Return to Transcripts main page
Nancy Grace
Missing California Nursing Student`s Former Boss Scrutinized
Aired May 03, 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, live, California. A beautiful girl described by everyone as timid, shy, a homebody, just graduates nursing school, then goes missing from the local Barnes & Noble book store. In the last hours we learned the very last phone call Le makes before she vanishes into thin air was to her former boss, who we know now to be her married boyfriend!
How long was the affair? Don`t know. What did they talk about? Don`t know. But he claims video surveillance gives him an alibi the night she goes missing. In the last hours, police execute multiple search warrants on married boyfriend`s house and business. Tonight, where is 24- year-old Le?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Phuong Le, a resident of Suisun City, was recently reported missing...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... and believed at risk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t know where she is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... suspicious...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... suspicious...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... the suspicious type of missing person.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Something`s wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Search warrants have been executed on the home and business of someone who police reportedly say was romantically linked to Phuong Le.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On these kinds of matters, there are certain things that go unnoticed by the family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The man in question is her Phuong`s former boss, Thuc Nguyen, who the family reportedly regarded as a brother.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was upset about something.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: While police refuse to confirm what was taken, sources say computers were seized at both locations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The last phone call Phuong made before she disappeared was to her former boss and friend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We talk for few minutes, and that`s it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was that unusual?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Phuong`s family does not believe Phuong`s former boss is involved...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was that unusual?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... describing him as a friend of the family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... what happened to her?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have that she was at Barnes & Noble.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The car is there...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... with the windows down...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... unlocked...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... and her purse, cell phone and wallet in the trunk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No signs of Phuong Le. She is now deemed at risk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will continue to do everything possible to return Phuong Le to her family. Thank you very much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight live, rural Michigan, 7:30 AM, Mommy, in pajamas, goes to the mailbox in the front yard to mail a letter. Mommy`s never seen again. In the front yard, clear signs of struggle in the grass, the driveway, gravel, where Mommy kicked and fought, kidnapped at the mailbox 7:30 AM in her PJs! Where is gorgeous young mom of two Venus Stewart?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) she`s my baby.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The search continues for 32-year-old Michigan mother of two Venus Stewart after a stunning disappearance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I know she would never leave on her own. There`s no way she would ever leave on her own!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was surprised she didn`t wake me up to tell me to watch the kids before she went out to put the mail in the mailbox. I wish she would have.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cops say Venus walked outside the family home early Monday morning, wearing slippers and pajamas, to put a letter in her mailbox, then vanishes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`ve never seen anyone disappear like this so thoroughly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Signs of a struggle around the driveway. Venus`s parents say they noticed the remnants of what appeared to be a scuffle in the gravel in the yard.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s absolutely no trace, no hint, no nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cops calling Venus`s estranged husband, Douglas (ph) Stewart, their only person of interest because of an alleged rocky marriage. But police reportedly find Stewart in Virginia. He denies he has anything to do with his wife`s disappearance and says he`s a good citizen and a good person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. A beautiful girl just graduates nursing school, then goes missing from the local Barnes & Noble`s book store. We learned the very last phone call she makes before she vanishes into thin air was to her former boss, who we now know to be her married boyfriend. In the last hours, police execute multiple search warrants on married boyfriend`s house and business.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s a goal here...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Help us find her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... to get everybody to know her face.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Help us find Phuong.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is just really odd.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Authorities investigating the disappearance of 25- year-old Phuong Le have executed search warrants...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A bunch of (INAUDIBLE) a bunch of suits, a bunch of suit and ties.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... on the home and office of a man police reportedly say was romantically linked to the missing woman.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These guys were too quiet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are not telling us what they found.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cops are keeping a lot of things close to the vest.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sources say investigators began looking at Thuc Nguyen, Phuong`s former boss, after his phone number...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... cell phone records-...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... cell phone records...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who did she call?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nguyen`s number was the last one showing on her cell phone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did she say anything about leaving the area, running away?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, nothing at all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police will not confirm what was taken, but sources say computers were seized from both locations.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If somebody was doing something, you know, I think she would have said something.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Phuong`s family reportedly regarded Phuong`s former boss as a brother.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think something would have come out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... a man her relatives describe as a family friend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I`m just hoping -- really hoping (INAUDIBLE) she`s safe and alive right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: I want to point out that the married boyfriend is not a suspect. He is not a person of interest. According to everything I know right now, he has been cooperating with police.
