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Nancy Grace
One Missing Arizona 2-year-old Found Dead
Aired August 04, 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 Arizona. Just minutes after we report a story of a 2-year-old baby boy wearing nothing but a diaper, asleep in a tent with his mother, vanishes without a trace, another 2-year-old little boy disappears from the same exact area. Mommy, at home with her four children, wakes up from a nap. The 2-year-old Emmett, wearing only a diaper and a PJ top, gone.
Bombshell tonight. The search for one of the two little boys has come to an abrupt end. The body of 2-year-old Emmett Trapp has been found, face down in mud just one mile from his own home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have some heartbreaking news this afternoon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking news!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... 2-year-old Emmett Trapp...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Emmett Trapp has been found deceased.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His body was discovered about a mile from his house.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... the search for little Emmett Trapp...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: According to Emmett`s mother, he wandered off with the family dog.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The dog came home alone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The area where his body was found is being treated like a crime scene.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... second boy, same county, is missing, as well...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... missing!
911 OPERATOR: 911. Where`s the emergency?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... 2-year-old Sylar Newton...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to have a sheriff out here. We got a little boy missing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... Emmett only wearing a pajama top, diaper, without shoes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... second 2-year-old boy disappeared in Arizona...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sylar vanished from an Arizona campground, wearing only a diaper.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) the nighttime and walked away, I guess.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tragic news in disappearance of 2-year-old Emmett Trapp, found dead this morning...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... little Sylar Newton...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The investigation (INAUDIBLE) criminal in nature.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... now a criminal investigation...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Searchers are still looking for little Sylar.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, live to south Florida, where a toddler boy airlifted to the ER with severe injuries. After first blaming the baby- sitter, in a stunning twist, the boy`s father now changing his story, claiming the boy was killed while Daddy gives the little boy a boxing lesson. A boxing lesson? To a 2-year-old boy? Somebody better be in jail tonight!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, you`re charged with aggravated child abuse.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... 23-year-old Lee Dejesus (ph), wearing a green jacket. He is on suicide watch, arrested and charged after police say he used his own son as a punching bag for 15 minutes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bond in this matter will be -- let`s make it $75,000.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Family members say 2-year-old Willie Brown (ph) was pronounced dead Tuesday afternoon, but neither the hospital nor police will confirm that, the toddler airlifted to Miami Children`s Hospital with a severe head injury Monday night. Sources say, for hours he had no brain activity.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) you know, and if he did, then he has to -- you know, he has to deal with the consequences.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say Dejesus punched his son over and over again, at least 15 times. Dejesus`s story to police? Inside apartment 7, he says, he was teaching his son how to box. The toddler, unable to withstand Daddy`s blows, hits his head on a wall, then a tile floor, and begins to seize.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. The search for one of the little 2-year-old boys has come to an abrupt end. The body of 2-year-old Emmett Trapp has been found face down in the mud just one mile from his own home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Breaking news development...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Searchers discovered Emmett`s body about one mile from the house.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... found the toddler dead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... are working the scene currently and trying to find out what happened to this little boy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Emmett Trapp walked away from his home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Emmett was seen in the home before Mom took the nap. When she woke up, Emmett was not in the home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... his dog, we wandered away in a diaper...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... a pajama top...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... barefoot...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The investigation is ongoing as to exactly what happened to Emmett and how he died at this particular location.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two little boys, both 2 years old, have disappeared within a matter of 10 days.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking news!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... 2-year-old Sylar Newton...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sylar Newton was last seen in his tent on a camping outing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) the campsite next to Beaver Creek. My friend`s mom -- well, his brother is gone and he`s missing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He didn`t go far. There was a scent, and the scent stopped.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... Emmett`s case and Sylar`s case...
GRACE: ... amazing similar!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... 2-year-old...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... little Sylar Newton...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... still missing...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Last night, we reported two little boys missing, both 2 years old, both stunningly similar in their physicalities, both in the same area, just a few miles apart from each other, both wearing diapers, same age. The search for one of the little boys has come to an abrupt end. The body of little Emmett Trapp has been found.
Out to Christina Estes, reporter, Newstalk 550 KFYI. Christina, what happened?
CHRISTINA ESTES, NEWSTALK 550 KFYI: Well, authorities tell us that a family hiking in the area noticed small footprints, and searchers converged on that area. They also sent a chopper up to look at that area, and someone in that chopper spotted Emmett`s body. They were able to reach him quickly and pull him out. Unfortunately, it was too late. Emmett was dead.
GRACE: To Natisha Lance, our producer, standing by in Dewey, Arizona, where little Emmett was found. Natisha, what can you tell me?
