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Nancy Grace
Kyron`s Parents Blame Stepmom for Disappearance
Aired July 30, 2010 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RITA COSBY, GUEST HOST: Tonight, breaking news. Live to rural Oregon and the mystery surrounding the disappearance of little Kyron Horman. Stepmom Terri Horman walks 7-year-old Kyron down the hall of his elementary school, and he is never seen again. Tonight, not only do Kyron`s parents say their son is alive and being held somewhere, but they fully believe Terri Horman is involved. This as stepmom Terri Horman files paperwork seeking payment from husband Kaine Horman to help pay her legal fees. Why?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My theory is that Kyron is alive and someone is holding him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: New details in the case of missing 7-year-old Oregon boy Kyron Horman.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) one minute away was awful enough. And to be this far along and have him not home -- it`s terrible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We believe that Kyron`s disappearance involves criminal behavior.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Investigators have focused intently on Kyron`s stepmother, Terri Horman.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know she`s involved.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No criminal charges have been filed. No suspects have been named.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, obviously, he`s not home. I just have a feeling that somebody`s holding him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Terri, do you know where Kyron is? Can tell the world something. Will you please tell the world something?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Significant progress in this case is occurring and the tips are being reviewed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wish there were a lot of things that were different so that I could take on the burden that he`s going through right now, that he was safe, and I`m sure everyone else would feel the same way about their children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: And tonight, 25-year-old former beauty queen Mitrice Richardson suddenly disappears off the street in upscale Malibu, California. After months of searching, she`s written off as dead. But tonight, is there a miracle? Mitrice may be alive. Law enforcement receives a tip from one of Mitrice`s high school classmates who says they spotted her in a ritzy Las Vegas casino. Now scores of witnesses also coming forward saying they`ve seen Mitrice. How does a former beauty queen just disappear? Police need your help.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I called not too long ago regarding my daughter, Mitrice Richardson. How long before a missing persons report can be filed?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... twenty-four-year-old Cal State Fullerton graduate...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her name is Mitrice Richardson.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mitrice Richardson went missing in the Lost Hills area.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her whereabouts are still a mystery.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was arrested last night. This is the first time she`s been arrested. She`s in an unknown area that she`s never been in. She`s without a vehicle. Nobody can find her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her family hasn`t seen or heard from her since she walked out of this sheriff`s department substation in Nagora (ph) Hills.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have an unconfirmed sighting. She was sighted at the Rio (ph) Hotel here in Las Vegas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He walked up and said, Hi, Mitrice. She basically looked at him with kind of a shocked look and left the location.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m totally just taken back because this is so out of character for her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: And good evening, everybody. I`m Rita Cosby, filling in for Nancy Grace. Thanks so much for joining us tonight.
Not only do Kyron`s parents say their son is alive this evening, but believe he`s being held somewhere. And they fully believe Terri Horman is involved.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know that I`m getting through it! I know that I just -- I`m trying to take it each day at a time, but eight weeks is a hard marker to hit for me!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since Kyron`s disappearance on June 4th...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don`t know where he is and we need to keep looking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... this investigation has developed into the largest search effort in Oregon`s history.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is little Kyron Horman the victim of a planned abduction?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The award in the search for 7-year-old Kyron Horman has been doubled to $50,000.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a new "People" magazine article, Kyron`s mom, Desiree Young, now claims his stepmother, Terri Horman, has the 7-year-old, quote, unquote, "stashed somewhere."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No one has been charged in this case.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So if you have information, even if it`s insignificant, come forward. Bring it forward. It may be uncomfortable, but you know what? There are a lot of things that are probably going on, you know, in his life right now that are way more uncomfortable than any of us are going to experience right now. So please bring it forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: And for the very latest, let`s go to NANCY GRACE producer Matt Zarrell. Matt, fill us in on this press conference today. Some interesting words.
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Yes, just a few hours ago, the family held a press conference where they say they believe Kyron is alive and being held somewhere. And they also fully believe that stepmom Terri Horman is involved. Now, they do admit they don`t know in what capacity she`s involved, but they do believe that she`s involved. She still has not been cooperating since retaining her attorney.
Another thing that was revealed is Dede Spicher, who`s a close friend of Terri Horman, is now allegedly cooperating with investigators. The family said that Spicher and her attorney are meeting with investigators this week to go over the case.
COSBY: And let`s go to Doug Burns, defense attorney. Doug, I have to ask you, you know, the words that we just heard from Matt Zarrell I think are really interesting. They believe that he`s alive. They believe he`s being held somewhere. And then somehow, they used the word "fully" believe Terri Horman is involved. What do you make of all this, Doug Burns?
DOUG BURNS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No, I mean, it`s an unbelievable whodunnit. I mean, Rita, the woman, she dropped the kid off at school. That`s the last time anybody saw him. There`s a lot of controversy back and forth whether he was seen at this science fair at the school.
