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Nancy Grace
Five Lost Children, Five Cold Cases; Nancy Grace Cold Cases, America`s Top Unsolved Mysteries
Aired November 25, 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: Tonight, five faces we will never forget, five names, five children lost, families, communities left wondering. These children disappeared separately, but each case has one thing in common, they`ve gone cold until tonight. Tonight, we seek justice.
I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for joining us. Every missing child deserves attention. Tonight, we examine five of the most chilling and the most baffling cases of missing children in America, cases that as of tonight remain unsolved. But somebody -- somebody -- out there knows something that can and will bring these families justice.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CATHY MILLER, CHUCKIE MAUK`S MOTHER: February 17th, 1986, the night he died, was a Monday night, the night he died, typical Monday night for us, the night he died. And that`s kind of, like, where my world just fell apart.
Chuckie had wanted to go to the grocery store right down the road, right around the corner from where we lived. It was over in a matter of moments -- to buy some candy for the next day.
There were just groups of kids here all the time.
One of his friends came to our door and told us that Chuckie -- it looked like Chuckie was hurt.
But you never forget this place.
Gosh, he`s fallen off his bike, he`s hurt his leg or something. And he was just laying right here. And the closer I got, I knew it was so much more than that.
And there`s a light. And that`s when we found him. And that`s where it happened.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: Chuckie Mauk`s life ends at just 13, but his case unsolved. Warner Robins, Georgia, a town recently named best place to raise a child in Georgia. But on a cool February day, 1986, his life came to a violent end. The little boy, Chuckie Mauk, rides his bike to a corner store to buy gum. What could be more innocent? In the parking lot, a car pulls up. The driver talked to the boy just a moment, then shoots the 13-year-old down. Twenty-four years later, his parents still without answers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MILLER: Such a place where everybody has fun, and you know, the kids want to go to the bowling alley and -- different meaning for me, yes. Yes. Different meaning for me, certainly.
I am a bereaved mother, first and foremost. I am a bereaved parent, and I am a parent of a murdered child.
Was he -- you know, was he scared? I guess that`s something that still -- you know, was he scared that night? And you know, I wasn`t there. And was he scared? And did he know what was going to happen?
The initial thought of myself and the police department was that it was a hit-and-run. And when they turned Chuckie over, they found that it was a gunshot to the head. People said, Well, maybe it was just a stray bullet. Well, no, not to hit him. Somebody knew what they were doing. You know, they did want to hurt him.
We walked from down there and came up here, and then he was laying right there. And that`s where we found him.
They, like, pushed me over to this fence, and I had to stand there. And then -- it was just -- it was out control. It was just mayhem. And that`s sort of, like, when I went away, mentally, I guess. Just finding my son there was just something I`ll never forget.
A murder investigation is not anything like you see on TV. It`s -- it`s just unreal, and especially when it`s concerning your child. No parent should have to do this.
Say God doesn`t give you more than you can handle. I`ve questioned that many times. But you know, I`m still standing, so...
The first couple of months, it was like it was this other -- and it sounds crazy when I talk about it now, but it was like I had this other voice in my head that would kind of tell me things to do and what to do and where to go. And you know, it was this whole new life. It`s a whole new me. My family structure, everything was so different. Plus, you`re going through a murder investigation.
Don`t think God has ever written that word yet that describes that pain, that sort of pain. I`ve lost a lot of people I`ve loved and lost loves, but nothing will ever, ever compare to the loss of Chuck.
We -- of course, we moved right away. I couldn`t live there any longer. So we moved. And since then, it`s been 26 years and it`s like I`ve rebuilt this new life. The person I was before, I`m not anymore. And a huge part of my heart died that night. And my mission now is to find out what happened to my son, try to bring some closure for my family and for Chuckie. And that`s sort of my mission now. It was a little prayer I made to him that night, and I`ve always tried to keep my word.
