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Nancy Grace

Investigation into Missing Lomita Woman Intensifies

Aired September 13, 2010 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight, live, California. The beautiful wife of an LA restaurant owner vanishes without a trace. Cops alerted three weeks later by friends, not the husband of 15 years. Homicide takes over the investigation. We learn just days after the wife goes missing, her husband gets a brand-new girlfriend, moves the girlfriend into the family home, then gives the girlfriend the missing wife`s job as hostess at the restaurant.

Bombshell tonight. In another stunning twist, we learn the husband cleans out the house of all his wife`s belongings -- all of her possessions, everything. goes straight into the dumpster -- and then has the wife`s vintage black Jeep Cherokee towed away immediately when she goes missing. Tonight, where is Dawn Viens?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dawn Viens was reportedly last seen leaving her husband`s cafe. She disappeared, but her Jeep remained left behind. Husband David Viens reportedly told friends she took a Louis Vuitton bag with her and walked away following an argument. Homicide detectives are now taking over the investigation into the disappearance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My suspicion is that Dawn is no longer alive and that David knows something about that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dawn`s husband telling a local reporter he has nothing to hide, adding cops have searched his cafe, home and yard, and reportedly claims he was advised by an attorney not to discuss the case because the husband is always considered a suspect.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I highly doubt she`s alive. I really don`t believe she`s alive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight, live, Kentucky. A beautiful, young mother vanishes without a trace, her 2-year-old little girl left behind. Breaking tonight. After her mother reports Jodi missing, Kentucky police launch a massive search. They now admit, quote, "nothing has panned out." Tonight, have police recovered her missing purse? And where is 19-year-old Jodi Powers?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A desperate search is under way for a Kentucky teen mom. Nineteen-year-old Jodi Powers was reported missing by her mother on September 1st, and no one has seen or heard from her since. She was reportedly last seen getting out of a truck in Madisonville, Kentucky, at a superstore. And her family says it`s not like her to stay away and not contact anyone. Authorities ask anyone with information to please contact the Kentucky State Police. Jodi has brown hair and green eyes. She`s 5- foot-1 and weighs approximately 110 pounds. She has a tattoo of the lizard behind her left ear and a tattoo of the letter "M" on her left wrist. She was last seen wearing a white and blue shirt, bluejeans and flip-flops.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. The beautiful wife of an LA restaurant owner vanishes without a trace. And then in another stunning twist, we learn the husband cleans out the house of all his wife`s belongings -- all her possessions, everything, straight into the dumpster -- and then has her Jeep towed away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sheriffs say 39-year-old Dawn Viens was last seen leaving her husband`s cafe. She was never seen again. The couple married more than 15 years. Reports say when Dawn vanished, her Jeep was left behind. Reports three weeks after she vanishes, Dawn`s friends call to report her missing, not her husband.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s a huge hurt and a big betrayal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dawn`s husband, David Viens, speaks out to "The Daily Breeze," saying he`s told detectives everything he knows, has nothing to hide, and says he`d put up a cash reward but he`s broke. Since she disappeared, husband David Viens`s restaurant has expanded. And while many businesses in the area reportedly have missing posters up, there`s not one up in her husband`s cafe.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To think that somebody could never really look for her, not even put up a missing persons poster in his own restaurant.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Homicide detectives have now taken over the investigation. What happened to Dawn Viens?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight out to Debra Mark, anchor at Talk Radio 790 KABC. Debra, the recent information that we got over at this past weekend is that after our show Friday night, cops have now gone out and started re- interviewing people, interviewing friends. We also learn about the possessions being thrown in a dumpster, the Jeep being towed away almost immediately after she goes missing.

DEBRA MARK, TALK RADIO 790 KABC: About a week-and-a-half later, Nancy, after she disappeared, a friend of hers saw her husband`s daughter and his new girlfriend taking her stuff. They were in a car. They drove to the restaurant, took stuff out of the car and started throwing things into the dumpster. Allegedly, you know, there was a few things they decided to keep, but most of the things were just thrown away.

GRACE: OK. So you`re telling me that they basically went shopping in the missing woman`s closet? They kept some of her belongings for themselves?

MARK: I have no idea if it was for themselves, but they certainly did keep some things.

GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Brenda in Florida. Hi, Brenda.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. Thank you for taking my call. You`re a true inspiration. And your twins, I have to say, are like comical -- you know, not trying to be comical, but they are. They`re like...