Straight out to Henry K. Lee, reporter for "The San Francisco Chronicle," author of ""Presumed Dead: A True Life Murder Mystery." Henry, everything I`m learning is getting worse and worse. Give me all the updates.
HENRY K. LEE, "SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE": Well, they have searched Mr. Thuc Nguyen`s home and business. He runs Postal Express in Suisun City, the same city where Phuong Le lives, and of course, he is her former boss. Of course, she called him on Sunday, and what we don`t know is, does he have any involvement in her disappearance?
GRACE: OK...
LEE: The family says no.
GRACE: Henry K. Lee, a couple of questions, quick yes, no. If you don`t know, fine. The police may not have released it yet. Number one, do you know how long they spoke on the telephone?
LEE: Not sure at all.
GRACE: OK. Do you know what they talked about other than he says she was angry she had to hand out flyers for her sister`s business. Anything else?
LEE: That`s it. That`s what they talked about.
GRACE: OK. Do you know where he was? Has his cell phone been pinged? For all I know, he was driving to the front of the Barnes & Noble`s to pick her up. Where was he at the time of the phone call?
LEE: Well, he says that he was home on the day that she disappeared. It is -- it stands to reason, Nancy, that the cops would be looking at his cell phone records to jibe it up with hers.
GRACE: He says he was at home. Stacey Newman, our producer on the story, doesn`t he say that video surveillance supports his alibi that he was at home?
STACEY NEWMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Yes, Nancy. He says he does have an alibi. Surveillance video from the surrounding neighborhood that he lives in he says will prove that he was at home that night and did not leave home.
GRACE: Wait. So you`re telling me he doesn`t have a nanny-cam or anything like that in his home, but he believes that surveillance video in his neighborhood -- what surveillance video in his neighborhood?
NEWMAN: He says there`s video there that can show people coming and going from the neighborhood. He does live in a very nice, I would say somewhat upscale neighborhood in Fairfield, and he says video will prove he did not leave his home the day that Le disappeared.
GRACE: Marc Klaas, president and founder of Klaas Kids Foundation, what do you make of this?
MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Well, I think it`s -- I`m -- I`m - - it`s incredulous that this gentleman would be able to supply himself with that kind of an alibi, say that he knows that the videotape will prove that. It almost seems like he had something pre-prepared.
But you know what? I`ll tell you, law enforcement in northern California has plenty of experience in searching for missing persons, so I don`t think that there`s any region in the country that a person could disappear in where they wouldn`t have as much experience to draw from as northern California.
GRACE: OK, Pat Brown, criminal profiler, author of "The Profiler: My Life Hunting Serial Killers and Psychopaths," you`re just who we need. You and Marc Klaas, between the two of you, certainly, we can figure this thing out. Pat Brown, all right, of course all types of red flags are waving when you find out not only did she have a married boyfriend who is a former boss -- what, did he fire her? Did she quit? Why is it a former boss? Now, also, we learn that`s the very last person that we know of that she spoke to before she vanishes into thin air. Weigh in.
PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Well, I say two things there. Romantic relationship at one point and last person she called, those are absolute connections that they have to look at.
And here`s the other thing. That purse in the trunk bugs the heck out of me. I have gone into a book store before and put my purse in the trunk so I don`t have to carry it around while I`m looking at books. But I roll up the windows, I lock the car. So the only reason, in my opinion, her purse would be in that trunk is because she left the book store and she saw somebody, they said, Hey, come and sit and talk with me, so she jumped in the back of the car and sat in the car next to hers, or somebody...
GRACE: But she also...
BROWN: ... or somebody put her purse in the trunk and dumped her car in the Barnes & Noble lot.
GRACE: Well...
BROWN: Only things I can think of.
GRACE: ... as I`m thinking this through, Pat, at first, I thought maybe she met somebody in the parking lot and took off with them. But why would she leave everything behind? And even if she went into the Barnes & Noble`s, why wouldn`t she take her cell phone or her wallet with her?
BROWN: Right. If she went in, yes, I agree with that. But if she came back out again, if she was just going to sit in somebody`s car and talk to them, sometimes you just open up your trunk and toss it in there, so you can just get rid of it while you`re sitting and talking because you`re not -- you know, you have your eye on it, but you don`t want it in your lap.
That`s one thing. Or I say, somebody dumped her car there -- threw all the stuff in it and drove that car to the lot and left it there because they knew she goes to Barnes & Noble and they think that`s a place where she could get abducted out of -- in other words, a staged crime scene.
