUMMINGS, HALEIGH`S FATHER: Yes, ma`am.
GRACE: ... if any, do you recall?
CUMMINGS: There`s -- I can`t really recall the exact changes, and they`re real small. It`s not like she -- she pretty much tells me the same thing each time she -- I ask her about it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They keep saying that you failed.
MISTY CROSLIN, HALEIGH`S BABY-SITTER/STEPMOTHER: I know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you want people to know something about that?
MISTY CROSLIN: They`re going to know. They`re going to know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So are you saying that you didn`t failed the polygraph, like people and law enforcement are kind of claiming that you did?
MISTY CROSLIN: No, I did not.
GRACE: Ronald Cummings, did it ever disturb you that Misty Croslin`s story actually changed?
CUMMINGS: Yes, ma`am, it did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, live to Wisconsin, a gorgeous young newlywed bride in extreme danger. The bride with covergirl good looks vanishes from her own home without a trace after calling 911. Tonight, where is 31-year- old Stephanie Fischer?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thirty-one-year-old Stephanie Fischer was last seen October 6th after reporting a domestic abuse claim against her new husband. She hasn`t been seen since. In that claim, Stephanie says her husband, Dennis Moe, beat and choked her. Moe admits to punching and strangling Stephanie and says he did it because she was talking to guys on the Internet. Law enforcement desperately searching for Stephanie as the alleged victim in several domestic prior domestic violence incidents involving her husband, who police say is armed and dangerous as law enforcement frantically searches to bring Stephanie home safely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight: Mommy at a local LA bus stop, waiting for the bus, her 3-year-old little boy asleep beside her. The bus pulls up, Mommy gets on, drives away, leaving baby alone at the bus stop. She never comes back. Sex predators, stalkers, dope addicts -- who knows who`d show up on the next bus? But Mommy didn`t care. She just kept on riding!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Los Angeles police are investigating the case of a 3-year-old boy abandoned at a bus stop in the middle of the night whose mother is now missing. Three-year-old Xavier Nelson was left by an unidentified woman at a South Los Angeles bus stop after midnight on Friday.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: LAPD released this video to the media in hopes someone would recognize this toddler, and someone did. Angela Thomas says her mother called her from the Southland, saying she saw her grandson on TV.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My heart dropped. I was about to cry, not just because I saw him, because of the story that they were telling.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A witness observed the child sitting next to the woman when the bus arrived. The woman then got onto the bus and left the child behind. The witness yelled to the woman to tell her she forgot the boy, but the woman just waved him off.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Angela says the last time she saw her daughter, Victoria Nelson, and grandson Xavier was a week ago.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The grandmother says 17-year-old Victoria may be in danger and could had been forced to abandon her child.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Victoria would never, ever put her child in harm`s way like that. She would never do that, unless there was a reason and the reason was somebody has caused harm on her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Croslin`s mother now transferred from a Tennessee holding cell on forgery to a Florida jailhouse. At this hour, she faces police interrogation on just what she knows about little Haleigh`s disappearance and her own daughter`s alleged involvement. And why, police want to know, is she so convinced Croslin is lying? Will she crack behind bars?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: 911. What`s your emergency?
MISTY CROSLIN: I just woke up and our back door was all open, and I can`t find my daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More details emerge in the case of missing Florida girl Haleigh Cummings. Misty`s mom arrested.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The mother, remember, came out against Misty and said that she believed that her son was telling the truth and that Misty was not. Maybe they want to put her in jail so they can ask tough questions about what -- why she came to such a conclusion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lisa Croslin told FOX affiliate WOFL...
LISA CROSLIN: Deep down in my heart, yes, I think my daughter`s holding something back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
LISA CROSLIN: I think they both are holding something back. That`s just in my heart.
911 OPERATOR: When did you last see her?
MISTY CROSLIN: It was about 10:00 o`clock (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we need is for Misty to come out here and tell us the truth.
MISTY CROSLIN: 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 with -- to that little girl.
CUMMINGS: I don`t think that she holds anything information that`s going to find Haleigh.
GRACE: Ronald Cummings, did it ever disturb you that Misty Croslin`s story actually changed?
CUMMINGS: Yes, ma`am, it did.