NATISHA LANCE, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, sadly, just as you said, Emmett`s body was found about 11:30 this morning, and detectives and authorities were led to this from searchers. There`s a dried-up water bed where they found foot prints belonging to Emmett. Now, they said that he left his home. They saw footprints there. It led up to a road. Then the footprints disappeared, and he ended up about three to four miles away from that area and a mile away from his home, just over the bluff that is behind me.
Now, investigators are still back there, along with FBI. They will be searching what they are now calling a crime scene into this evening, trying to determine exactly how Emmett died.
GRACE: So right now, Natisha, we do not have a cause of death?
LANCE: No, Nancy, they do not have a cause of death. However, they are continuing to investigate. They hope to have that sometime later on this week. If not, early next week.
GRACE: Well, straight out to Dr. Joshua Perper, chief medical examiner, Broward County, author of "When Doctors Kill." Dr. Perper, thank you for being with us. I don`t understand why it will take that long to determine cause of death.
DR. JOSHUA PERPER, CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER, BROWARD COUNTY: Well, if an autopsy was done and there was no evidence of obvious injuries, then they will have to do some additional testing. And the fact that the child was found face down in the mud, it`s consistent with the fact that the child might have stumbled and got asphyxiated with his face in the mud because he`s a small child, tried maybe to got -- to get up and was unsuccessful. But most likely, the autopsy did not reveal any evidence of trauma, and that`s the reason why they couldn`t have come up with a cause of death.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Joining us tonight, high-profile attorney out of Seattle, Anne Bremner. Another high-profile attorney out of the San Francisco jurisdiction, Daniel Horowitz. To both of you, welcome. First of all to you, Ann Bremner. How in the world, if this child did wander away -- and the investigation is ongoing, a criminal investigation is ongoing to determine exactly what happened -- but if this child wandered away, how does that happen when there is a mom at home? How does he wander out the door and get away?
ANNE BREMNER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, I`m the last one to talk about 2-year-olds. I`ve walked with your two 2-year-olds at the time, and I think Lucy still has me on speed dial. I get calls every once in a while. But it`s a tough deal. I mean, walking two to three miles, a toddler, having footprints that just disappear -- right now -- and is it a coincidence that there`s two 2-year-olds, you know, missing, one dead in the same area? It`s just curiouser and curiouser right now.
GRACE: Put Anne Bremner up, please.
BREMNER: Hi, Nancy!
GRACE: That`s your theory, it`s curiouser and curiouser? That`s what you`ve got for me tonight?
(LAUGHTER)
BREMNER: No, I`m saying -- what I`ve got for you tonight, Nancy, is that the more you explain it, the less you understand it. Right now, it`s a real mystery. I mean, it`s one that -- like, how could there be two 2- year-olds missing like this? How could a 2-year-old go on a walkabout and end up -- end up dead? I mean, there`s a lot more questions than answers. And I still say when there`s two at this age missing, you`re looking at -- I think there`s a connection. Everyone else says there isn`t.
GRACE: To Daniel Horowitz...
BREMNER: But I want to hear what Daniel Horowitz has to say.
GRACE: Daniel, how does a child just get out of a house and go wandering? Now, I`ve got to tell you this much. At 2 years old, they can open the door. They can undo locks. They can turn deadbolts. You`ve got to have a key or you`ve got to have a latch lock up above where they can reach. They can get out of locks that just turn. They can turn dooorknobs. They can get out at age 2.
DANIEL HOROWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, Nancy, what strikes me as strange is that -- let`s say there`s just a random pervert killer in the area. Does he just happen to be outside this family`s home when the 2- year-old by chance just wanders out? The odds against that are fantastic. The odds are really better that he just wandered and then just died by accident...
GRACE: OK, you know what? Let me...
HOROWITZ: ... even though, given this other disappearance, it doesn`t seem to make complete sense.
GRACE: You know, I respect the both of you. You`ve won a lot of cases. And right now, you`re doing a beautiful dance around the fact that Mommy was not paying attention, all right? I know the mother is in a lot of pain right now, but Mommy was not paying attention! Out to Marc Klaas...
HOROWITZ: But you know what...
GRACE: What? What?
HOROWITZ: It`s not fair because so many parents make mistakes and they get away with it and they say, Thank God nothing happened. To just pounce on her -- we`re not perfect as parents, and I think we need to lay off of her. That`s just my feeling, Nancy.
GRACE: Put him up! Horowitz...
HOROWITZ: Hi, there, Nancy.
GRACE: ... I don`t care about your feelings. There is a dead 2-year- old boy. Nobody is pouncing on anybody. I`m just telling it like it is!