This friend, by the way, apparently already testified before the grand jury, Rita, and is now further cooperating with the police. So to answer your question, what I make of it is it`s a big mystery. But if I had to guess -- and I don`t have a crystal ball -- I think the family`s right. I think she is involved. And I think, hopefully, the child is alive.
COSBY: Let`s go to Anita Kissee. She`s a reporter with CNN affiliate KATU. Anita, again, this press conference, it`s interesting. The parents were there but not the police. But they also say they`re not being influenced by police. How do you read all this?
ANITA KISSEE, KATU: Well, they said they`re doing what they feel is necessary. They`ll get the information, and then they feel it`s their responsibility to come and tell us what that information is, if they think it`s not going to compromise the case.
At this point, they need the tip to find Kyron. And however they get that, they know the media is the key, us putting their message out there. So they are making themselves available for us to interview, like we did today, so that people can see this is a real child that is missing, this is a real family that`s hurting right now and they want their son back.
COSBY: And C.W. Jensen, retired Portland police captain -- you know, Captain Jensen, the parents again say that they`re just out there, they`re helping, they`re putting the word out, like any parent would do. On the other hand, don`t you think police are feeding them information, trying to bait Terri Horman through them?
C.W. JENSEN, RETIRED PORTLAND POLICE CAPTAIN: Well, I absolutely think that everything that they say has been told to them by the investigators, and it`s with the investigators` approval that they`re going forward and telling the news media, and then, of course, our greater community. So do I think that they`re not connected? Absolutely not. I think that the investigators are using the family very effectively to get out the information they want.
COSBY: Susan Moss, family law attorney and also child advocate, the parents are also saying they`re not frustrated that Terri Horman has not been named a suspect, not been named a person of interest. Do you buy -- it`s been eight weeks. How could you not be frustrated?
SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: How could you not be...
COSBY: Come on!
MOSS: Absolutely! How could you not be frustrated? I mean, she tried to get the landscaper to kill Dad, so did she go off and kill the lad? I mean, there are so many factors in this case that are pointing that the stepmom knows so much more than what she`s letting out! And the fact that the friend didn`t come forward sooner, that really disturbs me! I understand she`s cooperating now, but why wasn`t she cooperating on day one? This is a missing child!
COSBY: Alex Sanchez, defense attorney, what do you think? Why has Terri Horman not been named a suspect yet? You listen to what all these other folks are saying, you`re going, It doesn`t make sense.
ALEX SANCHEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think the police are trying to develop a case against her, and they`re as frustrated as the parents are because, obviously, there is some missing link linking her, between her and the missing child. So every day, they`re putting the parents out there and they`re trying to put pressure on her. But until they develop evidence, this case is not going to go very far.
COSBY: So you think it`s just going to sit there, Alex?
SANCHEZ: I don`t think it`s going to sit there. I think with this Terri (SIC) Spicher, or Ms. Spicher, the friend of hers -- that may help turn the corner in this case because if she comes in and provides information that the stepmother was involved in somehow abducting this kid, the whole case is going to be turned over on its head.
COSBY: What do you think, Susan Moss? Is that the key, Dede Spicher?
MOSS: Absolutely! But I`m concerned that she`s not going to be as forthright as now the reports say. Where was she on day one? Waiting until next week to give a statement to the police? She should be in their office now! Police work 24/7. She should be going right this minute!
COSBY: Yes, Alex Sanchez, why has there been this delay, this delay? Why is this gray area? And also, today the parents came forward and said, We want information about all these people, including Dede Spicher. It doesn`t sound like the parents trust her, either.
SANCHEZ: I mean, there`s a delay because if this Dede Spicher was involved in somehow, you know, helping to abduct this kid and secret him somewhere, of course there`s going to be a delay because she`s facing criminal charges. She`s not going to just run in there and say, Hey, you know, I did something wrong, I helped abduct the kid, he`s in another location. She`s consulting with an attorney, I`m sure, and she`s trying to protect her own rights and her own interests. And that`s why there`s a delay.
COSBY: Let`s go to our callers. We`ve got Bonnie from Pennsylvania on the line. Bonnie, what would you like to ask us?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks for my call. I would like to know why the biological mother did not get Kyron back after her illness. Why did he continue to stay with the father?
COSBY: Let`s go to Matt Zarrell, our NANCY GRACE producer. Matt, why didn`t she?
ZARRELL: Well, she had a custody arrangement with Kaine Horman, where she was seeing Kyron every other weekend. Now, she lived a couple hours away, so Kyron would have to go back and forth. But it seems like the relationship had been amicable of recent -- up until recent times.
COSBY: Let`s go to Susan Moss again. Does it sound like things were amicable? This is a -- you`re a family law advocate. Doesn`t sound like things maybe were as amicable as they`re saying.