I once heard the expression it`s like an amputation without anesthesia, and I believe that has to be what it must feel like. It just - - it`s a huge gap. And I don`t know if I even have the words to explain, it`s so big. It`s so big. I`ve experienced a lot of losses in my life, but I have never in my whole life experienced anything like the death a child. You know, and burying your child, it`s just -- I don`t think there are words or colors that I could even tell you what that is.
I really did have a son named Chuck and I really was his mom and -- because sometimes years go by, and it`s, like, Did that -- was that really true, you know? Baseball was his favorite. He loved baseball. Football - - pretty good at football. Not as great at football as he was baseball. And these were pictures were taken the Saturday before he died. So he never got to see these.
Basically, at this moment, there is still nothing. All these years, there`s nothing. No -- we have no -- there`s nothing. No one`s come forward. The interviews, the newspapers, articles, nothing has ever helped. Whoever`s done this has really kept it close to himself or herself. How many people were involved, I don`t have a clue. Only thing we know for sure, was a light, cream-colored car seen that night. Chuckie was seen talking to someone. That is all I know.
He was very, very active. He never sat around. He never sat around. He loved sports. He loved his motorcycle and his bike. And he loved life. He had a fantastic laugh, and he made us laugh all the time.
Do I have a lot of hope that this will be resolved? That`s always my hope. It`s always my belief. It`s my faith. It`s this promise that I made to Chuckie that I will do whatever, for as long as I can, to find out what happened to you. In my heart and in my head tell me two different things. I don`t see this going anywhere. But my belief and my faith, I have to believe it will, that someone will hear my voice or just get tired of keeping the secret to themselves. And maybe it`d be some closure for them, too, you know? And I don`t -- I would hope someone one day will come forward. I guess maybe I do have that little bit of hope there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By chance, someone who`s watching this remembers something or has not said something for whatever reason, what would you say to that person if there`s some kind of, you know, reservation about coming forward with information, be it fear, be it whatever, what would you say to that person?
MILLER: I would say, Please pick up your phone. Call the Houston (ph) County sheriff`s department. You don`t even have to give your name. Just say what you know. I mean, it might not seem important to you, but it could be the one lead we need to resolve this.
This is one spot where I can still be a mom. I can still be his mom, kind of take care of his little area.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you ever think about him, you know, in terms of what he would have become...
MILLER: I do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... how he would have aged, or is he kind of frozen in your mind as a little boy?
MILLER: Well, he`s always 13, you know? And when I see him, I see him as he was. But the field I work in, you know -- and I have his friends and their wives coming in and they`re having babies. And you know, I think, Wow, I could have been a grandma, you know? The always the "would have beens" and the "could haves," it`s always there. It`s always there, and I -- but he is frozen in time to me. He is 13, and it`s hard to imagine him older. Yes, it is hard to imagine that.
I don`t know if you have closure, does that stop, you know, being part of it? I don`t know, you know? I don`t know. If I knew exactly what happened, you know, would I feel that need, you know, to have to be here? Probably, but I don`t know that. But for now, this is my comfort place. This is where I come.
Chuckie was this gift to me, and I was so proud of him and it was such an honor to be his mom. And I guess I want him to be proud of me and I want him to know that I will do whatever it takes, for as long as I can, to find out what happened to him and to maybe be his voice and -- just because I loved him so. And I never, ever forget him. He`s my last thought at night and my first thought in the morning. And I`ll just never forget him.
He was an honor -- it was an honor to have him and for him to call me Mom. And you know, God lends us a child, and I thank God every day for him. This grief walk is a long walk. And it`s something you`ll live with the rest of your life, and you just make it a part of your life. And life goes on. You just carry them with you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: Next, how did this little boy vanish right in front of his grandmother`s eyes?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: A 6-year-old boy plays with his friends in the front of his grandmother`s south Florida home. She`s watching from the kitchen window. One moment he`s there, the next brings panic -- and two years of unanswered questions. What happened to little Adji Desir?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello? I`m going to leave a flyer here about a missing child.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Adji Desir is 6 years of age.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was playing in the yard.
GRACE: He cannot communicate verbally.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Outside his grandmother`s home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where she says she saw him, she checked on him out the window.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s three feet tall, 45 pounds.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And then the next time she looked out, he was gone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With black hair, brown eyes.
