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Nancy Grace

Zahra Investigators Search Landfill

Aired October 20, 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, North Carolina. A 10-year-old little girl snatched from her own bedroom in the dark of night, the little girl, Zahra, completely dependent on two hearing aids, can only walk using a prosthetic leg after losing her left leg to childhood bone cancer. The girl vanishes into thin air, her bedroom empty, prosthetic leg missing, hearing aids left behind. Last person to see her alive, stepmommy. And did stepmommy confess to writing a phony million-dollar ransom note?

We obtain the entire 911 call from stepmommy and Daddy the night Zahra goes missing. You judge them for yourself.

Bombshell tonight. At this hour, investigators scouring a local landfill for a specific piece of evidence. Is it Zahra`s prosthetic leg? This as we learn investigators subpoena Zahra`s medical records and zero in on the make, the model, the serial number of the 10-year-old`s prosthetic leg. In the last hours, stepmommy in court. And her demand for lower bond backfires. The judge raises it! stepmommy`s grown daughter takes the stand against her to reveal stepmommy wanted to leave North Carolina when Zahra goes missing and that even her own grown daughter is afraid the stepmommy will murder her if she`s released.

We learn stepmommy on line for hours on end, somehow persuading men on line to send her money. I`m talking big money! Stepmommy refusing to cooperate with cops in the search for her 10-year-old stepdaughter. Tonight, where is Zahra?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: Hickory police 911. Where is your emergency?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, my daughter`s missing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A new twist for a missing North Carolina girl.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were led to the landfill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened to her?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After investigators interviewed several different people involved in this case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Search in a landfill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My daughter...

911 OPERATOR: Your daughter`s missing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Searching for a piece of evidence in a landfill in Caldwell County.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you think happened to Zahra?

ADAM BAKER, FATHER: I don`t know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not looking for a body.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are not looking for her body at this time in the landfill, no.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She may have been missing much longer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My daughter is, I think, is coming into puberty, so she`s hitting that brooding stage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They want a solid timeline.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That timeline is so crucial.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I noticed Zahra standing in the aisle.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s a race against the clock for Hickory police.

911 OPERATOR: Catawba County 911.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, how you doing?

911 OPERATOR: Did you say that she was handicapped?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma`am. She has an above-the-knee amputation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight, live, Cincinnati suburbs. A beautiful 17-year- old girl, popular, outgoing, heads to the sister`s home just 10 miles away and vanishes without a trace. Reports blood evidence found in a kitchen sink and traces of blood discovered on latex gloves.

This as cell phone pings torpedo the police timeline, tonight leading to a massive search of Ohio`s 10,000-acre East Fork (ph) State Park. Breaking now, cadaver dogs along with search teams on horseback and ATVs combing that state park for any sign of the missing 17-year-old girl. Tonight, what happened to 17-year-old Paige Johnson?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened to Paige Johnson?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An extensive search.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ve got about 110 searchers on the ground.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Looking for clues.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Intensify the search.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Large-scale effort.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ve also got about 17 dogs out there. We have tracking dogs and we also have cadaver dogs.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Seventeen-year-old mom Paige Johnson is missing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Covington police call Paige`s case a critical missing (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because she`s the mom of a 2-year-old toddler.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re going to stay out here as long as we can be effective.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She could be anywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Search warrants reveal what appeared to be blood was found in the home of Paige`s friend, Jacob Bumpass.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re hopeful that maybe we`ll either find Paige Johnson or we`re find some evidence.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To the guy that was last with my daughter, please talk! Please tell the truth!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If there was any decay, certainly, they can pick that up. We would have a high likelihood of finding her then, we hope.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This man, 22-year-old Jacob Bumpass, said he dropped Paige off around 1:00 AM, but Bumpass is no longer talking to police.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Find some evidence that`ll lead us into the right direction to find out what happened to Paige Johnson.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening, I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. Live, North Carolina. A 10-year-old little girl, completely dependent on hearing aids, losing her left leg to childhood bone cancer, snatched from her own bedroom in the dark of night. At this hour, investigators scouring a local landfill for a specific piece of evidence. Is that piece of evidence Zahra`s prosthetic leg?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: No one has seen your daughter since 2:30 this morning?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, ma`am.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you looking for?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A piece of evidence.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators are now combing through a landfill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) could be the prosthetic leg?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re looking for a piece of evidence.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She has a prosthetic leg which, apparently, they`ve taken with them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Looking for a, quote, unquote, "piece of evidence" in the case of little Zahra Baker.