MISTY CROSLIN: If I had something to do with it, I knew where she was, we wouldn`t be sitting here today. We would have her. And I don`t -- I don`t know where she is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to investigative journalist Art Harris at www.Artharris.com. Art, you`ve been on the story from the very beginning and spent months down in Satsuma, Florida. Now the mother, Misty Croslin`s mother, has officially been transferred from Tennessee on what I believe to be a trumped up forgery charge. Yes, she did it, but you rarely see people thrown behind bars and this kind of bond on forgery. Now she`s been transferred to Florida. She`s on the turf with the local police department, and she is facing questioning tonight. What will happen?
ART HARRIS, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Nancy, they are anticipating asking her to compare the story that Misty told her -- according to what Lisa, the mother, told me on my Web site, Artharris.com -- comparing what Misty told her the night Haleigh vanished with what Misty has said since then. So they have a number of stories they`re going to compare. Plus, they want to know why the mother believes her daughter was not telling the truth in her heart of hearts. That`s what she has said.
GRACE: Well, Art, what I want to get down to, the nitty-gritty, is what do we know, if anything, about what Croslin told her mother, now behind bars and facing Florida police interrogation? What do we believe she told the mom versus what she`s told to the morning shows, what she`s told to the husband, Ronald Cummings? She`s tripped up on her own story several times that we know of.
HARRIS: Well, Nancy, she has gone over what happened that night in that she woke up, saw a light on in the kitchen and went in to check, and then turns around and saw Haleigh missing. So there are some specific steps during that night that she took that are a little off than what she`s said before.
GRACE: Take a look at Misty Croslin and her debacle on national television. How does what she say -- says here line up with what she told her own mother at the time Haleigh went missing?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The last time you had seen her before then was when?
MISTY CROSLIN: At 10:00 o`clock, when I lay down for bed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You had put her to bed?
MISTY CROSLIN: She went to bed at 8:00 o`clock.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But your brother had told police that when he went to the trailer that night that you were supposedly putting Haleigh to bed, you weren`t there. Did you go somewhere that night.
MISTY CROSLIN: No, I did not. I did not leave my house at all.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why did he tell police that you weren`t there?
MISTY CROSLIN: Trying to get out of jail. That`s what I think.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So your brother was in jail?
MISTY CROSLIN: Yes, he was in jail. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your own brother would betray you like that?
MISTY CROSLIN: That`s how my family is.
I mean, my story`s not changed. It`s same. It`s the truth.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you sit here and tell me with 100 percent certainty that you had nothing do with Haleigh`s disappearance?
MISTY CROSLIN: It`s 100 percent positive that I didn`t have nothing to do with Haleigh going missing, and I don`t know who did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You`re seeing Misty Croslin on CBS`s "The Early Show." We are taking your calls live. But first let`s unleash the lawyers. Joining me tonight, Sue Moss, child advocate, family law attorney, New York, Mickey Sherman, criminal defense attorney, author of "How Do You Defend Those People?" New York, and renowned defense attorney, former prosecutor, Darryl Cohen, Atlanta.
Sue Moss, brother? Hey, what about your mother? This is very rare that somebody`s own mother speaks publicly against them.
SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: Look, forgery mom is going to either give up her girl or give jail a whirl. They aren`t letting this woman out until she spills the beans. She knows something. She wouldn`t have come on national television and implicate her daughter if she didn`t know something, and they`re going to get that out of her.
GRACE: Darryl Cohen, come on. You and I practiced in the same courthouse. Since when do you have a mom come out against the alleged perpetrator, the suspect? That never happens. Usually, they`re crying and screaming and waving the Bible at you, throwing things at you from the front pew right behind you as you`re trying the case.
DARRYL COHEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, that is so true, but as I like to say sometimes, Welcome to never. There`s something going on here and we`re not sure what it is. Is mom trying to get off a trumped-up charge? I agree with you. Something`s going on. And mom may just have this heartfelt sympathy for this poor child that`s now disappeared.
GRACE: What about it, Mickey Sherman?
MICKEY SHERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I don`t know. The mom doesn`t look like a criminal mastermind to me. These people are stupid and creepy, but that doesn`t mean necessarily that they`re murderers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ron and Misty headed for divorce, what does that mean in the search for little Haleigh?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The papers are all filled out. Misty`s -- Misty`s lawyer has them in hand.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It may be in her best interest -- both of their best interests just to sever the ties and move on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They got married. They went on their honeymoon to New York. They were on a couple TV shows, then they came back to reality.