GRACE: They are. They`re exactly like that. I always refer to her as a little sprite and him as a little imp.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s true. I (INAUDIBLE)

GRACE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is, Nancy, do you think -- was there any problems in the marriage?

GRACE: Oh! That I know the answer to. What was your second question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My second question is, wasn`t this an easier way to getting a divorce and her getting part of the restaurant and all the things he had? This was the easier thing...

GRACE: That`s right. That restaurant has really been doing well. Out to you, Debra Mark with 790 KABC. What do you know?

MARK: Her friends have said that she had never complained about having a bad marriage. I believe that I said last week the only thing they heard her talk about was that he discouraged her from having a lot of friends. But she was a happy person. She was a positive person. She was worried that her husband would be arrested again. He was arrested in Florida on drug possession and drug trafficking and weapons possession. So she did stash about $640 at a friend`s house, which she never reclaimed.

GRACE: Well, it`s my understanding...

MARK: But apparently, they were happy.

GRACE: Joining me is a very dear friend of Dawn Viens, the restaurateur`s missing wife, who says, Well, maybe she`ll show up at the end of ski season. Maybe she`ll check back in. Joe Cacace is joining us, a friend of Dawn Viens. I recall distinctly, Joe, that they argued quite a bit. As a matter of fact, the last time you saw her, didn`t she say they had just had another argument?

JOE CACACE, FRIEND OF MISSING WOMAN (via telephone): Yes. That`s true. Like any marriage, I think they -- obviously, it wasn`t a perfect marriage, by no means. There was a lot of -- a lot of effort on her part and none on his, is what it was, basically.

GRACE: Joe Cacace, what do you know about what happened this weekend with the cops?

CACACE: Actually, I can`t divulge too much, but I`ll tell you something. They`ve stepped up. They`ve just got the case. They stepped out here and they`ve got some new leads and information they`re following up on right now. It`s kind of amazing after this long that they`re finding new information. I`m very excited. I`m hoping to we`re going to see something come about it. It`s -- again, I can`t divulge what they found, but they`ve got some new information, some new leads, so...

GRACE: Well, Joe Cacace...

CACACE: Thank you.

GRACE: ... didn`t they come and question you? No, no, no. Don`t thank me. I appreciate that. But Joe, didn`t they come and ask you a lot of questions about the last time you saw her and what you knew about this?

CACACE: Oh, yes, they did. We sat, we talked for well over two hours, and we went through a lot of different things and I gave them everything I could possibly think of in regards to the case. And you know, again, I`m hoping that it`s going to come -- come a little further and we`re going to get some information in where people are going to step up and tell us some things they know, you know?

GRACE: Joe, what do you know about throwing out Dawn`s possessions into a dumpster, straight in the dumpster?

CACACE: Yes. It was a box of clothing. And it was during business hours, you know, during the day. And it was his daughter and his new girlfriend, Cathy (ph). They rolled up there in his vehicle and a box of clothes, and you know, I guess I can`t say for a fact that they went and took it out of her house, but I`m telling you, they were holding it up. I saw her -- basically, clothing that was Dawn`s size, too long for Cathy and too small for his daughter. And you know, and then they took a couple things out of it and then they took the box and put it in the dumpster. And I thought, What is that? I mean, that seems a little odd, so soon, to throw her clothes away. I mean, you know, it just seemed very absurd to me.

GRACE: Yes. You know, think about it. Unleash the lawyers. Joining us tonight out of LA, Gloria Allred, attorney and victims` rights advocate, Hugo Rodriguez, attorney out of Miami, Raymond Giudice, defense attorney out of Atlanta.

You know, Gloria, when somebody goes away for a visit or for a trip or an extended period, you may close the door to their bedroom, but do you have to throw their clothes into the dumpster, Gloria?

GLORIA ALLRED, VICTIMS` RIGHTS ADVOCATE: Well, absolutely not, Nancy. And in fact, who told them to do that, if anybody did? Did the husband of the missing woman say, She`s not coming back, here are the clothes, throw them out? We don`t know. And by the way, if he did say that, how does that square with his comment that is quoted that says that he still misses her very much? And how does that square with the fact that he`s got, apparently, a live-in girlfriend?

GRACE: Well, Clark Goldband, what else do we know that he said say?

CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, he spoke out about six months after this event happened with "The Daily Breeze," a local newspaper there, and said that he hopes Dawn, quote, "checks back in" after ski season. He also said that...

