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Nancy Grace

Bones Found in St. John`s Animal Bones, Not Human

Aired April 21, 2010 - 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 girl tucked into bed, five hours later, she`s gone. Daddy comes home from the night shift to find not a trace of little Haleigh. The last person to see her alive, new stepmother Misty Croslin, who goes on to flunk four polygraphs. Haleigh`s father, Ronald Cummings, and stepmother Misty Croslin both booked. Charges, drug trafficking.

Suddenly, search teams, cadaver dogs, scuba divers, helicopters, comb the St. John`s River. Croslin rousted out of her jail cell, taken in handcuffs down to the dock, motioning out to the water, pointing out a specific spot to police. Police announcing 5-year-old Haleigh likely dead. Evidence, including two cinderblocks, pulled from the muddy waters of the St. John`s River.

As the search for little Haleigh`s entire body and the murder weapon goes on, bombshell tonight. In a stunning police move, we learn while Misty Croslin stands on the docks of the St. John`s, police show her bones recovered in the search, then place Croslin and brother Tommy together in the back of a squad car, leaving the two, sister and brother, to talk freely. Was there a squad car confession?

In the last hours, police announce they have not found Haleigh`s body, all they`ve dredged up are animal bones. Did Croslin only see animal bones at the dock, then break down? Police refusing to confirm human remains found, but go inform Haleigh`s father behind closed doors to plan a funeral. Father Ronald Cummings and bio mom Crystal Sheffield meet to determine whether to have Haleigh officially declared dead.

Croslin`s own grandmother describing scenarios, insisting she believes all three -- Misty Croslin, brother Tommy Croslin, cousin Joe Overstreet -- are all responsible for Haleigh`s death. Two types rope missing from Croslin`s van the morning after Haleigh vanishes, backing Grandma`s story Haleigh ruthlessly tied to a brick, then thrown into the muddy waters, dead or alive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MISTY CROSLIN, HALEIGH`S BABY-SITTER: Today was a very bad day for me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was taken to the crime scene, to the river.

MISTY CROSLIN: Tomorrow`s going to be a bad day for me, too, OK?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The detectives showed her what they had found.

MISTY CROSLIN: I was freaking out! I was like, Man, they got me...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was shown bones.

GRACE: ... shown bones...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... bones and remains...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know that bones have been found in the river.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She knows something.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Human bones or animal bones?

FLORA HOLLARS, MISTY`S AND JOE`S GRANDMOTHER: She was pointing (ph) a site out on the river on the TV.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They`re still denying that they found any human remains.

MISTY CROSLIN: It was crazy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... show her the bones...

GRACE: They put her in the car with brother Tommy Croslin.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And let`s say she has the reaction...

MISTY CROSLIN: I`m serious. I was like, Oh, my God.

HOLLARS: Those three grandkids of mine is involved in this, and I don`t know why!

MISTY CROSLIN: The cops said there was a whole bunch of bricks...

Yes, it was a brick. Like, a brick on the floor.

But I`ve never seen any bricks at ail.

HOLLARS: They have no remorse or something!

MISTY CROSLIN: I`m not hiding anything.

JOE OVERSTREET, MISTY`S COUSIN: I didn`t do it.

TOMMY CROSLIN, MISTY`S BROTHER: I don`t know where she is.

RONALD CUMMINGS, HALEIGH`S FATHER: If I find whoever has my daughter before y`all do, I`m killing him. I don`t care. I`ll spend the rest of my life in prison. I`m telling you, you can put it on recording. I don`t care.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And breaking news tonight, live, Ohio. A young church mom of a 1- year-old baby girl vanishes while shopping. But now grainy surveillance video emerges of Mommy with a mystery man. Cops ID a person of interest. As we go to air last night, they ID him. The mystery man, Tre B. Hutcherson.