GRACE: Vanishes into thin air.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re isolating all the trash that`s collected.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like my life is almost over.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re searching the sexual offender database.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, I`m sure she feels a lot of guilt.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re making sure we don`t leave any stone unturned.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Marie Needa (ph) says she believes her little Adji is still alive.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I would give him hugs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: More than 200 tips have come in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would kiss him. I`d say, I love you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: None turning into anything significant for investigators.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`d put my hands in the hair. I`d say, Thank you, Jesus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Everyone, this little boy cannot verbally communicate. He has the mind of a 2-year-old little child. Therefore, he can`t even explain to anyone that he is lost.
Joining me right now, special guest Lieutenant Tom Smith with the special crimes bureau, Collier County sheriff`s office. He`s the lead investigator into Adji`s disappearance. Lieutenant, thank you for being with us. It`s stunning to me that this little boy disappears out of his own yard, his grandmother there in the home, taking care of him. Tell us again about the circumstances surrounding Adji`s disappearance.
LT. TOM SMITH, COLLIER CTY. SHERIFF`S OFFICE (via telephone): Well, Adji was out in front of his home in a community housing authority project that consists of 611 homes. And within about just a 15-minute timeframe, around 5:30 PM, he disappeared.
GRACE: What do you mean by a 15-minute window?
SMITH: Well, you know, he was seen around 5:30, and around 5:45 he was not there where he could be called back to the house, and they began searching. And it took about two hours of their own searches before they realized that they couldn`t find him and then they called sheriff`s office.
GRACE: Rory O`Neill, are police now accepting that this is not a case of the child wandering off, that this is a kidnap?
RORY O`NEILL, WESTWOOD ONE (via telephone): They say a boy this age, developmentally disabled, as you say, really couldn`t walk away too far on his own. They feel secure in the search that they mounted on the ground. They think that someone else was involved in his disappearance.
GRACE: Lieutenant Smith, who saw him at 5:30?
SMITH: He was playing football, tossing a football with a child about his own age. And then the older brother to that friend came over, said, Time to come home for dinner, and they left him standing 100 feet from his home. We`ve interviewed all the children that play in the community. It`s a very close-knit community because of the type of development that it is. We`ve interviewed his classmates and all the children that he`s played with that whole evening, from the time he woke up until the time he disappeared. And he just -- just vanished.
GRACE: So at around 5:30, the neighbor friend comes to get the little brother. It`s time to come in for dinner. They leave Adji about 100 feet from his own home. And then 15 minutes later, what happens?
SMITH: Grandmother comes out to tell him to come into the house, and he`s obviously not out front. And the stepfather had been in the same neighborhood, doing laundry down at the local wash house and walked up to the house. So I mean, it even makes it a little more difficult to know that he was right there and nobody saw anything.
GRACE: Rupa, what can you tell me?
RUPA MIKKILINENI, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, you know, police have a couple of real theories here. The real theory is that he was abducted. I mean, they`re leaning towards this mostly because they have done extensive searches in the area, almost immediately, as soon as he disappeared, Nancy. So they`re thinking somebody in this Haitian community might know something.
GRACE: To Dr. Marty Makary, physician and professor of public health at Johns Hopkins, joining us from Washington, D.C. Dr. Makary, what is your take on the special needs of little Adji?
DR. MARTY MAKARY, PHYSICIAN, JOHNS HOPKINS: Well, it really all comes down to water. You know, from a developmental perspective, a child like this, with the mental age of 2, does not have the mental construct to put the logic together that water that they see is what would satisfy their thirst, and they`re at high risk for dehydration. Also because of their stranger anxiety, they may hide from people actually looking for them.
GRACE: What do you mean, "stranger anxiety"?
MAKARY: Well, they can actually detach from their environment because they become lonely and scared at an early age when they`re not around their typical environment. So they detach and can really burrow into their surroundings.
GRACE: Lieutenant Smith, this is a very low-crime area?