911 OPERATOR: The prosthetic leg was taken with her?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma`am.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Searching for a piece of evidence.

911 OPERATOR: She has one leg?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One leg. Yes, ma`am.

911 OPERATOR: That`s partially amputated?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators searching for 10-year-old Zahra Baker.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her parents said they last saw her at 2:30 Saturday morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think your wife might have had some involvement in (INAUDIBLE)

BAKER: I don`t know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She says that she is not a killer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This search is a -- going to be a very methodical and time-intensive search that could last up to five days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls. Right now, we are going out live to the Baker home, Hickory, North Carolina, and Natisha Lance. Natisha, what can you tell us?

NATISHA LANCE, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, a new search is under way. The Hickory Police Department, as well as the FBI and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, was out at this landfill, which is about 20 miles away from the Baker home, which is right behind me. Police say that they are looking for a piece of evidence. Now, they won`t elaborate on what this piece of evidence is. They are saying that they are not searching for Zahra Baker`s daughter (ph).

But this is what we do know, Nancy. We know that just yesterday, police told us that they are trying to get medical records from Australia for Zahra Baker. In addition to that, they are specifically interested in finding out the composite material and the serial number for Zahra Baker`s prosthetic leg.

Now, what we do know also, Nancy, is that they were led to this location based off of interviews that were taken by dozens of people that they have spoken to thus far. Now, this location is in Caldwell County, which, like I said, is about 20 miles away from the Bakers` home. There are three different locations that the Baker family has lived at. In that location -- this particular landfill takes garbage in from nine different counties, two of which the Baker family have lived in previously. And this location is also about six miles away from that search area that was previously searched that Adam Baker had ties to because of his work.

GRACE: OK, Natisha Lance standing by there in Hickory, North Carolina. You are seeing aerial shots -- Liz, please go back to the dump search. Take a look at what police are encountering in their search for a specific piece of evidence. They won`t come out and say what it is, but many criminologists believe it is Zahra`s prosthetic leg. Now, take a look at this. This is giving you an idea of the obstacles police are facing in trying to find that one piece of evidence they need. All this happening as stepmommy shows up in court.

Jean Casarez, legal correspondent, "In Session," what happened?

JEAN CASAREZ, "IN SESSION": ... to reduce bail, but the result was the bail was increased. The fact is that the prosecutors argued that Zahra (SIC) Baker is number one, a flight risk. She has a passport. She spent one-and-a-half years in England and she corresponds with a man in England right now that has given her money, over $10,000 in the last month. Her own daughter took the stand to say, She is not only a threat to the community, she`s a threat to our family and to me. I`m going to have to leave the state.

GRACE: You know, Ellie Jostad, I don`t understand that. You`re taking a look at Amber Fairchild. Put that back up, Liz. Amber Fairchild is the natural daughter of Elisa Baker, the stepmommy in this case. Ellie, why is she afraid of her own natural mother, basically, not intimating but saying outright that she`s afraid the stepmommy, her natural mother, will murder her, too, if she gets out of jail.

ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Yes, Nancy, she said she feared for her own safety, the safety of her family if her stepmom got out. Now, we were asking that question. I know you were asking that question. But they didn`t go into details in court. But she did say that her mother has contacts outside of the U.S. She doesn`t have strong ties to this community. She`s never had a job that she can recall. She`s lived in a bunch of different locations just in the last few years, five different locations.

GRACE: OK, Jean Casarez, back to that issue, back to the stepdaughter. Is it -- excuse me, the daughter. Her natural-born daughter takes the stand. Didn`t she take the stand for the state?

CASAREZ: For the prosecution. That`s right. And that`s after the defense had the argument that her bail should be reduced because she`s a married woman with three grown children.

GRACE: You know, another issue, everybody -- take a look -- Liz, please put in full what the cops are doing right now. We are taking your calls, but I want you to see what police are going through.