Breaking tonight, in a surprise twist, we learn it`s not the first time Mommy spotted with the mystery married man, his wife revealing thousands now gone from the family bank account. Tonight, is the young church mom in danger, or is she a runaway mom? Where is young church mom Tiffany Tehan?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Honey, your dad and I, and your husband and your child, need you to come back home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking news. Law enforcement just moments ago saying they`ve located the 1999 red Volkswagen Beetle believed to be driven by Tre Hutcherson.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re just going hour by hour, day by day, and trying to do what we can to locate her safely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cops say he`s 42-year-old Tre B. Hutcherson, who`s unemployed and has also been missing for several days. Law enforcement desperately trying to track the two down, as local media talks to a woman claiming to be Hutcherson`s wife. She alleges Hutcherson recently withdrew $2,000 cash and said she believes the two want to be together.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A woman that claims to be Tre Hutcherson`s wife told us, quote, "He`s taken off with this girl, obviously, together. He`s caused no harm to her, and they`re together because they want to be."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you can make a phone call just to let us know that you`re there, that you`re safe or whatever, we will make the way for you to come back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But would a respected mom involved in her church`s ministry just leave her 1-year-old daughter behind? Questions now swirling. What exactly happened to missing mom Tiffany Tehan?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. We learn while Misty Croslin, baby-sitter-turned- stepmother, stands on the docks of the St. John`s River, police show her bones, bones recovered in the search for 5-year-old Haleigh, then place Misty Croslin and brother Tommy Croslin together in the back of a squad car, leaving brother and sister to talk freely. Was there a squad car confession?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this point, I`m going to call it a homicide.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Local reports police telling Ronald Cummings and his family to start making funeral arrangements for Haleigh.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re hoping to make an arrest in this case. People are finally starting to talk.

HOLLARS: I know one thing. Misty had been out on a drug binge for three days. Her and Ron had fought that day, and she told him she didn`t want to baby-sit. And he told her, Yes, you are going to baby-sit.

CUMMINGS: Please. All we want is my child. That`s it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s still hoping that if Misty did know something that she was forced to do, threatened into doing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You leave your kids with somebody that`s all doped up?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: WJXT is reporting that two cinderblocks have been pulled during that massive search in the St. John`s River.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Without a body, the case against Haleigh`s killer may have to be built entirely on circumstantial evidence.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Misty, when she first told the story about the night Haleigh went missing, she said the back door was propped open with a cinderblock.

911 OPERATOR: You said your back door was wide open?

MISTY CROSLIN: Yes. It was brick. Like a brick on the floor.

HOLLARS: First thing that I was told was that Joe had killed her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s so many people talking.

HOLLARS: I don`t even know whether she was dead when she hit the water or not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And so few who know what they`re talking about.

HOLLARS: What I was told by Misty was that Tommy and Joe took Haleigh and wrapped a yellow rope around her and carried her to the dock and tied a brick around the bottom of -- of the end of the rope and throwed her into the river.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Artharris.com reporting investigators have found a piece of yellow rope from inside brother Tommy Croslin`s home.

CUMMINGS: I just want my daughter back!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re trying to bring somebody to justice for this little girl right here and her family. And that`s what this is all about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight out to Art Harris, investigative reporter at Artharris.com. You`ve been there in Satsuma, Art. You broke the story last night that Misty Croslin, the last person to see 5-year-old Haleigh alive, was shown bones there on the dock of the St. John`s. Are we now learning that those were not Haleigh`s bones?

ART HARRIS, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Nancy, the bones we first reported on your show last night Misty was shown at the St. John`s River have been tested, and police have announced today they are animal bones. They also are saying that -- in a press release today that she saw the bones. But they tried to downplay this, Nancy, you know, by saying, my sources saying, that they have a strategy to keep the pressure on her, a calculated strategy by showing her bones in the hopes she will crack.

GRACE: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute, Art Harris. Hold on! To Dr. Marty Makary, physician and professor of public health, Johns Hopkins -- you can`t get any better than that. Dr. Makary, is there any mistaking a deer bone with a human child bone?

DR. MARTY MAKARY, JOHNS HOPKINS: Well, with weather damage and if we`re talking about bone fragments, sure. There`s no way a parent is going to be able to identify a bone fragment that`s been weathered...

GRACE: I`m talking about the police, Makary, the police.

MAKARY: No, the police can tell because of DNA. They can nail it with 100 percent certainty.

GRACE: No, I mean out there on the docks, Dr. Marty Makary. Do you think police knew that they were showing Misty Croslin deer bones, not little girl bones?

MAKARY: You know, based on the shape of a bone, oftentimes you can make a deduction. But you need a laboratory to know with 100 percent certainty. Otherwise, a bone can look like a bone.

GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. We are taking your calls live. Joining us out of the Philadelphia jurisdiction, attorney Anthony F. List. Also with us, defense attorney, New York, Alan Ripka. Along with him, defense attorney Jason Oshins joining us out of New York, practicing in multiple jurisdictions.

First to you, Oshins. There`s not a thing wrong with what police did.

