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Nancy Grace
Composite Sketch Released in Venus Stewart Case
Aired May 07, 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, rural Michigan -- 7:30 AM, Mommy in pajamas goes to the mailbox in the front yard to mail a letter. Mommy 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 pajamas?
Bombshell tonight. Is there a crack in the case? Investigators releasing a composite sketch of a suspicious white male spotted by multiple witnesses at Adams Lake just one mile from where Mommy vanishes, the same lake where police searching with high-tech sonar. The mystery man spotted soaking wet, muddy, acting suspicious, nervous, asking for directions -- two sightings just hours before Mommy disappears.
This as specialized Michigan crime techs touch down in Virginia to search every inch of two vehicles, one a Mercury Sedan, two a Dodge Ram pick-up, both belonging to Mommy`s estranged husband. Newly released search warrants reveal vehicle matching husband`s silver Mercury sedan just before Mommy disappears, tire tracks in a field where the truck and mystery man crouched nearby at the time Mommy goes missing. Investigators also get DNA, fingerprints and evidence from Daddy`s Virginia apartment. And did the husband lay out of work the day Mommy goes missing?
Tonight, we obtain Mommy`s handwritten letter detailing why she packs up her children and leaves her home and husband without so much as a toothbrush. With her little girls in hiding at this hour, still no sign of Mommy tonight. Where is gorgeous young mom of two Venus Stewart?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`ve sat by the phone waiting for answers all the time, hoping, praying that something will change.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking news in the investigation into missing mom Venus Stewart. State police have now released this sketch of a man they`d like to speak with.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re learning that they have tire tracks taken from a field nearby, an eyewitness account of a pick-up in a field nearby.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Witnesses claim the man was acting suspiciously prior to Venus`s disappearance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a white male crouching behind it about the time of the disappearance.
GRACE: The guy crouched down. This is all around 7:00 o`clock in the morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The man described as being in his late 20s or early 30s, 5-5 to 5-8, weighing about 160 pounds. He was last seen by Adams Lake, the lake just one mile from the home where Venus Stewart was last seen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The person who did this would have been -- had to have been outside the house, surveying the house.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s 7:30 in the morning. People are up, getting ready for work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s unlikely that her husband would be out there for hours, hoping she walked out to the mailbox to kidnap her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He claims to be in Virginia. He could call us every day, once a day, talk to the children. But on that day, he never called. The only day he`s missed is the day that Venus came up missing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight: She calls 911 as smoke creeps through the house, begging for help. The fire trucks show up all right, but veteran firefighters never bother to put one foot on the ground. They never even get out of the fire truck, not even a security knock at the door. The house crashes down and blazing. The mom of three dies in the inferno. And tonight, the firefighters who never lift a finger are reinstated? Why?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seventy-four-year-old Georgia resident Anne Bartlett (ph) called 911 just after 1:00 AM to report her house was on fire.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It haunts me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Moments later, the line went dead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the fact that it could have been avoided haunts me even more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Firefighters dispatched to respond, arrive on scene in about 12 minutes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Help was sent, but the firefighters who arrived never got out of their trucks to see if she was OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She could probably hear them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bartlett`s family angered DeKalb (ph) county firefighters never went up to the house to see if there was smoke or fire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five hours later, a neighbor calls 911 to report a fire at the same house.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: By that time, flames had engulfed the home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ann Bartlett found dead in the garage, her cordless phone she used to dial 911 for help found nearby.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My mother died, you know, for nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Relatives say they don`t understand why firefighters cleared the scene just minutes after they arrived, leaving the 74-year-old inside to die.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it`s a slap in the face.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How did it happen?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The lawsuit alleges, in her last moments, Bartlett, quote, "experienced unbelievable fright, shock and mental suffering."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ann Bartlett`s family seeking justice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. Want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. Is there a crack in the case? Investigators releasing a composite sketch of a suspicious white male spotted by multiple witnesses at Adams Lake, just one mile from where the mother of two, Venus Stewart, vanishes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`ve never seen anyone disappear like this, so thoroughly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you seen this man? If so, police want to talk to you as they try to find out who abducted Michigan mom Venus Stewart.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police believe she was taking her mail to the mailbox around 7:30 in the morning and say there was evidence of a scuffle in the yard.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police releasing this sketch of a man who witnesses said was acting suspiciously prior to Venus`s disappearance.