CUMMINGS: I just got home from work and my 5-year-old daughter is gone!
911 OPERATOR: OK...
CUMMINGS: I need somebody to be here now, I`m telling you!
911 OPERATOR: Listen to me. Listen to me. We got two officers...
CUMMINGS: If I find whoever has my daughter before y`all do, I`m killing them.
MISTY CROSLIN: This is what Haleigh wanted. She`s always talked about it. And even if she`s not with us, she`s still here with us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s really no privilege here that can prevent Ron from testifying against her just because they`re married. So if that what was they were attempting to do, then they certainly missed the mark.
CUMMINGS: I would sure hope that -- just with the family problems and everything else, it`s just -- it`s too much on the relationship.
TERESA NEVES, HALEIGH`S PATERNAL GRANDMOTHER: He`s not as strong at home as he is on TV. He does the best that he can and just tries to make Junior happy until Haleigh comes home.
GRACE: Isn`t it true, Mr. Shoemaker, that Ronald Cummings -- let`s take a listen to exactly what Misty Croslin`s mother had to say on camera about her daughter.
LISA CROSLIN: Deep down in my heart, yes, I think my daughter`s holding something back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
LISA CROSLIN: I think they both are holding something back. That`s just in my heart.
I`m going to tell her I love her, and if you know anything at all, please tell me. I mean, we can work it through. I`ll be right there by your side. We`ll get through it. But just please tell me whatever you`re holding back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That`s Croslin`s mother, Lisa Croslin. She was on WOFL, FOX 35, saying she believes Croslin may be hiding something.
Schiavo, Marlaina Schiavo, our producer on the story, I understand Misty Croslin has a response to her mom, now, as of tonight, behind bars in Florida, facing police questioning regarding Haleigh`s disappearance.
MARLAINA SCHIAVO, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Yes. When I -- I asked Misty, why does she think her mother would say something like that? Her response, She was mad at me. I said, She would say that on national TV or even local television just because she was mad at you, Misty? Yes, that`s why she said it. That was her response.
GRACE: OK, repeat?
SCHIAVO: She basically said that her mother was mad at her and that was her revenge, by telling everybody on -- you know, that was watching television that her daughter was hiding something. It was revenge for getting this injunction against Tommy, her brother.
GRACE: But then, Ellie Jostad, our chief editorial produce or the story, she took to the airwaves. Croslin took to the airwaves herself on national television and said her brother and her mother are the bad guys, Look at them, not me, and said they betrayed her. That`s her position.
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Right. She said that her brother, Tommy, told this whole story about going to the trailer the night Haleigh went missing, knocking on the door, no one being home -- she says the brother told police that because he wanted to get out of jail.
GRACE: Let`s go to the lines. Joanne, Pennsylvania. Hi, Joanne.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. How are you, Nancy?
GRACE: I`m good, dear. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, first I want to tell you we love you. Got your book. Your babies are beautiful.
GRACE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m so happy you finally got a piece of happiness in this life.
GRACE: I really did, two pieces, and three, if you count that husband.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s right.
GRACE: But two for sure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is, out here in Pennsylvania, we have children and youth services. How come they haven`t gone to the police and possibly arrested her, if anything, for child neglect?
GRACE: Excellent question.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because she was the last one who had had the child.
GRACE: What about it, Darryl Cohen?
COHEN: I think if -- if there`s a scintilla of truth in what she had to say, then she fell asleep and the child disappeared. The reality is, I`m stunned that child services, protective services haven`t been there and just annihilated her with questions because, Nancy, you and I both know if you tell the truth, you don`t have to remember what you said. It doesn`t matter how many times you say it. It`s absurd.
GRACE: And Mickey Sherman, come on, how many stories have we covered where Mom fell asleep and the baby wandered off into a pond, into a forest, into traffic? And all of those moms were held responsible.
SHERMAN: Yes, but there`s no facts to support it. I mean, we`re all guessing...
GRACE: Well, her story is she fell asleep and the baby went missing.