SMITH: Well, it`s a typical housing authority unit where people are screened very closely before they move in. You know, it`s a zero-tolerance type of, you know, crime community, so if you commit a crime or have associates that come in that commit crimes, you run the risk of being kicked out. So yes, it is a -- it is a good-natured community.
GRACE: Coming up, the toddler, the boyfriend and their ride to the store that ends in mystery.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: A drive through Detroit leads to a gas station stop for a pack of gum. It ends with the disappearance of a 2-year-old little girl, Tangena Hussain, left in the back seat of a car driven by Mommy`s boyfriend. He says he was only gone a moment, but Tangena has been missing since 2008.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two-year-old Tangena Hussain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love her so much.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were told was last seen with her mother`s boyfriend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love her like my own -- own daughters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jamrul says he left the little girl inside his car while he went into a Detroit gas station to buy some gum.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He come in and goes to the juice department in the back. He never purchases juice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He says when he came out, she was gone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He wasn`t antsy, hadn`t -- it just seemed funny.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The boyfriend told police when he realized Tangena was gone, he did not look for her right away.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I go back to the car, I didn`t see her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: went and picked up her mother, who had been at work, and together, they returned to look for her little girl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The mother was really, really, really upset. But the guy -- his face was a very blase expression.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Rupa Mikkilineni, what do we know?
MIKKILINENI: Here`s what we do know happened. She was being baby-sat by her mother`s boyfriend all day while her mother was walking in a shopping mall nearby. Jamrul Hussain he claims that he had Tangena in his car and they stopped at a gas station. They have no way of knowing whether little 2-year-old Tangena Hussain was, in fact, in that car or with him at that gas station.
GRACE: Joining me right now, president and founder of Klaas Kids Foundation, Marc Klaas, is with us. Weigh in, Marc.
MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: I think it`s very unbelievable. That plus the fact that it took him many hours to even report this to law enforcement separates her from the scene of the crime far too much. It`s a bad story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I go back to the car, I didn`t see her. I go back to the gas station, asking people (INAUDIBLE) see her. Then I go to, like, the mall and pick up her mom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You know, I never understood, Marc Klaas, why did it take him so long to report her missing?
KLAAS: Well, I think because he`s implicated in her -- in her disappearance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His demeanor in the gas station was extremely calm, very, very relaxed. He didn`t call police, he just went to go get Mom at the shopping mall, brings her back. They do a search around the gas station, and then Mom calls police.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: To you, Sheryl McCollum. How do you believe it would have helped the investigation Jamrul Hussain if he had reported her missing immediately?
SHERYL MCCOLLUM, CRIME ANALYST: Any time the information gets there quicker to law enforcement, there`s a better chance that this is going to have some type of ending preferable for law enforcement.
GRACE: Any way, Marc Klaas, two years later they can keep the case fresh?
KLAAS: You have to come out with age-enhanced photos or age-enhanced imaging of the little girl. You have to recirculate your investigation through the community. And remember, all of these crimes are local crimes. Most children that are murdered or that are taken within a community are going to be located within that same community.
GRACE: Straight ahead, did the foster parents of a 5-year-old boy with cerebral palsy, legs in braces, play a role in his disappearance?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Another child reportedly vanishes from the backseat of a parked car, this time a beautiful 5-year-old boy with cerebral palsy. He disappears outside of an Oakland shoe store.
Ask police, they`ll tell you, they know who did it, they just don`t have enough evidence to prove it.
What happened to little Hassani Campbell.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JENNIFER CAMPBELL, HASSANI`S AUNT: I know I`m innocent.
LOUIS ROSS, HASSANI CAMPBELL`S FOSTER DAD: I told them the same story I gave the police.
CAMPBELL: I know Louis is innocent.
ROSS: They got the same story.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Five-year-old Hassani Campbell.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Who is disabled with cerebral palsy.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Who`s gone.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: After Louis Ross parked behind the shoe store in Rockbridge, he says he told 5-year-old Hasanni Campbell to wait at the back door.
ROSS: This is a routine that has happened for the past four to five months.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The aunt, Jennifer Campbell, says she opened the door.