GRACE: Whoa! Wait! Wait! He hopes she checks in after ski season? I mean, you`re a newlywed, Clark. You haven`t had years of experience in marriage. But if your wife went missing, your new bride, would you just hope she`d check back in?

GOLDBAND: No, I would not. I...

GRACE: I mean, this guy didn`t even call police. Her friends call police after she`s been gone several weeks.

GOLDBAND: Right, Nancy. It was three weeks, according to reports, until friends called cops and let them know Dawn hadn`t been seen in quite some time. Also in that interview, Nancy, he said he blamed it on the, quote, "damn drugs and alcohol." The reporter followed up, but he wouldn`t get more specific.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s a huge hurt and a big betrayal to think that somebody could never really look for her, not even put up a missing persons poster in his own restaurant. My suspicions are that Dawn is no longer alive, and that David knows something about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Homicide detectives are now taking over the investigation into the disappearance of 39-year-old California woman Dawn Viens, Dawn reportedly last seen leaving her husband`s restaurant on a Sunday. Friends claim Dawn`s husband, David Viens, told them she took a Louis Vuitton bag and left the restaurant after an argument, reports her Jeep still remained behind. So just what happened to Dawn? Friends say it`s unlike her not to contact anyone. Dawn`s husband telling a local reporter he has nothing to hide, adding cops have searched his cafe, home and yard, and reportedly claims he was advised by an attorney not to discuss the case because the husband is always considered a suspect.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t think that Dawn had any clue about anybody. Again, she was happily married. She told her friends that she was happy. They saw her as a very positive person. And again, the only thing that they have said was that her husband discouraged her from having a lot of friends. So apparently, they were happy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Apparently, since we aired this, highlighting the disappearance of Dawn Viens on our Friday night program, the case has heated up, cops back out on foot, on the beat, looking into the case, reinterviewing witnesses and finding new witnesses.

Take a look at Dawn Viens. She goes missing after an argument with her husband. Next thing we know, the husband moves the girlfriend into the home, and not only into the home, but into his wife`s job as hostess at the family restaurant. Now we learn, as of this morning, that her clothes, her belongings taken out of the home, thrown into the dumpster, her Jeep Cherokee towed away. Where is Dawn Viens?

Straight out to Jean Casarez, legal correspondent, "In Session." Jean, what more can you tell me?

JEAN CASAREZ, "IN SESSION": You know, Nancy, there`s more that we have not talked about in regard to that dumpster. The family had said that the clothes had been put in a storage unit. That`s significant because that is a lie when we now know that very close to when she disappeared, they`d thrown in that dumpster.

GRACE: And when you say family, Jean Casarez, the only family I know of is the husband.

CASAREZ: That`s right. And it`s the husband that I`m talking about. The husband is the one that had told that to friends, who inadvertently saw that act then at the dumpster of throwing the clothes in.

GRACE: So he tells people -- the husband tells people that he put his wife`s things in storage. Even right there -- Jean, you know, when you travel away to cover a case, which you have to do with your job, has your husband ever put your clothes in storage, Jean, much less thrown them away in a dumpster?

CASAREZ: No. No, not at all. Not at all. And this was a missing persons case. That`s the significance also of the storage unit and the dumpster.

GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Pat in New York. Hi, Pat.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I love you so much!

GRACE: Pat, thank you. Thank you for saying that. And also, thank you for calling in.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You`re welcome. I was in the hospital for two weeks and they didn`t get this station, so now I`m back watching you.

GRACE: Thank you. And I`m glad to know that you`re feeling better. Being in the hospital is terrible. We were all -- myself, John David, Lucy were all in the hospital for quite a while, and they were in ICU. I was so glad to get home, I was almost glad I went. OK, what`s your question, love?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my question is, Friday on your show, they had said that the husband is not a suspect. How can they -- I don`t understand how the cops can say this, with everything he`s done so soon after she`s missing. I don`t understand it.

GRACE: Well, I`ll tell you my theory on why police say what seems to be a suspect to us is not a suspect. Unleash the lawyers. Gloria Allred, Raymond Giudice, Atlanta, Hugo Rodriguez, Miami.

Ray, as soon as someone is officially named a suspect or a target, constitutional rights apply. Explain.