MOSS: Well, it had been amicable, and that`s when they came to their original agreement. But what the biological mother reported yesterday is in the weeks before this little boy went missing, he would break down in hysterics and cry and say, Mommy, I don`t want to go back there, I want to stay with you. And that`s one of the reasons you see such guilt in that biological mother`s face. There were problems. There were -- the writing was on the wall. And the fact that bio dad didn`t recognize this, that`s part of the problem.
COSBY: Alex Sanchez, defense attorney, what about bio dad? Should the writing have been very clear to both him and also the biological mom?
SANCHEZ: Well, I think bio dad has conceded he made a very serious mistake getting involved with the baby-sitter, and now he may regret that for the rest of his life. And as far as the mother being frustrated with this woman -- of course. She hates her because she`s -- you know, the dad got involved with the baby-sitter that they had procured. So she has a lot of reasons to hate this woman.
COSBY: But Alex, what do you say to the folks who say, Why have they not arrested this woman yet? We`re looking at her picture.
SANCHEZ: You know what...
COSBY: This is her body building days. But looks a little different now.
SANCHEZ: I say the folks who say, How come she hasn`t been arrested, have a very legitimate question there because if she was involved in trying to have her husband assassinated, how come there hasn`t been arrest for that at least?
COSBY: Hello! I agree.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kyron is still alive. We would like all of you, everyone, to continue to get his face out there, to continue looking for him in your day-to-day activity. We pray each day for Kyron. We are working -- we are working with investigators daily to bring Kyron home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A little boy is missing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... missing Oregon boy...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We pray each day for Kyron.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... imploring people to believe he`s alive...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We implore Terri Horman to fully cooperate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kyron`s parents have released a statement...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They believe that Terri Horman has these answers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And she was the last person to see him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just have a feeling that somebody`s holding him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stepmom Terri Horman...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kyron`s father moved out, filed for divorce and got a restraining order.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just when you think it can`t get any worse...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Terri Horman will not contest her divorce from Kaine Horman.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just really want her to do the right thing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s still out there. We just need to find him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anybody who knows Terri or Dede, they need to come forward.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The focus is still to find little Kyron Horman.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... waiting for that break that could come in the case at some point soon.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They need to come forward. Even if they have nothing, even if they have something small, they need to come forward because it could be the smallest piece that helps solve it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: And I`m Rita Cosby, sitting in tonight for Nancy Grace. So the big question is, why have they not arrested or brought her in specifically as a suspect on maybe other things? We`re talking about Terri Horman, and of course, the case of Kyron Horman. Alex, you brought up a great point before, I thought, where you say, Why not bring her in on maybe the murder-for-hire, all these other things.
Let`s go, if we could, to Andrew Scott. He`s the former police chief of Boca Raton, Florida. Why not bring her in on something? You look at, like, the Casey Anthony case, where they brought her in on the lying, and then later, they went into the murder and the other charges. Why not get her on something?
ANDREW J. SCOTT, FMR. BOCA RATON POLICE CHIEF: Absolutely. That is, indeed, the key here. But it appears that the police don`t have the probable cause necessary to bring her on any other charges, much less the one involving the missing child. So I think the police are limited at this juncture with what evidence and other type of witness statements to bring her in to talk to her about the hire for murder, and subsequently then lead into a discussion with the missing child. So I don`t think the police have enough evidence to do that just yet.
COSBY: Sure sounds that way. Anita Kissee, reporter with CNN affiliate KATU -- you know, Anita, what do they exactly have on the murder- for-hire? Because remember, it came in those filings, and they came out pretty quickly in the case. It`s sort of interesting that they haven`t gotten more and found some nugget to hold her on.
KISSEE: Well, we`ve heard "probable cause" said over and over specifically relating to this landscape murder-for-hire situation, the alleged landscaper murder-for-hire. We know for a fact that this landscaper was contacted. When they were going through her phone records, they found this number, contacted the person. That`s when they came forward to say what happened. That`s according to sources that we`ve been talking to.
They tried the sting. There`s discussion whether or not the sting worked or not. Either way, it resulted in Terri actually calling police on the landscaper and this undercover detective. That is the whole premise of the restraining order. That`s the reason Terri`s out of the house. That`s the reason she has not seen her daughter since she was taken out of the house, actually since that restraining order was filed. So we know that there`s something there that caused Kaine enough concern that he needed that restraining order.
But again, what those details are, we don`t know because law enforcement in this case is not talking, saying their bottom line is that they want to find Kyron, and telling us details is not going to do that.
COSBY: You know, C.W. Jensen, retired Portland police captain, you see all this stuff, and we know also that she failed two polygraphs. Isn`t that unusual? Come on!
JENSEN: Yes. I worked homicide for six years and sent a lot of people in to do polygraphs, and I never sent somebody in to do a second one when they passed. Clearly, she is the suspect. There`s no legal requirement to tell someone that they`re a suspect. But she is at the center of this investigation. She will be the suspect until she`s arrested, and then she`ll be the defendant. And trust me, that`s going to happen.