GRACE: You know, isn`t it true Henry K. Lee with "The San Francisco Chronicle," joining us there in San Francisco -- Henry, didn`t she often go to that Barnes & Noble`s, the local book store, and study? She had just taken her nursing boards, she was studying for more tests?
LEE: That`s correct. Barnes & Noble, Nancy, was a familiar haunt for her. And as the brother has told reporters, it`s very possible that a complete stranger may have realized what her daily routine was, which included the Barnes & Noble and...
GRACE: But wait! Wa-wa-wa-wait! Back it up! Back it up! Marc Klaas, how often is it that someone Le`s age is abducted by a complete stranger?
KLAAS: Well, it certainly happened to my daughter. It happened to many of the kids...
GRACE: I said Le`s age.
KLAAS: Oh, I don`t know about that.
GRACE: Twenty-four.
KLAAS: I would think -- I would think less often than more. But I don`t think that we want to narrow this down to this one individual, at least not at this point.
GRACE: Marc, Marc, Marc...
KLAAS: No, no, no...
GRACE: ... you know me better than that. I think everybody`s a suspect. I think I`m a suspect! I got to find out where I was that night! Listen, nobody is ruled out. But I`m just saying let`s look at statistics. Let`s take an educated look at what happened.
What about it, Pat? What are the stats?
BROWN: Well, I mean, there are women who go missing out of parking lots. That`s a popular place for serial killers to go and grab their people. But I don`t understand why she would put her purse in the trunk if she was leaving the store. What purpose does it serve if she`s going to get in the car and drive away? That doesn`t really work with me. So I think it`s not an abductor out of the lot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The family told us today they regard Nguyen as a brother and don`t believe he had anything to do with Phuong`s disappearance. Her friends are simply fighting their fears.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... that we`ll never find her or find out what happened to her, that she won`t come home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Help us find her!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking news in the case of missing woman Phuong Le, last seen at a Barnes & Noble book store.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We know that Fairfield police have conducted two searches.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... on the home and business of someone who police reportedly say was romantically linked to Phuong Le.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A former co-worker of Phuong Le`s says he had nothing to do with her disappearance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The man is in question is Phuong`s former boss, Thuc Nguyen, who the family reportedly regarded as a brother.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We talk for few minutes, and that`s it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Phuong worked at the Postal Express for about two years. She left a year ago. And since then, Nguyen says they`ve remained friends.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police were reportedly led to the former boss because his phone number was the last one showing on Phuong`s cell phone, found in her car outside the Barnes & Noble.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why did Phuong call you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was upset about something about, like, passing out flyers for her family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did she say anything about leaving the area, running away?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, nothing at all.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Those close to her do not believe Phuong just took off.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her disappearance is out of the ordinary and around suspicious circumstances.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Friends remember Phuong talking about her old job at the postal store, but not Nguyen in particular.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re like a sisterhood and I think she would have said something.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And I am getting the information in the last commercial break that police are now denying reports that Le was pregnant, saying she absolutely was not pregnant. How do they know? Out to you, Henry K. Lee. How do police know?
LEE: Well, they`re not telling us exactly how they came to that conclusion, but they obviously want to shoo away any rumors. In fact, today, Nancy, they met with the family of Phuong Le just to kind of clear the air...
GRACE: Whoa, whoa!
LEE: ... and address any of the rumors...
GRACE: What? Stop. Family of who? I couldn`t hear you.
LEE: The family of Phuong Le. The officers did meet with Phuong`s family to meet with them, give them an update and also to clear the air. I think that was a springboard to ask them more sensitive issues about any romantic relationship she may have had with this individual.
GRACE: Wait.
LEE: Or not.
GRACE: How do they know whether she`s pregnant?
LEE: That`s a good question. I don`t know how they would divine that, but certainly, you would find a way to do that conclusively. They`ve said that there`s a denial that she`s pregnant. Then we have to take that at face value. How they can divine that...
GRACE: Well, unless...
LEE: ... I`m not sure.
GRACE: ... they have the EPT stick in her hand, Henry K. Lee, nobody knows anything, except her, as to whether she`s pregnant or not!
Out to the lines. Becky in Kentucky. Hi, Becky.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy!
GRACE: Hello, dear. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I wanted to tell you that I`m a crime victim myself. My mother was murdered when I was 10. And I very much appreciate what you do to seek justice in this country.
GRACE: Hey, Becky, I bet you still suffer your mom`s death even to this day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will never get over it.
GRACE: You know, people don`t get it unless they`ve been a crime victim. You go on in life, it`s like you break your arm but you learn to flip a pancake anyway. But you`re never -- it`s never the same again. You`re never the same again. Thank you for sharing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Me and my daughter, Cory (ph), watch you every night.