HOROWITZ: I know.
GRACE: It may not taste good going down, Horowitz, but the reality is, he is dead on her watch! I can`t help that!
HOROWITZ: And a lot of parents leave kids in cars...
GRACE: And I`m now going...
HOROWITZ: ... and they don`t get charged with crimes.
GRACE: Thank you, but that`s not what I asked you! I`m now going to Marc Klaas, president and founder of Klaas Kids Foundation. Weigh in, Marc.
MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: I`m -- I`m torn. I mean, this poor little boy has been...
GRACE: I`m torn, too!
KLAAS: And the family is obviously devastated. There were three other children in the house, though. I found it incomprehensible that with all of these people in the home, a little boy with no shoes on could wander away and get as far away as a mile and have this horrible death like this...
GRACE: It was three miles. He walked three miles, they say -- that`s what we are hearing -- and then came back. We can`t tell right now, but what I`m saying -- Marc Klaas, I`m just telling the truth! I don`t like it. I`m torn, too. I`m a mother of two 2-and-a-half-year-olds. I know the mother is suffering. But the reality is, whether anybody on this panel likes it or not, that is her job! The baby is dead on her watch! That`s the reality.
KLAAS: Therefore, Nancy -- therefore, we have to take the lesson from this situation. And people watching the show have to understand that they do have these responsibilities and they have to be able to child-proof their home so that this doesn`t repeat itself. If this little boy is going to have a legacy, maybe that`s it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... the death of little Emmett Trapp. With (ph) searchers, and we had some footprints, and he had made it up a couple of large hills and into a kind of a mine tailings (ph) place. His body has been removed from that scene.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... two little boys...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... Emmett Trapp...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... Sylar Newton...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... both 2 years old...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... only wearing a pajama top and a diaper...
GRACE: ... wearing nothing but a diaper...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... disappeared within a matter of days...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there something that has happened that is criminal in nature?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The mother was taking a nap. She wakes up, he`s gone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Searchers are here on quads (ph), on foot. Neighbors are out on horseback, as well, helping.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re also dropping cameras down wells and in any drainage areas.
GRACE: ... Sylar -- this is the little boy who goes missing from the campsite in the tent with his soon-to-be adoptive mommy.
911 OPERATOR: Do you know how long he`s been missing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t have any idea how long he`s been gone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Law enforcement said that in speaking with family members, they believe the leads show there`s foul play.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... a second 2-year-old boy missing...
GRACE: ... amazingly similar...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... 2-year-old Emmett Trapp`s body found-...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Emmett Trapp has been found deceased.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... people on edge in Arizona`s Yavapai County...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Out to the lines. To Sharon in Alabama. Hi, Sharon.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. How`re you tonight?
GRACE: I`m good, dear. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have a question regarding Sylar.
GRACE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Supposedly, he was in the tent with his parents -- or his mom, anyway, and an aunt (ph), all tucked in. And what I`d like to know is -- there are mosquito netting at the entrance of the tent, and it usually either zips or snaps. So I`m wondering how come they didn`t hear him going out of that tent with the snaps or a zip-up.
GRACE: Sharon in Alabama, what do you do for a living?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, Nancy, I always wanted to go in law enforcement, but my dream was taken away at 17 when I became disabled.
GRACE: I`ve got to tell you something, you`ve got an investigative mind, Sharon in Alabama.
Let`s talk about that. What about it? Pat Brown is with us, criminal profiler, author of "The Profiler." What about it? She`s right.
PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Well, absolutely, Nancy. And one of the bigger questions that most of us have is, why would the child be the one near the door of the tent? I mean, when I have a little 2-year-old with me or a little -- any little child, I`m going to put the child as far from the door as possible so that he`d have to crawl over me in the night if he wanted to get out.
GRACE: Well, hold on. Let`s just break it down even further than that. Daniel Horowitz, you`re a new dad. Who`s going to take a 2-year-old camping number one? I was just saying the other night, I can`t take mine to Target without a big scene, all right, much less the shoe department. Forget about it. We haven`t gone there in months. It`s a disaster. Much less camping out in the wilderness overnight?
HOROWITZ: Right. I mean, it`s rough conditions. It could be very hot. You need fresh water. It`s -- it`s tough. But you know, I understand parents want to try to get a lifestyle back. They want to integrate the child. They`re not maybe the most sophisticated people. Things go wrong. And this seems like maybe another tragic accident, and I just think that...
GRACE: No, I want you to address...
HOROWITZ: ... we just have to be understanding.
GRACE: ... Sharon`s question in Alabama, both you and Anne Bremner. What about the zipping, the zip netting you have to get through to get out of most tents?