CAMPBELL: And I thought maybe he was hiding behind something.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But Hassani was gone.
CAMPBELL: Or maybe he wandered around the front.
ROSS: I said, what do you mean, where`s Hassani?
CAMPBELL: Or maybe it was something.
ROSS: And I looked around to the side. And he`s no longer there. But they were not happy with the story that they got.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police department place under arrest Jennifer Campbell.
ROSS: They wanted something else.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We also placed Louis Ross under arrest.
ROSS: We have nothing to hide.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We believe that Hassani Campbell has been murdered.
GRACE: Special guest, that foster father to Hassani, Louis Ross.
Mister Ross, thank you for being with us.
ROSS: You`re welcome.
GRACE: Mister Ross, I understand that you volunteered to take a polygraph?
ROSS: Yes, I did. We have nothing to hide. And basically, I -- this has been a traumatic experience. We understood that the police had their job to do, and part that job is ruling out everybody. So polygraph was basically a normal process.
GRACE: Mister Ross, I really admire that. Everyone wants to know, you left the boy in the car, but now that I understand what you`re telling us, it`s much more innocent than it sounds.
ROSS: Yes, and that`s part of our frustration. I mean aside from our son being missing, the information that`s been circulated through the media -- majority of it is incorrect.
Let`s begin with where my son was when I left. As a normal routine, I would pull into the back park. There`s a little small parking lot behind the store that accommodates about two to four cars.
I would pull into that parking spot, then proceed to basically get out of my side, walk around. Open up the door for Hassani, and because that was normal routine.
Hassani is not as physically disabled as has been portrayed in the media. Number one. He does not wear silver leg braces. That`s been thrown out there in the media, which is kind of disconcerting, because to me that was a discriminator.
If I`m scanning looking for a child, and you told me he`s missing, and he`s wearing silver leg braces on the outside of his clothes, that`s what I`m looking at. We were extremely frustrated to say that that`s what got out - -
GRACE: Right. Aren`t they small white braces on his ankles?
ROSS: Yes, and you --
GRACE: OK.
ROSS: The only way for you to see them is if you actually -- he was wearing shorts.
GRACE: OK.
ROSS: And even then you would actually have to look down at his feet.
GRACE: So you open the door, and you`re in this back parking lot, and then what happened?
ROSS: I opened up his car door. While I opened up the door, he`s already taken off his seat belt from his car seat.
GRACE: Right.
ROSS: And he`s standing up waiting to get out. As I walk around to the side with his sister, I say Hassani, go and stand by the back door. He`s done this a couple of times before. I grab his sister who`s 19 months, and take her with me.
GRACE: Right.
ROSS: Before leaving the car, I pop the trunk of the car and open the trunk. And I shut the door. So at this time, his door`s open, and the trunk of my car is open. And then I proceed to the front of the store.
At the front of the store I don`t walk inside, I`m still on the sidewalk. I see her aunt. She knows why I`m there. I tell her to open the back door.
GRACE: OK.
ROSS: She turns to walk to the back to open the open. I again circle back the same way I came, right around the corner to basically hand over Alea. By the time I got there, Jennifer is already out of the store, walking towards me asking me where`s Hassani.
I said, what do you mean, where`s Hassani? And I look around to the side and he`s no longer there.
GRACE: Louis Ross, it sounds like he was only standing there unattended for just a matter of seconds, maybe less than a minute, maybe a minute at most.
ROSS: It was about two to five minutes. And this was our -- this was our routine for months.
GRACE: And what flashed through your mind when she said, where`s Hassani?
ROSS: Initially it didn`t hit me. He`s probably standing around there, probably just got -- when Hassani gets frustrated he freezes. So I thought he would still be on the side and we all thought -- even Jennifer thought he was probably just hiding, joking around.
GRACE: How did you come to being his foster father?
ROSS: To make a long story short, his biological parents are not in the position mentally to take care of him. So Jennifer had gotten involved with their lives and visiting them. And we were approached by social services. Would we be willing to take them.