SHERMAN: Hey, the Lindbergh child was kidnapped from their home. They weren`t prosecuted.
GRACE: You`re reaching back several decades, Mickey. Good try, though.
SHERMAN: It`s a good analogy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MISTY CROSLIN: Just divorce. I mean, I don`t want a divorce. But hey, that`s what he wants, so whatever. I`m not going to fight him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: After the divorce is final, do you believe Ronald Cummings will have more to say to police?
TERRY SHOEMAKER, ATTORNEY FOR RONALD CUMMINGS: I don`t -- I don`t believe so. I know that, you know, in all the times that we`ve met with law enforcement, which really hasn`t been that many times, I know that he is -- he`s been very forthright on the number of times he called her, when he called her, what the conversations were all about. So I don`t think that he`s really going to come without any, you know, bombshell as to, Well, I was holding this back.
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?
MISTY CROSLIN: I don`t know.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But you -- but you know that you did do that?
MISTY CROSLIN: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you`re not sure why?
MISTY CROSLIN: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That was Croslin on NBC`s "Today" show back in March, giving some pretty vague answers. We are taking your calls.
Bethany Marshall, weigh in.
BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST: I think Misty and her mother both have something in common. They`re both good at pointing fingers and saying, you know, what they think went wrong. But neither of them have offered very good theories about what happened to this little girl, and they haven`t offered theories in an empathetic way, for instance, if the little girl was a wanderer in the night or that there was somebody who might be a child predator who was trying to befriend the family.
And Misty`s mom hasn`t said, you know, she had a lot of party friends, and there were parties in the neighborhood that night. So the fact that Misty`s pointing to other people and her mom`s pointing at her in an accusatory way, but they don`t seem to be empathetic about this little girl. They don`t seem to be spinning out theories and helping law enforcement.
Makes me suspicious that they`re just mired down in their own quarrels and contention and family drama and dysfunction and that they`re not going to aid at all in the search for Haleigh Cummings.
GRACE: Tonight, Croslin`s mother behind bars in Florida, facing police questioning on Haleigh`s disappearance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ronald, do you feel that Misty is a key in this investigation?
CUMMINGS: No, I don`t. I think they`re barking up the wrong tree.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: What time was Haleigh last seen by anybody other than Cummings and Croslin?
CRYSTAL SHEFFIELD, MOM OF MISSING 5-YR-OLD HALEIGH CUMMINGS: The last time I`d seen her was.
GRACE: I didn`t ask when you saw her. Certainly you, as the biological mother, know the facts of this case. So when was she last seen by someone other than the father and the stepmother?
SHEFFIELD: That I don`t know.
GRACE: Have you asked her what happened? What does she tell you?
RONALD CUMMINGS, FATHER OF MISSING 5-YR-OLD HALEIGH CUMMINGS: I ask her, but I don`t get any answers from her about, you know -- I don`t see -- what she`s telling me is not inconsistent.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Bottom line you don`t know where Haleigh is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: To Art Harris, investigative journalist at ArtHarris.com. What more can you tell me, Art?
ART HARRIS, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST, WWW.ARTHARRIS.COM: Well, I can tell you that that night or that afternoon, Haleigh was seen playing with her cousins at the trailer, riding bikes, running around, having fun.
And then at 6:00, Tommy comes over to see Misty. They hang out for a while. And then 7:00 to 7:30, law enforcement tells me that her grandmother came over, (INAUDIBLE), with a clean batch of clothes, which raises the question why did Misty have to wash a blanket later on and Ronald is saying there was no detergent in the trailer anyway.
GRACE: What more can you tell me about the brother and what, if any, advice do Croslin`s father give her about speaking to cops?
HARRIS: Well, he initially when I spoke with Lisa Croslin, the mother, and the sister-in-law, they were warning Misty to be careful about what she said because she was tripping up on herself and people were attacking her for inconsistencies so this was early on, Nancy, at the house.
And they were also pointing fingers at a cousin trying to -- whether to divert attention, they believed this young man from Tennessee who was there that night and left the next morning had something to do with it. He`s been interviewed twice by police in the last two weeks and has not been -- and has been ruled out as in any way connected.
GRACE: But right now he is not a suspect nor is Misty Croslin been named a suspect in this case.
HARRIS: Correct.