Joining us tonight -- and please leave up the aerial -- are two special guests, Marc Klaas, president, founder of Klaas Kids Foundation, and Brad Dennis (ph). He is the director of search operations, Klaas Kids Foundation, and he has performed multiple landfill searches.

Brad, as you are looking at what`s going down as we go to air in the search for Zahra, what are the obstacles cops are facing tonight?

BRAD DENNIS, SEARCH DIRECTOR, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Well, Nancy, the biggest obstacle that they`re facing is identifying exactly what area to search. And apparently, they`ve been able to do that. But now they`re going to have to bore down all the way through all those layers just to be able to find the date range, something in there that gives them the date range that they`re interested in. And then from there, it`s going to be a -- just a very meticulous search by hand grid search as they sweep through that area.

GRACE: I don`t get it. I don`t get it! Brad Dennis joining us out of Pensacola, director of search operations, Klaas Kids Foundation. I`m looking at, essentially, a bulldozer. How can that be a meticulous hand search?

DENNIS: Well, Nancy, the very first thing they`re going to have to do is just be able to do -- get rid of the initial layers until they can bore all the way down and find something there that has a date, such either as a newspaper, it can be a milk carton or anything, just to be able to define that search area.

GRACE: It`s hard to look at this little girl, Zahra, and reconcile her in life, smiling in every picture, with the dump that we are showing you tonight, the landfill that is being searched for Zahra`s prosthetic leg, according to criminologists.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHRA BAKER, 10 YEARS OLD: I can actually hear most things without my hearing aids.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For a missing 10-year-old girl in North Carolina.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ten-year-old Zahra Baker has not been found.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Search for Zahra went from an Amber Alert to a homicide investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A piece of evidence that we believe is in the landfill at Caldwell County.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Missing 10-year-old girl Zahra Baker.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Several teams of investigators, including the FBI, are going through a landfill in North Carolina.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That could be a prosthetic leg (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re looking for a piece of evidence.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The police were out here last night over a fire and a ransom note for my boss`s daughter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My husband works for a tree maintenance company, and our back yard`s on fire.

911 OPERATOR: Your what`s on fire?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The back yard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have not found her body.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They do not have her body.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are running a homicide investigation.

911 OPERATOR: How long has she been missing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We checked in there last night about 2:30, and she was there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Zahra Baker.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was last seen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sleeping.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sleeping.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her bedroom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her bed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anything`s a possibility at this time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Determined to find the truth and seek justice for Zahra.

911 OPERATOR: So no one has seen your daughter since 2:30 this morning?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. Like I said, we had all that drama last night and me -- and my wife went back to bed. And my daughter`s, I think, coming into puberty, so she`s hitting that brooding stage, so we only see her when she comes out -- when she wants something, and that`s about it.

911 OPERATOR: OK. And did you say that she was handicapped?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma`am. She has an above-the-knee amputation.

911 OPERATOR: OK. She has one leg?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One leg. Yes, ma`am.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s partially amputated?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. She has a prosthetic leg which, apparently, they`ve taken with them.

911 OPERATOR: Prosthetic leg was taken with her?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma`am.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls live. But first, unleash the lawyers. Paul Batista joining us out of New York, defense attorney, author of "Death`s Witness," Penny Douglas Furr, defense attorney, Atlanta.

Paul Batista, did you hear the father laugh in the 911 call? And he actually kind of attacks the daughter, the missing daughter, saying she`s going through puberty and she`s at that broody stage?

PAUL BATISTA, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: What an incriminating 911 call, Nancy! Here`s a guy who`s obviously nervous. I don`t have a lie detector, but he is obviously attempting to deceive even the 911 dispatcher. It`s very troubling.

GRACE: Penny, you`re a defense attorney. What`s your take on it?

PENNY DOUGLAS FURR, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, they`re going to have to be very quiet. If they were my clients and I`m defending them, I would tell them to say absolutely nothing because I think they`re in a difficult situation, and I think they`ll say things they don`t intend to say, which can very easily get them prosecuted and convicted, so...

GRACE: We are taking your calls.

FURR: ... they need to be very quiet.

GRACE: Out to the lines. Lori in Alabama. Hi, Lori.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.

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

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wanted to know, since dogs hit on the wood chipper, have they found any DNA evidence or clothes shreds or anything in the wood chipper?