JASON OSHINS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No, Nancy. You know, I`ve got to cite you on that. That`s excellent police work. They`re trying to, you know, pinch one against the other, hopefully, get an excited utterance, like we think that might have occurred between the two Croslins in the back of the police car. Really nothing to do from a defense point of view. It`s protected by the hearsay rule. And you know, if it occurred, it`s a tough one, Nancy.

GRACE: Ripka?

ALAN RIPKA, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, it`s incredibly traumatic if she`s not the one who did this. And showing somebody bones and claiming they`re human bones to entice them to sort of admit to what they did could be very emotional if they`re not the suspect here.

GRACE: Put Ripka up! Emotional? That doesn`t matter. Emotional doesn`t matter, according to the Constitution. Don`t come with me -- to me with a box of Kleenex telling me it`s emotional!

Anthony List, what about it? Is there any way that they can get whatever she said in that cop car thrown out because those were not Haleigh`s bones, they were deer bones?

ANTHONY F. LIST, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: I think the whole process was intentionally misleading. Dr. Makary...

GRACE: So? Is that against the Constitution, Mr. List?

LIST: Well, that`s correct. And I think Dr. Makary`s talking as an expert...

GRACE: That was a yes or no, Anthony. This is not unconstitutional.

LIST: You`re saying it`s not unconstitutional. I disagree with you.

GRACE: And what -- what amendment? What Bill of Right do you believe it`s violating? What was that, Mr. List?

LIST: I`m sorry. The Bill of Rights is that the whole investigation has to be conducted with fairness, and I don`t think this was.

GRACE: Oh, fairness! I don`t recall seeing that in the Bill of Rights.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: I see the photo behind you of you and Misty Croslin. Do you think she could have had anything to do with this?

HOLLARS: No, ma`am, I really don`t think she could. Misty`s too good with kids. Misty loves kids. She`s had an opportunity to hurt them all, and she`s kept every one of them. I don`t believe Misty had any involvement whatsoever.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are starting to talk.

MISTY CROSLIN: I don`t know where she is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are starting to cooperate.

MISTY CROSLIN: There`s nothing to break me on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think she`s come to realize that, you know, she`s in trouble.

LISA CROSLIN, MISTY`S MOTHER: I see a smile.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are reports of two cinderblocks retrieved from the river.

MISTY CROSLIN: It was a brick, like, a brick on the floor.

HOLLARS: Misty had been out on a drug binge for three days. Her and Ron had fought that day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And my source is telling me police have obtained yellow rope from Tommy Croslin`s home.

TOMMY CROSLIN: I said, I can`t help you find nobody. I don`t know where she is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They told the family it`s time, they have enough evidence that they can start making funeral arrangements for little Haleigh.

HOLLARS: And she told him she didn`t want to baby-sit, and he told her, Yes, you are going to baby-sit.

MISTY CROSLIN: Bring her back.

CUMMINGS: I know somebody took my little girl!

CRYSTAL SHEFFIELD, HALEIGH`S MOTHER: We just want our baby to come home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They brought the family members in to the sheriff`s office.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s not as strong at home as he is on TV.

HOLLARS: He left the kids there with her, and she was still strung out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They told him that it was now a homicide investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was the worst thing I`ve ever been through in my entire life.

LEONARD PADILLA, BOUNTY HUNTER: Misty is being very coy about answering the questions.

HOLLARS: Would you leave your kids with somebody that`s all doped up?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Back to Art Harris, investigative journalist at Artharris.com. We are taking your calls live. So Art, bottom line -- I want a yes or no out of you, and that`s very hard to get out of an investigative journalist. But Art, bottom line, was she shown deer bones? Are we sure those were not Haleigh`s bones?

HARRIS: They`re saying those were not Haleigh`s bones, they were either deer or alligator bones pulled from the river. The question is, did police know that when they showed them to her? And was the announcement today, Nancy, that they were animal bones curiously close to our report on your show that they showed her bones?

GRACE: Joining me right now is a special guest, the attorney for Ronald Cummings, Terry Shoemaker, joining us out of St. Augustine, Florida. Terry Shoemaker, do you believe police knew when they showed Misty Croslin those bones that they were not human bones?

TERRY SHOEMAKER, ATTORNEY FOR RONALD CUMMINGS (via telephone): I really don`t know the answer to that, Nancy. I do know that after reviewing them and having them, you know, looked at by the appropriate people, that they have come back and said that they were animal bones. But at the time, I have no idea.

GRACE: To Pat Brown, criminal profiler, author of "The Profiler: My Life Hunting Serial Killers and Psychopaths." Pat Brown, regardless of what the defense attorneys List, Ripka, Oshins and Shoemaker might tell us tonight, the reality is that police can use a trick in order to get a confession.