GRACE: And, Art, I want to go back to the wing man, the so-called "friend" who was actually working undercover who befriended Misty Croslin. Took her to Orlando, went with her to New York for her TV appearance.
HARRIS: Right.
GRACE: What can you tell me about Donna Brock`s time with Misty Croslin?
HARRIS: Well, she was told by Tim Miller, head of EquuSearch to try to get close to her and learn what she could. Possibly any clues that would lead them to where Haleigh was. What happened to her?
And in hanging out with her for, gosh, several weeks, she got close to Misty and said that there were more inconsistencies that came up. Nothing specific but she shared that with investigators, sat down with them several times, and recently after she dropped Misty off for the last time on Saturday, had the falling out, Misty learning that she was a, quote, "double agent," she then went and told police further what she knew.
And one thing that came out, Nancy, that was very interesting to them, she has an explosive temper we have not seen in public. So whether that has anything to do with what could have happened to Haleigh, we don`t know. But that is something that Donna Brock reported.
GRACE: With me now Marc Klaas, president and founder of KlaasKids Foundation. What do you think, Marc?
MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION (via phone): First of all, I think that this seasoned wing man that betrayed Misty, I think we have to -- we have to consider this woman. Of the hundreds of and thousands of cars that are driving on the roads of Florida, this is the one that gets in a road rage situation that`s so serious that the other person feels they have to contact law enforcement.
And it is for Misty`s explosive temper, my goodness, you find out that somebody you`ve befriended is working behind your back for somebody else to betray you, I would get explosive as well. I think what we`re dealing with here, with Misty and her mom, are some pretty shallow people who don`t really think much before they speak and they pretty much blurt out anything that comes to mind.
They are focused on each other. Nobody seems to be focused on the little girl but as Mickey said, Charles Lindbergh, but also Polly, Elizabeth Smart, Daniel Van Dam and Jessica Lunsberg were all stolen from their homes as family members slept nearby.
GRACE: Marc Klaas, you`re absolutely right on that point.
Everyone, the tip line, 888-277-8477. Right now we are going to Wisconsin and a missing mother, beautiful with "Cover Girl" good looks. Disappeared immediately after calling 911. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police are desperate to find 31-year-old Stephanie Fischer. Stephanie was last seen with her new husband Dennis Moe who authorities say is armed and dangerous. Stephanie reported domestic violence incident against Moe and hasn`t been seen since.
Dennis Moe drives a gray, 2006 Dodge Charger with Wisconsin plate number 272PXT. Stephanie stands about 5`10" and weighs about 180 pounds. She has blond hair, blue eyes and has a large rose tattoo on her back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight to Dan O`Donnell with Newsradio 620, WTMJ. Dan, what happened?
DAN O`DONNELL, REPORTER, NEWSRADIO 620 WTMJ, COVERING STORY: Well, near as anyone can tell, she went missing, as you heard, just after calling 911. Just after police interviewed her new husband. There has been a constant stream of domestic violence incidents before they were married just a couple of weeks ago dating back to July.
He`s been arrested several times all with the same basic premise. He`s been attacking her. He`s been attacking one of their young daughters. In fact, back in July, twisting her arm. The little girl behind her back.
And in this latest incident what we know from the police report and the criminal complaint that he actually stuffed a shotgun in her mouth and said he wanted to use the biggest shells possible so she would die a slow and painful death and he said she wanted to -- he wanted to see her choke on her own blood.
So obviously this is a very dangerous situation.
GRACE: To Detective Michael Hartwell with the West Bend Police Department joining us from West Bend, Wisconsin.
Detective, thank you for being with us. What was the nature of her 911 call? What was she saying?
DET. MICHAEL HARTWELL, WEST BEND POLICE DEPT. (via phone): That initial call was to report the initial domestic violence. There were actually two incidents that were reported at that same time. And so we sent officers up there to investigate it at that point, and that`s when we learn of the incident that Dan O`Donnell just spoke of involving the shotgun.
GRACE: With me a special guest, Yvette Cade, joining us from Washington, D.C. You all remember Miss Cade and her brave fight against domestic abuse. She was actually set afire inside a phone store by her ex. She suffered terribly as she is with us tonight.
You`re seeing video of that. The store surveillance right now.