GRACE: Thank you, Becky and Chloe (SIC). What`s your question, dear?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`ve been thinking about this, where she left the windows down. Every car I`ve ever had, you can access the trunk from inside the car. So she wouldn`t leave the windows down and put her things in her trunk.
GRACE: Becky, you`re absolutely right. Becky in Kentucky, Becky and Chloe watching tonight just pointed out something that all of us missed, Ron Shindel, NYPD deputy inspector. What about it, Ron?
RON SHINDEL, FORMER NYPD DEPUTY INSPECTOR: Well...
GRACE: She`s right. Why bother to lock your stuff in the trunk with the windows down? You can just reach right in and go -- and hit the button.
SHINDEL: Well, this is true, but a lot of people do put things in the trunk, even with the windows open, to keep them out of sight. In this case, though, there`s so many things that don`t make sense, that this is just...
GRACE: Wait! Put...
SHINDEL: ... one more (INAUDIBLE)
GRACE: Put him back up. Did you say a lot of people put things in the trunk and leave the windows down?
SHINDEL: No, what I`m saying is a lot of people put things in the trunk just to keep them out of sight, even if the windows are up or down. They don`t want those items being seen from outside the car.
GRACE: I`ve never heard of that, to leave your windows down and put your valuables in the trunk, when all anybody has to do, as Becky pointed out, is reach in and push the button and open the trunk.
SHINDEL: Well, it`s true, Nancy, but all valuables should be out of sight in a car.
GRACE: OK, what about it, Pat Brown? What do you make of this detail?
BROWN: Well, that`s what I said before. If I`m going into the store and leaving my purse, I`m going to roll up the windows and lock it. But if I`m going to sit in a car next to my car, I might just dump my purse in the trunk because I am watching the car and I know no one`s going in my trunk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The search intensifies for a 24-year-old California woman who was last seen at a Barnes & Noble book store.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The disappearance is out of the ordinary and around suspicious circumstances.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Friends and family members handed out flyers with a picture of 24-year-old Phuong Le to everyone they could.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her brother says he found her car in the parking lot with the windows down and her purse, cell phone and wallet in the trunk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police also served a warrant at the home of 40- year-old Nguyen in Fairfield`s Rancho Solano neighborhood. At both locations, sources say, computers were among the items seized. Sources say police were led to Nguyen because when Phuong`s car was found unlocked outside a Fairfield book store, with her backpack and other belongings in it, Nguyen`s number was the last one showing on her cell phone, a man her relatives describe as a family friend.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We`re taking your calls live. Out to Jackie in Florida. Hi, Jackie.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. Thank you for taking my call. I have question about the backpack and the cell phone in the trunk.
GRACE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I heard the other day on your program that her windows were broken. That`s why they were down. She wasn`t -- she couldn`t turn them all the way up.
OK, one question. Isn`t it possible, because I was her age, that she just locked everything in her trunk before she went into Barnes & Noble, so the last phone call she made was the timeline before she went into the store, she never made it back to her car. I used to do that with my friends when I was her age going into Barnes & Noble. Everything was locked in the trunk. I put a $10 bill in my pocket and my car keys. It`s a known thing. We all used to do that. It`s something everybody`s perplexed about the stuff in the trunk. So I just wanted to run that by you and ask a question...
GRACE: That`s a good idea. That`s a good idea.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Isn`t it very possible she took a $10 bill and her keys and went into Barnes & Noble?
GRACE: Yes, or she could have just gone in with, like, a $10 bill, as you said, or a single credit card.
What about her car keys, Stacey Newman? Where were her car keys?
NEWMAN: That`s still a key piece in this case that we don`t know about. But what I do want to add, Nancy -- I can say this now about the timeline. KTVU is reporting that last call that Le made to Thuc Nguyen was 6:00 PM the night she went missing. And as you know, a witness said they still saw her in that cafe at 8:30. So where was she at 6:00 o`clock when she made this call?
GRACE: OK. So we don`t know where the keys are. Jackie`s point is well taken. And Henry K. Lee, is it true that her windows were broken, that`s why she couldn`t let them up?
LEE: ... Phuong`s brother has told me is that her front windows may have been malfunctioning, so that`s why she left her back windows halfway down for ventilation. That does not answer why things were in the trunk. Obviously, it might have been for security reasons.
GRACE: And what about the car keys, Henry K. Lee?
