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Nancy Grace
Bodies of Missing Ohio Family Found
Aired November 18, 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 Ohio suburbs. Mommy never makes it to work at the local DQ. Her two children vanish into thin air after getting off a school bus. Their close neighbor, Stephanie Sprang, disappears, as well.
Bombshell tonight. In a bizarre twist, the missing 13-year-old girl rescued alive, found bound, gagged in the basement of a nearby home. In the last hours, the bodies of the two missing moms and the 11-year-old boy found stuffed in a hollow tree -- repeat, the three bodies found in garbage bags stuffed down into a hollow tree -- in a heavily wooded area 20 miles from home. The mystery deepens. But tonight, answers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today, this investigation took a major turn, that we have discovered and recovered the remains of Kody Maynard, Stephanie Sprang and Tina Herrmann.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking news tonight in the search for a missing Ohio family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The discovery of these bodies was as a result of information provided by Matthew Hoffman. The bodies were located in a wooded area, inside of garbage bags in a hollow tree.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three bodies just found in a wooded area.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a homicide investigation now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, live, California. A 15-year-old little girl taken by a convicted child sex predator. Where is 15-year-old Jean Marie?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jean Marie Berlinghoff is missing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My daughter is not safe at this point.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s just 15 years old.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking news. An arrest warrant has just been issued for Charles Berlinghoff, a convicted child molester and the girl`s uncle, on suspicion of detaining or concealing a child from their legal guardian.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To me, it`s not the normal behavior of a 15-year- old girl to leave her make-up, leave everything here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His daughter`s room left in disarray after the sheriff`s department combed through it looking for evidence.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Law enforcement needs your help in finding 15- year-old girl Jean Marie Berlinghoff.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight, Ohio suburbs. Mommy never makes it to work to local DQ. Her two children vanish into thin air off a school bus. Their close neighbor disappears, as well. After the missing 13-year-old girl rescued alive, in the last hours, the bodies of the two missing two moms and the 11-year-old boy stuffed down a hollow tree in a heavily wooded area 20 miles from home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a homicide of three individuals.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An Ohio family reported missing more than a week. They`re dead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All hope again dashed today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The bodies were in trash bags, and the trash bags were inside of the hollow tree.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hoffman had purchased 50-gallon trash bags and a tarp at a Wal-Mart.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s had experience as a tree trimmer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The sheriff did say that without this information, they would not have been found.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The investigators received information from Matthew Hoffman on the location of where three victims were eventually found.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was the death penalty ever on the table or used as a tool for leverage to get a confession?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the things I can`t comment on is whether or not there is a confession or the content of any confession.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Tanisha Mallett, reporter, CNN affiliate WBNS, joining us there at the sheriff`s office. Tanisha, thank you for being with us. What do we know?
TANISHA MALLETT, WBNS CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that late this afternoon, they had finally gotten the information from the suspect himself, led them to this open field about 20 miles from where the victims live. Each body was stuffed in a garbage bag, and those garbage bags were stuffed in a hollow tree. Now, the sheriff says without him giving that information, they would have never found it, which is interesting because when he was arrested on Sunday when he was found with the 13-year-old girl, he -- they said that he was not giving up any information. And somehow, miraculously, he gave up the information that they needed to find those three people.
GRACE: Oh, man! I hope -- I hope -- nobody turned a deal with him that he would not get the death penalty in exchange for telling where the bodies were! For those of you just joining us, a mom disappears, she never shows up at her job at the local Dairy Queen. Her two children, once they got off the school bus, never seen again. Their neighbor lady, she goes missing, too.
The little girl is found bound and gagged in this guy`s place, down in the basement. Still, where were the other three? In the last hours, as we go to air, we learn the three bodies -- two mommies and an 11-year-old boy -- their bodies in three separate trash bags, stuffed in a hollow tree.
Joining us Dave Bevington, news director, 13 WMVO. Dave, thank you for being with us. This guy, his name -- tell me his full name. Is it Matthew Hoffman? Does he have a middle name, Dave Bevington?