One of the concerns was Hassani most likely would not be placed. But his sister, Alea, who was the infant, would be placed so they would be split up. So we basically agreed --
GRACE: So you took them in, even -- your wife is pregnant, right?
ROSS: She became pregnant after the fact. That`s correct. And we`re engaged.
GRACE: Everyone, won`t you help us?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The local police department place under arrest Jennifer Campbell on suspicion of murder. We also place Louis Ross under arrest for murder. He was arrested in his Freemont home. She was arrested at Union City Park.
I want to clarify, this is not a missing person`s case anymore. This is a homicide investigation.
GRACE: Sebastian Kunz, KNEW Radio, joining us out of San Francisco. I understand the foster father and mother were taken into custody. What happened?
SEBASTIAN KUNZ, REPORTER, KNEW RADIO, COVERING STORY: They were taken into custody. Louis Ross on charges of suspicion of murder and Jennifer Campbell on charges of accessory after the fact.
GRACE: Out to John Burris, famed defense attorney out of Oakland California.
I do not believe that the police have any physical evidence right now. But don`t you find it coincidental that they take these two into custody, and by the time they finish talking to them, they have decided this is a homicide case?
JOHN BURRIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY, ADVISOR TO LOUIS ROSS AND JENNIFER CAMPBELL: Well, it is surprising that that`s the route that they took. I believe that they believe it was a homicide case for a long time. But I don`t think they have any evidence whatsoever to support that.
I think that they just dabble that possible because they were not able to corroborate any of the statements in their own mind what Mr. Ross has said.
I was pretty much shocked that they in fact arrested either one of them, particularly Miss Campbell, because they really have no evidence that she committed any particular crime, nor was she an accessory after the fact.
Her statement has always been pretty clear that she knew nothing about what had happened. That she was like everyone else looking for this child.
From his point of view, I don`t know that the police have any evidence at all that`s concrete. I mean they have --
GRACE: Obviously something that they said caused this case to flip.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We strongly believe and we know for a fact that Hassani Campbell never made it to Oakland on August 10th, College Avenue, at 4:15 as was previously reported.
We are continuing to put our efforts into solving this case, and potentially re-arresting Mr. Louis Ross or Jennifer Campbell at some point.
GRACE: Matt Zarrell on the story. Matt, isn`t it true that no one else has seen the little boy for four days before the father? The foster father says he had him.
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE STAFFER, COVERING STORY: That`s correct, Nancy. Apparently the only confirmed sighting we have is August 6th at a Wal-Mart in the area. That`s the last time anyone saw Hassani with his foster parents.
GRACE: Mister Ross, I understand that you did not pass your polygraph. Is that true?
ROSS: That is what I have been told. Correct.
GRACE: What were questions they asked you?
ROSS: Do I know where Hassani is and can I take them to where Hassani is.
GRACE: Weigh in, Marc Klaas.
MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: Mister Ross`s story has never made any sense.
GRACE: No, it has not.
KLAAS: He failed his polygraph. There are suspicious text messages that came in.
GRACE: I mean, Marc. Marc, would you dare leave a child alone in the back of a store while you walk around to the front of the store for -- what? To get them to let you in? Why would you -- I can still to this day pick up both twins and they`re pushing 40 pounds.
KLAAS: Sure.
GRACE: All right? Rather than leave one? No way.
KLAAS: Well, it`s a self-serving convenient story for him basically, is what it is. You know he -- and another thing he never did is he never reached out to any of the child locater organizations in the Bay Area that are set up specifically to assist in these kinds of situations.
I waited for his call for 18 days and it never came. So you know I`m not surprised by this turn of -- this turn of events. The problem, though, as I see it right now, is we have absolutely no idea where that little boy`s body is. I mean, absolutely no idea. So it`s going to be very difficult to search and to locate him.
GRACE: Marc Klaas, the thought of this little child going through so much. Having to go to a foster home, having to fight cerebral palsy.
KLAAS: Yes.
GRACE: And now this.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Next, the case that is now part of American history.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: A boy begs his mommy to let him walk to the school bus alone, only 6 years old. That was the last time anyone saw Etan Patz. His unforgettable little face. The first to be pictured on a milk carton.