LEE: I believe they are not telling us where they are. I believe they may have been missing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Phuong Le`s mother pleads for her daughter to come home. She believes the 24-year-old, who just passed her state nursing boards two weeks ago, must have been kidnapped.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Authorities investigating the disappearance of 25-year-old Phuong Le have executed search warrants on the home and office of a man police reportedly say was romantically linked to the missing woman.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Tuck Nguyen granted CBS 13 an interview earlier this week. Tonight he`s refusing to go on camera, but did confirm police searched his business, this Postal Express, and his home.
Nguyen says investigators seized his computers and questioned him. The former co-worker of Phuong Le said he had nothing to do with her disappearance.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Phuong`s family does not believe Phuong`s former boss is involved, describing him as a friend of the family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s never been out overnight before.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Huong Le says he called the (INAUDIBLE) City Police Department who responded to the Fairfield bookstore. They didn`t immediately impound the car or take a missing persons report. They didn`t even turn over the case to the Fairfield Police Department for nearly 48 hours.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We feel that the system might have failed us in this case or failed Phuong in this case, because -- just because of the time delay. We don`t know what happened.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We`re going to take you live to rural Michigan where a young mom of two little girls goes to the front mailbox in the yard, 7:30 a.m. in her PJs and is kidnapped. But first, I want to take your calls on the missing nursing student.
Straight out to Sonya in Louisiana. Hi, dear.
SONYA, CALLER FROM LOUISIANA: Hi, Nancy.
GRACE: Hi, dear. What`s your question?
SONYA: My question is, has the trunk of the car been checked for DNA or fibers or hairs or anything?
I`m a crime victim myself. I have so much focus on this man. I believe he has something to do with her disappearance.
GRACE: Well, Sonya, I mean the reality is that your instinct is backed up by statistics in many, many cases. Investigators start their investigation with lovers, boyfriends, husbands, ex-husbands, live-ins because statistically they are most likely to commit a homicide on a woman.
All right. Here this guy has not been named a suspect or person of interest, so cops are starting there within the family, within the circle of friends. They said he`s like a brother or an uncle to them. Then their moving out.
But as far as the car, Stacey Newman, hasn`t it been taken and processed?
STACEY NEWMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Yes, that car has been impounded and they`ve thoroughly combed over it. So I`m sure -- to the caller`s question -- they`ve gone through everything and searched for everything in that car.
GRACE: Let`s unleash the lawyers. Joining us tonight high-profile lawyer out of Seattle, Anne Bremner, and renowned defense attorney out of San Francisco, John Burris.
Weigh in, Burris.
JOHN BURRIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, you know, when I think about this, my troubled part right now is how did the police get information to allow for them to do a search warrant on this man`s house?
They had to have more information than just a telephone number that had been called and/or that they had been previously romantically involved. That doesn`t give you a basis necessarily to go in and search and go through all this man`s privacy stuff.
So I`m sort of curious about what information they may have. They must have something more to link them in. Everyone is right that you normally look to the boyfriend -- in situations like this, or husbands and spouses, so that part is not troubling.
But it is troubling that they got a search warrant without us knowing much more about it.
GRACE: OK, John Burris, why do you think -- are you saying that you believe they`ve got more evidence or you`re troubled they`re not sharing it with you as if you, John Burris, have a right to --
(CROSSTALK)
BURRIS: I think -- no, it`s not that I have a right to it. But I think that they must have more information --
GRACE: Yes.
BURRIS: Because I am troubled that they would get a search warrant without the information that we know right now which then means that they just -- a judge would have had to review something, more than a telephone call and/or that they had been previously romantically involved in order to have a broad, wide-sweeping type of search warrant that apparently has been exercised.
GRACE: And that leads me to my next question, Anne Bremner out of Seattle. John Burris is dead on, he`s absolutely correct. But here`s my question. Why didn`t the married boyfriend consent to the search? Why did they have to show up with a search warrant?
ANNE BREMNER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, because the fact of the matter is this is all over the national news, especially through your very popular show, Nancy, and so why would he consent to a search? He should be very, very careful in everything he does. There is probably cause --
GRACE: Put Bremner up.
BREMNER: Like -- I`m here, Nancy.
GRACE: Well, I mean --
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: If cops wanted to search my place, I`d let them search my place. For what?
(CROSSTALK)
BREMNER: You said you`re a suspect, but you know you`re innocent and you don`t have anything to hide. But we all know don`t talk to the police, don`t consent to a search. Anyone that watches TV knows that, and anyone that`s talked to a lawyer knows that.
So the fact is he`s being smart about it.