RAYMOND GIUDICE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, that`s right. They can be questioned, but only if they`re read their Miranda rights. And if they have a right -- invoke their with right to counsel, the questioning can cease and terminate. Secondly, a defense strategy at trial will always be, Prosecutors, you focused on only one client from day one to the exclusion of all these other tips. You never even looked at anybody else. That`s defense strategy numero uno.

GRACE: Blah, blah, blah. What about it, Hugo?

HUGO RODRIGUEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: He`s a suspect. He`s the target. They`re just not verbalizing it. They`re conducting their investigation.

GRACE: Gloria Allred, police are saying he is not an official suspect or person of interest.

ALLRED: He may not be an official suspect, but they`re certainly interested in whatever he would tell them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dawn Viens was reportedly last seen leaving her husband`s cafe. She disappeared, but her Jeep remained left behind. Husband David Viens reportedly told friends she took a Louis Vuitton bag with her and walked away following an argument, but friends including one recently diagnosed with cancer, become concerned when they don`t hear from Dawn. Since she`s disappeared, husband David Viens`s restaurant has expanded, and while many businesses in the area reportedly have missing posters up, there`s not one up in her husband`s cafe.

CACACE: Just -- it just stinks. It does. It stinks. There`s nothing else you can say about it.

She was walking behind my shop. I was there on a Sunday. We were both closed on Sunday. She was walking up the alley, said, you know -- you know, it was weird to see her walking, but she was coming to get her Jeep, which was left here. And I said, What`s going on? And she says, No, just normal. We`re just fighting. You know, normal thing, we`re arguing again, you know. No big thing. And she kept walking. She didn`t want to stop. She got in her Jeep, drove away kind of quickly. And I thought, Well, that was weird. And then all of a sudden, not even five minutes later, David comes driving in behind her, or looking for her in his own vehicle, and very angry look on his face because he missed her. She got away without him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Out to the lines. Emily in North Carolina. Hi, Emily.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey. How are you?

GRACE: Hi, dear. I`m good. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, my question is -- I bought your book, by the way.

GRACE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I want to see some updated pictures of your beautiful kids. OK, if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it`s duck! And this man certainly is guilty! And they need to check out this Jeep because where would she have walked to in California? Come on. Where did she go? He knows where she`s at. I`m...

GRACE: You know, Emily, you really got a good point about that Jeep. If it were towed away, it`s probably sitting in some impound lot right now. What about it, Debra Mark? Debra, anchor at Talk Radio 790 KABC. What do we know about the Jeep? And what do we know about what developed over the weekend after Friday night`s show?

MARK: I spoke to one of the homicide lieutenants, who said that they`ve talked to enough people about this case, they have gathered enough information to say, You know, we need to look into this and see if there is foul play. Remember, she`s been missing almost a year. Up until very recently, this was just a missing person case. And her Jeep was taken away very recently.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to find out where Dawn is, you know? And I really -- I highly doubt she`s alive. I really don`t believe she`s alive. Talked to David and he said that he fired her. He said he was tired of her drinking on the job and he fired her. And I wondered how he fired his wife. I don`t understand how you fire your wife.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Dawn Viens was reportedly last seen leaving her husband`s cafe. She disappeared. But her Jeep remained left behind.

Husband David Viens reportedly told friends she took a Louis Vuitton bag with her and walked away following an argument.

Homicide detectives are now taking over the investigation into the disappearance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My suspicions are that Dawn is no longer alive and that David knows something about that.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Dawn`s husband telling a local reporter he has nothing to hide, adding cops have searched his cafe, home and yard and reportedly claims he was advised by an attorney not to discuss the case because the husband is always considered a suspect.

JOE CACACE, FRIEND OF MISSING WOMAN, DAWN VIENS: I highly doubt she`s alive. I really don`t believe she`s alive.

He always just had a problem with her because she was a very honest and simple person. And he was kind of a shady guy and he liked to be in charge of everything. You know? And on top of things -- I mean they just argued because she had her own opinion. You know? And that was it. Really. I mean it was just normal stuff like that.

As far as the abuse went, you know, as you asked earlier, I don`t know of any real abuse going on domestic violence. Occasionally things here and there. He cut her hair off one time he got drunk and snipped a lock of her off the back. Had to get it cut real short.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, HOST: He cut her hair off? He cut her hair off?

Caryn Stark, psychologist, joining us out of New York. Caryn, discouraging her from having friends? Cutting her hair off?