GRACE: No. No clothing shreds, no, to our knowledge, no remnant of the prosthetic leg, nothing. Just that hit. However, if they had found something, Lori in Alabama, that doesn`t necessarily say they would release it.

What about it, Natisha?

LANCE: You`re right, Nancy. We have not heard anything about it, but police, as you have said before and as we have heard before, are remaining extremely tight-lipped, only letting out information that they want us to know, particularly about this search that is now under way at this landfill. And this landfill, Nancy, is 40 acres, 1,200 tons of garbage come into this landfill every single day. So just think about the process that they are going to have to go through. Now, they have identified the particular cell that they know -- that they believe that this piece of evidence is located in.

GRACE: To Brad Dennis, director of search operations, Klaas Kids Foundation. Again explain to me, how, out of all these tons of garbage, 40 acres, they`re going to find a prosthetic leg.

DENNIS: Well, the first process was just being able to identify out of that 40 acres, the actual area to actually search. And in many of these cases, the landfills are actually -- or the trucks that the landfills are using are utilizing GPS tracking.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The search in a landfill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators` biggest problem, no Zahra Baker.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was reported missing Saturday afternoon.

911 OPERATOR: Hickory police 911. Where`s your emergency?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, my daughter`s missing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shocking new developments tonight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have not found her body.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police are turning their search from wood chip piles to a landfill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are not looking for her body at this time in the landfill, no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are investigators any closer to finding her?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So what are police expecting to find, if not Zahra`s remains?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re looking for a piece of evidence.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obstructing justice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She says that she is not a killer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You couldn`t believe anything she ever said.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She had nothing to do with this.

911 OPERATOR: How old is your daughter?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s 10. She`s (INAUDIBLE) prosthetic leg.

911 OPERATOR: OK. Do you know who this was?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t know who...

911 OPERATOR: That may have taken her?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, ma`am.

911 OPERATOR: Do you have any idea why they were threatening to take his daughter?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t know.

911 OPERATOR: OK. What`s your name?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name is Adam Baker.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We`re going to play the entire 911 call from that evening when he gets transferred to police. You will be amazed at his demeanor and everything that is said. He even laughs at one point.

And another thing. Let me get this straight. Back to you, Penny Douglas Furr. So he is saying that they had so much drama at the house, that their yard was set on fire, that they got this ransom note for a million dollars for their daughter, but they never went to go see if she was in her room? They just went back to bed?

FURR: Nancy, at this point, it`s the only thing. That`s what I`m trying to tell you. He cannot answer these questions because the answers could be devastating. So he`s got to shut up completely until he retains counsel. But I`d like to know where`s the girl`s mother and what`s happened in the past?

GRACE: Well, I can tell you that. Hold -- just -- we have -- that`s old material. She is in Australia, Penny. And the reason she`s not being mentioned is she`s not around. The girl has been here in the States with the father and the stepmother for a period of years now. She was -- two years, I believe. She was very happy in Australia, living with her grandmother, but they wrenched her away from the grandmother and brought her to the States.

But typically, that would be the first person cops would look at is the non-custodial parent.

FURR: Exactly.

GRACE: But that non-custodial is in Australia and has been woefully absent in the girl`s life.

Out to the lines. Sue in Illinois. Hi, Sue.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy! It`s wonderful to speak with you again.

GRACE: Likewise.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is, has stepmommy and Daddy been given a polygraph? And if not, why?

GRACE: What about it, Jean Casarez? What do we know?

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: You know, I don`t know why I`m even asking you. Put Jean up. Jean, you and I have discussed this on and off the air.

CASAREZ: I know!

GRACE: If Daddy had taken a polygraph...

CASAREZ: We`d know about it!

GRACE: ... and passed, he would be telling everybody.

CASAREZ: That`s right.

GRACE: So what`s your take?

CASAREZ: That`s right. We would know about it. We have heard nothing about polygraphs. Law enforcement has been asked. They will not comment, merely to say she has an attorney.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Hickory Police, 911, where is your emergency?

ADAM BAKER, FATHER OF MISSING 10-YEAR-OLD GIRL ZAHRA BAKER: Yes, my daughter has been missing.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A new twist for a missing North Carolina girl.

CHIEF TOM ATKINS, HICKORY POLICE: We were led to the landfill.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What happened to her?