COSBY: You believe that`s going to happen. Doug Burns, you said so, too, you know, but wait a minute. Here we are, it`s almost eight weeks, Doug. Why don`t we have more evidence?
BURNS: Well...
COSBY: You know, we just (INAUDIBLE) all these big holes!
BURNS: There are two schools of thought, though, Rita, on whether or not you make a move. First of all, I agree with what`s said. They probably don`t have probable cause. I also want to note, in fairness, that what happened with the murder-for-hire, Rita, was that, A, the landscaper never came forward for something like seven months, which is somewhat devastating. And B, much more importantly, when he did, they wired him up and it went absolutely nowhere. I mean, they do not have that case. I said it at the time. I say it again.
So the bottom line reality is it doesn`t provide them the type of Casey Anthony leverage that you guys have been speaking about. You just don`t have it here.
COSBY: You know, let`s go to Matt Zarrell, our NANCY GRACE producer. You know, Matt, you and I were even talking before the show. It is really surprising, first, we`ve got so many press conferences here with such little information.
ZARRELL: Yes. The only thing police will come out and say, they say they`ve gotten about 3,000 tips. They`re investigating all leads. What`s interesting, though, is we haven`t seen any big searches. The first couple of weeks of the case, there were massive searches, the largest searches in Oregon history. They were searching on Sauvie Island with investigators. But since then, there have not been any organized searches, only private searches by people not affiliated with the family.
COSBY: Yes. Very interesting.
And everyone, you have to get this, Nancy Grace`s brand-new book. It is called "Death on the D-List." It`s going to be out very soon, on August 10th. And to preorder your copy -- and you want to get this -- you`ve got to go to CNN.com/nancygrace and click on Nancy`s new book. Hurry. So order your copy of "Death on the D-List." It should be another "New York Times" best-seller, by (INAUDIBLE) Nancy Grace. Proceeds, of course, like most of Nancy`s projects, are going to a great cause, Wesley Glenn, to give a loving home to the mentally handicapped. Congratulations, Nancy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is such a mystery.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: How does a 7-year-old little boy go missing from his own elementary school classroom?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened to little Kyron?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Terri, do you know where Kyron is? Will you tell the world something? Can you please tell the world something?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know she`s involved.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`ve heard people say that they`re afraid to get involved.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kaine Horman said Terri Horman is involved in the disappearance of 7-year-old Kyron.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... stepmom, stepmom, stepmom...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you feel you`re afraid, put yourself in his shoes for two minutes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Makes me really emotional. I mean, he`s afraid (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... focus the investigation on Terri Horman...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We know that he`s going to come home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: And I`m Rita Cosby, sitting in for Nancy Grace tonight. We`ve got a lot of callers. Let`s go to Jennifer from Iowa. Jennifer, what`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I was wondering, Kaine and Terri`s son did not get along. That`s where he had to go live with his grandmother. And I was wondering if she might want to take revenge (INAUDIBLE) made me lose my son, I had to give up my son, so now you`ve got to do the same, or if his 16-year-old son might have wanted his mother`s love and tried to earn it and help his mom?
COSBY: That`s an interesting question. Let`s go to Susan Moss, family law attorney. Susan, do you think there`s some sort of revenge or payback could be part of this?
MOSS: Oh, absolutely! That`s certainly a good motive and one that might be what`s going on in this case because this builder may be a killer. Too bad she wasn`t building muscles in her head!
(LAUGHTER)
COSBY: Well, it sounds like she may have been making a lot of money for it, if she paid $350,000 for an attorney, which seems to be one of the questions here.
Let`s go to Denise from Georgia also. Denise, what`s your question tonight?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, ma`am. I have a question. During one of the first news conferences, I noticed the stepmom`s body language. She was next to a woman and then the husband with her head down, kind of rolling her eyes up, looking at him, like, Am I looking sad enough over this? Has anybody else noticed that?
COSBY: That`s a very interesting question. And in fact, one of the things that we`ve been hearing recently from the parents is sort of that she was cold. And you know, we`re looking at the -- you know, the video now here, which a lot of people said they were a little uncomfortable with the way she was acting.
Let`s go to one of our experts. We`ve got Mark Hillman. He`s a clinical psychotherapist, also the author -- I love the name of this book - - "My Therapist Is Making Me Nuts." Dr. Hillman, tell us, if you could, real quick, does it look like the body language was kind of questionable there?
MARK HILLMAN, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Oh, 100 percent. And clearly, from, you know, all that`s being discussed about this woman, there is severe clinical pathology. It`d be interesting to know if anyone`s doing a mental status test and interviews with psychiatrists -- not psychologists but psychiatrists.
COSBY: And do you believe they probably are? I bet they are.