GRACE: ... a white male crouched down beside a pick-up truck. Where is that field in relation to your home?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Across the street, like kitty-corner, in a vacant lot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cops describe the man as being in his late 20s or early 30s, about 160 pounds and 5-5 to 5-8.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An abduction of some sort appears to have happened. It`s hard to believe that no one saw anything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will this sketch finally break the case?
GRACE: Would he have known that she would come out in the morning to leave mail or get mail?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it was sheer luck. I wonder if he wasn`t just planning on breaking in the house and taking her.
GRACE: The day that your daughter, Venus, is kidnapped in her pajamas, that`s the only day he has failed to call his daughters?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right. He`s still calling our house. I don`t - - I don`t talk to him. I just pick the phone up and put it down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to John McNeill, news director WKZO Newsradio, joining us from Michigan. John, what can you tell me about this composite sketch police have just released?
JOHN MCNEILL, WKZO NEWSRADIO (via telephone): It was apparently from descriptions of two people who saw the man at Adams Lake on that morning, one early, one later in the morning. Apparently, the man was suspicious just because it was -- he had been soaking wet on an April day in Michigan. The water is awfully cold to go swimming and -- but he made no apparent attempt to hide his face, walked up to one of the people and asked for a cigarette. So his behavior wouldn`t be suggestive of someone who had something to hide, but you never know.
GRACE: To John McNeill again, WKZO Newsradio. Was he fully dressed coming out of the lake?
MCNEILL: Yes. Yes. That`s what we understand.
GRACE: Well, OK, right there, John, I find that highly suspicious. What is a man who doesn`t know where he is, needs directions, doing coming out of a lake fully dressed? That doesn`t wave a red flag of alarm to you?
MCNEILL: I`ve heard stranger things, but you`re right. I mean, it`s hard to explain, and I think that`s why the police are investigating it the way they are.
GRACE: OK. To Ellie Jostad, our chief editorial producer. Here`s my problem with this guy. Give it to me about the timeline. When was he observed basically coming out of the water like the swamp creature? What time was this?
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: This was in the early evening hours on Sunday, the night before Venus went missing.
GRACE: OK, well, you know what? Actually, that`s not as far attenuated as I thought. I thought it was even further away from the time she was abducted. So the night before she`s abducted, this guy is fully clothed, coming out a lake and asking for directions?
JOSTAD: Yes, that`s right, Nancy. Actually, there`s two separate witnesses who say they saw a man near the lake. There`s the woman who says that he came out of nowhere, asked her for directions, asked her for a cigarette. And there`s a second witness, Nancy, who says that the man is soaking wet, he had leaves in his hair, as if he`d been in the water, brush on his clothing.
GRACE: Joining me right now, a special guest from Colon Township, Michigan. Joining us tonight exclusively, Venus`s parents, Therese and Larry McComb. To both of you, thank you. Therese McComb, what does the estranged husband look like?
THERESE MCCOMB, MISSING WOMAN`S MOTHER: He`s sort of stocky across the shoulders. He`s lost a little bit of weight since the last time I`ve seen him, so I`m not quite sure what his weight is. He keeps his hair really short.
GRACE: How tall is he?
THERESE MCCOMB: Like, he`s got a big -- about 5-7
GRACE: OK, 5-7...
THERESE MCCOMB: ... 5-8.
GRACE: What color hair does he have?
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: What color hair does he have?
THERESE MCCOMB: A light brown.
GRACE: Light brown. Does he have any facial hair?
THERESE MCCOMB: Yes.
GRACE: OK, there we go. Thank you, Rosie. There`s a picture of him.
But back to this scenario. To Ellie Jostad. Neighbors also observed a vehicle parked catty-cornered to Venus`s parents home. That`s where she was living with her two little girls.
JOSTAD: Right.
GRACE: What did -- this guy was a guy crouched down by a pick-up truck...
JOSTAD: Right.
GRACE: ... matching the description of the husband, the estranged husband. What did that guy look like?