Miss Cade, it`s very -- first of all, welcome. It`s very rare for domestic violence to go away. In fact, most typically it escalates.
YVETTE CADE, VICTIM OF DOMESTIC ABUSE, FIANCE SET HER ON FIRE: Thank you for having me, Nancy. Yes, it does. Once Stephanie put up a protective order out on her husband potentially the stakes went higher. It skyrocketed for risk for extreme bodily harm.
What I suggest the family to do is to go to the police department, the mother, father, siblings and children and take a swab test kit from missing persons.
GRACE: Well put, Yvette. Yvette, having to live through the nightmare of being set afire. You`re seeing video of it right now by her ex. And in that case, there had been so many prior incidents.
To Ron Shindel, weigh in, Ron.
RON SHINDEL, FORMER NYPD DEPUTY INSPECTOR: Right, Nancy. Domestic violence, that doesn`t stop. Initially goes past the first incident, escalates, escalates and keeps escalating until we have consequences that sometimes lead to a very serious injury or sometimes even homicide.
GRACE: And Ellie Jostad, where`s the husband, the groom?
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: Well, Nancy, we don`t know where he is but police say he is armed and dangerous as they explained before, he`s known to have a shotgun in the house. They did find a 12-gauge in the house.
They believe that the victim, the alleged victim is likely with her husband right now and they`re looking for their vehicle.
GRACE: If she`s still alive.
Everyone, the vehicle, a gray Dodge Charger, Wisconsin license 272P, Peter, X X-ray, T, Tennessee. A special thank you to Dan O`Donnell and Detective Michael Hartwell.
As we go to break, happy birthday to Florida friend, Fran Newton. Proud mother of three. She not only works side by side with her husband she volunteered for years at the local hospital. Never misses a show. Loves sewing aprons for friends. She`s 88 today.
Happy birthday, Fran.
And happy birthday to my brother, Mac. Here he is with his wife Jan. Asides from being one of the top sales reps in the country, a husband, a father of two boys, both of whom they`re putting through college, he`s an avid runner. He survived a heart attack at an early age.
Aside from all of that, he`s the greatest brother I could imagine. Always there in the good times and the bad, through thick and thin.
Happy birthday, Mackie.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Breaking news. A missing person`s alert has gone out for 31-year-old Stephanie Fischer. Police say Stephanie taken by her new husband Dennis Moe. A man who`s had multiple domestic violence abuse claims against him.
Those claims including beating, choking and even putting a gun in Stephanie`s mouth. Police say Moe is to be considered armed and dangerous. Stephanie believed to be in extreme danger.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight to Ellie Jostad also on this story. Ellie, what more can you tell me about this guy? He`s disappeared, too.
JOSTAD: Right. Well, Nancy, I`m counting at least five alleged incidents involving these two -- alleged domestic violence, that Dennis Me is claimed to have perpetrated on the victim. Going all the way back to July as the other reporter explained.
He`s now facing this laundry list of charges, battery, strangling and suffocation, second-degree reckless, endangering, intentionally pointing a firearm at a person. He`s looking at -- at least 20 years, if he`s convicted on all of these counts.
GRACE: Dr. Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst, author of "Dealbreakers." What do you think?
BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST, AUTHOR OF "DEALBREAKERS": I`m concerned about the escalating pattern of violence, but I`m also concerned that he may have kidnapped her or absconded with her in order to convince her to drop the charges.
And women, if you are in a domestic or violence abuse situation and you call 911 and the police tell you to press charges, press the charges. Do not let your husband or boyfriend convince you otherwise.
And if there`s a TRO, respect the temporary restraining order, because the biggest mistake that women make is they feel guilty. They go back. I`m not suspecting that that`s the case in this particular situation. But the husband tries to get them to drop the charges and that`s, you know, could be a part of the picture in this -- in this situation.
GRACE: With me, Dr. Marty Makary, physician and professor of public health, Johns Hopkins.
Dr. Makary, you know, I remember when I first became a felony prosecutor, and we don`t deal with simple batteries or simple assault. It`s got to be bad by the time it gets to felony court. I remember a woman coming into court with a broken leg and a cast, her hand was in some kind of a -- not a cast, but something else.