DAVE BEVINGTON, 13 WMVO RADIO (via telephone): His name is just Matthew Hoffman. That`s what he has been going by ever since this investigation has been undertaken.
GRACE: Now, isn`t he -- let me see, how would I say this -- a woodsman? I know that he did tree trimming and types of landscaping of that nature and was an outdoorsman?
BEVINGTON: Yes, he was. And many, many people, including some of his neighbors on Columbus Road in Mount Vernon, said that he actually had a hammock up high in a tree and had some type of an infatuation with trees. But how ironic, that`s where they found these bodies.
GRACE: And that`s not all, Tanisha Mallett. Tanisha, isn`t it true that his neighbors would say he would go sit up in a tree and spy on them?
MALLETT: That`s exactly what those neighbors told our colleagues. In addition, they said that he threatened to hit an 8-year-old boy in that neighborhood, as well. And although she never pressed charges, we were told by the ex-girlfriend of Hoffman and many of the neighbors that he abused her, as well.
GRACE: OK, let me ask you about that. With us, joining us out of Mount Vernon, Ohio, is Tanisha Mallett, reporter with WBNS. Tanisha, isn`t it true that he allegedly choked his girlfriend, but then when it came time to press charges, she crapped out and wouldn`t show up, wouldn`t go forward?
MALLETT: That is allegedly what we have heard, as well. In fact, one of my colleagues at our station spoke with the girlfriend, and she said she did not go forward with that out of fear of retaliation because she knew what he was capable of doing.
GRACE: I`ve got the police report right here in my hand. And on the supplemental part of the police report, it says, "We were in his living room talking. He got upset and pushed me against the wall and put his hands and elbows around my neck and was choking me. I got loose, and he grabbed me and fell over the chair. I was trying, fighting to get him off of me, but he proceed to choke me on the ground. He had me pinned on the ground for about two minutes. Finally, he let me up and I got away."
OK. And so when it gets time to press charges, she`s a no-show. Now I`ve got three dead bodies stuffed in a tree. All right.
Ellie Jostad, our chief editorial producer -- Ellie, the neighbors said he was a complete nutjob. He would get the squirrels playing out in the front yards of people`s homes, kill them and eat them.
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Right.
GRACE: Not that there`s anything wrong with that, but in a residential community, that`s a little unusual, I would say. But the weird part is that he would watch all of his neighbors from up in the middle of a tree.
JOSTAD: Right, Nancy. And you know, I`ve been reading all these local reports, and I heard him described as very different, a total weirdo, a loner. And Nancy, also, this guy is a convicted arsonist. Back in 2001...
GRACE: Oh! Oh! Wait, wait, wait!
JOSTAD: Yes.
GRACE: Wait! Out of all the cases I`ve tried, and I`ve tried everything you can think of, arsonists are nuts. They`re pervs. They`re nuts. Like to light a fire, burn down an apartment building, and sit there and watch it. OK, tell me about this guy`s arson history.
JOSTAD: Yes. So this is in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. He allegedly -- well, he was convicted of burglarizing an apartment. He took the items from the home, put it in the homeowner`s car, drove off, went to a gas station, came back with gasoline, poured it all over the house, burned down that apartment, another condo. Sixteen people had to be evacuated. Eight more damaged. Luckily, nobody hurt.
GRACE: OK, Liz, show me that shot of him sitting there in the suicide vest with this -- with his -- oh, that was the arson. I`ll go back to -- OK, you see what he`s wearing, Eleanor Odom? You see that? Put -- give it to me in full. Take down the banner. He is wearing a suicide vest. Explain.
ELEANOR ODOM, PROSECUTOR: Well, that`s to keep him from committing suicide, to doing harm to himself, Nancy. And certainly, they`re worried about his mental state, as I would be, too. But what really concerns me...