HOROWITZ: Well, I know, but you know how tired kids can make you. You can just pass out. It`s not the right thing. And yes, you should have the kid away from the door.
GRACE: That`s not what she asked! She asked...
HOROWITZ: But it can happen.
GRACE: ... about, Wouldn`t you hear somebody unzip the netting?
HOROWITZ: Somebody, like maybe the child? Maybe, maybe not, Nancy.
GRACE: What about it, Bremner?
BREMNER: Well, again, I don`t know anything about 2-year-olds, other than, you know, secondhand. But that`s a great point that the caller raises. You know, that`s one thing to look at. But you know, we don`t have...
GRACE: To Yvonne...
BREMNER: ... anything beyond that.
GRACE: To Yvonne Newton, the grandmother of missing 2-year-old Sylar Newton. What are police telling you, Yvonne?
YVONNE NEWTON, SYLAR`S GRANDMOTHER (via telephone): Right now, they`re not telling us much of anything.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to rule out any possible suspicious circumstances whatsoever. There`s a team of detectives out there. There`s a team of FBI agents out there. And we`re just making absolutely sure that Emmett wasn`t taken.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Emmett was seen in the home before mom took the nap.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have tragic news in the disappearance of this little boy right here. This is 2-year-old Emmett Trapp.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When she woke up, Emmett was not in the home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That child reportedly walked away in a diaper, in a pajama top and barefoot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Emmett Trapp has been found deceased.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... a second boy, same county as missing...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... 2-year-old Sylar Newton.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, Sylar`s custodial mom says she last saw him sleeping inside the tent they had shared. When she woke up in the middle of the night, he was not there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two little boys, both 2 years old, disappeared within a matter of 10 days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: The search for little Sylar Newton has come to an abrupt end. The search for -- excuse me. The search for Emmett has come to an abrupt end. The search for Sylar still goes on.
Back to the story of Emmett Trapp. Out to Pat Brown, criminal profiler. What do you make of it, Pat?
BROWN: Well, I think, Nancy, the most important part are those footprints, where they started, where they stopped, where they started again, because what they`re going to do is have a little -- try to have a little line going from the house to where he ended up and prove whether he left the house on his own, whether there are other footprints next to him, whether he wandered away, maybe somebody could have picked him up and then dumped him again, or whether he was on foot the whole way by himself, to prove whether it was an accident or whether there was something else more involved with that -- more criminal.
GRACE: To Dr. Doug Bremner, professor of psychiatry and radiology, author of "Before You Take That Pill." Dr. Bremner, thank you for joining us tonight. Dr. Bremner, he was out in the elements. Now, let`s just for a moment exclude foul play, all right, even though there`s an ongoing investigation. What could be the cause of death?
DR. DOUG BREMNER, PROFESSOR OF PSYCHIATRY AND RADIOLOGY: Well, he may have become exhausted and fallen into a mud puddle. I mean, he could have -- for being out in the elements for that long period of time, it could be exposure. But it sounds like that there wasn`t any blunt trauma or something that could be specifically pointed to as a cause of death up to now.
GRACE: But what about the elements? What would have killed him about, for instance, heat? I know that it was between 88 and 95 degrees while he was allegedly wandering around.
BREMNER: Well, he could have died from heat exhaustion. He didn`t have any access to water. If he did try to drink whatever water was in the mud puddle -- the mud that they described there, it could have been poisonous. There area any number of things that could have accounted for this.
GRACE: To Tom Shamshak, former police chief, private investigator, instructor at Boston Unfortunately. Tom, for him, a 2-year-old, to have wandered three miles and then circle back to about one mile from the home - - how long had this child been missing before anybody realized he was gone?
TOM SHAMSHAK, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: Nancy, good evening. Very sad case here. He could have been missing for, you know, half an hour, and he could have gotten out and...
GRACE: Three miles?
SHAMSHAK: ... and wandered pretty quickly...
GRACE: You think he walked three miles in half an hour?
SHAMSHAK: No, he was gone within...
GRACE: Barefoot.
SHAMSHAK: He`d left -- barefoot.
GRACE: I know that. I`m saying, How long was he gone? Nobody even noticed he was gone!
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: We have some heartbreaking news.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His name is Emmett Trapp.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Authorities say that he was found dead this morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Searchers discovered Emmett`s body about one mile from the house.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A second 2-year-old boy --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: From the same area as Sylar Newton.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is unusual. We`ll admit that. The area where his body was found is being treated like a crime scene.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sylar Newton who vanished from a campground nearby.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Why do you take a 2-year-old camping?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that`s a very good question.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: After an exhaustive search through a nearby landfill with bloodhounds, underwater cameras, cops say it is now a criminal investigation.