She`s dragging her leg along behind her with the boyfriend. And she wanted to drop charge, all right?
DR. MARTY MAKARY, PHYSICIAN, PROF. OF PUBLIC HEALTH, JOHNS HOPKINS: Yes.
GRACE: You must see it all the time.
MAKARY: We do see this sort of allegiance to the abuser, and domestic violence is called the silent killer because women are often silent about it. There is this sort of allegiance or feeling of guilt that they don`t want to turn in the person who sometimes can redeem them.
We see these characteristic fractures, dislocations, burns and lacerations where the mechanisms just don`t make sense an we know it`s domestic violence. We`re often limited in what we can do but this is a good example of a situation.
GRACE: Doctor, you`re so right. Back to Detective Michael Hartwell with the West Bend Police Department.
Detective, isn`t it true that, in fact, on earlier occasions, police would come to the scene, after a 911 call from her. She would be horribly beaten and both she and the new husband would say she fell down the stairs. Come on?
HARTWELL: Yes, that is part of the reports that we`ve had, you know, conflicting information regarding how -- you know, what is told to us after we get up there and do an investigation and in some cases she`s changed the story and then told us what truthfully happened, how she became battered and we`ve seen this continuing escalation.
GRACE: To the lawyers, Sue Moss, Mickey Sherman, Darryl Cohen.
Darryl, I don`t know if you were prosecuting with me at that time, I think you`re already a defense attorney, but whether the lady dragged in with the broken leg, I said to the witness stand. We did not drop the charges. And he ended up pleading guilty, Darryl.
I mean -- but the problem is if your witness, your victim won`t testify, you really don`t have a case unless you could make it without the victim.
DARRYL COHEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: How do you do that, Nancy? You do it with photographs. You do it with her outcry witnesses. You do it and make her feel guilty, if nothing else, and you make her testify because if she`s not saving herself, perhaps she`s saving another woman somewhere down the line.
GRACE: Right.
COHEN: Somewhere down the road.
GRACE: To Lori in New York. Hi, Lori, what`s your question.
LORI, CALLER FROM NEW YORK: Hi, Nancy. Nice to talk to you.
GRACE: Likewise.
LORI: First of all I want to say your twins are gorgeous. Beautiful. I`m glad your mother and Eleanor Odom are feeling very better. Much better.
GRACE: Thank you. Thank you, I saw Eleanor today. Take her another casserole. She`s on the mend. Go ahead, dear.
LORI: I do have a question. This woman. Now do they have any idea where his relatives may be, that.
GRACE: Excellent question.
LORI: . where he is?
GRACE: To you, Detective Hartwell, where are his relatives?
HARTWELL: We`re working on that time -- at this time with other law enforcement where we`ve had some contact with the son and we`re doing some other follow-up with other relatives here in the states at this time.
GRACE: To Christine, Illinois. Hi, dear.
CHRISTINA, CALLER FROM ILLINOIS: Hi, Nancy. How are you?
GRACE: I`m good, dear. What`s your question?
CHRISTINA: Very good. I have a comment and a question.
GRACE: OK.
CHRISTINE: I`m a victim of extreme domestic abuse.
GRACE: Yes.
CHRISTINE: And I have to tell you why these women that have broken legs and are battered bad, the reason why they don`t say anything, is they know that they will kill them if they say anything, number one.
And my second question is if you have three domestic charges against you the state can pick that up even if the victim does not do that, and he actually should number jail.
GRACE: Good question. Mickey Sherman, what about it?
MICKEY SHERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, AUTHOR OF "HOW CAN YOU DEFEND THOSE PEOPLE?": You know the problem is that so often it`s the wife who wants to -- or girlfriend who invites herself back and I`m not casting stones at her, it`s an addictive personality. And they just can`t seem to draw themselves out of these horrendous relationships, as Dr. Marshall said.
And that`s a real problem for the prosecution. You`ve got to put them on the stand in spite of themselves and then bring in an expert, and I`ve seen it done, saying she`s lying to you because of this, that, and the other thing, and you need a psychologist to get up there and say that.
GRACE: Everyone, we are switching gears and still taking your calls. I want to tell you about a story we reported on the other night. A 3-year- old baby boy left asleep at the bus stop by his mother. Mommy gets on the bus and drives away.