GRACE: He`s going to hurt himself. Not going to happen.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: People like him only want to kill other people. He`s not going to kill himself. Don`t worry about that! We`ll be paying for his room and board for about 30 years until maybe he gets the needle. Go ahead.
ELEANOR ODOM: Well, you know what else worries me? OK, he`s setting fires. He`s killing, small animals in the yard. I`m wondering, too, if there`s some sexual deviant behavior there, as well.
GRACE: Well, hold on. I`ve got the expert for that, Bethany Marshall, everything sexual sadism. Go ahead, Bethany.
BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST: Well, yes, because what we know about psychopaths is that they have very low levels of emotional arousal, and because of that, they use acts of cruelty and sadism in order to jump start their sexual excitement. And they are total thrill seekers. So maybe he targeted the whole family to get ahold of the little girl to sort rape and torture her, or this guy is such a sadistic thrill seeker that he burns down houses. Maybe he kills squirrels because he has cannibalization fantasies with human beings. Maybe he had to take out an entire family because he was an extreme thrill seeker. But yes, these guys use sadism in order to jump start their sexuality. So boy, yes, they are sexual deviants.
GRACE: With me right now, Marc Klaas, president, founder Klaas Kids Foundation, joining us out of San Francisco. Marc, not only a little girl bound and gagged, likely tormented, a little boy 11 years old is dead, two mothers dead. And we`ve got all the signs leading up to it -- arson, torturing and killing animals, threatening children in a neighborhood, peeping Tom, staring at the neighbors. You know, murderers start as peeping Toms so often and it`s kind of brushed aside because it`s -- you know, it`s a local ordinance. It`s a misdemeanor.
MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Well, you know, this guy has all of the classic elements of a serial killer profile. Oftentimes, you will see the common themes of arson and the torture and killing of young animals. I think that this little girl is extremely lucky to be alive. But I don`t think that she`ll realize that for many, many years from now as she tries to heal from the evil inflicted upon her and her family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is probably the saddest day in Knox County history that I can remember. You know, as elated as we were Sunday morning when Sarah was rescued, I think the tragedy today is just devastating.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is probably the saddest day in Knox County history.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The man accused of kidnapping a 13-year-old girl in Ohio may have been watching her family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have discovered and recovered the remains of...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An Ohio family reported missing more than a week.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thirty-two-year-old Tina Herrmann, her 10-year-old son, Kody, and family friend, 41-year-old Stephanie Sprang.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They`re dead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The bodies were located in a wooded area, inside of garbage bags in a hollow tree.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The three, along with Herrmann`s 13-year-old daughter, Sarah, disappeared.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police found Sarah bound and gagged inside Matthew Hoffman`s home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The discovery of these bodies was as a result of information provided by Matthew Hoffman.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Straight out to Jennifer in Washington state. Hi, Jennifer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I was wondering, have they determined the connection between this man and the family, or this girl, where he may have come across them? And I also wanted to say that I hope that she has the strength and grace to get through this and not let it define her life, like Elizabeth Smart has, because she did nothing wrong.
GRACE: You know, Jennifer, I`m just wondering if he had not just been watching their family. Back to Tanisha Mallett with WBNS, joining us there at the sheriff`s office, Mount Vernon, Ohio. Tanisha, did he live in their neighborhood? Were they one of the neighbor families he spied on?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He did not live in their neighborhood, but his parents lived very close to Tina Herrmann`s home and Stephanie Sprang`s home. Now, his mother and stepfather say that he never visited them that much and did not spend a lot of time at that house. So we`re trying to figure out how he spotted them. Many of us here -- meaning journalists who have watched this -- we believe that the 13-year-old girl may have been the target all along.
And we`ve learned that the day that they first went missing, which was that Wednesday, that is the day that the sheriff`s department confirms that the three were murdered, and that`s the day that she was kidnapped and taken to his basement.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers, Eleanor Odom, felony prosecutor, death penalty-qualified, Atlanta, Renee Rockwell, defense attorney, Atlanta, Peter Odom, defense attorney, Atlanta.