CHARITY NEWTON, MISSING 2-YEAR-OLD SYLAR`S BIOLOGICAL MOM: My baby is gone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sylar did not wander from the campground, and he is presumably dead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The investigation is ongoing as to exactly what happened to Emmett and how he died. We`re following up with our sex offenders. They`ll be interviewed.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Heart breaking for even hardened law men.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Tonight, questions swirling. Is there a connection?
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Arlene in Michigan. Hi, Arlene.
ARLENE, CALLER FROM MICHIGAN: Hi, you angel, you.
GRACE: Thank you. Thank you for saying that. Look, I don`t want to be the bad guy. I don`t want to point the finger at the mother.
ARLENE: You`re not. You`re not.
GRACE: I don`t want anybody -- I don`t know there was any wrongdoing. But I do know this. I know she was in charge of the child. I know the child wandered out -- listen, the first time I saw John David and Lucy reach up and turn the dead bolt lock, that night I had those latch locks put above my head. Six feet up.
We have to reach up that high to get out the door. Because they can get out. They were $1 at the hardware store. I put them on every door that goes outside. Every one.
And, look, I`m not saying she intentionally did anything, but I`m saying the truth. This child went missing on her watch and now the baby is dead. There.
What`s your question, dear?
ARLENE: My question is, if I remember right, Sylar, the one in the campground, was there something about him being in another tent with his brother and two friends, two 14-year-olds?
GRACE: Arlene in Michigan, you`re right. Yes, at first they said they were -- they said the little boy was in tent with the 14-year-olds. Then it came out, the story changed -- which I don`t like -- that he was in tent with the mother. Why do you ask?
ARLENE: Well, for the simple reason, because if he was in the tent with those two boys, maybe they did something to him, you know? Then -- and one held the hand over his mouth and the other one did something. They took him out to the middle of the field or something where the dog couldn`t track him anymore or somebody couldn`t track him. And they picked him up and they did away with that poor little thing.
GRACE: Well, I`m just sick about it. Take a look at this little boy. The search is ongoing for little Sylar, a 2-year-old who was last seen asleep in the tent with his mother.
ARLENE: Yes.
GRACE: She says she saw him around 12:45 a.m. At 3:00 a.m., he was gone.
What about it? What do we know, Natisha Lance? What do we know about whether he was in the tent with the 14-year-old boy? And I think the boy had a friend with him.
NATISHA LANCE, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: He did. He had a friend with him. But what we found later on from police the story changed that he was in the tent with not only his mother but also the grandmother and a sister who is in that tent with him.
Now other people at the campground, Nancy, the last time they saw him was at 9:00 that evening just as you said. The mother last saw him at 12:45. Then they woke up, they said that they were asleep. About an hour later, police arrived at the scene at 3:00.
And police are saying now there`s no indication that Sylar is still at that campground or in the immediate area. They do believe that he is now gone from there.
The question now, though, is, was he dead when the left that area or was he dead -- did he end up being dead after he left the area.
GRACE: Why are they so convinced that he`s out of the area, Natisha?
LANCE: They are saying that they have evidence that leads them to believe that he is out of the area. And they`re also saying that they presumably believe now that he is also deceased.
They searched a landfill that was close by, Nancy. Tons of garbage that they`ve sifted through. They`ve already conducted several different interviews and according to the family members that we`ve spoken to on our staff, they have told us that police are narrowing down on someone. They possibly could be making an arrest any moment.
GRACE: Joining us from Dewey, Arizona, is Natisha Lance. With us, Yvonne Newton, biological grandmother of missing 2-year-old Sylar. The search still ongoing for him.
Yvonne, they searched that trash dump. They found nothing. Two hundred tons of trash they sifted through. Are police suggesting to you and your daughter -- his mother -- that the child is dead?
YVONNE NEWTON, BIOLOGICAL GRANDMOTHER TO MISSING 2-YEAR-OLD SYLAR NEWTON: Yes. They are saying that they -- they presume that he is dead and the percentage of him being found alive is slim right now.
GRACE: But why? If they haven`t found his body, why do they believe he`s dead?
NEWTON: Because he`s been missing for so long.
GRACE: Yvonne Newton, what are they telling you about how nobody heard anything when the child was allegedly taken out of the tent?
NEWTON: Can you repeat that?
GRACE: How are police saying the child was taken out of the tent and nobody heard a thing?
NEWTON: That just blows me away because I don`t see how a little kid like that could get out of a tent without waking someone up.