JOSTAD: Well, Nancy, we didn`t have a very complete description on that guy. The neighbor says she just saw him briefly. Like you said, he was crouched behind that silver pick-up truck. She just described him as a white male.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The mother was awarded temporary custody of her two children just a week before she disappeared.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Venus and estranged husband Douglas Stewart both accused the other of abuse, cops calling Douglas Stewart their only person of interest. He denies he has anything to do with his wife`s disappearance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) and I know she would never leave (INAUDIBLE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If anybody sees my baby...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: State police have now released this sketch of a man they`d like to speak with.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A neighbor that lives about a thousand feet away from the home where she was abducted -- she says that she saw a white male crouching behind a light-colored four-door pick-up truck.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I know she`d never leave on her own! There`s no way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Signs of a struggle around the driveway. Venus`s parents say they noticed the remnants of what appears to be a scuffle in the gravel in the yard.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cops calling Venus`s estranged husband, Douglas Stewart, their only person of interest because of an alleged rocky marriage.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her husband, Doug Stewart, maintains he was in Virginia at the time of her disappearance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He says that he has two witnesses that know he was there, that can verify that he was there in Newport News.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) please! Those little girls love their mommy so much! If you love your children, please, please, don`t do anything to hurt her, please.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Is there a crack in the case? Missing mom goes out to her mailbox, 7:30 AM in the morning, and puts up the fight of her life. She is abducted in her pajamas at her mailbox, 7:30 AM, rural Michigan.
Out to the lines. Karen in Florida. Hi, Karen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey. How are you?
GRACE: I`m good, dear. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have a question about whether or not they brought the K-9s in. The K-9s have the ability to track the epithelial cells, even if they`re in a car. Did they bring K-9s in to track the mother?
GRACE: Good question. To Therese and Larry McComb. These are Venus Stewart`s parents. Have they brought out K-9s, Therese?
THERESE MCCOMB: Yes, they have. The first day...
GRACE: Did they get a scent?
THERESE MCCOMB: ... they brought -- you know, they didn`t tell us, but -- they didn`t tell us.
GRACE: Larry McComb, were you there when they brought out the K-9s?
LARRY MCCOMB, MISSING WOMAN`S FATHER: Yes, but they had us go in the house so that the dog wouldn`t be confused by scents or our presence.
GRACE: I want to go to Clark Goldband. Clark, a lot of people have e-mailed and called in about why nobody could see her, Mommy, at the mailbox. And I asked Mr. McComb, Larry, the other night, did the little girls see their mom get abducted? It`s only about 80 feet away, was what he told me. Why couldn`t they see the mailbox, Clark Goldband?
CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: It`s a great question, Nancy. So many have called and e-mailed. And we have a series of charts and diagrams here to show you why. First of all, that mailbox length, Nancy -- 80 feet is all it is, but it`s further than most driveways. If we advance on to the next shot, you can really get a good sense of why no one has seen this at the mailbox. Take a look -- 80 feet.
Now, the side of the house is at the end of the driveway, Nancy, not the front. There are no windows nearby. Also, vehicles blocking the view, as is a boat. If we advance on to the next slide behind me, you`ll also see in closer. Take a look. No windows at all in that area. There`s a boat...
GRACE: You know what? Hold right there. Hold right there. The mailbox is right there at that bottom left arrow. Now I get it. I don`t see any windows on the side of the house. So you`re saying the mailbox is kind of to the side of the house, not necessarily out in the front, where you would look out the window at it?
GOLDBAND: Exactly right. And also, Nancy...
GRACE: OK.
GOLDBAND: ... there are cars blocking this view. There are boats...
GRACE: And a boat.
GOLDBAND: ... blocking this view.
GRACE: OK, Clark, another question. I know the dad says that he was in Virginia at the time. Are there any photographic surveillance stands between Virginia and the Michigan point of the abduction?
GOLDBAND: There certainly are, Nancy. In fact, all over the highway. While there`s only one toll road in that region, there are highway cameras literally all over, blanketing the entire region of those roadways.
GRACE: To Therese McComb. This is Venus`s mom. When you did speak to him, did you ask him was he at work the day she went missing?
THERESE MCCOMB: I did, but he wouldn`t answer me.
GRACE: What did he say?
THERESE MCCOMB: Nothing. That`s his usual answer when I ask him something that he doesn`t know the answer to -- how to tell me.