OK, Eleanor, so if this is true, he killed three people, two mothers and an 11-year-old boy to get to a 13-year-old girl?
ELEANOR ODOM: Yes, Nancy. And you know, that`s a death penalty case because...
GRACE: Oh, yes!
ELEANOR ODOM: ... first of all, he killed more than one person. Secondly, he tried to conceal the crime. He killed others to conceal the kidnapping of the 13-year-old girl. So this is a death penalty case, clear and simple.
GRACE: OK. To Peter Odom, defense attorney, Atlanta. How you ever went from being a prosecutor to a defense attorney still stumps me, Peter, but you did it.
PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Nancy...
GRACE: In a hollow tree, Peter, a hollow tree! Give me your defense at trial. I can`t wait to hear this.
PETER ODOM: Well, the defense might have already started, Nancy. The suspect gave information to the police about where these bodies were held. I think there`s a likelihood that he might have done that in exchange for the prosecutors taking the death penalty off the table.
GRACE: No. You know, Renee, I understand what Peter`s saying, but he`s right. The defense has started by suiting him up in that suicide vest as if he`s going to take his own life. Oh, no! He`s only interested in watching a 13-year-old girl and wiping out her family, Renee!
RENEE ROCKWELL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, let me disagree with that. That`s not a suicide vest right there. You know what that is? That`s a bulletproof vest because I think the sheriff`s department is afraid that somebody might take a shot at him...
GRACE: No, Renee!
ROCKWELL: ... going back and forth to the...
GRACE: No. The...
ROCKWELL: ... to the courthouse...
GRACE: ... sheriff has given us a statement. That is, in fact, a typical suicide vest because he has stated he wants to hurt himself. Should we be that lucky? Probably not.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a homicide investigation now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tina Herrmann, her son, Kody, and her friend, Stephanie Sprang.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a homicide of three individuals.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Investigators found blood in the women`s home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was the first bad sign.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The bodies were located in a wooded area, inside of garbage bags in a hollow tree.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have never experienced a case this big, this serious, and this tragic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Abby in Georgia. Hi, Abby.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I just wanted to say that I look up to you so much. And I was wondering, the little girl who was kidnapped and tied up in the basement, when she was discovered, did she tell police if the guy tried to rape her or touch her inappropriately in any way?
GRACE: Abby, I`m sure she did tell police everything that happened. We are not privy to her statement. But I mean, it`s not a big leap to think -- a guy like this, who has targeted and willing to murder the whole family and a neighbor lady, a little 11-year-old boy -- he saves the 13- year-old girl, and she`s found bound and gagged in his basement? I mean, it suggests a sexual molestation. What is disturbing to me is this little girl may have witnessed her own mother and brother`s murder.
Out to Andrew J. Scott, former police chief, Boca Raton, president, AJS Consulting. How do you think they got him to talk? I don`t believe that at this early stage, they cut a deal with him. I mean, they didn`t even need the bodies to prove the case. The girl is the witness. Certainly, they didn`t cut a deal.
ANDREW J. SCOTT, FMR. CHIEF OF POLICE, BOCA RATON: Well, I think, initially, they may not have cut a deal, and I think that they really interrogated him and gone after -- if you can believe it -- a soft spot where he actually -- there was some remorse, and he ultimately was able to confess to where the bodies were and what he did. But I think it took some very keen interrogation skills. And this is a profound homicide that is going to impact that community.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The investigators received information from Matthew Hoffman or through Matthew Hoffman early today on the location of where the three victims were eventually found. The recovery of the three victims was as a result of assistance from him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today this investigation took a major turn, that we have discovered and recovered the remains of Kody Maynard, Stephanie Sprang and Tina Herrmann.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Breaking news tonight in the search for a missing Ohio family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The discovery of these bodies was as a result of information provided by Matthew Hoffman.