GRACE: OK. You know according to you, a criminal defense attorney.
To Dr. Janet Taylor, psychiatrist, joining us out of New York. What do you think about Bremner`s assertion?
DR. JANET TAYLOR, PSYCHIATRIST: Well, I mean, I think --
GRACE: I mean if cops told you, this girl is missing, can we search your place, I bet you go, OK, fine. Have at it. Knock yourself out.
TAYLOR: Well, I mean, we also saw the guy on TV, so who goes and talk to a TV reporter about that?
GRACE: True.
TAYLOR: So clearly he must think he`s innocent, and --
GRACE: Yes.
TAYLOR: You know, maybe that`s part of his delusion or his cover-up.
GRACE: To Dr. Glenn Kolansky, board certified physician, joining us out of New York. How can anybody beyond her, the missing girl, know that she`s pregnant?
DR. GLENN KOLANSKY, M.D., BOARD CERTIFIED PHYSICIAN: Very simple. Her friends may recognize -- you know, some women get this pregnancy glow or you can find an engorgement in her chest size or simply check her credit card and see if she had bought a pregnancy test.
GRACE: Well put. With us, Dr. Glenn Kolansky.
Everyone, we`re switching gears. I want to tell you about a missing mom, a gorgeous young mom of two little girls, goes to the front yard, to the mailbox, to mail a letter, 7:30 a.m., rural Michigan in her PJs. She`s never been seen again. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Venus Stewart was last seen in her pajamas. Police believed she was taken her mails to the mailbox around 7:30 in the morning and say there was a scuffle in the yard.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What happened next to 32-year-old Michigan mom Venus Stewart is unknown. The mother to 3 and 5-year-old girls vanishes. Venus` parents say she loved being a mom and would never, ever leave her children.
Perhaps even more disturbing, Venus wearing only pajamas and slippers. Venus` estranged husband Douglas Stewart named a person of interest because of an alleged rocky marriage.
There are allegations of abuse made by both parents, Venus, just winning temporary custody of her 3 and 5-year-old daughters one week before she vanishes.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You know, I disagree with a lot of what I just heard as our intro. Abuse on both sides? Yes, well, you know what he claimed was abuse? She threw a shampoo bottle at him once, and he called the police.
Now, I don`t know if that rises to abuse, but forget about their rocky marriage. It`s a lot more than rocky.
Out to John McNeill, news director, WKZO Newsradio, joining us out of Kalamazoo.
John, what happened? The woman goes out to her mailbox at 7:30 in the morning, and she`s kidnapped?
JOHN MCNEILL, NEWS DIRECTOR, WKZO NEWSRADIO: Well, that`s what appears to have happened, an abduction of some sort. It`s hard to believe that no one saw anything. This is not a -- while the neighborhood plan itself is somewhat rural, the houses are close together.
It`s 7:30 in the morning. People are up getting ready for work, whatever, but nobody saw anything. And police have no clues, they have no tips.
GRACE: Now, now, hold on. John McNeill joining us, news director, K -- WKZO Newsradio.
John, was she living with her parents at that time?
MCNEILL: She had moved in with her parents because of her problems with her marriage.
GRACE: Yes. Now, didn`t -- isn`t the husband saying that he was like 13 hours away and has eyewitnesses to prove it?
MCNEILL: Six hundred miles away, but yes, 13 hours if you drive slowly.
(LAUGHTER)
GRACE: OK.
MCNEILL: It`s more like an eight or nine-hour drive.
GRACE: Huh. OK, and what exactly is his alibi, John McNeill?
MCNEILL: Police have told us that he has -- his lawyer claims that he has two witnesses who will say he was in Newport News, Virginia where he has a home on that morning. And I`m sure that they`re checking those alibis, but so far haven`t shaken them.
GRACE: Hold on. Hold on. Wait, wait, wait, wait. John McNeill, his lawyer? What is, his tax lawyer? His divorce lawyer?
MCNEILL: No.
GRACE: What kind of lawyer?
MCNEILL: He has a lawyer.
GRACE: A criminal defense lawyer?
MCNEILL: We assume so.
GRACE: Holy Molly. OK, everybody, we`re talking about calls live.
We are talking about Venus Rose Stewart, a 32-year-old mom of two, goes to the mailbox at 7:32 a.m. Her dad comes out shortly after. You can see where the yard is churned up where she fought.
As we go to break, on a happy note, happy sixth birthday to a Georgia friend, tiny crime fighter, London. A little fashionista, she loves dressing up in her mommy`s (INAUDIBLE) clothes. She dreams of being a pediatrician when grows up.