CARYN STARK, PSYCHOLOGIST: But, Nancy, this is a very happy marriage we`re told. It makes no sense. This is all very confusing. This doesn`t sound like a happy marriage.

GRACE: I`m not confused.

STARK: And when you take a look at ordinary -- when you see how people mourn and they grieve, they don`t get rid of possessions that quickly. They`re not able to. They try to hold on to the person.

So I would be very suspicious about what`s going on here. And the fact that she was working with his girlfriend and then one week later there`s a girlfriend. She is missing. I know he`s not a suspect but it`s suspicious.

GRACE: Can I ask you something about what you just said? Why do we do that? When we lose someone we love, why do we cling so tightly to their possessions?

STARK: Because it`s all that we have left. It`s not unusual to even sometimes sleep with something under the pillow. You`re trying to hold on to the person. And you just can`t let go.

GRACE: Well, ironically, in this case, instead of holding on to memories of his wife, that he says just went away on a ski trip, he had all of her clothes thrown into a dumpster. Her Jeep has been towed away.

Out to Pat Brown, criminal profiler, author of "The Profiler." What do you think, Pat?

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER, AUTHOR OF "THE PROFILER": Well, let`s not be unfair. I think this guy is telling the absolute truth in the statements. Listen to what he said. I loved her, which is in the past tense so he knows that she is not coming back.

He says I miss her. Maybe in the way, you know, when burn your house down for the insurance money, you still like that house. And he also says I don`t have anything to hide. Well, he had about three weeks probably to hide everything there was to hide. So he`s probably telling the truth about that, too. So we ought to listen to what he is saying.

GRACE: Sergeant Scott Haines, sheriff`s officer, Santa Rosa County, Florida. Sergeant, I was listening to what Pat Brown just said. What do you make of when suspects -- although this guy is not a suspect. What do you make of what they say when you really listen to it what you can learn?

SGT. SCOTT HAINES, SHERIFF`S OFFICER, SANTA ROSA COUNTY, FL.: That`s very true. They usually tell the truth subconsciously when they`re even not trying to do that. They talk in the past tense about people. If he was convinced that his wife was alive and went on a ski trip, he would still -- he would talk about how he loves her, not loved her. So a lot of that is very important when investigators conduct investigations and listen to what they`re actually --

GRACE: You know, it`s interesting you said that, Sergeant, because I remember when distinctly the first time I heard Scott Peterson in an interview, who has now been convicted, who`s on death row for the murder of his wife Lacey and their unborn child Connor.

He said she was amazing. I`ll never forget when the search was still on for Lacey Peterson, he came on TV and said she was amazing. He knew she was dead.

HAINES: Absolutely he did. And that`s very common, especially in cases where it is a husband-wife situation and he knows the truth. Most spouses would not jump to that conclusion. They would hold on to that hope that that person is still alive.

GRACE: Joining us out of New York, Dr. Kolansky, board certified physician.

Dr. Kolansky, does DNA evidence ever expire? For instance, if cops go back into his home he shared with her -- of course they`d have to go in with a warrant unless they -- unless he allowed them in, gave them permission. Could they still find DNA evidence?

DR. GLENN KOLANSKY, M.D., BOARD CERTIFIED PHYSICIAN: Yes, he --

GRACE: If there`s a sign of a struggle?

KOLANSKY: That`s correct. You can still find DNA evidence from clothing, from hair. You actually need -- actually a pinpoint amount of DNA. DNA can also get contaminated from moisture or actually cleaning products if you knew, you know, the area was contaminated people would bleach in the area. But there still may be some, you know, DNA evidence remaining. There could be evidence of a struggle.

GRACE: And isn`t it true that bleach doesn`t totally destroy DNA? In fact, you`ve got to have a substance along the lines of, for instance, muriatic acid to actually destroy the DNA?

KOLANSKY: Well, there`s different degrees of destruction. Sometimes, you know, they may get destroyed, there may be a pinpoint amount remaining, or if there`s a struggle there could be some skin cells remaining in the carpet. Unless he had the carpet cleaned, of course.

GRACE: Jean Casarez, isn`t it true that the husband actually brought in the girlfriend to be the hostess while the wife was still working there, and then within about a week, you know, they have a big argument, she`s never seen again? So he puts the girlfriend in as the permanent hostess and moves her into the house?

JEAN CASAREZ, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": You`re right. So in other words what you`re saying is they both worked together for a week -- the missing wife and who was to be the girlfriend shortly after the disappearance. Yes.