Thirty-one years later unsolved. The Manhattan D.A.`s office has now reopened the case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: May 25th, 1979, Etan Patz.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Etan.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Etan`s mother let the 6-year-old walk two blocks to catch the school bus on his own.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I recall years ago parents would leave baby carriages outside a bakery or candy store just to run in for a moment to get something.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: She watched from the fire escape.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Patz case represented the end of innocence.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But Etan vanished in those two blocks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You had to be very careful around the state after that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No body, no admissions, no witnesses.
STAN PATZ, ETAN PATZ`S FATHER: It`s really not possible.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A judge declared Etan dead as his parents requested.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mister Patz did not sign the papers but obviously do not --
PATZ: We never had (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It represents to the family very incomplete justice.
PATZ: There is no justice for our child.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Marc Klaas, we`re talking about Etan Patz.
You know, Marc, this was one of the very first highly publicized missing children`s case in the entire country. How do you think that has affected all the other cases?
KLAAS: Nancy, the Etan Patz case is really probably the first high-profile case since the Lindbergh case. And what it did is it drew the public`s attention to America`s dirty little secret.
He was also the very first child on a milk carton. And the day that he disappeared has been commemorated as National Missing Children`s Day which is May 25th.
RUPA MIKKILINENI, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Etan Patz was 6 years old when he vanished on May 25th, 1979. This was just outside of his Soho home. And this was the first day that he was allowed to walk to the school bus by himself, after arguing with his mom and dad.
He didn`t come home from school. His mom figured out at 3:30 when he didn`t return something was wrong. And she phoned the school to find out that he never made it to classes that day.
GRACE: Well, Marc, it`s now 30 years after Etan went missing. Now the case is reopened. What`s that doing to the parents?
KLAAS: Well, you know, the parents have an open wound in their heart. They`ve never been able to solve the case, they`ve never been able to bring the little boy home for a proper burial. So it would reignite some hope that perhaps that ultimately can be achieved.
MIKKILINENI: But it`s important to note that this case falls in the jurisdiction of the Manhattan District Attorney`s Office. And the new district attorney Cy Vance has come on board in the last year and he has promised to take a second look at this case.
The Etan Patz has been a cold case for 31 years, Nancy, and he is taking a second look at this case. He has reopened it. They are actively investigating this among many other old cases as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN O`DWYER, ATTORNEY FOR ETAN PATZ`S FATHER, STAN PATZ: The judge has desired to hear testimony about the results of the death of Etan. We presented three witnesses. And one of which was a medical doctor who talked about the intense pain and suffering that Etan must have felt.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And now out to cold case expert, director of the Cold Case Squad, Pine Lake PD.
Sheryl McCollum, it`s been 30 years since Etan`s disappearance. Can we solve the case now?
SHERYL MCCOLLUM, CRIME ANALYST, DIR. OF COLD CASE SQUAD AT PINE LAKE P.D.: There`s a possibility, Nancy. There`s always hope. Look at the Martha Moxley case. Everybody wrote that case off, too.
It can be solved. I wouldn`t rule out a deathbed confession. I wouldn`t rule out, you know, that somebody`s going to come forward. But again, every day that goes by, it`s less and less likely.
GRACE: But, Sheryl, in a case like Etan Patz` when you don`t have a body, you don`t have a witness, you don`t even have a crime scene, how do you even start a cold case investigation?
MCCOLLUM: You play on the emotions of a witness that may be out there that has never come forward. We don`t know that there`s not a witness. All we know is one has never come forward.
Again, you don`t rule out somebody wanting to clear their conscience. It happens. It is rare, but it happens.
GRACE: You know, Sheryl McCollum, there is a jailhouse informant that claims a guy named Jose Antonio Ramos, a convicted sex offender, who was also a friend of the Patz` former babysitter, confessed to murdering Etan Patz.
What do you make of that?