We just saw that in the Dalia Dippolito case, the woman who tried to get her husband killed six months into the marriage. She contracted with a crop who she thought was a hitman. They set the whole thing up. It was a trick, all right?

That`s totally constitutional. What they can`t do is beat a confession out of you, get a confession out of you without giving you Miranda rights, torture you, punish you. There is a host of things they cannot do, but trickery ain`t one of them, Pat Brown. Yes, no?

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Yes. Well, Anthony`s saying you have to be fair and not misleading. I don`t know what lawyers we`d have left in our defense system if that were true. But the police can do whatever they want as far as being tricky. And they could have just pulled those bones out and not even said one way or another. They could say, Look, here are the bones. That`s their purpose, is to see if they can get her to give up a confession. That`s perfectly fine. It`s legal as heck.

GRACE: With me right now, another special guest, the grandmother of both Misty and Tommy Croslin, Ms. Flora Hollars, joining us out of Nashville, Tennessee. Ms. Hollars, are you now suggesting that Ronald Cummings, Haleigh`s father, may somehow be to blame for her disappearance?

HOLLARS: Yes, ma`am. From leaving the kids there with her.

GRACE: I`m sorry. I couldn`t hear you. Repeat?

HOLLARS: Yes, ma`am. For leaving the kids there with her, with her all strung out.

GRACE: So are you convinced in your own mind that your granddaughter, Misty Croslin, and grandson Tommy Croslin and Joe Overstreet are all three responsible?

HOLLARS: Yes, ma`am, I am.

GRACE: What scenario do you believe unfolded? What do you think happened that night?

HOLLARS: Exactly what Misty told me, that -- the rope and the cinderblocks and dropping her in the St. John`s River.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are finally starting to talk. Where that`s going to lead us, I don`t know. But we`re going to follow it to the end. And we`re -- yes, we`re trying to make an arrest. We`re trying to bring somebody to justice for this little girl right here and her family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: I see the photo behind you of you and Misty Croslin. Do you think she could have had anything to do with this?

HOLLARS: No, ma`am, I really don`t think she could. Misty`s too good with kids. Misty loves kids. She`s had an opportunity to hurt them all, and she`s kept every one of them. I don`t believe Misty had any involvement whatsoever.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you`re thinking that maybe Misty had something to do with it that night and was there when Haleigh`s body was thrown into the river?

HOLLARS: Yes, ma`am, I do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You`re saying all three, all three of your grandkids were involved in this?

HOLLARS: Yes, ma`am, I think they were. I really do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why do you think that?

HOLLARS: It`s just the way that they...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And joining us from Nashville, Flora Hollars, the grandmother of both Misty and Tommy Croslin. Ms. Hollars, again, thank you for being with us. What led you to change your mind? You first insisted to me several weeks ago, no way was Misty remotely involved. But then you changed your mind and you yourself called police.

HOLLARS: Yes, I did. I changed my mind when I put two and two together that she knowed where to go to at the river. She`s involved.

GRACE: What exactly did Misty Croslin tell you from behind bars when she called you?

HOLLARS: When she called me, she says, Nanny, Tommy and Joe took a rope, a yellow rope, and wrapped Haleigh up with a yellow rope, tied it around her. They tied brickle blocks to the other end of it and dropped her into the St. John`s River. And if they dropped her in the St. John`s River, where was she at? How did she know? How did she see it?

GRACE: What do you make of her and Tommy, Tommy Croslin, her brother, being placed into the same squad car after seeing these bones that were allegedly Haleigh`s bones? Do you believe they talked about it? Did they make a confession, Ms. Hollars?

HOLLARS: No, ma`am, I really don`t think they did. It`s going to take a little bit more than that to break her down, and him, too.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If Misty did know something -- and it`s appearing that, you know, based on what`s going on, that she did. But he`s hoping that it`s something that she was forced to do, threatened into doing, and that`s why she wouldn`t talk to him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Items have been recovered at the search site.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The cinder blocks --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cinder blocks --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Those cinder blocks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m not going to discuss the particular items that I`ve taken for analysts.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn`t do anything with that little girl.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will not be mentioning any names at this time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was told by Misty.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Misty.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Misty.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was the last one to see our daughter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She says nanny, I`m telling you everything I know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a huge river.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tied Haleigh up with the yellow rope.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She could have potentially been put in.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And tied a brickle block to the rope.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (via telephone): It was brick, like a brick on the floor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And dropped her into the St. Johns River.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`ve never seen any bricks at all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Haleigh Cummings is most likely deceased.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Only one that knows is the people that was there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s not anger.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (via telephone): How the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) could you let my daughter get stolen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The disappointment that she didn`t feel as if she could come forward and tell him, you know, what may have happened that night if she in fact knew.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know where she is.