GRACE: Now what more do we know? Was there a relationship between the wife and the girlfriend? What do we know about that scenario?

CASAREZ: No. We just know they were hostesses together. That`s all we know. We don`t know if any words they said to each other, but just -- they were hostesses, worked in the same restaurant, a pretty small restaurant, together.

GRACE: And back to you, Clark Goldband, are you telling me he fired his wife out of the family business? How do you do that?

CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: Well, Nancy, friends have said they always found that as kind of strange. Raising the question in reports, how do you simply fire your wife? It`s not like an employee.

But the husband has told friends of hers that, in fact, she was supposedly drinking on the job and that`s why the termination occurred. He was allegedly tired of it.

GRACE: Joe Cacace, a friend of Dawn Viens. What has the husband said to you about her disappearance?

CACACE: Well, as I said, he -- when I asked where she was, she was supposed to be here and she was going to meet me that next Monday and she didn`t show up. And when I asked him what happened, where she`s been, he said, I fired her, that kind of thing.

And I was like, that`s weird. I went back and asked again. He said, you know, they had the argument. He caught her with like $1,000 on her and -- which I knew about because she was bringing it here, and basically never heard from her again.

He said he found her with the money and -- then she`s got -- had the argument, they walked away. He kind of claimed she came back one time from what I understand from my friend Mike. He talked to him. That she came back one night, she got a shower and slept and then was gone in the morning.

I don`t know how true that is but I doubt it.

GRACE: Why did he get into a fight with his argument -- with his wife? Why did they get into an argument because she had cash?

CACACE: Well, you know, she wasn`t allowed to have her own -- you know, her own legs basically. You know, he was very controlling. Mother hen-like. He kept her under wraps real close. And her travel time was limited. She was able to come over visit 15 minutes intervals and that kind of thing. She really wasn`t -- didn`t like her out too long on her own.

GRACE: Did you just say her travel time was limited? What do you mean by that?

CACACE: Well, he didn`t like her out of, you know, his sight too much. You know? He just like to have her back and knows if she was gone for too long, he`d come get her, you know? And you know, 20, 30 minutes, you know, he`d show up at the door to get her back over at the restaurant. You know? And I just, you know, I think that she wasn`t allowed to be out on her own too much.

GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Magdalena in Florida. Hi, dear. What`s your question?

MAGDALENA, CALLER FROM FLORIDA: Yes, hello, Nancy. First of all, John David and Lucy share my birthday, November 4th. I just wanted to throw that in.

GRACE: I know -- I can`t believe they`re going to be 3 in just about a month and a half.

MAGDALENA: Like me who`s going to be 47 in a month and a half.

(LAUGHTER)

MAGDALENA: Anyway, my question is, where`s her family during all this? I mean, if her friends notified the police, what about her family?

GRACE: You know what, Magdalena in Florida? That`s a great question.

Deborah Mark, anchor, talk radio 790 KABC, where is her family?

DEBORAH MARK, ANCHOR, TALK RADIO 790 KABC: We have heard nothing from her family. Only her friends. So that`s a very good question.

GRACE: Joe Cacace, did she have any family?

CACACE: Yes, she does, actually. She has a father and two brothers and a sister that helped with the missing person report in the beginning. But they didn`t get along real great but she stepped up to do this just out of I guess family respect.

GRACE: Where`s the family in all of this? Don`t they care about where she is?

CACACE: Well, I got to tell you. Just recently as of yesterday and today I just been in contact. Haven`t verbally spoke with them but I am in touch with the family now and they are very anxious to talk to me. Hopefully I`m speaking with them tonight.

GRACE: The tip line, 800-222-8477. 222-TIPS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Dawn`s husband David Viens speaks out to the "Daily Briefs" saying he`s told detectives everything he knows, has nothing to hide and says he`d put up a cash reward but he`s broke.

Homicide detectives have now taken over the investigation.

What happened to Dawn Viens?

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A desperate search is under way for a Kentucky teen mom. Nineteen-year-old Jodi Powers was reported missing by her mother on September 1st and no one has seen or heard from her since.

She was reportedly last seen getting out of a truck at Madisonville, Kentucky, at a superstore and her family says it`s not like her to stay away and contact anyone.

Authorities ask anyone with information to please contact the Kentucky State Police.