HILLMAN: I bet you 100 percent they are. You`re correct, Rita.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... the search for Kyron Horman getting more national attention, focusing primarily on Kyron`s stepmother, Terri Horman.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s the last known person to see Kyron before he disappeared.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The father of the missing 7-year-old has filed for divorce from the boy`s stepmother.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My theory is that Kyron is alive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The stepmother of missing 7-year-old Kyron Horman, Terri Horman --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The last person to see him alive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators say Kyron`s stepmom brought him to school Friday morning, took this picture of him at Skyline Science Fair.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kyron never made it to class and someone is holding him. I don`t know how many. I don`t know who.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Terri Horman has been under intense scrutiny since Kyron disappeared June 4th.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They believe that Terri Horman has these answers -
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Begging the stepmother to please help police.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I fully believe she`s involved.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To what capacity is what the investigation is trying to figure out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The reality is, is that 77 percent of all kidnappings are conducted by a family member.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don`t know where he is and we need to keep looking.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We implore Terri Horman to fully cooperate with the investigators to bring Kyron home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RITA COSBY, ANCHOR: And I`m Rita Cosby sitting in for Nancy Grace.
And now some word of a counterclaim coming from Terri Horman. Let`s go to Matt Zarrell, our Nancy Grace producer. Is it true that she`s actually trying to get money from Kaine Horman?
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Yes, just hours ago, her attorney filed asking for Kaine Horman to pay attorneys` fees. Now, this was a counter claim from a filing by Kaine Horman`s attorney last week seeking Terri Horman to pay his attorney fees.
Now in that filing, he claimed she allegedly paid her criminal defense attorney, Stephen Howes $350,000. He wanted to know where the money was coming from and in the counterclaim filing just a few hours ago, they said the $350,000 is grossly misstated and they said all the money paid to the attorney did not come anything from the marriage.
COSBY: All right, let`s go to Anita Kissee. She`s a reporter with CNN affiliate KATU. Anita, I got to ask you because, you know, Matt is saying obviously it seems in dispute whether it`s $350,000.
Whatever it is, it`s got to be a lot. She has had an attorney, a high priced attorney apparently getting involved. Where is she getting the money from? Does body building pay that well? Shall we all go into body building?
ANITA KISSIE, CNN AFFILIATE, KATU: Absolutely not. She doesn`t have any money is what her attorney says. She has two attorneys, one of whom is quite expensive. Steven Howes, he`s very well known for representing trail blazers. He`s the spendy (ph) one.
Then she has her divorce attorney who`s doing all of this other paperwork that we`ve been seeing this week. That attorney, the divorce attorney says that she doesn`t have a job right now.
She`s not employable because of all of this, because of all of the scrutiny. That`s why he says in fact that Kaine should have to pay for her attorney fees because he`s the one with the good job, at the good company, with the savings even just a few months before this.
COSBY: But then, Anita, where is she getting the cash? Because this is a high priced attorney, high profile attorney, is he doing it for free?
KISSEE: Well, no. This is not the kind of attorney that does that for free. There are rumors again from some various sources that say the family may have a little bit of money.
We`ve been told it was not any kind of a loan, it was not any kind of a marriage asset that she had. But exactly where that money came from is the big question a lot of people want answered.
COSBY: Susan Moss, does she have any grounds to get the cash from Kaine in the middle of all of this?
SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY AND CHILD ADVOCATE: Absolutely not! $350,000 went into some lawyer`s escrow fund or retainer fund. I used to say I`m in the wrong industry but maybe not.
COSBY: You know, Doug Burns, does she deserve a dime? It seems outrageous?
DOUG BURNS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: First of all, I will guarantee you it`s not $350,000 because I`ll tell you what, I`ll do it for $200.
COSBY: The official offer here.
BURNS: But joking aside, that`s a misreport. Whatever went on between the attorney and her regarding fees is not something that should be subject to that type of rumor. And you really made a brilliant observation, and you`re right, Rita, which is so many lawyers, they will get into a real high publicity case for free.
COSBY: Well, that`s what I`m wondering. Is there some sort of a deal you don`t know about?
BURNS: Well, you have residual stuff too, intellectual property stuff whether there could be interview money or book money. Who knows? But this lawyer hasn`t been in the case that long and in my opinion he didn`t get $350,000, OK.
COSBY: You know what? I got to go. Let`s go to Dr. Alanna Levine. I got to ask you a question. You`re a pediatrician and as we said, we looked at these pictures of this beautiful little boy.
It has been eight weeks and then today we hear word from the parents saying that they believe he`s being held somewhere. It`s interesting the language. I always listen to the language people say. How is this going to affect this poor little child? My gosh, even if -- let`s pray he`s OK.
ALANNA LEVINE, M.D., PEDIATRICIAN: That`s right. I pray he`s OK, too, but every child needs a safe home. They need to feel safe going to school. They need to feel safe and comforted in their parents` presence and this child clearly has been suffering in these past two months.
COSBY: You bet. Let`s go Jan from Arkansas. We got a lot of callers on the line. Jan, what`s your question tonight? Actually, let`s go to Rita from New York. Namesake. Rita, what do you have for us tonight? What`s your question?