The bodies were located in a wooded area, inside of garbage bags in a hollow tree.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Three bodies just found in a wooded area.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a homicide investigation now. The current status of the three recovered victims.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: This is so sickening, to slaughter an entire family?
With us, Dave Bevington, news director, 13 WMVO, joining us out of Mount Vernon, Ohio.
Dave, do they believe he murdered the family in the family home? In his home? Or out there in the woods?
DAVE BEVINGTON, NEWS DIRECTOR, 13 WMVO RADIO: Nancy, there was blood at the Beach Drive home in Apple Valley, where this family lived. Plus when the family friend was visiting, there was a lot of blood there.
Knox County Sheriff David Barber today could not say whether for sure that the young 13-year-old Sarah actually saw the crime take place. He didn`t know for sure, he didn`t want to say. It was at their home, King Beach Drive in Apple Valley, which is about six or seven miles from this home in Mount Vernon.
GRACE: I`m just -- it`s just very hard for me to take it in.
And to Dr. Evelyn Minaya, women`s health expert joining us out of New York. I don`t understand how three bodies could fit into a hollowed out tree. I mean, a tree trunk this big? How are you going to put three bodies in there?
DR. EVELYN MINAYA, M.D., WOMEN`S HEALTH EXPERT: Well, the only way to do it, Nancy, obviously is that you have to unfortunately dismember every single body. And remember they were in three separate trash bags. That`s the only way that you could stuff everything in there. That`s -- that would be the only way, which is a travesty, it really is.
GRACE: And when you think about it, Marc Klaas, I mean just look at the evidence. Here`s a guy, an outdoorsman, he basically trimmed trees, cut down trees. Who, of course -- everything points directly to him. This hollow tree.
He lives up in trees. Really, he has a hammock up in them. The neighbors see him up there peering down at them. Obviously it`s him.
MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: Well, and he peered down on one little girl too many. He saw that girl, he targeted her, he stalked her, he got her in the house.
And I would suggest that the other people were surprised or he was surprised to find the other people there, and would consider them collateral damage, because I think the target probably was the young girl the whole time. And that`s why she survived as long as she did.
But how much longer would she have survived this sexual sadist? Probably not very long. Probably not very long at all.
GRACE: You know, I`m just thinking, Dr. Bethany, this afternoon we think John David broke his toe. All right? We think that. I`ve taken him to one doctor, we may have to go back. But he was feeling bad. And I was trying to get them down for their nap.
So I laid him down and snuggled between them. And read him a book. And by the time I started the next story, they both just conked out. I just laid there with them, my boy and my girl.
And to think everything that they had, I guess the father is the only one left. He killed the boy, he killed the mother and he -- most likely tortured and kidnapped the little girl. I mean, everything destroyed.
BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST, AUTHOR OF "DEALBREAKERS": Everything, all the love, all the family ties, the history, everything gone. And I disagree with Marc Klaas that he did this to the family just to get to the little girl.
This guy was a tree trimmer, he severed limbs for a living. And we know about psychopaths. They have very rich fantasy lives, the serial killer psychopaths do. They fantasize about sex, maiming, torturing, killing, all those things in various combinations for months or years before it spills over into the actual act.
So we don`t know that he just killed the family to kill them and get at the little girl. Maybe for him killing, dismembering, doing all of that was just the beginning of other sexual acts. The whole thing was one big sexual thrill to him, so it was one big ritual.
GRACE: You know what, I`m going to go with Klaas, because I don`t think -- I think that he wanted the little girl, and may have been surprised when other people were in the home. I don`t know if she was the latch key kids that came home from school off the bus.
I don`t know if the mom was late going to the DQ, the Dairy Queen. But I think he wanted the little girl and would probably tried to get her without the rest of the family being there. But it didn`t turn out that way.
We`re taking your calls, Jamie, Ohio, hi, Jamie.
JAMIE, CALLER FROM OHIO: Hi, Nancy, how are you?
GRACE: I`m good, dear. What is your question?