ATKINS: Investigators interviewed several different people involved in this case.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A frantic search is on to find Zahra Baker.

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Police say no one has seen the 10-year-old.

ATKINS: Has seen Zahra.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn`t even know they had a little girl.

GRACE: For weeks.

ATKINS: Within the last month.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never seen her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I haven`t seen her for over a year.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Search from Zahra went from an Amber alert to a homicide investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: No sign of Zahra.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dad is out free.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s saying he`s concern.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Dad says he hasn`t seen her since Thursday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t know how sincere his concern is.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Investigators suspect Zahra is dead.

A. BAKER: She has a prosthetic leg which apparently they`ve taken with them.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: As we go to air, your lower box is showing you what is going on in North Carolina. A massive search of a landfill. This dump. For one specific piece of evidence. Cops will not tell anyone what it is. But many court watchers believe it is Zahra`s prosthetic leg.

The little girl, the 10-year-old never went anywhere without her prosthetic leg. When her parents came in at 2:30 to check on her, 2:30 p.m., the father hasn`t seen her since Thursday, days before, the prosthetic leg is gone, hearing aids left behind.

Right now I want to play for you what we obtained in the last 24 hours. The full 911 call, all the dialogue between daddy, step mommy and police. You be the judge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Catawba County, 911.

A. BAKER: Hey, how are you doing?

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: I`m good.

A. BAKER: I need police.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Hickory Police, 911, where is your emergency?

A. BAKER: Yes, my daughter is missing.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: I`m sorry? Your daughter is missing?

A. BAKER: My daughter -- yes, ma`am.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: OK. What`s your address?

A. BAKER: 21 -- 21st Avenue Northwest. The police were out here last night over a fire and a ransom note for my boss` daughter. And I got up a little while ago and it appears that they took my daughter instead of my boss` daughter.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: I`m not familiar with what happened last night. What happened last night?

A. BAKER: OK. Last night, we were woken up. My dog woke me up and I had a fire in the backyard and somebody had poured gas in my company vehicle that I drive for work.

They left a ransom note on the company vehicle to my boss saying they had his daughter and his son was next and his daughter`s fine. His daughter came with him here last night when I called him, and it appears that they may have taken my daughter instead of his daughter.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: OK. Do you know who this was?

A. BAKER: I don`t know who it was.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: That may have taken her?

A. BAKER: No, ma`am.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Do you have any idea why they were threatening to take his daughter?

A. BAKER: I don`t know.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: OK. What`s your name?

A. BAKER: My name is Adam. Baker?

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: So no one has seen your daughter since 2:30 this morning?

A. BAKER: No. Like I said we had all that drama last night and me and my wife went back to bed, and my daughter`s I think coming into puberty so she`s hitting that brooding stage so we only see her when she comes out when she wants something, and that`s about it.

A. BAKER: Did you say that she was handicapped?

A. BAKER: Yes, ma`am. She has above-the-knee amputation.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: OK. She has one leg?

A. BAKER: One leg, yes, ma`am.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: That`s partially amputated.

A. BAKER: Yes. She has a prosthetic leg which apparently that`s taken with her.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Prosthetic leg was taken with her?

A. BAKER: Yes, ma`am.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: OK. And you don`t have any idea at all?

A. BAKER: No. Like I said it was all addressed to him and it was all taken out on him and I guess they thought he lives in this house.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: OK. Did you talk to your boss about it?

A. BAKER: I`ve just spoken to him and he told me that he`s going to be here shortly.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: OK. So do you think that he knows?

A. BAKER: We had an officer out here last night and he ran through who he thought it may have been, like an ex employee or something.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: OK. And you said 2125th Avenue Northwest.

A. BAKER: 2121st Avenue Northwest.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: 21st avenue.

A. BAKER: Yes, ma`am.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: 2121st avenue. OK. Hold on just a second.

A. BAKER: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: OK. Yes, that`s it now. I wasn`t finding the call. OK.

A. BAKER: It was an Officer Rowland.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: OK. All right. OK. We`ll get the police on the way out there. If you find out anything at all in the meantime before we get the officer out there, call me back.

A. BAKER: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Anything that would help us as far as finding your daughter.

A. BAKER: OK. Thank you, ma`am.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Bye-bye.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: 911, what`s the address of your emergency?