CALLER: Yes?
COSBY: Is this Jan or Rita? Do I have Jan on?
CALLER: This is Jan.
COSBY: All right, Jan. You`re in beautiful Arkansas. What`s your question tonight?
CALLER: Well, did they ever sit her down and then talk with her or they just give her a polygraph test?
COSBY: That`s a good question. Now, let`s go to Andrew Scott, former police chief Boca Raton, Florida. What do you think is the normal procedure? Do you think they sat her down before they go through all this? Typically they try to do a drill before they go to polygraph, right?
ANDREW J. SCOTT, FORMER CHIEF OF POLICE, BOCA RATON, FLORIDA: Absolutely. They do try to inquire as to the nature of the incident and whatever you and do those type of questions and interviews.
However, a polygraph is always a useful tool as the captain on the show earlier this evening said polygraphs are always good. They`re helpful. They`re a tool. But they don`t necessarily provide all of the answers that we need.
COSBY: You know, Alex Sanchez, defense attorney, one of the other answers that I think is interesting is that she`s not giving answers in the divorce proceedings.
ALEX SANCHEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No, I think that she`s trying to do some stems where it seems like she`s trying to avoid being put under questioning or at least her attorney is guiding her as such because couldn`t she be asked everything in divorce proceedings regarding this case?
SCOTT: Yes, absolutely because if she`s in some type of civil proceeding -- and a divorce proceeding is a civil proceeding, she may have to give notarized statements. She may have to give testimony under oath.
And once you get on the witness stand and you`re subject to cross- examination, you may start revealing information that could end up hurting you and ensnaring you in this criminal case if in fact you were involved. So her lawyer is being very clever about trying to limit her involvement in these civil proceedings.
COSBY: You know, Susan Moss, doesn`t sound a little sneaky? If you don`t have anything to hide, why not answer the questions?
MOSS: Absolutely. If she were seeking cuss told of her daughter, she would put her mental state at issue. She would also put all of her actions at issue.
The fact that she committed, if it`s domestic violence or murder which is the ultimate form of domestic violence, these were all would issues that would be brought up in depositions and at trial. That`s why she`s defaulting.
COSBY: Alex, guilty and she just doesn`t want to face the jury, the judge?
SANCHEZ: No. I think she`s taking the advice of her lawyer and her lawyer is there to protect her legal interests. And her lawyer is telling her, look, you`re facing the possibility of murder or abduction or something. Let`s put this civil case aside for a while. Let`s not make matters worse for yourself. Just be quiet for now.
COSBY: But Alex, why -- don`t you see how bad it looks? When you advice your client, wait a minute, if you don`t anything, there`s nothing here, just go for it. The perception of cloud is so obvious over her.
SANCHEZ: Well, but she may have something to hide and that is why her lawyer is telling her to be quiet.
COSBY: Obviously. Let`s go to Barbara from New York, one of our callers on the line. Barbara, what`s your question tonight?
CALLER: Hi, can you hear me?
COSBY: Yes, I can hear you, Barbara. What would you like ask tonight?
CALLER: In the beginning when Kyron first went missing, there was a questionnaire being filled out by all the people at the school. I was wondering if they saw him or not and then was there any kind of results?
COSBY: That`s a good question. Let`s go to Matt Zarrell, our Nancy Grace producer. Matt, canvassing the school, an obvious thing to do because the last time this beautiful little boy was seen supposedly was down the hallway.
He waves good-bye, goes into his classroom. What do we know from interviews at the school?
ZARRELL: Well, what we know is police are saying that there is a witness who saw him between 8:45 and 9:00 that was not Terri Horman, but that witness has never been identified.
The other thing is early on in the case, they sent out a long questionnaire asking parents and children if they had saw Kyron at the school, if they saw Terri Horman at the school, if they saw Terri Horman`s truck at the school. They said they received those questionnaires back, but we do not know what evidence if any was a result of that.
COSBY: You know, it`s interesting, you know, I got to go to C.W. Jensen, retired Portland police captain. It`s interesting we`re not hearing that much.
We have the parents out there all over the place and yet we`re getting so few details of what was happening here. We don`t really know exactly in the classroom. Why are there so many empty holes? Here we are eight weeks later.
C.W. JENSEN, RETIRED PORTLAND POLICE CAPTAIN: Actually, I think it`s kind of remarkable about how much information we do know. And what the cops have done is filter everything through the parents because as a community, we`re more interested in seeing what they have to say.
We know that the cops have probable cause to believe that she solicited someone to kill her husband. We know there`s probable cause to believe she was involved in the kidnapping. So we have a lot of information.
COSBY: An arrest soon, real quick, yes or no?
JENSEN: Yes.
COSBY: All right. Well, everybody, I sense another best seller for Nancy Grace tonight. Nancy Grace`s brand new book "Death on the D-list" is going to be out on August 10.