I`m not hiding anything.

I don`t.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Haleigh looked back and blew us a kiss, and she leaned up against the car, and then she got in the car and they drove away, and I never seen her again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: Straight out to the lines. Out to Laura in Kansas. Hi, Laura.

LAURA, KANSAS RESIDENT (via telephone): Hi, Nancy.

GRACE: Hi, dear, what`s your question?

LAURA: First of all, I want to tell you you have two of the sweetest children in the whole world.

GRACE: Thank you. We`ve been playing today like it`s 1999. Let me tell you. And the whole time I would look at them and thought about Ron Cummings coming home from work to find his daughter, his 5-year-old little girl just gone, no real explanation, nothing, just gone, vanished. And now this.

What`s your question, dear?

LAURA: Nancy, my question is, how can they trust Misty Croslin to tell the truth out there on that dock when this whole time she has lied and not told the truth?

GRACE: I don`t think they do trust her to tell the truth. Out to you, Art Harris.

What do you make of it?

ART HARRIS, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Nancy, I can tell you that they are doing everything they can to push her hot buttons. That`s the reason that they took her out to the dock and took her by the bones. She told Tommy in the car, I`m told, Nancy, that she was upset by that and figured they were probably deer bones, and that it was a police trick. So she`s on to them.

GRACE: Oh, no. Art, how can you confirm that?

HARRIS: Nancy, I`ve -- I have sources who are aware of the conversation.

GRACE: Out to the lines. Melody, Ohio.

Hi, Melody.

MELODY, OHIO RESIDENT (via telephone): Yes, Nancy. With her being up for three days, she definitely wasn`t seeing straight. Do you think maybe by accident because that little girl was on medication, that she got the medications messed up and maybe actually gave her an overdose of a drug by a mistake, and then the brother and the cousin, that`s when they all showed up? Thank you.

GRACE: Melody, I don`t think so. Because she has flunked four polygraphs. If there had been some accident with medication, I think she would have come forward with that.

Unleash the lawyers. Anthony F. List, Alan Ripka, Jason Oshins. Also with us, from Florida, Terry Shoemaker, the attorney for Ronald Cummings.

What about it, Anthony list? What do you make of that scenario?

ANTHONY F. LIST, ATTORNEY: Nancy, the one bit of evidence that really impresses me is the statement the grandmother made, Flora Hollins, that -- or Hollars that in her prison conversation over the phone this young girl described in detail what had happened. And I would put a lot of weight and credibility to that statement from a grandmother, especially under the circumstances in which it was given.

We know it`s admissible into evidence, and I think it`s very strong evidence, stronger than anything else I`ve heard. And remind me to give you my impression about trickery used by police and whether or not there`s a limit on that. But as far as what we were hearing so far, I think the grandmother`s telling the truth.

GRACE: Mr. List, I`ve got a feeling I already know what you think about trickery by cops. But what concerns me is the letter of the law and the constitution. But it also carries great weight that you, a defense attorney, would believe the grandmother`s comment means so much because to me you`re dead on about that.

Because this grandmother, Flora Hollars, Mr. List, has taken up -- taken up for and defended Misty Croslin from the get-go. Dyed in the wool Croslin supporter. In fact, if you look at that sound where she`s defending her, there hanging behind her in the background is the picture of her hugging on Misty Croslin. And the fact that she has now reversed decisions really means a lot.

And Alan Ripka, List says that it would come into evidence.

Why?

ALAN RIPKA, ATTORNEY: What would come into evidence?

GRACE: What Misty Croslin and Tommy Croslin stated to their grandmother.

RIPKA: Well, I think it would come into evidence. I think there would be a big fight, but I think that if it has to do with the crime, I think the grandmother is a reliable source. And I think the court would see the hearsay exception there.

GRACE: What about it, Jason Oshins?

JASON OSHINS, ATTORNEY: Yes, I`m not going to disagree with either of my peers right there. Absolutely, it comes in. There`s really no issue as to why it wouldn`t.

GRACE: Back to Flora Hollars. This is Misty and Tommy Croslin`s grandmother.

Miss Hollars, you say that you believe all three are involved. But earlier you believed that Joe Overstreet had basically been the ring leader.

