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Nancy Grace

Nancy Grace Cancer Scare/Police Search for 3 Missing Michigan Boys

Aired November 29, 2010 - 20:00   ET

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


JEAN CASAREZ, GUEST HOST: I have Nancy Grace on the phone right now. She wants to tell all of us something very, very important.

Hi, Nancy.

NANCY GRACE, HOST (via telephone): Hi, Jean. It`s so good to hear your voice.

CASAREZ: Good to hear your voice.

GRACE: I wanted to tell everyone how much I really have missed being on the air and following our stories. A lot has happened in the last two weeks. I was on the air just a few weeks ago and had celebrated John David and Lucy`s 3rd birthday, and we were so happy. And the next day, I had a doctor`s appointment. And it was a routine appointment and I almost didn`t go because I had been in August, and everything was fine. But I just went on a hunch.

And during the examination -- it`s that moment that you see in movies and you hear about that always happens to somebody else but not to you. And the nurse was doing an ultrasound, and Jean, we were talking about where our children might go to school and their ages. And all of a sudden, she just stopped talking and was looking at the screen. And I looked back at her and I looked at the screen, and it meant nothing to me. And I said, What is it? And she told me she had to go get the doctor.

And the doctor came in and he said, We need to go talk in an office, and I knew then that something was really wrong. He was very calm and very honest, and he told me that they had discovered a mass, a solid mass. It was not liquid. It was not fibrous. And it could be cancer.

And it just seemed like the world just stopped because, you know, when you wait a long time for happiness, and to have the twins -- it always feels like it could just be taken away! And so for the next week, I did our show bolstered by the prayers of my family and the people that knew and love me and got through the week.

They said they wouldn`t know anything until we had the surgery. And my husband, David, was there that morning, and I got to be with the twins that morning. And then my mother, my father, my brother and his wife came, and my sister in California was praying. And they peeled (ph) off to go get pancakes and play and I peeled to go to the hospital. I remember looking at them as I drove away (INAUDIBLE) but somehow did not feel alone, Jean.

CASAREZ: You weren`t alone, Nancy.

CASAREZ: I felt God with me. And I went into surgery. And of course, they want to sedate you so you`re not upset. But I told them I did not want anything. I wanted to see everything that was happening until the very last moment. And I remember looking back at David going down the hall, and as I went under, They said, Think of your favorite place. Where do you like to be? And I said, Home.

And during surgery, Jean, there were various complications as a result of my caesarian when I gave birth, and it ended up being a really long surgery, hours and hours. And in the end, God answered our prayers and I`m out of the hospital and I`m back with the twins. And it was not cancer.

So I come away with two things. Not only do I miss everyone very much, my staff and the viewers who call in and watch every night, have prayed for me since I first got pregnant with the twins.

Here`s the two things I want to share tonight. One, please, ladies, go to your doctors. I was the lucky one. And number two, and most important, I had a great feeling of peace that everything would be all right. And I was not alone. God was with me from the very beginning and throughout the night that night after I came out of surgery. We were up all night. David fell asleep in a chair beside the bed. He was there with me in that room.

And I appreciate everyone`s prayers. I`ve felt them. And they told me I would be out for a long, long time, but I have great faith that I`ll be back next week. And Jean, thank you so much for filling in for me.

CASAREZ: Nancy, Nancy, it`s -- it`s my honor. And Nancy, you are helping so many people tonight. You said you went to a routine appointment. So you didn`t have any symptoms at all?

GRACE: No, Jean, I didn`t. I just kept having a hunch, a feeling that I needed to go back. I`d been in August. Jean, it was not there in August. And the doctors were very concerned about the rapid progressive growth of this mass, a solid mass and...

CASAREZ: How did you keep it secret? Because you did.

GRACE: You know what?

CASAREZ: You knew what was happening.

GRACE: I prayed. I prayed. And I felt very strongly that it was going to be OK, and that I -- I also believed that worrying about it after I felt God`s peace (ph), I felt that worrying about it was just giving in to the devil. I really did.