GRACE: So you asked him, Did you go to work the day she got abducted, and he said nothing?
THERESE MCCOMB: Right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The search continues for a 32-year-old Michigan mother of two, Venus Stewart, after a stunning disappearance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They told me that, Mommy went outside. So I went outside and she wasn`t there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Investigators forming a posse, scouring the area around Adams Lake, hoping to find any sign or clue of Venus Stewart.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They got in the lake, using very sophisticated side-scan sonar, looking for any piece of evidence that could link them to Venus Stewart.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Venus Stewart was last seen in her pajamas. Michigan State Police and St. Joseph County sheriff`s deputies have been tracking through the countryside, looking for any clues of where she might have gone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was still in bed, sleeping. I heard the kids getting really loud. Why is Venus letting those kids be so loud when she knows I`m in here sleeping?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: I want to go back to Venus`s father, Larry McComb. Larry, I know when Therese McComb, the mom, asked the husband, Did you go to work that day, where were you, he wouldn`t answer. But when you asked him, what did he say?
LARRY MCCOMB: He told me he told the police every step he took that day. I asked him again. He repeated his answer. And at that time, I called him a murdering so-and-so and slammed the phone down.
GRACE: So you keep saying, But did you go to work? Did you check in that day? And he would never say, yes, I was at work. All he would say, over and over like a mantra, all he would say is, I told police where I was that day. I told police every step I took that day.
LARRY MCCOMB: That`s right, Nancy. He...
GRACE: So he wouldn`t tell you?
LARRY MCCOMB: No. He couldn`t have been at work. He was busy kidnapping my daughter.
GRACE: At this point, he has not been named a suspect in the case. He has been named a person of interest. Mr. McComb -- why, Larry, why are you so sure?
LARRY MCCOMB: I`m as sure that he took her as I am of my name. That`s all there is to it, Nancy. I`m positive. This other fellow they run the sketch around, lady at the Dollar Store says he`s a local boy. I think these conversations have gotten confused or exaggerated. I don`t know. Doug Stewart is the man that took my daughter.
GRACE: And another thing, Mr. McComb, Larry, this guy that was at the lake does not seem to bear a resemblance to whoever was parked across from your house the morning she was taken.
THERESE MCCOMB: No.
LARRY MCCOMB: That`s right, Nancy. That`s because he wasn`t the man.
GRACE: Larry, have you talked to the neighbor that saw the pick-up in the field?
LARRY MCCOMB: No, I haven`t. I don`t know if it was a neighbor close or just somebody going to work that lives in the neighborhood. The police aren`t telling me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She had moved in with her parents because of her problems with her marriage.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police tell us that he is their only person of interest because of their turbulent relationship.
LARRY MCCOMB: She was scared to death of her husband. She told me that he was going to get her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police releasing this sketch of a man who witnesses said was acting suspiciously prior to Venus` disappearance.
THERESE MCCOMB, MISSING MOM VENUS STEWART`S MOTHER: She told me earlier she was going to go mail a letter, she need to mail a letter. But she should have told her father when she went out.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Venus disappears heading down the driveway to drop a letter in the mailbox. Wearing just slippers and pajamas.
Venus and estranged husband Douglas Stewart both accused the other of abuse. In fact, Venus just winning temporary custody of her 3- and 5-year- old daughters one week before she vanishes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She had moved in with her parents because of her problems with her marriage.
LARRY MCCOMB, MISSING MOM VENUS STEWART`S FATHER: She was scared to death of her husband. She told me that he was going to get her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you have a restraining order that`s about violence, you cannot be alone even for one minute. We`ve seen this with Venus. Even to go out to the mailbox. Don`t be alone.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: What does he do for a living?
T. MCCOMB: He`s a truck driver. He has to be pretty much on schedule or they want to know where he`s at.
GRACE: Unless he has somebody else makes those deliveries for him.
T. MCCOMB: Possibly.
GRACE: Do you know -- was he working the day your daughter went missing?
T. MCCOMB: No, I don`t know that.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Let`s unleash the lawyers. We are taking you`re calls. Eleanor Odom, prosecutor, Atlanta. Renee Rockwell, Peter Odom, both defense attorneys.