Why did you believe that?

FLORA HOLLERS, MISTY AND TOMMY CROSLIN`S GRANDMOTHER: I believe that, Nancy, because of the way that when he came home he was a completely different person. And now if my daughter had on a Haleigh shirt, he would throw his hands up and "F it" and walk out is what he would say. He met a girl, her name was Haleigh. He asked her if she was 5 years old. What kind of stupidity is that?

GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Out to Melody in Ohio.

Hi, Melody.

JOE, NEW YORK RESIDENT (via telephone): I`m not her.

GRACE: Oh, excuse me. Lost melody.

Joe, New York.

Hi, Joe.

JOE: Hi, Nancy. I have a question in reference to the drugs they were selling. Did the cops ever find out who their supplier was and --

GRACE: Good question.

What about it, Ellie Jostad?

ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: We don`t know if there is somebody farther up that chain that was supplying drugs. We do know, however, that police say that Misty Croslin, Tommy Croslin, Ron Cummings were both selling and buying drugs to these undercover informants.

Out to Marlaina Schiavo, our producer, joining us there at the jailhouse.

Marlaina, what more can you tell me?

MARLAINA SCHIAVO, NANCY PRODUCER: Well, I can tell you, Nancy, that even though they keep saying about these bones and they`re animal bones, they still have enough evidence to make this a homicide case, and we do know that there are items at a lab right now being tested that could be connected to this case.

We`re hearing a lot about cinder blocks being pulled out. We`re hearing a lot about just evidence that`s coming out that has caused them to -- you know, for this massive search, and to make this a homicide case, and to tell Ronald Cummings to start making funeral arrangements.

GRACE: You know, Marlaina, along with the theory that cops can use trickery, if they had gone into that room and told Ronald Cummings behind closed doors to start planning a funeral, do we know his response?

SCHIAVO: It was a somber response. We know that he was asking his attorney a lot of questions about what is involved with that because the bottom line is, Nancy, for him to tell a judge or go before a judge to get a death certificate, that`s a really hard thing to do for a father. So he was -- you know, he didn`t have a lot to say, but he was deeply saddened, obviously, by what they were telling him.

GRACE: To Art Harris.

Art, I was told from my sources that he broke down --

HARRIS: That`s right, Nancy.

GRACE: -- in uncontrollable tears.

HARRIS: Yes. My sources told me he broke down and so did Crystal Sheffield. And there was no doubt, at least in law enforcement`s mind, this was a genuine reaction from a very, very grieving father.

GRACE: We are taking your calls live. It has come to light that yesterday Misty Croslin, the last 24 hours, was brought down to the docks of the St. Johns River and shown bones dredged from the river. And led to believe they were Haleigh Cummings` bones, the 5-year-old little girl that went missing under her watch. They then placed her in a squad car with her brother, Tommy Croslin. Now we learned that bones may not have been the little girl`s, in fact animal bones.

To Lillian Glass, Dr. Lillian Glass, psychologist and author of "Toxic People," joining us out of L.A.

Lillian, what do you make of it? And I find it very difficult to believe that Misty Croslin and Tommy Croslin did not discuss the case in the back of that squad car.

DR. LILLIAN GLASS, PSYCHOLOGIST AND AUTHOR OF "TOXIC PEOPLE": Well, I agree with you. And what was interesting is that it was reported that emotion was noted in Misty. And this is something we`ve never seen. We`ve seen her arrogant. We`ve seen her emotionless. We`ve seen her strung out. We`ve seen her nasty. And now she may be softening up in terms of breaking and really telling us what really happened. So I think as you do, when she was in the squad car something must have been said to --

GRACE: To Bill Majeski, former NYPD, now president of Majeski Associates in New York.

Was there anything wrong with what cops did?

BILL MAJESKI, FORMER NYPD DETECTIVE; MAJESKI ASSOCIATES INC: No, absolutely not. I thought it was very clever on their part. As a matter of fact, I`m surprise it took them so long to do something like that. But sure, any effort that they could make in terms of trickery, trickery`s used all the time in law enforcement, and it`s used quite successfully. And why not? Especially in a case like this.

GRACE: Correct and succinct.