I could not go through each day waiting for surgery, worried that I would not be with Lucy and John David and David anymore. I just -- I couldn`t. I couldn`t do our show. I couldn`t focus on the cases thinking that. I had to believe that it would be OK. And it was.

I`m the lucky one. I`m the blessed one. And it was just a hunch, Jean. It could happen to anybody. And as I was being rolled down that hall, I didn`t know what was going to happen. I didn`t know how much longer I would get to be with my family.

CASAREZ: And you know, Nancy, knowing you as I do, you were worried about your family. You were worried about your mom and your dad and your husband. How did your parents endure this?

GRACE: My father didn`t take it very well at all. My mother is the strong one. My father -- I think one of the only times I broke down and cried was when I talked to him. My sister and brother, they`re very strong.

I think what bothered me most was thinking about watching the twins from the other side of life and seeing them grow up without a mother. And I think about it so many times on our show because we have stories with children that have endured so much and don`t have anybody to love them. And I hated the thought that the twins would grow up without a mother.

CASAREZ: Yes. Well, they won`t because you`re fine and you`re here. And you`re convalescing. Nancy, we`ve got callers that really want to talk to you. Is that OK?

GRACE: Oh, sure. Thanks.

CASAREZ: All right. Julie in Kentucky. Hi, Julie. You want to talk to Nancy?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would love to. Hi, Nancy.

GRACE: Hi, Julie.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just wanted to say -- hi. I just wanted to say we love you so much and you`re in our thoughts and prayers. And you are a very strong lady, so we have faith in you. And you`re going to be OK. And you just keep your head up and keep doing what you`re doing. We love you.

GRACE: I will. And I feel very confident and I have two of the greatest doctors. It was Michael Dalson (ph) and Matthew Borrel (ph) over at Northside Hospital. And they were just wonderful. My pastors were there with David. And I`m so happy because my family was taking care of the twins and nobody was there with him. His family was praying, of course. But very few people had found out that -- I got an e-mail, Jean, from my mom from our little church in Macon, and it said that a hallelujah went up when they got the good news.

CASAREZ: The power of prayer, Nancy. Nancy, was it...

GRACE: Jean, you`re so right.

CASAREZ: Was it a gynecologist that you went to for that routine exam?

GRACE: Yes. And you know what? I didn`t -- in fact, I thought I was going to a woman. I had just picked one out. You know, when you`re on these insurance plans, you pick one in the network. I just showed up. You know, dropped the twins at play school for a couple of hours, and of course, spied on them for a few minutes to make sure everything was fine and just went on to the doctor and knew that I`d be back in an hour to get them. And everything changed in that one hour.

CASAREZ: Oh!

GRACE: And I can still remember driving back, trying to figure out what to do and picking them up and trying to walk them from their class to the car and just crying.

CASAREZ: And you were in shock.

GRACE: I guess I was. All I could imagine was who was going to pick them up and who was going to take care of them and who was going to decorate the house for Christmas and help them and who would be there? Just very, very disturbing and upsetting. But the good news is that it`s fine. And I just want to say one more time the most important thing that I learned, Jean, is we are not alone and I am not alone.

CASAREZ: Yes. Yes. And to all the women out there, you want them to go to the doctor.

GRACE: Oh, yes, I do!

CASAREZ: Just go.

GRACE: Because this was just on a hunch. And if anyone is listening tonight, please go now. I never get the opportunity to put the twins down to bed at night. I`m going to go and read them about 15, 20 stories before they finally fall asleep.

CASAREZ: Yes. And it was an ultrasound, an ultrasound that found it.

GRACE: It was (ph).

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What happened to Andrew, Alexander and Tanner?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s been a challenging day, as you can imagine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An Amber Alert is in effect now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They don`t know where the boys are.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s correct.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police in Michigan are calling the father of three missing little boys a liar.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He indicates to us that he was the last person to see them when he turned the children over to a Joann Taylor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The police chief, though, just telling us they don`t know if that woman even exists.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I`m saying is a reported relationship between Mr. Skelton and Joann Taylor does not exist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the boy`s father, John Skelton, out of work, separated, and a neighbor says, depressed. He tried to hang himself Friday.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He survived the suicide attempt.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re going to find these boys and bring them home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: I`m Jean Casarez of "In Session" on the truTV network, in for Nancy Grace. Thank you so much for joining us. Live to Michigan, Amber Alert, three young brothers, just 5, 7 and 9 years old -- they`re missing tonight. Michigan State Police and the FBI say the little boys are in extreme danger, last seen on Thanksgiving when their father, John Skelton, claims he turned them over to a woman he kept in touch with over the Internet? Their father then attempts suicide. Well, he`s still alive. But in the last hours, police announce there is no evidence that that woman even exists.