JAMIE: I was just wondering, you said this man was in a Colorado prison before?
GRACE: Yes.
JAMIE: Why isn`t he on some sort of parole or post-release control or something like that?
GRACE: Good question. What about it? Ellie Jostad joining us.
What about it, Ellie?
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE CHIEF EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Well, we actually believe he is still on parole. He was let out of prison in 2007, he was supposed to remain on parole for five years after that.
GRACE: With us right now, a very special guest. Melinda Bradley. Melinda is the cousin of this little girl, the girl that survived.
Melinda, thank you for being with us.
MELINDA BRADLEY, COUSIN OF TEEN GIRL BOUND & GAGGED IN SUSPECT`S BASEMENT: Hi, Nancy. Thank you.
GRACE: Melinda, first of all, our sympathy to you and all of the family. I can`t even imagine what it would be like to lose a mother and a son and have the girl go through this. So much for everyone to take in.
Who has the girl? Is the father there?
BRADLEY: No, Nancy. Right now I`m not certain who has her right now. I`m pretty sure that the father would have her, but see, the little girl`s grandfather has just -- her great grandfather just passed away -- well, today. So not only is the family dealing with this, but, you know, they`re dealing with another death in the family that just happened. And he didn`t even know what was going on.
GRACE: Tell me about the family. Tell me about the little brother, the 11-year-old.
BRADLEY: Oh, my gosh. They were -- both the children, they were just beautiful, rambunctious, spunky -- you know just happy children. I`m sure that they would not have gone easily with this man.
GRACE: No.
BRADLEY: They would not.
GRACE: And what about the mom, what about the mother?
BRADLEY: I am not too familiar with the mother, with Tina, because I knew them through their grandfather.
GRACE: I see. So you`re related on that side. What kind of personality did the little boy have? Tell me about him specifically. Kody Maynard.
BRADLEY: Kody. Well, he`s -- you know your just a typical little boy. He likes to play outside, get dirty. Just a happy and -- just a great, wonderful full of sunshine little boy. He`s beautiful, as well as his sister. And you know, it -- I cannot understand why on earth anyone could do this.
GRACE: I was trying to find out --
BRADLEY: My daughter would be (INAUDIBLE) tomorrow.
GRACE: I was trying to find out earlier -- back to Tanisha Mallet with WBNS.
Tanisha, tell me about the neighborhood. I`m just trying to imagine walking out on my front porch and seeing some freak up in a hammock, you know, 50 feet away looking down at me and my family.
TANISHA MALLET, WBNS: This neighborhood where Hoffman lived is really downtown Mount Vernon, so it`s what you would expect in a downtown area in a smaller city. The houses are very close together.
We saw that tree that was in his backyard. It`s not very far from his neighbor`s house. So I understand why they had quite a bit of concern that someone was in a tree, very close to their bedroom, easy to look in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: There was blood found inside the missing women`s homes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a tree that was hollow in the back where inside --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Three bodies just found in a wooded area.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The investigation is by no means complete.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My daughter is not safe.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Law enforcement needs your help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is an ongoing investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Fifteen-year-old Jean Berlinghoff went missing --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The 44-year-old Charles Berlinghoff. A convicted child molester.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The same day Jean went missing, he confronted his brother, Jean`s uncle, about two inappropriate text messages.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My daughter --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Jean`s family extremely concerned.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- is not safe.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: His brother has a criminal past.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was for a sex crime.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Jean disappeared without a single possession.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s not the normal behavior of a 15-year-old girl.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police on the hunt tonight.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: I don`t understand why there was not an Amber alert.
Marlaina Schiavo, what happened?
MARLAINA SCHIAVO, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: What happened is that this 15-year-old girl is in danger. She`s on the road with a child molester.
As far as the Amber alert is concerned, they`re saying that there`s no sign of whether or not she is in danger because they think that she may have gone willingly.
GRACE: OK. Wait a minute. Matt Zarrell, he`s how old? How old is he, 35, 40?