GRACE: I don`t understand it either. Tell me, how did this so-called adoption come about? This was the would-be adoptive mother. How did this happen? How was this mother selected to adopt Sylar?
NEWTON: Well, my daughter has known her for five years, maybe longer. I`ve only known her for a couple of years. And from the time that I`ve known her, she seems nice enough. And she offered to help out.
And the temporary custody form was signed from what I know. Any adoption forms have not been produced. So as far as I know, only a temporary custody form is the only thing that`s been produced.
GRACE: Let`s go back through those photos you were just showing, Dana. The photos of the mom. I want to see those right now.
Everybody, we are taking your calls live.
This is the custodial mother of the missing boy. The would-be adoptive mom. Christina Priem. Now wait a minute. A previous arrest? The would-be bio -- the would-be adoptive mom has a previous arrest?
What can you tell me, Christina Estes?
CHRISTINA ESTES, REPORTER, NEWSTALK 550 KFYI: What we have heard is that previous arrest involving the custodial mother had something to do with some sort of false report to police. No details on that available. That`s about the gist of it.
GRACE: I don`t understand it, Natisha Lance. Police reports are public. A false report to police? What`s that about?
LANCE: That`s a big question, Nancy. And people are trying to figure out what this arrangement was between the biological mother and the custodial mother. Allegedly they had papers that were drawn up. Police have not been able to find those papers to show that there was a temporary custody that was given back in 2009 of November.
And then also later on they went forward and said in July of 2009, they had more papers that were drawn up through a court. But police still have not been able to substantiate that. So there`s still a number of questions that need to be answered about the biological mom as well as the custodial mom.
GRACE: To Stacy in Maryland, hi, Stacy.
STACY, CALLER FROM MARYLAND: Hi, Nancy.
GRACE: Hi, dear. What`s your question?
STACY: Well, I actually have a comment and a question.
GRACE: OK.
STACY: My comment, first of all, is there`s three stories about three 2-year-olds, and every single adult in the case is responsible. I don`t care what anybody says.
GRACE: Thank you.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Thank you. They are.
STACY: And if -- it may be -- if it was an accident, it`s still their fault. They were responsible. And if a babysitter, if they were watching them, they would have been held responsible, so why isn`t a mother held to a higher standard?
My question, though, is for the little boy that is -- has been found dead is why is it or how is it that he is only a mile away, he walked around in a circle, supposedly for three miles, but yet he wasn`t found until 11:30 the next morning?
I mean I would have been outside and demanded a search team and gotten people together and been out there all night.
I mean, what kind of -- what kind of mother is that?
GRACE: You know I don`t understand how the search didn`t find him either. Explain that to me, Natisha Lance. You`re there where the little boy Emmett was found.
LANCE: Well, what they`re telling us, Nancy, is based on statistics of child of this size, of this age would only get about 0.4 miles. So that`s the initial search that they started with. And they found those footprints and that was where they started.
They found some clues there. And what they are saying is that if they would have gone back today, they would have extended their grid to where he was eventually found, but they were able to locate him, based on tips that came in from people who were in that area and saw his footprints.
GRACE: Everyone, we are taking your calls live. The search for little Emmett has come to an end. His body was found face down in mud only about a mile from his home. Apparently the boy had wandered at least three miles before circling back to his home.
How long was he wandering barefoot? We don`t know. We know the mom says she went to sleep around 2:00. The child was reported missing around 8:00. Six hours.
As we go to break, my brand-new book, "Death on the D-List" hits shelves August 10. Yes, I did it again. Pre-order, CNN.com/Nancygrace. Proceeds -- my proceeds go to Wesley Glenn. It provides a loving home for mentally handicapped who need a home.
And tonight which star should play the role of the heroine Hailey Dean? Go to CNN.com/Nancygrace and vote. You can win an autographed copy of "Death on the D-List" and come meet us all on the set.
Tonight`s winner, South Carolina friend, Janie. Her vote? Cameron Diaz.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have some heart-breaking news.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A tragic turn in the case of missing 2-year- old.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Emmett Trapp has been found deceased.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: After an exhaustive search --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Searchers discovered Emmett`s body.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Last seen by his mother shortly before she takes a nap.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When she woke up, Emmett was not in the home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My friend`s mom -- well, his brother is gone and he`s missing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Vanished from an Arizona campground, wearing only a diaper.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ve got another boy missing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is presumably dead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For them he`s presumably dead leads me back to the fact that they`re looking at what happened right at the campground.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Cops say it is now a criminal investigation.
NEWTON: Their presumption is that he -- he is dead.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sylar`s custodial mom says she last saw him sleeping inside the tent they had shared.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls live and now we are learning that little Emmett, whose body has just been found one mile from his own home, has wandered off in the past. This isn`t the first time.