ELISA BAKER, STEPMOTHER OF MISSING ZAHRA BAKER: Yes, ma`am. My husband works for a tree maintenance company and our backyard`s on fire.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Your what`s on fire?

E. BAKER: The backyard. We`ve got mulch piles and wood piles -- firewood.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: OK, what`s your address, ma`am?

E. BAKER: 2121st Avenue Northwest.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Does he hear how ridiculous his theory is? Oh, well, I guess they meant to take another girl but they took mine instead. He sounds like he`s about to make an exchange at target, that somehow the kidnap victims were just -- they got their wires crossed.

This is crazy. There is no anger, no disturbance, no concern. It sounds like he`s reading a script.

Out to you, Dr. Janet Taylor, M.D. and psychiatrist. What do you make of it?

DR. JANET TAYLOR, PSYCHIATRIST: It`s distressing. I`ve never heard a more casual disconnected father and stepmother with a lack of concern about their 10-year-old daughter. I mean what 10-year-old broods? Ten-year-olds are generally the most happy children alive. And so it`s just really disheartening to hear his --just excuse about not finding his daughter.

GRACE: And Dr. Janet, he even laughs. There`s a little laugh to the aside when he`s talking about his daughter`s going through puberty, and that she stays in her room all the time.

The fact she stays in her room, according to neighbors, friends and relatives, is that the stepmother locks her in the room, including an attic in the past.

Out to the line, Pat in North Carolina. Hi, Pat.

PAT, CALLER FROM NORTH CAROLINA: Hi. I live about 50 miles from Hickory, and your show is wonderful. I get more information from you than I do our local stations. But my question is, could the fire in the backyard have been a cremation fire or could they have sold her, traded her for drugs?

GRACE: You know, Pat in North Carolina, number one, thank you for the compliment. And number two, I prosecuted many arson cases, and if a body had been burned in that manner, probably the use of an accelerant in the backyard such as gasoline or whatever they chose to use, you would definitely find remains of a human body, specifically the bones.

I want to go to Marc Klaas, president and founder of KlaasKids Foundation. What do you make of the theory that she was sold for drugs?

MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: I suppose anything is possible, but remember, law enforcement went from calling this an Amber Alert to a murder investigation within just a matter of days.

There was no ambiguity about that. It was absolutely definitive. Everything that these people do and everything that they say, and I think that this 911 call is a perfect example. There`s no desperation in his voice, there`s no urgency. He seems to focus on everything except for the fact that his daughter has disappeared.

And everything that he talks about is somehow supposed to justify the fact that somebody else has taken her and deflect attention away from himself when in fact he`s doing just the opposite.

Every move these people makes -- make incriminates them more. And now we even have her biological daughter saying that she`s afraid for her life if her mother gets out.

This is not going to end well any way you look at it. We can only hope that they find this little girl and are able to put her and give her the peace that she totally deserves and has probably not had in her life ever since she came to America.

GRACE: Marc Klaas, do you remember -- and, you know, Marc, in all the years I`ve talked to you, all the years I`ve known you as a colleague and a friend, I have never asked you to relive the night that you learned Polly was missing, your girl, because I don`t like people to ask me about when my fiance was murdered.

I don`t like to talk about it. I don`t want to think about it. And I don`t like people to bring it up to me. But do you remember what you went through in those moments? And I want you to explain to the viewers why this 911 call is so wrong, on so many levels.

KLAAS: Well, to give it a little context, Polly was not in my house when she was kidnapped. She was staying with her mom 30 miles north of where I live up in Petaluma. And when that occurred we got a phone call on almost -- it was a phone call that said Polly`s been kidnapped, and law enforcement doesn`t want a desperate father trampling evidence.

I then spent the rest of the evening trying to confirm it, talking to law enforcement becoming more and more desperate as the hours went along until finally at 6:00 in the morning, Violet and I heard on the local radio station that Polly Klaas had been kidnapped in Petaluma.