To Stacey Newman, our producer on the story. Stacey, what is the latest?
STACEY NEWMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, a brand-new development has come in as we go to air, Nancy. LAPD is telling us right now, Nancy, that there has been a sighting of this mother, literally, just hours after she abandoned this boy at a bus stop.
She was spotted in South Central, L.A. by someone who did not know she had abandoned her child.
GRACE: To Misti Reed, reporter, KERN AM 1180. What can you tell me, Misti?
MISTI REED, ANCHOR/REPORTER, KERN AM 1180, COVERING STORY (via phone): I can tell you what she`s saying is correct. The person that saw her on Saturday did not know that Xavier had gone missing, or not really missing but was abandoned. So that`s the last we`ve seen of her so far.
I can tell you that she was actually described by the original witness who turned Xavier over as being 5`4" tall. The woman who left Xavier at the bus stop. In fact, Victoria has a light complexion but she`s actually 6 feet tall with burgundy or red hair.
GRACE: Misti, what was the mother doing when she was spotted on Saturday? This after having abandoned her child, her 3-year-old, at the bus stop. A homeless guy tried to say, hey, you`re leaving your son, and she shooed him away, got on the bus and kept on riding. What was she doing when she was spotted?
REED: When she was spotted police have just told us -- they haven`t told us what time of day it was but she was just walking the streets of South Central, L.A. They haven`t told us any more beyond that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Victoria loves Xavier to the point where she is not going to place him there. If she wanted to do something like that, she would have left him with me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My heart dropped. I was about to cry. Not just because I saw him because of the story that they were telling. It -- it kind of had me puzzled because and then when they made the description of my daughter, they were saying that that`s the mother. That wasn`t her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You are seeing video of little 3-year-old Xavier Nelson. Who would abandon this baby? Leaving him asleep at a bus stop. Getting on the bus. And she kept on riding.
To caller Michelle in Hawaii. Hi, Michelle.
MICHELLE, CALLER FROM HAWAII: Hi, Nancy. Thank you for taking my call.
GRACE: Thank you for calling in, dear. What`s your question?
MICHELLE: My question is, I know she had the boy when she was 14 and then she recently had another child at about 17. It may be unbeknownst to her mom and her sister, because they just don`t want to face the truth, maybe she`s one of those closet drug people.
Maybe she`s actually on drugs and they`re not aware of it. Is that possible? Do they know for sure?
GRACE: Michelle, anybody could be on drugs. But under the law, Mickey Sherman, that in no way is a defense. Voluntary use of drugs or alcohol, unless you are comatose, if she got on the bus she`s not comatose, is not a defense, ever.
SHERMAN: There`s no defense.
GRACE: If that were true, everybody in the jailhouse would say I was drunk.
SHERMAN: Yes. It`s -- to me a level of insanity. How do you.
GRACE: There you go. You know what? I can`t hear you.
SHERMAN: How do you leave your 3-year-old child on a bench? You got.
GRACE: I was speaking figuratively. I can actually hear you, I`m sorry to say that.
Sue Moss, help me out.
SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY & CHILD ADVOCATE: Oh, my goodness. Two kids, an abandoned child, at 17, this woman`s a bad decision-making machine. She wasn`t insane. She knew what she was doing. This isn`t the first time she abandoned one of her child. Hopefully it will be the last.
GRACE: And to Ellie Jostad, very quickly, I`ve only got a few seconds left. There`s a discrepancy in the descriptions of the woman that got on the bus and the mom.
JOSTAD: Right. Well, the grandmother of this little boy continues to insist that although the person leaving the boy on the bus is described as 5`4" and black and Hispanic, that the mother of the boy Victoria is 6 foot, very skinny.
GRACE: Everyone, let`s stop and remember Army Private First Class William Lee Meredith, 26, Virginia Beach, Virginia, on a second tour, also served Afghanistan. Awarded Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Iraq Campaign Medal, Army Service Ribbon.
Loved volunteering in a local retirement home, video games, music, favorite band, Tool. Leaves behind parents Lloyd and Cynthia, brothers Marcus, Michael and Tyrone. Best friends Chris and Eddie.
William Lee Meredith, American hero.
Thanks to our guests but especially to you. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. Until then, good night, friend.
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