Let me tell you something, you two lawyers. Unleash the lawyers again. Anne Bremner, high profile lawyer, Seattle. Daniel Horowitz, high profile lawyer out of San Francisco.
The first time I told you this, I saw John David or Lucy reach up and flip that dead bolt, that night, when I got home from work, I went and put those flip locks six feet up so they could not wander out.
I don`t get it. You know, this -- this is an aggravating circumstances to me. That they knew the child could wander out, that he could open the door.
What about it, Horowitz?
DANIEL HOROWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Nancy, you`ve got a point now. I have to give you that. It does seem to be much more negligent when you`ve made a mistake once and you do it twice.
I`d like to know also, though, what were the other kids in that house doing? Did they -- were they all asleep? Was the whole house wiped out? So I`ve got some more questions, still.
GRACE: Well, I don`t know if you`re going to pin this --
(CROSSTALK)
HOROWITZ: But you`re right on that point. I have to give you that.
GRACE: -- on one of the other children, but --
HOROWITZ: No. I was curious.
GRACE: But I don`t think that was going to work. But one thing to her defense, Anne Bremner, is with all the other kids in the house, that if she had clipped a lock like that, they could have easily unflipped it. We know somebody let the dog out.
ANNE BREMNER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That`s right.
GRACE: We know that.
BREMNER: Absolutely. And you know you can`t say this is a case of crown thy good with motherhood. I mean obviously she made a mistake. But the point of --
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: I didn`t understand what you said. I don`t know what you just said.
BREMNER: Crown --
GRACE: This is not a case of what?
BREMNER: Crown thy good with motherhood. I need my brother Doug who`s a guest tonight help me on the 2-year-old issue. But I`m just saying -- you know the point I make to those criminals just because the child wanders off.
GRACE: OK, Anne.
BREMNER: Yes, Nancy.
GRACE: Right now nobody is talking about a criminal accusation. What I`m saying is at least this could be criminal negligence. And it`s your job and your job, Horowitz, to talk a court or a jury out of that.
But I`m telling you, all right?
BREMNER: All right.
GRACE: I know the whole family is in pain. I get it. But the reality is she was taking care of the children and the child is dead. Now there`s no way to get around that no matter where you two go, all right?
Everybody, I want to switch very quickly and tell you about a story, a 2-year-old child in the hospital tonight. His father was giving him boxing lessons. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have the money to hire an attorney?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`ll appoint a public defender office to represent you.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Lee De Jesus appeared in (INAUDIBLE) wearing a protective vest reserved for those on suicide watch. And with his head down at all times, he listened as the judge read him his charges.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, you`re charged with aggravated --
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And he should have his head down. Out to Lauren Granado, reporter, anchor, Newsradio 610 WIOD, joining us out of Miami.
At first, he tried to blame the babysitter and finally admitted the child died, the child is officially dead. He is brain dead at the time. He`s still breathing. Because he was giving the child boxing lessons, Lauren?
LAUREN GRANADO, REPORTER/ANCHOR, NEWSRADIO 610 WIOD: Actually, Nancy, we`re getting some conflicting reports as to whether the little boy has, in fact, been taken of life support. That`s why as of this hour Lee De Jesus, the 23-year-old father, is actually charged with second-degree murder.
Once the judge learned that the boy was brain dead, he decided to withhold bail. He was planning on giving him bail because originally he`s been only charged with child neglect and aggravated child abuse. But he decided to switch that to second-degree murder now that the boy is brain dead.
But we`ve spoken to the State Attorney General`s Office down here in south Florida and he actually tell us that the little boy was taken off of life support this afternoon. So they are planning to up those charges to first-degree murder tomorrow.
GRACE: Yes, I`m glad you said that because I was just about to launch into a backflip that this would even be considered as second-degree murder and not malice murder. Murder, an act with the intent to kill.
Ellie Jostad, what happened?
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE CHIEF EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, as you explained, this man Lee Willie De Jesus, initially claimed that he came home, found his child unresponsive on a bed and that a babysitter had beaten him.
However, when police got him to the station, they say he admitted that he was teaching his little boy how to box. They say he put on one-pound boxing gloves, one on each hand, hit the little boy 15 times in the course of 15 minutes. The boy eventually became unresponsive when he fell off the bed and hit his head.
GRACE: Wait, wait, wait, wait, Ellie, Ellie, Ellie.
JOSTAD: Yes.
GRACE: Just -- I don`t think I can hear the rest of these facts.
JOSTAD: Yes.