MCCOLLUM: I like that he can make a connection to the babysitter. That`s something that they can prove. They can go back and say, OK, is this guy a friend of the babysitter? That would not be a detail this guy would make up.
So I like it. I mean, jailhouse, you know, confessions don`t bother me a bit. I think you get real good information from somebody that wants to make a deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O`DWYER: This is the last chapter in the civil proceeding. It represents to the family very incomplete justice.
Justice will be done only when the district attorney of New York proceeds to prosecute Jose Antonio Ramos for the death of Etan Patz. He has now been found civilly responsible for Etan`s death.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
MIKKILINENI: Prosecutors finally got their first break in 1982. So this is three years later, Nancy.
A man who`s living in a drain pipe under a Bronx bridge harassed or molested some young boys who made a complaint. When police brought Jose Ramos in for questioning, they discovered that he had hundreds of photographs of little blonde boys that looked just like Etan Patz.
And it led them to question him about Etan Patz. And that`s when they discovered that he was the boyfriend of Etan Patz` babysitter back when Etan first vanished.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATZ: So he`s the prosecutor. There would -- there is no justice for our child. And so it`s best.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. Patz, is this the first time you`ve taken the stand in your son`s death?
PATZ: Yes, it is.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And how hard was it for you today?
PATZ: This is very difficult, 25 years after the fact.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You know, Marc, you have been through this yourself. Do you think that some type of a civil verdict is any kind of a victory or closure to the parents?
KLAAS: No, Nancy, not at all. Unfortunately, for this kind of a crime, the worst possible crime imaginable, the murder -- the brutal murder of a young boy, the only thing that I think could satisfy these parents at all would be the ultimate penalty for having committed that ultimate crime. And it doesn`t look like that`s going to happen any time soon, unfortunately.
MIKKILINENI: Police did not keep him in custody and they did not charge him. So charges were dropped against Ramos back in 1982. But in 1988 he was rearrested on different charges for child molestation and convicted. He`s now serving prison time in a Pennsylvania prison for about 20 years. He`s due to get out in 2012.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O`DWYER: Twice a year, Jose Antonio Ramos -- and Mr. Patz testified to that today -- is reminded of his crime by sending him a flyer with Etan`s picture, and saying, what have you done to my little boy?
There will be no justice until that man is put in prison.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
MIKKILINENI: It`s also interesting to note is that they are not pursuing charges against Ramos. So this very much means that for some reason the investigators, at least in the Manhattan D.A.`S Office, believe that this case is still open. They still don`t have a suspect or -- perhaps Mr. Ramos is a person of interest but they don`t have enough evidence to bring charges and a conviction against him.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Chuckie Mauk 13, murdered. Adji Desir, 6 vanished. Tanjina Hussein, 2, disappeared. Hassani Campbell, 5, vanished. Etan Patz, 6, disappeared.
And tonight, a special happy birthday to beautiful Alabama friend, Doris. She`s also celebrating her 63rd anniversary to husband Harris.
Now he must have something special to keep her interested 63 years.
Mother of three, including mother to one of our stars, D. She`s a grandmother of eight.
Happy birthday, beautiful Doris.
And happy second birthday to tiny New York crimefighter, Bethany. She loves "Sesame Street" and Uncle Josh.
Happy birthday, Bethany.
And happy birthday to Morgan Franklin, Jr., serving the Marines and Army, completing three tours in Iraq.
Morgan, happy birthday.
Let`s stop and remember 2nd Lt. Charles Robert Rubado, 23, Clearwater, Florida, killed Iraq. A loving husband, son, brother, friend. Married his college sweetheart and earned a degree in criminal justice before carrying on the family tradition and enlisting as a lieutenant.
His father, a retired Army 1st sergeant, gave him his first salute. Awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Airborne Wings. Remembered for strong leadership, unwavering faith. Leaves behind father Charles, mother Natalia, brother Steve, wife Marianne.
Charles Rubado, American hero.
Thanks to our guests but especially to you. And to everyone, happy Thanksgiving. We`ve got so much to be thankful for. So let`s fold our hands and bow our heads and thank the Lord.
See you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving.
END