You`ve got to preorder your copy. Go to cnn.com/nancy grace and click on Nancy`s new book and hurry up. So order your copy of "Death on the D- list."
And are going to a great cause, to Wesley Glen, to give a loving home to the mentally handicapped. Congratulations, Nancy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She definitely has no place -- you know, she`s not from that area and I would hate to wake up to a morning report, girl lost somewhere with her head chopped off.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have talked to more than 70 individuals who believe they have seen her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have a guest here who is refusing to pay her bill, and we think she may -- she sound really crazy. She may be on drugs or something.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her family truly believes that she`s not somebody who would have just ran off like this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She doesn`t know the area. She`s never been in your area before.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where does she live?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is unfamiliar with that area.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just heard this strange woman walking through the back window.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is out this window Mitrice Richardson may have last been seen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I moved from one window to another. I said to her I hollered down are you all right? She said I`m just resting or something like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: And I`m Rita Cosby sitting in this evening for Nancy Grace. We are talking about the case of 24-year-old Mitrice Richardson who has been missing since September.
But now, there may be a glimmer of hope. Maybe she`s alive. Maybe she`s in Vegas. Let`s go to Claudia Peschiutta (ph). She`s a reporter with KNX 1070 news radio. (Claudia), we`re getting word of lawsuits and sightings. Bring us up to speed.
CLAUDIA PESCHIUTTA, REPORTER, KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO (via telephone): Well, authorities say that they have talked to dozens of people who believe they may have seen 25-year-old Mitrice Richardson in the Las Vegas area.
Her father, in fact say that he thinks he saw her as far back as January. The latest credible sighting, according to authorities, was in June when a former classmate of hers says that he spotted her at the Rio Hotel.
He said he went up to her and called her by name. She looked at him and just walked away. Now, since authorities had a news conference earlier this week talking about the fact that she may be in the Las Vegas area, I`m told they have gotten about half a dozen pretty solid leads that they`re following up on. So there does appear to be some hope in this case.
COSBY: Well, let`s go to Michael Richardson. He is Mitrice Richardson`s father who joins us now.
Mr. Richardson, first of all, our prayers are with you. I hope there is some good news tonight on the case of your daughter. You believe you saw her back in Vegas months ago, right?
MICHAEL RICHARDSON, FATHER OF MISSING WOMAN, MITRICE RICHARDSON: Yes. That`s why I`m really frustrated at LAPD right now. Words cannot explain my frustration. Me as the biological father not only went by striking resemblance of this young lady, but body mechanics that this woman displayed when I saw her, the way she walked just made me almost get hit by a car.
I reported this to LAPD months ago and six months later, someone that hasn`t even seen her in 10 years say it looks like her -- thank god for him. I`m appreciative of him. But then they`re now jumping out of helicopters and airplanes and it just happened to be ironically two days after a lawsuit for wrongful release and gross negligence is filed. I`m just not happy with that.
COSBY: Yes. The timing is pretty interesting. Let`s go to Andrew Scott if we could, the former police chief of Boca Raton.
You hear all this and you hear the father, he says he saw her back in January and again, the motions and movements. He knows his daughter.
Separate from that, now we`re hearing - we`re seeing about 70 sightings. What`s going on here? And why can`t they get a good videotape? It`s Las Vegas. Casinos have videotapes all over the place especially if you`re gambling. Hello, but you can`t find a missing person?
SCOTT: Yes, I find that very interesting particularly with the father who told LAPD that he saw her -- he believed he saw her several months earlier and they didn`t move on that and they didn`t further the investigation with Las Vegas Police Department.
The other thing is the security systems in Las Vegas are so good that they should have a clear shot within that particular casino to verify if indeed that was the young lady that is still missing. So I`m just as surprised as the father is.
COSBY: You know, it is shocking to me and especially when you sort of hear all that. You go wait a minute, why didn`t they find something good.
You know, Doug Burns, father comes forward. Now, we have 70 people. So far we`re hearing there`s not a good video. Does he have a case? He has a case against Los Angeles County basically saying you guys are out of the bowl.
You released her. Again, the story from everybody, she went to a restaurant, was acting crazy. They took her in. She gets released. No one sees her again. Does he have a case?
BURNS: Well, I mean, the case is for wrongful death and negligence in releasing her. Obviously, wrongful death if God willing she`s alive -- and of course, I understand his frustration.
He comes forward, the father in January. They basically don`t address that and now somebody from high school, you know, years and years back comes forward and all of a sudden miraculously they`re acting on it.
So he`s well stated that point. Obviously, hopefully there`s no wrongful death case. As far as negligence, I mean, the Sheriff`s Department put out a document. I read through it quickly.