GRACE: Lauren Granado, in that jurisdiction, is there the death penalty?
GRANADO: In Florida there is, yes. Certainly. So now it`s just a wait and see. As soon as the state attorney goes forward with those first- degree murder charges tomorrow, just something we keep an eye on.
GRACE: I didn`t hear your answer, Lauren. Is it a death penalty jurisdiction or not?
GRANADO: Yes, Florida is a death penalty jurisdiction.
GRACE: It`s my understanding that right now in Florida, there`s a hiatus on the electric chair, old Sparky is having a rest. But apparently lethal injection is the mode of death. This man accused of giving his child boxing lessons until he was dead.
To Dr. Doug Bremner, professor of psychiatry and radiology, author of "Before You Take That Pill." Joining us out of Atlanta.
Dr. Bremner, what were the likely injuries to this child after 15 blows to the head? We know he is brain-dead tonight.
DR. DOUG BREMNER, M.D., PROFESSOR OF PSYCHIATRY & RADIOLOGY, AUTHOR OF "BEFORE YOU TAKE THAT PILL": Well, we know, Nancy, that he did have bleeding into his head, which would have caused compression into the brain and led to brain death, which is in fact what happened in this case.
I`d like to point out also that -- I mean w don`t -- the person changed his story originally, he said that it was a babysitter that did it. But then when he realized he couldn`t prove the existence of a babysitter, he said that he was giving boxing lessons.
This could just be a plain vanilla case of childhood abuse where the father got angry at the kid who was crying and hit him in the head.
GRACE: Everyone, you are taking a look at Lee Willie De Jesus, 23 year old, the boy`s father, says he`s giving the child boxing lessons. The child has just been taken off life support.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, you`re charged with aggravated child abuse.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: 23-year-old Lee --
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. To Michelle in Missouri, hi, Michelle.
MICHELLE, CALLER FROM MISSOURI: Hi, Nancy. How are you?
GRACE: I`m good, dear. What`s your question?
MICHELLE: I would think that it would take a lot of force to render a child brain-dead. Is it even possible that anyone would believe that this is an accident from boxing lessons?
GRACE: You know what? Some nut might believe it. Some nut would.
To you, Pat Brown, would anybody in their right mind believe this was an accident?
PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER, AUTHOR OF "KILLING FOR SPORT": I don`t think anybody`s buying it. This is a sadistic brute who beat his child to death and I can prove it. You put the little 2-year-old on the bed, you punch him one time, that kid is not going to be standing. He`s going to be laying on the bed. So there`s no way he could just accidentally fallen off after 15 hits.
He was already down with one punch wherever he might have been. The man just simply beat him to death.
GRACE: Agree. To Jackie in Arkansas, hi, Jackie.
JACKIE, CALLER: Hi, Nancy Grace, a big fan. One comment, then a question. Comment, your -- I love your panels normally but your attorneys today really need to get on the same page with you and have a little thicker skin.
My question is --
GRACE: Did you hear that, Horowitz and Bremner?
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Suck it up, little sisters. Go ahead, ma`am, Jackie in Arkansas.
JACKIE: OK. And my question is, do we know if there`s any previous violence in the home? Or maybe anything going on between the mother and the dad to where it could have been taken out on the child, possibly?
GRACE: Good question.
JACKIE: (INAUDIBLE)
GRACE: Good question. Lauren Granado, what do we know?
GRANADO: What we do know at this point he`s been arrested before. De Jesus has been arrested before in Miami-Dade County. That what court records show. But his most serious conviction was for marijuana possession a couple of years ago back in 2007.
But there is this pretty damning quote from his mother, Maria, who says that he`s capable of beating the boy`s mother but because they always go at it. But basically that the mother just goes right back at him. But she was pretty surprised to hear that something like this would be involving the little boy. But she did allude to the fact that there has been tension between the mother and father.
GRACE: Well, bottom line, Lauren Granado, you answered her in a nutshell. Yes, there has been violence in the home.
Everyone, let`s stop and remember, Army 1st Lieutenant Adam Malson, 23, Rochester Hills, Michigan, killed in Iraq. Awarded Bronze Star, Purple Heart. Loved weightlifting and sports. Remembered for his laughter. Leaves behind parents Ben and Debra, brother Jay, sister Amy, widow Lindsay.
Adam Malson, American hero.
Thanks to our guests and to you for being with us. A special hello to Columbia, South Carolina friend Dr. Claire Wages. And a special good night from Georgia friends of the show, Voila and Dylan. Aren`t they beautiful?
See you tomorrow night, everyone, 8:00 sharp Eastern, and until then, good night, friend.
END