Everyone, as we go to break tonight, we are asking for thoughts and prayers for Mary Claire Blackshaw. She`s a young mom in the fight of her life, battling bone cancer. Mary Claire, we all join together tonight, and we are praying. Now, you, please stay strong.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Breaking news. Law enforcement just moments ago saying they`ve located the 1999 red Volkswagen Beetle believed to be driven by Trey Hutcherson.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s no use of jumping to conclusions on a picture.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Cops say this man is 42-year-old Trey B. Hutcherson, who`s also been missing for several days and may be with Tiffany. Cops now say the FBI is involved.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pictures don`t prove anything. And so what we`re just trying to do is wait.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A woman that claims to be Trey Hutcherson`s wife claims he took a bunch of cash, maybe in the thousands, out of their bank accounts. Quote, "yeah, he took some money. I don`t know anything else. He`s left. I`m here by myself. I`m just trying to get moved to California, and I`m just trying to move on."

As police checking passenger airline manifests out of Dayton Airport, but haven`t spotted the two on any list. Still, no activity from either Hutcherson`s or Tiffany`s cell phones or ATM cards.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As we know, it her day was operating as it was supposed to operate.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Tiffany`s husband, David Tehan, says he doesn`t care what`s going on, he just wants Tiffany to come back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We love you. We care about you. And if you could see the expression of love here, you would understand how much we need for you to come back home now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight out to Katie Wright, reporter with the "Hillsborough Times-Gazette," joining us there at the search headquarters.

Katie, thank you for being with us.

What`s the update?

KATIE WRIGHT, REPORTER, "THE HILLSBORO TIMES-GAZETTE: Right now, Nancy, we do know that within 24 hours after Trey B. Hutcherson was listed as a person of interest in the case, or after he was identified, they did locate the red Volkswagen Beetle belonging, or believing to belong to him in North Dayton. However, police are still searching for Tiffany, as well as Trey Hutcherson, and they are I believe processing the car probably as we speak.

GRACE: To Clark Goldband, our producer on the story.

Clark, what happened? Between when we first heard about this story, a missing mom with a flat tire out shopping, in fact going to a consignment sale for mommies, for gently used clothes for her 1-year-old daughter, and suddenly all this video turns up of her with this guy, Hutcherson?

When was the video? What are they doing in the video?

CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, that`s right, Nancy. In fact, several surveillance shots have emerged. They were taken in the past few months within weeks, two to three weeks, law enforcement has said this afternoon, at a local Circle K convenience store, Nancy, just a few feet from where this mom works at an insurance agency.

GRACE: OK. Circle K convenience store.

What were they doing in there?

GOLDBAND: Now, Nancy, we`ve learned this afternoon from press reports that the clerk in the Circle K says they`ve popped in multiple times, almost every day in the past few weeks, to buy coffee. It didn`t seem like they were romantically involved. They were just friends.

GRACE: OK. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. They come in every day together, they buy coffee, do they sit there in the Circle K and drink the coffee?

GOLDBAND: Not that we know of. The clerk just says they come in to purchase the coffee.

GRACE: They come in and buy the coffee. All right.

Did she have a job, Clark Goldband?

GOLDBAND: Yes, Nancy. She had a job at an insurance agency. And in fact she was the only female employee of that insurance -- I`m sorry.

GRACE: What about him? Did he have a job?

GOLDBAND: No. He`s unemployed, and he`s also married.

GRACE: Married?

GOLDBAND: Yes.

GRACE: Children?

GOLDBAND: Not that we know of. But his wife, Nancy, in press reports said that he recently withdrew $2,000 in cash right before he took off.

GRACE: We are taking your calls live.

Joining us right now is Captain Scott Anger with the Xena Police Department.

Captain Anger, welcome. And please tell us what your department is doing to find 31-year-old Tiffany Tehan.

CAPT. SCOTT ANGER, XENA POLICE DEPARTMENT (via telephone): We`re doing everything within our power right now, within our capabilities, to try to find out the truth and bring Tiffany home safely. At this point, we`re trying to use all of our available sources. And as you`ve stated, we`ve used other agencies, to be very helpful in bringing this to hopefully a good resolution.

GRACE: Are you talking about the FBI?

ANGER: The FBI has been involved and has helped us in this case.

GRACE: What is the FBI doing?

ANGER: Right now we`ve just used the FBI for some of their specialties, and I can`t elaborate on that.

GRACE: Their specialties.

To Bill Majeski, former NYPD, what specialty would they be using the FBI for?

MAJESKI: Well, perhaps some analysis of computers. If she had access to a computer, they may be looking into that to see if there was some kind of a relationship that was budding as a result of computer communication. Other than that, you know, I can`t see anything that they would -- unless they have found some kind of evidence that they want analyzed in some way.

GRACE: Right. Right.