Now is she not beautiful? Happy birthday, beautiful London.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Law enforcement desperately searching for mom of two, 32-year-old Venus Stewart. Venus disappears heading down the driveway to drop a letter in the mailbox wearing just slippers and pajamas. Cops say there are signs of a struggle. But what happened?
Police say it appears Venus just fell off the face of the earth. Venus and estranged Douglas Stewart both accuse the other of abuse. In fact Venus just winning temporary custody of her 3 and 5-year-old daughters one week before she vanishes.
Cops now asking the public for help, tracking down a silver Mercury sedan or silver Dodge Ram pickup truck, both belonging to estranged husband Douglas Stewart.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Michigan State Police investigator say her husband, Doug Stewart, is considered a person of interest, but so far maintains he was in Virginia at the time of her disappearance.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: To Ellie Jostad, our chief editorial producer. Ellie -- and Rosie, if you`ve got a map, throw up the map. I want to see the distance. Where is -- is he a husband or an ex-husband or soon-to-be ex-husband?
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: Well, they are still married right now, Nancy. They were estranged, however.
GRACE: OK, tell me, you know when we were coming in to this segment, I hear about both of them filing protective orders against each other.
JOSTAD: Right.
GRACE: But wasn`t his complaint that she threw a shampoo bottle at him?
JOSTAD: Well, right, that was one of the complaints. He said actually on three occasions she went to a judge and asked for a retraining order, rather a protective order against him.
On one occasion he asked for one against her, and he claimed that, yes, she had thrown objects at him in anger is what he said.
GRACE: And the objects were -- unless it`s a machete, why call police?
JOSTAD: Right, Nancy. Well --
GRACE: It was a shampoo bottle, Ellie. Are you really, really saying that with a straight face? I -- she`s violent because she threw a shampoo bottle at him?
JOSTAD: Well, that is the allegation that he made. He also said that --
GRACE: Stop. You`re hurting my teeth. He also said what? What did he say?
JOSTAD: He said that all of the allegations that she made, for example, that there were threatening phone calls, harassing, threats to take the children, he claims that he never made those threats, she was the one that did it.
GRACE: Right. OK.
JOSTAD: He says that it was reversed. She was the one who did these things, not him.
GRACE: OK. One thing, Ellie, why is she living with her parents?
JOSTAD: Right. Well, in February of this year, and this is in her petition to get custody of her children that she just filed, she said that she had recently found out that her husband had allegedly assaulted one of their children or that there`ve been some sort of abuse between the two of them.
GRACE: Are you talking about sex molestation or beating or starving? What abuse?
JOSTAD: It was -- it was sexual conduct between the father and the daughter.
GRACE: And he denies it, right?
JOSTAD: Of course he did. He denies it and he says it`s a disgusting allegation. But based on this she was able -- and I should point out, too, that the CPS investigation is ongoing. It is an open investigation right now, but the mother was awarded temporary custody of her two children just a week before she disappeared.
GRACE: Now that still doesn`t explain to me why she`s living at home. Why didn`t she move into her own apartment or home on her own?
JOSTAD: Well, that, I don`t know, Nancy. She apparently packed up her children, moved back to Michigan, which is where the family had lived. They just moved to Virginia last summer for her husband`s job. She has family in Michigan, moved back and moved in with her parents.
GRACE: Joining me right now, special guests, Venue Stewart`s parents, Larry and Therese McComb.
Thank you so much for being with us. First to you, Therese -- Mrs. McComb, what happened that morning?
THERESE MCCOMB, MOTHER OF MISSING MOM VENUS STEWART: Yes, that -- she got up out of bed, she had coffee with me, one of the girls was up early, gets up early, too.
And I`m getting ready for work, and we`re just having coffee together. And everything, you know. I was getting ready for work.
GRACE: Hold on. Therese, I`m having a hard time understanding you.
Larry, pick it up. What happened that morning? I heard Miss McComb say you had coffee together. What else happened?
LARRY MCCOMB, FATHER OF MISSING MOM VENUS STEWART: My wife went to work.
GRACE: OK.
L. MCCOMB: I was still in bed sleeping. And I heard the kids getting really loud, and I thought, why is Venus letting those kids be so loud when she knows I`m in here sleeping? And I got up to chew her out, and she was gone.
GRACE: What did the kids tell you?
L. MCCOMB: They told me that mommy went outside. So I went outside, and she wasn`t there. I went to the neighbor`s house across the street and asked them if they`d seen my daughter. She said no, she hadn`t seen her. I came back in the house and I called 911 because I knew what happened.