Straight out to Alisa Zee, news director at Detroit Metro Networks with the latest. Alisa, these three little boys they could be alive tonight.

ALISA ZEE, DETROIT METRO NETWORKS: Very much so. Good evening, Jean. Thank you so much for having me. We are hearing that for today, the search has gone down to northern Ohio, where they do believe the father of these little boys may have dropped them by the side of the road. And we have every reason to believe these little boys may be alive. In other words, there`s been no evidence to the contrary.

CASAREZ: Now, why do you say that the father may have dropped them to the side of the road? Who`s saying that?

ZEE: We are hearing reports from police in the area of Ohio, from the fire chief, actually, who used the words, actually, that the father may have "dumped" the little boys. And that could indicate really a tragic outcome or perhaps a positive outcome, if he really just dropped the boys by the side of the road.

CASAREZ: All right, to Ignazio Messina, reporter "The Toledo Blade." Ignazio, talk about the timeline because this is a difficult timeline. But start at the beginning because this all happened on Thanksgiving.

IGNAZIO MESSINA, "TOLEDO BLADE" (via telephone): That`s right, Jean. Thanks for having me, also. This started on Thanksgiving, when the boys were apparently at their father`s house, visiting for the holiday. And they were to be returned after the holiday at their mother`s house. The mother reported them missing Friday when they didn`t arrive. And it was then that the father told police he gave them to this woman and that he went home to kill himself, to hang himself -- unsuccessfully.

CASAREZ: Why did he give the kids to this woman?

MESSINA: He told authorities that he did this so they wouldn`t see him kill himself, so he could go home and hang himself in private. And that was his story.

CASAREZ: Who`s the woman?

MESSINA: Of course, the woman, her name supposedly was Joann Taylor, but as you said earlier, there may be a woman, Joann Taylor, but there is no relationship between father and this woman.

CASAREZ: And lets go back to Alisa Zee, news director, Detroit Metro Networks. Didn`t police say today was all a lie, that he did not hand the children over to this so-called Joann Taylor?

ZEE: Yes, police did say that, Jean. They said, in fact, as we just heard, there may be a Joann Taylor or many Joann Taylors in existence, however, there is no Joann Taylor in relation to this story, the missing little Skelton boys.

CASAREZ: But here`s the thing that throws everything into the crimp (ph), that makes it so these kids could be alive. To Ellie Jostad, NANCY GRACE producer. The mother of these children, who has custody of these three little boys -- is it true or is it not that she`s a registered sex offender? She is a registered sex offender.

ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Yes. Yes, you`re right. Actually, she was convicted in 1999 of fourth degree sexual conduct with a minor. We`ve got some documents on the case. We know that she was accused of having intercourse with a 14-year-old boy, pled to the lesser charge. She is required to register as a sex offender in Michigan.

CASAREZ: All right. To Marc Klaas, president and founder of Klaas Kids Foundation. I`m going both ways on this story because I want these little boys to be alive. We all do. And could there be a motive for the father to lie that he gave the children to somebody that doesn`t even exist in his life to protect the kids from the mother?

MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: I don`t think so. I mean, I suppose anything is possible, but to make up this story -- to justify the absence of the boys by making up this story that this woman that doesn`t exist had taken them so that he could commit suicide doesn`t make any sense to me. He could have given the boys back to the mother.