With us right now, special guest joining us from Search Headquarters in the search for 31-year-old Tiffany Tehan, a young church mom, and we call her that because she`s so heavily involved with her church. The mother of a 1-year-old little girl. Her father is with us, Chuck Tabor.

Mr. Tabor, thank you for being with us.

Look, I`m a new mom myself. And you know, between working and taking care of the twins all day, it`s -- it can be a crushing load sometimes. It really can. I could see marital discord, you get fed up. But I just don`t see her leaving the 1-year-old little girl behind. I just don`t see it.

CHUCK TABOR, FATHER OF TIFFANY TEHAN: Yes, I don`t either. I don`t -- I don`t understand that. That`s totally not anything in Tiffany`s character at all. It`s not something that she traditionally would be doing. And we don`t really understand why. We just want her back, and we want to find her and see help her to come back and -- or help -- we`re doing everything we can to try to find her, find Tiffany and there`s a Web site, TiffanyTehan.com. There`s a $5,000 reward that`s being offered for any help and getting her safe return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOY BEHAR, HOST, "THE JOY BEHAR SHOW": Tonight on "The Joy Behar Show," they say Cameron Douglas will wind up in a prison that`s like a country club. Really? Country Clubs are filled with rich, white people. Is he moving in with the Cheneys.

Then the tears flow as Kate Gosselin is voted off of "Dancing With the stars." Is she getting acting lessons from Glenn Beck?

And actress Alyssa Milano joins me. I like her. Even than Milano cookies. And trust me, that`s saying a lot, because I love my cookies.

That and more in a bit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tiffany Tehan has been missing since she left on a shopping trip.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They had planned to spend her day shopping.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her family reported her missing to authorities.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, she`s going to call, she`s going to call, she`s going to call.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her vehicle was found, the keys were locked in the vehicle and there was a flat tire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight out to the lines. Cory in Massachusetts.

Hi, Cory.

CORY, MASSACHUSETTS RESIDENT (via telephone): Hi, Nancy. How are you?

GRACE: I`m good. Dear, what`s your question?

CORY: My question is how long has the mom been missing, and is the baby with the father?

GRACE: Back to Pastor Chuck Tabor. This is Tiffany Tehan`s father.

The little girl is with the father, right?

TABOR: That`s correct. He`s taking care of her.

GRACE: What are they telling her?

TABOR: She`s 1-year-old. And so they`re just trying to make her day and her routine as regular as possible. She misses her mom. You can tell that.

GRACE: I`m sure.

Mr. Tabor, how do they believe the tire was flatted?

GRACE: As I understand it, this was an old tire that had repeatedly deflated and had -- they were regularly filling it with air. And, you know, they didn`t find the car until Sunday morning. It could have been that it just deflated on its own.

To Pat Brown, criminal profiler.

Pat, what do you make of it?

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Well, I think what`s most interesting is that she was meeting with him for something, maybe confidant, maybe she was advising her. I wonder if they did go out to the car to talk about something, and something went wrong there. Maybe his withdrawal of $2,000, he had something in his mind. He was leaving his wife. He wanted this lady to go with him. Maybe she didn`t want to go. Maybe that`s why the keys are locked in the car. Maybe he said, well, you`re not going to get back in your car. That`s one theory I have.

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: Look, I know that the easy thing to believe is she took of with this guy.

BROWN: Right.

GRACE: And, look, married people can get really angry at each other when it`s stressful, but I just don`t see Tiffany Tehan leaving behind that 1-year-old little girl.

BROWN: I agree.

GRACE: And to Pastor Chuck Tabor, Mr. Tabor, no matter what has happened please know that the baby girl, her husband, you, and your family are in our prayers because no matter what happened --

TABOR: Thank you very much.

GRACE: No matter what happened, it`s a big thing for the little girl. So you are in our prayers.

TABOR: It sure is. Thank you very much.

GRACE: Yes, sir.

TABOR: I would encourage everybody to pray. Thank you.

GRACE: Everyone, let`s stop and remember Army Sergeant Harrison Dutton Brown, 31, Prichard, Alabama, killed in Iraq. On a third tour, awarded a bronze star, purple heart, lost his life Easter Sunday. Loved studies and football, scholarship to enlist, loves sports. Leaves behind grieving mother, Christy, and two brothers, widow and high school sweetheart, Felicia. Three children. Harrison Brown, American hero.

Thanks to our guests, but especially to you.

And a special good night from Georgia friends, Betty and Bucky. Now, there`s a beautiful couple.

Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.

END