And they say obviously that they did do a brief interview of her as to whether she had any mental deficiencies. She denied it. There were no warrants for her so they released her. Usually the lawsuit is the reverse, Rita. You`re holding me illegally. Here`s the opposite, you released me illegally --
COSBY: Yes, it is an interesting twist. You know, Susan Moss, let`s go to you, family law attorney. You know, Susan, the other thing that`s interesting and I was just seeing this that apparently the mother when she found her, she said she was worried about her, called up the police station before she even got there, hello. Knew she was taken there because she didn`t pay her bill at the restaurant.
But then separate from that the mother gets to see a tape. This is apparently with the L.A. - the Los Angeles County Sheriff`s or police. In this tape, she said the daughter is acting weird. She`s rocking back and forth, doing this very weird sort of behavior. Is that good for the case in terms of the case against them if suddenly this weird person gets released, you just let them go?
MOSS: Well, if they suspected that she had any type of mental issues, bipolar I, bipolar II, then they are required to do some mental health professional review of her.
But what`s most interesting is this mom had the opportunity to pay this daughter`s bill, but didn`t do that. That`s sort of an interesting twist on the relationship between the mother and daughter and how much the mother did lose and why she should be compensated if this daughter, something did happen to her.
COSBY: You know what`s interesting, Susan? You hit it on the head. I brought that up too. I thought it was fascinating. She could spend 89 bucks and she doesn`t spend it to pick up her daughter. Alex, real quick, do they have a case? You got a few seconds.
SANCHEZ: You know, if she`s -- what`s the damages, though? If it turns out she`s alive and she`s not hurt in any way, then there is no damage at that point, right?
COSBY: All right. We`re going to be watching it, guys. Thank you very much, everybody.
Tonight, the segment we always love. CNN "Heroes."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name is (Akira). I was born north of (inaudible) in Cambodia. When I was 10 years old, the Khmer Rouge chose me to be a soldier then I was trained in how to lay land mines. Sometimes in a week we were ordered plant 4,000 to 5,000 mines.
We did not think about anything, but I got a sense it was wrong because I saw a lot of people dying. I put people in danger and damaged the country. After the war was over, I decided to clear mines by myself. My equipment was tools that I made myself. That method of demining was simple, but it wasn`t legal.
Now we`re working legally and people have joined me. Now it`s safe. The villagers are requesting us to demine because the people are afraid of mines. They step on it and die. What makes me happy is that I have done a lot of good things compared to during the war. I have cleared thousands of mines. I want Cambodia to be safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: Hello, everybody. I`m Rita Cosby. What a week in America`s courtrooms. Take a look at the stories and, more importantly, the people who touched our lives.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little boy --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Remains missing --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- after vanishing in the middle of the night.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The last time anyone saw the toddler was just after midnight Sunday morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s 2 years of age.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By 1:30, he was gone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was wearing only a diaper.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two year old Styler Newton was last seen in his tent while on a camping trip.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are pictures of the campsite.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That 50 miles south of (inaudible) Arizona --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Experts believing the boy could have made it on his own up to a mile.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) like this and I`m right here to ask the public to help me and my family to bring these people to justice.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Twenty two year old Myra Contreras died Friday. Police say her death a result from receiving a silicone injection in the buttocks from the illegal cosmetic surgery business of these two sisters.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The sisters have fled after one of their patients, a young mom of two, died just a day after allegedly receiving an injection inside the sisters` home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The missing 7-year-old Oregon boy, Kyron Horman.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We love you, Kyron.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s still out there. He`s still out there. We just need to find him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The initial reward of $25,000 is being increased to $50,000.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s been a lot of attention on Kyron`s stepmother, Terri Horman.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her close friend Dede Spicher was subpoena by a grand jury investigating Kyron`s disappearance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My understanding was just to solicit information. We don`t anything more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As soon as we get this case wrapped up, they`ll let us alone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Answer any questions I have to.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If there was possibly some physical evidence in the (Haley Comings) investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just want to screw the rest of our lives up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hank and Lisa Croslin were arrested.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You better be honest -
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If they want to put me in jail, let them put me in jail. I don`t give a --. I didn`t do nothing wrong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSBY: Tonight, let`s stop to remember Army Sergeant Chad Lake, 23 of Ocala, Florida. He was killed in Iraq on his third tour of duty. He was awarded the Bronze Star. Born on the fourth of July, and loved sports, the Florida Gators football team and entertaining his younger relative.
Chad wanted to pursue a career in sports broadcasting or law enforcement. He leaves behind parents, Debbie and Ken, stepfather, (Worthy), and also sister, Courtney. Chad lake, truly an American Hero.
And thank you to all of our great guests tonight and our biggest thank you, however, is to you, all of you at home for watching us and inviting us into your homes.
And also please remember to get Nancy Grace`s brand-new book "Death on the D-list" that is going to be out on August 10th. You can preorder your copy. Go straight to cnn.com/nancygrace. Proceeds go to Wesley Glen, to give a loving home to the mentally handicapped who need one.
Have a great night everybody. It`s been wonderful being with you. Have a terrific weekend and Nancy`s back on Monday.
END