Jodi has brown hair and green eyes. She`s 5`1" and weighs approximately 110 pounds. She has a tattoo of a lizard behind her left ear and a tattoo of the letter "M" on her left wrist. She was last seen wearing white and blue shirt, blue jeans and flip flops.

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GRACE: What happened to Jodi? After a serious look at extensive manhunt, bringing in all the police had to offer, they now say that, quote, "nothing has panned out."

Out to Jean Casarez, legal correspondent with "In Session." Jean, what did we know?

CASAREZ: You know, the latest that we know is that she was in a truck with a friend of hers. She was last seen at a grocery store-type of place and then she was gone. And she got out of the truck never to be seen again.

But, Nancy, I think her purse was left in that truck. Who leaves a truck and leaves their purse in the truck?

GRACE: Why would she leave her pocketbook --

CASAREZ: I don`t know.

GRACE: -- behind.

To you, Alexis Weed, let`s go over the circumstances of her disappearance. I know her mom calls her in missing. I know she`s leaving a 2-year-old little girl behind. She`s never left the little girl alone before. And she was last seen at some type of a supply store?

ALEXIS WEED, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Right, Nancy. This is somewhat of a Wal-Mart type store. It`s a very, very large store down in Kentucky in the western very rural part.

Now this is a town of only 1600 residents. And so it`s a place where probably a lot of people know a lot of people and are in touch with one another but as far as we know she got out of this truck at the store to go look for something so the mother of this acquaintance that she was supposedly last seen with.

They got out of his car out of his truck so that he could show her something that he`s supposed had buried in the back field of this superstore.

GRACE: Wait a minute. So did he come back to the truck?

WEED: He said -- and this is just according to the mother of the acquaintance now who we`ve spoken with today. He says that she started to go crazy, Jodi went crazy. That he then drove across the street after she jumped out of the vehicle.

He waited for her there. He`s -- according to the mother to cross the street and then she was never seen again.

GRACE: OK. That doesn`t make sense. So he -- takes her -- is this what he`s telling his mother?

WEED: That`s what we understand, yes.

GRACE: OK. He takes her in to -- it`s not a Wal-Mart but a Wal-Mart like supply store.

WEED: Right.

GRACE: To show her something that he buried?

WEED: This is what the mother says. She says that he visited -- she visited him in jail yesterday. And this is in --

GRACE: Whoa, whoa, wait, wait, wait. Jail?

WEED: That`s right.

GRACE: For drugs.

WEED: That`s right. Methamphetamine possession, two counts.

GRACE: So he`s involved with methamphetamines. He`s the last one to see her. He has some kooky story about showing her something he buried behind a Wal-Mart type store? She`s never seen alive again?

WEED: You got it.

GRACE: Yes. It`s all starting to fit together.

Out to the lines, Pam in West Virginia, hi, Pam.

PAM, CALLER FROM WEST VIRGINIA: Hi, Nancy.

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

PAM: I don`t buy this. This guy if he is in jail now for drugs or whatever, I think maybe that he might have tried to do something, force her into a situation where she didn`t want to be in.

If she didn`t know this guy very well and maybe she was trying to fight him off. And he killed her or done something. Because I don`t believe she would walk away and leave the 2-year-old baby.

GRACE: Absolutely not. And she has absolutely no history of leaving the little girl.

You are seeing a shot right now of Jodi Powers. She is just 19 years old. She is missing. Reported missing by her mother but have police recovered her pocketbook in this friend`s vehicle.

It doesn`t make sense to me, Jean Casarez, that she goes to a store like Wal-Mart and doesn`t take her pocketbook.

CASAREZ: No. It doesn`t make any sense at all. Do we know if there are any surveillance cameras around that big store that caught all of this on camera?

GRACE: To Alexis, what do we know?

WEED: Nancy, we don`t know. Cops aren`t telling us much. They`re staying really tight lipped. The only thing they`re saying is that she was reported missing by her mother on September 1st and that they are asking that this case be transferred over to the Kentucky State Police as opposed to handling it locally.

GRACE: You are seeing photos from Facebook. This is Jodi Powers, just 19 years old.

Out to the lines, Susan in Indiana, hi, Susan.

SUSAN, CALLER FROM INDIANA: Hi, Nancy. How are you?

GRACE: I`m good, dear. What`s your question?

SUSAN: Well, I was wondering if she went missing without her purse, what would she have been doing there in the place and what would this man have possibly been hiding or buried that she would have wanted to look at?

GRACE: Alexis, w the name of the store? Do we know?