Come on, Eleanor, they asked him point black, did you go to work the day she disappeared?
ELEANOR ODOM, PROSECUTOR: Exactly.
GRACE: Now I know every day that I`ve been off work. Why couldn`t he tell them within a couple of days whether he had been at work that day? What`s the big secret, Eleanor?
E. ODOM: I know, it`s a yes/no answer. Either you`re there or not. Hey, get the cell phone records and see what towers his cell was pinging off and that could give you his location on that day.
GRACE: And Rosie, if you don`t mind, put up that map of all the photographic surveillance spot stands across interstates and highways. Take a look. I`m just wondering how long these photos are kept.
Eleanor, you`re in law enforcement, I assume for quite some period of time.
E. ODOM: Yes, usually at least for 30 days in situations like this, Nancy.
GRACE: Put it up again, Rosie, please. That`s a heck of a lot of photographic stands.
Everybody, you know what I`m talking about. Very often when you have a toll booth, when you have a red light at a big intersection, if you look up, there`s a little camera taking photos periodically. And they`ll catch you run that red light. You get a ticket in the mail. They can look up your tag number. It`s as easy as that.
It looks to me like these are covering more than just the interstates, Clark Goldband.
CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: Yes, Nancy, they sure are. In fact, they`re on roadways all over the country. Many times if you`re even driving at an intersection, if you go ahead and you turn your head up on that traffic light, there will be a camera watching you.
GRACE: Renee Rockwell, Peter Odom, let me guess, you think it violates his Fourth Amendment rights to have his photo taken on the public roadways. Right, Peter?
PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No, actually, you don`t have a Fourth Amendment right to privacy out on the roadways.
GRACE: I know that.
P. ODOM: But I`ll tell you something, Nancy. After all this surveillance footage apparently that they`re able to take and after all this supposedly suspicious things, they still haven`t made an arrest. So it remains just speculation.
GRACE: You know, I think --
P. ODOM: About this man.
GRACE: -- I`ve heard you say that about every single case I ask you about.
P. ODOM: Because it`s about the evidence. It`s not about our speculation or a bunch of people`s theories. It`s about what the evidence. If the police had evidence, this man would be under arrest.
GRACE: You know let`s look --
P. ODOM: He`s not so they don`t have enough.
GRACE: -- at the evidence. I`m glad you brought that up.
Ellie Jostad, what does she allege in her TRO against him? Why does she leave without even packing a toothbrush and take her two daughters and run home for safety? Why are her two little girls in hiding tonight?
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: Well, Nancy, she had made allegations in the past that he was abusive to her. In these notes -- and we actually got this from her parents, it`s very similar to the request she filed for that protective order.
But this looks like her notes preparing to write that. And she says that he would grab her by the throat whenever she would try to leave or he would try to control her. She actually says that after her daughter told her that the husband had allegedly sexually abused her, she says that once she found out about that, she decided to pack up her kids and leave, but she was afraid that he would catch her packing and that they would have a fight or an argument about it.
So, yes, Nancy, she took those kids with nothing on her back she says. She actually had to go to Wal-Mart after they got out of the house, buy some clothes for the girls, toothbrushes. They left with just a little bit of money and headed to her parent`s house.
GRACE: To Sheryl McCollum, how difficult is it going to be to reconstruct this crime scene? It is not a cold case.
SHERYL MCCOLLUM, CRIME ANALYST, DIR. OF COLD CASE SQUAD AT PINE LAKE P.D.: It is not going to be difficult at all. They`ve got her footprint. They know what happened based on the driveway, the gravel. They`re going to look for gravel in his truck. They`re going to look for signs of him harming her in that truck.
Is there blood? Is there her hair? Is there one of her slippers? They`re going to look for all of that, Nancy. This ain`t going to hard at all. They`re closing that net on him right this minute.
GRACE: Joining me right now is a special guest. Steve Kardian, self defense expert, the lead instructor at the Defend University.
You are going to do a demo tonight with us. Explain, Steve.
STEVE KARDIAN, SELF DEFENSE EXPERT, LEAD INSTRUCTOR AT DEFEND UNIVERSITY: Yes, Nancy, one of the most critical things in an abduction or sexual assault is being taken from the primary to the secondary crime scene. And if that happens, it`s unforgiving.