That`s when our world absolutely and totally fell apart. We went up to Petaluma. We didn`t return home for 65 miserable, heart-wrenching days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

A. BAKER: I had a fire in the backyard and somebody had poured gas in my company vehicle that I drive for work. They left a ransom note on the company vehicle to my boss saying that they had his daughter and his son was next.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She wouldn`t want to just leave. It`s not like her. Just leave.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Search warrants showed what appeared to be blood was found in the home of Paige`s friend Jacob Bumpass.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ve got about 110 searchers on the ground, and we`ve also got about 17 dogs out there.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Seventeen-year-old mom, Paige Johnson is missing. Covington Police believe, call Paige`s case a critical missing person. Because she`s the mom of a 2-year-old toddler.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have tracking dogs and we also have cadaver dogs out there.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police say a latex glove with the drop of possible blood was also recovered in the friend`s safe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have volunteers representing at least 30 agencies.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: It`s not like Johnson to disappear like this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re just going to be out there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`ll probably be doing this until forever.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Hoping somebody will call with a lead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Until she comes home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If something seems like it might be pertinent to the case, then we`ll pick it up. We`re going to find Paige Johnson.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Jessica Knoll, reporter, producer at KYPost.com.

Jessica, this massive search for the 17-year-old girl, what prompted it?

JESSICA KNOLL, REPORTER, KYPOST.COM: Well, Nancy, what prompted it was the last man that was -- that saw Paige Johnson was Jacob Bumpass. Police obtained his cell phone records and those records actually indicated that he may have been in the area of this park at 4:00 in the morning, the early hours of the morning that she disappeared.

GRACE: To Ellie Jostad, I want to hear the background. What`s the connection to this state park? It`s over 10,000 acres.

ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE CHIEF EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Right. Well, Jacob Bumpass -- that`s the guy who`s last seen with her. He apparently told police that he dropped her off in an intersection in Covington and then he apparently went home.

However, police say that his cell phone pinged at this location. It`s some 20, 30 miles away. It pinged at that location that morning. That`s why they`re focusing on that park.

GRACE: To Ben Levitan, telecommunications expert, they`re saying that the pings from Bumpass`s cell phone do not jibe with his alibi that evening that he basically laid around on a sofa and vejed out on Facebook all evening.

It`s simply not true. But isn`t it true, Ben Levitan, that you can isolate a cell phone ping to within a couple of blocks?

BEN LEVITAN, TELECOMMUNICATIONS EXPERT: Absolutely, Nancy. You`re absolutely right there.

In an average city, an average cell tower is going to cover about a circle that`s a mile in radius. So that`s a big area still. That`s 2,000 acres. So -- but if your cell phone pinged off a cell tower, we know that you were within 2,000 acres, but if we have the correct records, we can get that to then like 700 acres. And if you make a 911 call, we can get you to within 100 feet.

So it`s so important that if -- you know, if you`re ever in a situation where you`re kidnapped to be able to be located is to dial 911 and press that send button, even if you just do it and hang up, it`s going to make searchers be able to track you to just a very small block.

But in this case, the best we can say about Mr. Bumpass is he was in a 700-acre area, but that 700 acres was nowhere where he claimed he was.

GRACE: Exactly. And what I`m trying to get at -- you absolutely answered the question, Ben -- is if we know he -- obviously that he`s lying. We know that. And in light of her going missing, we attach a nefarious interpretation to that lie.

My question is, it you can narrow down that ping to a couple of blocks, to me that should be able to narrow down exactly where he was and conduct the search there, instead of a 10,000-acre area.

I want to go to Dr. Leigh Vinocur at University of Maryland School of Medicine. She`s joining us out of Baltimore.

Amazingly, coincidentally, Bumpass spills red paint all over the trunk of his brother`s car. Now that`s quite the coincidence. That they believe they find blood evidence on latex gloves and the kitchen sink. And now she goes missing and red paint poured all over the back of the trunk.

Would that obscure blood evidence in the back of a trunk?

DR. LEIGH VINOCUR, M.D., UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: No, it wouldn`t, because you do tests on blood to show that it`s living tissue, and you can certainly discern that. Plus, it would -- you know, red paint, blood doesn`t stay red once it oxidizes. Even reddish-brown paint, that`s suspicious, you can test it and show that it`s blood.

It`s ridiculous, if that`s what he was trying to cover up.

GRACE: You know, you have to take basically muriatic acid in order to destroy DNA. Plain old bleach will not totally destroy DNA.

VINOCUR: Right.