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE STAFFER, COVERING STORY: Forty-four.
GRACE: He`s 44, she`s 15. He`s a convicted sex predator. She`s gone against the parents` wishes. What don`t the police understand about that?
ZARRELL: Well, that`s a good point because the police agency investigating the case, they want the Amber alert, they`ve requested it four times, and the California Highway Patrol refuses to issue the Amber alert. The family and the local PD are very upset over it.
GRACE: Marc Klaas, president and founder of KlassKids Foundation. Why no Amber alert?
KLAAS: Well, that`s a very good question. And I think the answer is very simple. The Amber alert is a broken program. The model for the Amber alert was put forth in 2001 was inefficient. It did -- it did not have good criteria, it did not have a good -- it did not have a good infrastructure and as a result of that, we`re seeing huge failures in Amber alerts all over the country right now.
GRACE: Joining me right now is a special guest, Heather Vega. This is the missing 15-year-old, Jean Marie`s mother.
Heather, thank you for being with us.
HEATHER VEGA, MOTHER OF MISSING 15-YEAR-OLD JEAN MARIE BERLINGHOFF: You`re welcome.
GRACE: OK, Heather, this is something I don`t understand. The perpetrator that has your daughter is a convicted sex predator, yes?
VEGA: Yes, he is.
GRACE: OK. Is he Jean Marie`s father`s brother? Is he Jean Marie`s uncle?
VEGA: Yes, he is.
GRACE: OK. Was he living in the home?
VEGA: No, he was not. He was originally living in L.A. and traveling up here to see his girls and relatives.
GRACE: Was he staying in the home?
VEGA: He was not staying there. He was just visiting.
GRACE: OK, Matt Zarrell, our sources have told me he was staying in the home.
ZARRELL: Yes, we`ve been told that he was staying in the home, that he was there visiting his three children who live in the area and was staying at the home with Jean and Jean`s father.
GRACE: OK, unfold it for me, Matt Zarrell. What happened?
ZARRELL: Yes, apparently what happened is that the father had uncovered these text messages. Now, Jean and Berlinghoff had gone out the night before, came back very late. The father was --
GRACE: Wait, wait, wait. Wait a minute, Matt. These text messages. Let me rephrase it. Correct me if I`m wrong. Jean Marie`s father finds inappropriate, sexually suggestive text messages between his 15-year-old girl and this 44-year-old sex predator, convicted. He confronts them, they -- the man leaves with the little girl, and they`ve yet to be seen since.
Is that more like it? They were out until 2:00 the night before? 2:00 a.m.?
ZARRELL: Yes.
GRACE: He had the little girl out until 2:00 a.m. She`s 15. He`s a 44-year-old sex molester convicted?
ZARRELL: Yes, and the father confronted them about it, grounded Jean and that`s when he got his hands on the cell phone and saw these text messages that insinuate that they had a relationship and he was committing sexual assault on her.
GRACE: I don`t think I would call it a relationship, Matt Zarrell. When a 44-year-old convicted sex predator is having sex or a physical relationship with a 15-year-old girl, that is called statutory rape. That is not called a relationship.
I want to go back to Heather Vega. So, Miss Vega.
VEGA: Yes.
GRACE: He was in the home. He was staying in the home. A convicted sex predator was staying, sleeping in the home with your daughter?
VEGA: Yes, when he would come up here to visit his family, he would stay there. But he was not staying there on a permanent basis.
GRACE: OK, Miss Vega, I asked you multiple times was he living there, was he staying there? Explain to me why any rational adult, a parent would allow a convicted sex predator -- sex predator on children to stay in the home with your girl?
VEGA: I am not aware of all the past history of Charles, and most of it I was not aware of until after Jeannie went missing. A lot of this we found out since Jeannie has been missing.
GRACE: So neither you nor your husband, his blood brother, knew he had a felony conviction?
VEGA: The felony has come from the warrant that has recently been released.