So what I`m going to demonstrate is show some of the tactics that we use at the Defend University in the woman`s self defense.
GRACE: OK.
KARDIAN: And how they work. First thing, if she sees me coming, soft challenge, hard challenge, your basic here, strike, you can go to the knees. Good. Or if I grab her, I`m going to drag her somewhere, she`s going to drop down to the ground, hips to heels, good, knees come up, boom, boom, boom.
Now she can reach me anywhere and I can`t reach her. So the ground is her friend. When she comes up here, we have another move. A rage move here where she`s going to get choked. She drops a couple of strikes to the eyes, hips to the ground. Good. And strikes here the same way.
She comes back up. Good. Over the arms, here. She puts her hands into my hips. Knee strike right to the groin. She drops her hips right to the ground. And kick, kick, kick. Right along my center line from my nose to my groin. Good. She comes up here. We turn around.
I`ll go over the up direction here. I`m going to pull her this way. She`s going to drop her weight, hips to the ground, spin off on me, and the same thing. Kick to my center line. One more.
Here, when I grab her here, I lift her up to take her somewhere. She drops down to the ground, rolls her hips here and, again, she`s here and striking me along the center line.
GRACE: Steve -- Steve Kardian with us. Steve, explain what you just said about the ground is her friend?
KARDIAN: The ground is her friend. We`ve studied thousands of sexual assault cases and we`ve used women that were victims of kidnappings and sexual assaults to bring about this program.
The ground. Using the ground as her base. Her bigger, more powerful weapons against my more vulnerable points. She can be highly effective in what she does.
GRACE: You mean hips and leg muscles?
KARDIAN: Yes, trunk muscles.
GRACE: Got it. Steve Kardian, self-defense expert, joining us out of New York.
I want to go back over something that was found in the driveway.
Ellie Jostad, isn`t it true that the cover, the plastic cover of a tarp of some sort was found in the driveway?
JOSTAD: Yes, that`s right, Nancy. Actually, it was just the plastic wrapper that had once contained a tarp. So in those search warrants that were served on the husband`s vehicle and his home, police were seeking a tarp. So they`re trying to figure out where that tarp went, Nancy.
GRACE: And to Larry McComb, this is Venus` parents -- her mother and father.
Larry, had you purchased a tarp? Did you see the plastic cover to the tarp in the driveway?
L. MCCOMB: I was the one that pointed it out to the police. It wasn`t there the day before. And I sure didn`t purchase it. And there was no wind. It didn`t blow there.
GRACE: So this means he would have -- the perpetrator would have had to take the tarp out of the bag or out of the container there in the driveway. So now we know that a tarp is involved.
Do you know the color, Larry?
L. MCCOMB: No, I don`t know the color. I`ve thought maybe he might have opened his door and grabbed it or it fell out of his trunk. I don`t know. But it ended up in my driveway.
GRACE: Everybody, we are taking your calls. And as we go to break, happy birthday to North Carolina friends Helen and Steve. Husband and wife, 56 years. They love each other so much. And they have the same birthday.
Aren`t they beautiful? I only wish I have 56 years of a beautiful marriage and life with the twins.
Happy birthday, Helen and Steve.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: She called 911 to report a fire. Expecting firefighters to quickly arrive and put out the blaze.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She paid taxes in DeKalb County for 41 years. Yet when she needed Dekalb County, they did not find her.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But for 74-year-old Ann Bartlett, no such help ever arrived. The DeKalb County Fire Department responding in just 12 minutes. But firefighters apparently see no blaze and leave the scene.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did not take this job lightly.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The firefighters say the call should have been dispatched with possible entrapment at that address instead of driving around the neighborhood looking for a fire. They say they would have been looking for Ann Bartlett. They found her five hours later when her house burned to the ground.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Just a few hours later, a neighbor calls 911. The victim`s house a blaze. How could this have happened?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just one of those people had circled back using common sense, we feel like mother would be alive today.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Ann Bartlett`s family just filing a lawsuit, trying to make sure it doesn`t happen to anyone else.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: I don`t understand it. A 74-year-old mother of three. A beautiful woman on the inside and out. Dragging through the house with her cordless phone. Manages to get off one call. She asks for help from the fire department. They show up.