WEED: Yes, Nancy. It`s called Rural King.

GRACE: I can`t understand you. Rural King?

WEED: Rural King, yes. In Madisonville, Kentucky.

GRACE: K-I-N-G. Rural King. OK, Liz, in the control room, get on the phone, call Rural King. Find out if they`ve got surveillance video. OK? Chop-chop.

Let`s unleash the lawyers. Gloria Allred, Raymond Giudice, Hugo Rodriguez. Take a look at this girl, 19 years old, and the last person she`s known to be with is a meth addict. Gloria?

GLORIA ALLRED, VICTIM`S RIGHTS ATTORNEY, CHILD ADVOCATE: Well, the old expression, "Nothing good happens after 2:00 a.m. in the morning if you`re out." And I would add to that, nothing good happen if you`re associating with somebody who has meth issues. If that, in fact, is the case.

It`s highly unlikely, A, that she would -- voluntarily leave her purse in the truck. And B, that she wouldn`t come home if she had a 2-year-old. Something smells here but we will have to see what the result actually is. After police investigate further.

GRACE: Raymond Giudice, it`s obviously somebody that she trusted.

RAY GIUDICE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Nancy, also that and what drug dealers and users commonly do is they keep their stash somewhere. Maybe not buried but maybe under a rock. Maybe in some bushes. Maybe in an area where no one would think.

That`s the only thing that makes some sense out of the story that this mother is telling from jail.

GRACE: You know what, Raymond, that`s actually a pretty good theory. What about it, Hugo Rodriguez?

HUGO RODRIGUEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY, FMR. FBI AGENT: There`s got to some suspicious -- there`s got to be some evidence in that backyard. There`s got to be something the police are going to come up that`s going to link this guy to this girl.

It`s unfortunate. But people on meth and meth users have notorious problems for being out of control at times.

GRACE: Jodi Powers, just 19 years old. White female, 5`1", 110 pounds. Brown hair, green eyes. Mother of a 2-year-old little girl.

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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police are asking for help in finding a Kentucky teen that`s been missing since September 1st. The family of 19- year-old Jodi Powers say she would not leave behind her 2-year-old daughter and want anyone with information to tell them where she.

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GRACE: We are taking your calls. Chenelle in South Carolina. Hi, Chenelle.

CHENELLE, CALLER FROM SOUTH CAROLINA: Hi, Nancy. How are you?

GRACE: I`m good, dear. Hold on, Chenelle. I`m just hearing in my ear -- no surveillance cameras at Rural King. The store where she apparently was last known to have been alive.

Go ahead. Sorry.

CHENELLE: What I`m not understanding is a simple fact. Why would you want to go see something that someone buried behind the store? Makes no common sense whatsoever.

GRACE: Yes. Why would you want to go see something buried behind a store? Which tells me it`s a big lie.

So I know that this guy, Pat Brown, is likely on meth and is making up a lie to the sound of it anyway.

BROWN: Well, maybe that truth is in there again. He talks about some kind of going crazy which might well be him. He`s talking about something that`s buried which might well be her. And I would like to know what he bought in that store like a shovel maybe?

GRACE: And to you, Jean Casarez, where does that land us?

CASAREZ: You know without that surveillance video, it`s really tough. It is very tough. And it`s going to have to be good old fashioned investigation.

GRACE: Tip line, everyone. 270-676-3313.

Let`s stop and remember Army Sergeant Kenneth Schall, 22, Peoria, killed Iraq. Awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Meritorious Service medal. Loved snowboarding and golf. Started playing at 10 just years old. A golf center in Iraq named in his honor.

Dreamed of being a high school history teacher. Leaves behind parents Terry and John, brother Matthew, sister Jessica.

Kenneth Schall, American hero.

Thanks to our guests but especially to you for being with us. And a special good night from New York and Virginia friends, Michael, Donna, Anna, Tara, Lynn, Jim.

And happy birthday to Georgia friend, twins, Nick on the left loves weightlifting and Zack loves to fish and is a baseball superstar.

Happy birthday to very handsome Nick and Zack.

And happy birthday to Donna. One of the sweetest people I know. Married to Steve Abrams, and also mommy to two golden lambs, Buddy and Bo who watch every night. Artistic, creative, a tennis player with a lot of heart. She loves Chick-fil-A even and dresses like a cow sometimes to get a free Chick-fil-A sandwich.

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

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