GRACE: All these criminals who try to do the laundry after a bloody murder, it doesn`t work out that well.

I want to go to Captain Teal Nally, the PIO at the Covington PD. He has been at the search for the missing teen.

Captain Nally, what more can you tell us tonight?

CAPT. TEAL NALLY, SPOKESPERSON, COVINGTON POLICE DEPT.: I can tell you that we had a large-scale search tonight, started early this morning, finished up just a couple of hours ago.

And while we have covered quite a large area of the park, we still have more to go and we`re going to start back with the search again tomorrow.

GRACE: Everyone, we are taking your calls.

To Sergeant Scott Haines, Sheriff`s Officer, Santa Rosa County, Florida. Where we go -- where do we go now? We all know -- forget the cops. Even we know that this guy is lying. He is the last one that has reportedly seen this 17-year-old girl who is a mother of a 2-year-old daughter.

What do we do know? So we know he`s lying. What can we do with that?

SGT. SCOTT HAINES, SHERIFF`S OFFICER, SANTA ROSA COUNTY, FL.: And that`s the hard thing. He`s already retained counsel. He said he won`t speak. So that option is done. They cannot approach him anymore. It`s just -- it`s a matter of finding evidence --

GRACE: But where do the police go now?

HAINES: Traipsing through the woods where his phone pinged up and hopefully finding a piece of evidence that will lead to her recovery.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: She`s a teen mom of a 2-year-old child.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s never been gone like this before.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re doing everything we can.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you see her on -- anywhere?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love my sister.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Seventeen-year-old Paige Johnson.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Looking for Paige. The teen mom, 5`1", and 110 pounds, last seen wearing a multicolored jacket and blue jeans.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just need to -- wants to get a lot of these up.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police extremely concerned for the mom`s safety.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I`ll probably be doing this forever, until she comes home.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Sheila, Ohio. What`s your question, dear?

SHEILA, CALLER FROM OHIO: Hi, Nancy. I was wondering. Do they know how this girl knew this guy? Was it an ex-boyfriend, friend a friend or what?

GRACE: You know, everybody keeps telling me they were not romantic. You know, what does that mean? That she didn`t think that they were romantic?

What about it, Jessica Knoll? What was the relationship between 17- year-old Paige Johnson and 22-year-old Jacob Bumpass?

KNOLL: Well, Nancy, as far as I know, Paige Johnson did have a boyfriend, in fact. She was not romantically involved with Jacob. However, she had been friends with him for sometime and so was her sister for that matter.

GRACE: Wait, wait, wait. Back it up. What did you say? She was involved with him?

KNOLL: No. That she was friends with him, but her sister was also friends with him.

GRACE: OK. So he was a family friend. One thing that`s very confusing to me, Ellie, is that he says he dropped her off a couple of miles -- a couple of blocks from her sister`s house at 1:00 a.m. Why not take her to the door? Why just drop her off on the freeway? I don`t get it.

JOSTAD: Well, right. And that`s confusing. And the other thing is, too, is that while he says he was dropping her off, he was actually -- his phone was pinging close to her home.

GRACE: You`re right, Ellie.

JOSTAD: Not downtown.

GRACE: Natalie in California. What`s your question, dear?

NATALIE, CALLER FROM CALIFORNIA: Hi, Nancy. I want to thank you for something that I don`t hear anybody thanking you for. And it`s for honoring our fallen soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And we at Operation Gratitude will continue sending them care packages. We`re hoping to send 100,000 this year. But I want to --

GRACE: God bless you.

NATALIE: Operation Gratitude sends 100,000 packages every year. And we have so many stories about them. So go to Operation Gratitude.

GRACE: That was Operation Gratitude by Natalie in California.

But right now we have to stop and remember Army Specialist Benyahmin Yahudah, 24, Bogart, Georgia, killed Iraq. Awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Army Commendation medal.

A combat medic, nicknamed Dah (ph). Loved working out, time with family and friends. Remembered for a loving heart. Leaves behind mother Lea, two brothers, four sisters, one serving in the Coast Guard.

Benyahmin Yahudah, American hero.

Thanks to our guests but especially to you. And also a special goodnight from Georgia friends of the show, Brenda, Jarrett and Eva.

What a great-looking group. Thank you for being with us tonight.

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

END