They don`t put one foot on the ground. Not even a safety knock at the door. Nothing. They drive away. The house crashes in, in blazes. And she dies. She`s found there with her cordless phone.
I don`t understand it. Explain it, Stacey Newman. What happened?
STACEY NEWMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Nancy, 74-year-old grandmother, mother of three and breast cancer survivor Ann Bartlett calls 911 to report that her oxygen device sparked a fire in the home. The call got cut off.
Twelve minutes later, firefighters arrived as you`ve explained. But they claim they saw no evidence of smoke. No evidence of fire.
GRACE: Whoa, whoa, whoa, just stop. I`m going to go to Anne`s daughter.
Joining me tonight, a very special guest, Ruth Bartlett.
RUTH BARTLETT, GRANDMA KILLED IN FIRE, ANN BARTLETT`S DAUGHTER: Hi, Nancy.
GRACE: Ruth. Ruth.
Yes.
GRACE: They didn`t see smoke?
BARTLETT: Yes. The amazing thing to us is that they sat in their trucks. There were three fire trucks down there and they said that they looked outside and they didn`t smell smoke or see any smoke that evening.
And they were at least 100 feet down in the dark cul-de-sac looking up at the house, which was dark and they didn`t see anything and they left the scene.
GRACE: Did they -- did they approach the house? Did they knock on the door?
BARTLETT: No, they never got out of their trucks, Nancy. That`s the frustrating part for us. They kept saying that they were unclear that that was her house. When my mother made the call, she gave her correct full address, 1687 Halten Court.
And -- but she did not have numbers on her mailbox. But 15 feet to the right of her mailbox is the neighbor at 1686.
GRACE: But Ruth --
BARTLETT: And --
GRACE: Ruth, they knew it was the address because they pulled up to it and sat there and stared at it.
BARTLETT: Absolutely.
GRACE: But they never even bothered to go up to the house. And let me ask you this, Ruth, was she using the cordless phone in the home or was she using a cell phone?
BARTLETT: It was the cordless phone. And what we`re surmising --
GRACE: OK, wait. All I needed to know is that shows your address.
BARTLETT: Absolutely.
GRACE: On caller I.D.
BARTLETT: Yes, it did. And the people at the dispatch office even called back and said they thought this was a valid house fire and still no one went and approached her house. No one followed their procedures which is to get out and investigate.
GRACE: Everyone, I`m being told to go to the lines right now.
To Linda Dolezan, Extraordinary Parent 2008. Linda?
LINDA DOLEZAN, NANCY GRACE FMR. EXTRAORDINARY PARENT CONTEST WINNER: Hi, Nancy.
GRACE: Hi, dear.
DOLEZAN: I called your staff because I wanted to call you and wish you a happy Mother`s Day.
GRACE: Thank you so much. There are the photos of the twins. There they are at Christmastime. Oh, that`s the shirt that one of our viewers sent in. "Future Crime Fighter."
Linda, thank you so much. Everybody, this is --
DOLEZAN: They`re so beautiful.
GRACE: -- a real surprise to me. There the twins are. That is last Christmas. On Christmas morning. Here we are at the Jersey shore with my family, my executive producer`s family. Our only vacation. Dean was with us. There`s daddy and the twins.
Linda, I recall distinctly you being the Extraordinary Parent of 2008. You have two children. And your son was born with down syndrome. A heart defect. Your mom -- you, diagnosed with breast cancer. And you have fought it so valiantly.
I know that this Mother`s Day must mean so much to you and you must hold it so dear.
DOLEZAN: I do, I do, just as I hold them all dearly.
GRACE: And I`ve now been surprised with photos of my twins. I want to wish all the mothers --
DOLEZAN: They`re just beautiful.
GRACE: -- a wonderful --
DOLEZAN: I also wanted to --
GRACE: Yes?
DOLEZAN: I also wanted to tell you, Nancy, that being your "Extraordinary Parent" is so one of the proudest moments of my life next to my children. And I have made dozens of friends all over the country by being on your show.
And, you know, was contacted by people that saw me on the show, that I`m now friends with because I was an inspiration to them and actually, you know, made such an impact on them that they wanted to connect with me.