GRACE: When you say you knew what happened, what do you mean by that?
L. MCCOMB: She was scared to death of her husband. She told me that he was going to get her, and I kept telling her, no, honey. He`s just going to move on to his next victim. I was trying to reassure her. She was so certain he was going to get her. She took out a will three weeks ago.
GRACE: Mr. McComb, you have a propane tank, container in your front yard, right?
L. MCCOMB: Yes.
GRACE: What did you find on the propane tank?
L. MCCOMB: After the police dusted it for prints, she had hard-soled slippers on, and there were prints from her slippers on the side of the propane tank like somebody had picked her up, and she was kicking against the tank to get away.
GRACE: Where were the girls when this happened?
L. MCCOMB: They were in the front room of my house, and I was sleeping in my bedroom. About 20 feet away.
GRACE: Is there any -- is there any way they could have seen what happened?
L. MCCOMB: No.
T. MCCOMB: Not the way our house sits. We have no windows on that side of our house. All of our windows face on towards the river. And they were in the front room with the river side.
She told me earlier she was going to go mail a letter, she had to mail a letter, but she should have told her father when she went out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Her parents say to their daughter, being a mother was everything.
L. MCCOMB: I was surprised she didn`t wake me up to tell me to watch the kids before she went out and put the mail in the mailbox. I wish she would have.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Out to Gretchen in South Carolina, hi, Gretchen.
GRETCHEN, CALLER FROM SOUTH CAROLINA: Hi, Nancy. I just wanted to say my husband and I enjoy watching your show almost every night.
GRACE: Thank you so much. And I also appreciate you calling in, Gretchen. Thank you. What is your question, love?
GRETCHEN: My question is, do we know anything about his cell phone pings to verify that he was in the state of Virginia, like he says he is?
GRACE: OK. I couldn`t make out the beginning of your question. What was it, Gretchen?
GRETCHEN: The cell phone pings of the estranged husband?
GRACE: Right.
GRETCHEN: Do we know that -- if he was still in Virginia, where he says he was.
GRACE: What do we know, John McNeill?
MCNEILL: We don`t know anything. The police have told us very little.
GRACE: OK.
MCNEILL: Especially on the Virginia side of this investigation.
GRACE: OK.
MCNEILL: We`d also like to know about his two vehicles. Why they`re missing.
GRACE: His two vehicles are missing?
MCNEILL: Apparently they haven`t found them. They were the -- you know, we haven`t heard whether they had an opportunity to inspect them. It was a Dodge Ram and a sedan and supposedly they were a part of the initial press release when they were doing the initial search --
GRACE: OK. Let`s find out from Larry and Therese.
To you, Larry McComb, do we know where the husband`s vehicles are?
L. MCCOMB: The police won`t tell me anything because it`s an open investigation.
GRACE: OK, all right, I understand that.
T. MCCOMB: They should be in the garage.
GRACE: They should be --
T. MCCOMB: Of the apartment building.
GRACE: So he was living in an apartment?
T. MCCOMB: Yes. He lives in a high-rise and the cars are on the inside.
GRACE: Therese, who are his alibi witnesses?
T. MCCOMB: I have no idea.
GRACE: Well, if he has such an airtight alibi -- has he been named a person of interest, Ellie?
JOSTAD: Nancy, police tell us that he is their only person of interest, because of their turbulent relationship.
GRACE: Turbulent. You certainly know how to put perfume on a pig, Ellie.
And to Larry and Therese, how are the girls? Do they understand what`s going on?
T. MCCOMB: No. The 5-year-old, she -- I think she does know a little bit.
GRACE: To Larry and Therese McComb, you have got to know that not only myself and our staff, but thousands of people watching tonight are praying for your girl.
Everyone, let`s stop and remember Army 1st Class Sergeant Jonathan Edds, 24, White Pigeon, Michigan, killed Iraq. Awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, West Point grad. A military academy establishing an academic award in his honor.
Loved basketball, baseball, golf, cross-country, Church of Christ. Laid to rest at West Point Cemetery next to a classmate and friend. Leaves behind grieving parents, Barry and Julia, brothers Joel and Joshua -- also West Point grads, serving Afghanistan and Iraq -- widow, Laura.
Jonathan Edds, American hero.
Thanks to our guests, but especially to you, and a special good night from Georgia and Maryland friends, Belinda and Patty. Aren`t they beautiful?
See you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern, and until then, good night, friend.
END