GRACE: OK. What do we know? Well, I know he had an indecent exposure in `93, a felony child molestation conviction in `98, and now he`s spending the night staying over in the home with a little girl and their parents are allowing it.
Where is your best guess? Where would he head, Miss Vega?
VEGA: You know, I wish I knew at this point because that`s the biggest question of the hour is where they possibly could have gone. We really don`t have any clue as to which direction they went after they left.
GRACE: Did she have a cell phone with her?
VEGA: No, she did not. Her dad had taken it that morning because she was in trouble for staying out the night before.
GRACE: Does he have a cell phone?
VEGA: He did have a cell phone. However, after numerous voicemails from us to return her, he had shut it off.
GRACE: OK. Have police pinged it, traced where he was by his phone being on?
VEGA: I`m not aware of anything that they have done with the cell phone.
GRACE: Have you asked them?
VEGA: No, I have not.
GRACE: OK. What are police telling you tonight?
VEGA: Basically, they`re telling us that they have every resource out there trying to find Jean and trying to bring her home safely and they`re doing everything they can around the clock to do so.
GRACE: OK. The tip line, 530-245-6025. Please, look at this girl. She`s only 15. She has no idea what trouble she`s in. Police are saying this is urgent.
Jean Marie Berlinghoff is missing. There is a $10,000 reward. Please look. 530-245-6025.
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GRACE: To you, Marc Klaas, what happened?
KLAAS: Well, Nancy, law enforcement has completely dropped the ball on this case, both at the local and at the state level. It took two days for the local sheriff to come to the house and have a face-to-face interview with the family.
At that point they may have determined that an Amber alert was required and necessary but the CHP in their logic could find no reason to do so. Now we know that this guy is a sexual predator. We know that he has taken this girl. We know they`ve been gone for well over a week now and still they refuse to activate the Amber alert.
GRACE: Incredible.
KLAAS: What needs to happen -- well, it is incredible. What needs to happen is because kidnapping tends to be a local crime. Local law enforcement agencies in this country need to be able to activate their own Amber alerts when they feel it`s warranted.
GRACE: To Renee Rockwell and Peter Odom. First of all to you, Peter Odom. He`s your client. What do you do?
PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, first of all, Nancy, this did not meet the criteria for Amber alert. You have to have a bona fide abduction. This doesn`t sound like a bona fide abduction. It sounds like she went with him willingly because her parents had disciplined her that morning so she went off with her cool uncle.
GRACE: Renee?
ODOM: You also have to have serious bodily injury or risk of that and there`s nothing -- no risk of that here.
GRACE: I guess statutory rape doesn`t count in your book. Go ahead, Renee.
RENEE ROCKWELL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Nancy, I don`t know that she`s in trouble sexually with him but I can tell you this. She probably went voluntarily, she probably likes to hang out with her cool uncle who`s a musician, and she may not be in any trouble at all.
GRACE: OK. Well, I guess the two of you forgot the definition of statutory rape.
Let`s stop and remember Army Logistics Management Specialist Linda Villar, 41, Franklinton, Louisiana, killed Iraq. Awarded the Secretary of Defense medal, Meritorious Civilian Service award, Army Achievement award, served as acting chief in the Logistics Support Element including the Army Soldier System Center and Army Biological Chemical Command.
Loved travel, fine dining, dancing, time with family, friends. Leaves behind mother, Dorothy, sister Stephanie, Sheila, Carmen, brother Marcus, widower David, daughter Tanisha.
Linda Villar, American hero.
Thanks to our guests but especially to you and a special good night from Louis.
Isn`t he handsome?
Happy birthday to Georgia friend Lanette Suttles, the sweetest lady on earth, a retired elementary school teacher, widow of Baptist minister and president of Georgia State University, Dr. Bill Suttles. Has a kind word for everyone.
Happy birthday, Miss Lanette.
And happy 100th to New York friend James Aliveto (ph), father of four including twin girls.
Happy birthday, James.
Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
END