So I owe having those special people in my life to you and I`m so grateful for that.
GRACE: Linda Dolezan, joining us. And I want to thank my staff so much.
Everyone, now, "CNN Heroes."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
EVANS WADONGO, YOUNG WONDER: I have problems with my eyesight due to prolonged exposure to smoke. And I had to use firewood to study during my childhood.
I grew up in a small village in western part of Kenya. These families, they are so poor, they don`t have electricity. It`s only kerosene and firewood that they use for lighting, cooking.
It`s very, very frustrating, I couldn`t compete effectively with other kids who have access to lighting. A lot of other kids just drop out of school. So they remain poor for the rest of their life.
My name is Evans Wadongo.
When I made the first lantern, I thought I must find a way of using solar to light up rural homes. I was so overwhelmed. I knew the impact that the lantern would have on the rural communities.
The amount of money that every household uses to buy kerosene every day. If they can just save that money, they can be able to buy food.
All along I`ve been skipping (INAUDIBLE) so that I can construct the lamps. But I wanted to do more.
It gives me satisfaction knowing that I`m lifting people out of poverty. I just feel like it`s right.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: What a week in America`s courtrooms. Take a look at the stories and more important, the people who touched our lives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Authorities investigating the disappearance of 25-year-old Phuong Le have executed search warrants.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lots of transit. Lots of students. (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Got the home and office of a man police reportedly say was romantically linked to the missing woman. Police say investigators began looking at (INAUDIBLE), Phuong`s former boss after his phone number -- her cell phone records.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Who did she call?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) number was the last one showing on her cell phone.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Did she say anything about leaving the area, running away?
THUC NGUYEN, PHUONG LE`S FORMER EMPLOYER: No. Nothing at all.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: State police released this sketch and they`d like to speak with.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This neighbor that lives about a thousand feet away from the home where she was abducted. She said that she saw a white male crouching behind a light colored four-door pickup truck.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Signs of a struggle around the driveway. Venus`s parents say they noticed the remnants of what appears to be a scuffle in the gravel in the yard.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Students on the grounds at the University of Virginia are reeling from murder of women`s lacrosse player Yeardley Love.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Her body found in her apartment bedroom by one of her roommates who called police.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He shook her and her head repeatedly hit the wall.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shocking.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Reporting police searched Hughley`s apartment and found the University of Virginia lacrosse t-shirt with a red stain on it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Incomprehensible.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Letters addressed to Yeardley Love also allegedly found.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Seventy-four-year-old Georgia resident Anne Bartlett called 911 after 1:00 a.m. to report her house was on fire.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It haunts me.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Five hours later, a neighbor calls 911 to report a fire at the same house.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: By that time flames had engulfed the home.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Anne Bartlett found (INAUDIBLE)
BARTLETT: My mother died for nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Pro football Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor has been charged in rape of a 16-year-old runaway girl. Lawyer claiming no sex at all.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Denies, denies, denies.
ARTHUR AIDALA, LAWRENCE TAYLOR`S ATTORNEY: Lawrence Taylor did not have consensual sex with anybody last night. Lawrence Taylor did not rape anybody.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Reportedly she was brought to him by a pimp.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lawrence Taylor was charged with raping in third degree.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She might think she`s a runaway and that she was a prostitute, then maybe she should not have the protection of the law. Bottom line is if she`s underage and he had sex with her, it doesn`t matter who she was employed by, it is a strict liability crime.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Tonight, let`s stop and remember Army Corporal Sean Hensel, 20, Logansport, Indiana, killed Iraq. Awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Army Commendation medal. Had a zest for life.
Loved kayaking, outdoors, movies, music, time with nieces and nephews. Leaves behind grieving parents Elizabeth and David, sisters Autumn and Angela.
Shawn Hensel, American hero.
Thanks to our guest but especially to you for being with us. A special good night from the New York control room.
Good night, Brett, Rosie, Norm.
And good night from Georgia and Tennessee friends, Jennifer, Judy, Missy, Lisa. What a beautiful bunch.
And tonight, happy Mother`s Day to all you mothers out there including mine, Elizabeth.
Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern, until then, our prayers with the family of Anne Bartlett. Until tomorrow night, good night, friend.
END