I feel that this is a very desperate situation and that the boys may not even be alive. But if they are, they need to be found very, very quickly.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Seven-year-old Alexander.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No one has seen these boys.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Five-year-old Tanner and nine-year-old Andrew.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since Thanksgiving day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can last pinpoint the boys in the back yard on Thursday afternoon.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s hope.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So many details in this case are disturbing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His only goal, as it was related to us, was to ensure the children were not present while he attempted to execute his attempted suicide.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And there`s hope that they`re warm and safe and they`re going to be returned to their mother.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: I`m Jean Casarez of "In Session" on the truTV network, in for Nancy Grace. There is an all-out Amber Alert tonight in Michigan and parts of Ohio, the border area of Ohio. These three precious, precious little boys -- they are missing. They`ve got to be found. They might be alive.

Let`s go straight out to Alisa Zee again, news director of the Detroit Metro Networks. Alisa, start from the beginning because this couple, John Skelton and his wife -- first of all, they`re going through a divorce. But the wife, a registered sex offender, she has full custody of the kids, right?

ZEE: That`s correct. She does have sole custody. He had visitation, Wednesdays after school and every other weekend. But they were going through a divorce. She filed on the 13th of September.

CASAREZ: So did he have them for Thanksgiving day?

ZEE: They were with him Thanksgiving day, yes. And it was reported at about somewhere between 2:30 Thanksgiving day and 1:30 the next day that the boys had gone missing.

CASAREZ: So when was the last time the little boys were seen, and where?

ZEE: Reportedly, by their father on Thanksgiving day at 2:30. They were reported missing the next day, however, by their mother when he didn`t return them to her.

CASAREZ: So it`s the father that saw them last at 2:30?

ZEE: Reportedly, yes. And police are indicating that his vehicle was seen in that northern stretch of Ohio where police have been focusing their search.

CASAREZ: Right. And we think the hours that investigators are interested in is 2:30 Thanksgiving afternoon through 1:30 PM on Friday, with special interest in the early morning hours between 4:00 and 7:00, I think it is, of Friday morning. And they believe the van that was the family`s could have been in the parts of Michigan, Holiday City, West Unity, Ohio, and Pioneer, Ohio.

I want to go to a caller. Jessica in Maryland. Hi, Jessica.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Jean. How are you going?

CASAREZ: I`m fine. Thank you, Jessica.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My prayers go out to Nancy Grace also. I just wanted to mention that.

CASAREZ: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do they know if -- I know they said the father has lied and everything else. Has either parent taken a polygraph test?

CASAREZ: To Ignazio Messina, reporter from "The Toledo Blade." Do we know at all if there has been a lie detector test? You know what we can tell everybody is that the father is now in involuntary commitment at a state mental hospital because of that suicide attempt. We`ll have more on the other side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CASAREZ: I`m Jean Casarez of "In Session" on the truTV Network in for Nancy Grace.

Just moments ago Nancy Grace herself called the show because she wanted to tell us all something. And it took so much courage for her to do it because it`s very personal, it`s very private, but she cares so much about all of you, her viewers.

We want you to listen to it again. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Hi, Jean. It`s so good to hear your voice.

CASAREZ: Good to hear your voice.

GRACE: I wanted to tell everyone how much I really have missed being on the air and following our stories.

A lot has happened in the last two weeks. I was on the air just a few weeks ago and had I celebrated John David and Lucy`s third birthday and we were so happy. And the next day I had a doctor`s appointment and it was a routine appointment and I almost didn`t go because I had been in August and everything was fine.

But I just went on a hunch, and during the examination it`s that moment that you see in movies and you hear about that always happens to somebody else but not to you. And the nurse was doing an ultrasound and -- Jean, we were talking about where our children might go to school and their ages.

All of a sudden she just stopped talking and was looking at the screen and I looked back at her, and I looked at the screen and it meant nothing to me, and I said, what is it? And she told me she had to go get the doctor. And the doctor came in and he said, we need to go talk in the office.

And I knew then that something was really wrong. He was very calm and very honest and he told me that they had discovered a mass, a solid mass. It was not liquid. It was not fibrous. And it could be cancer.

And it just seemed like the world just stopped because, you know, when you wait a long time for happiness, to have the twins, it always feels like it could just be taken away.

And so for the next week I did our show bolstered by the prayers of my family and the people that knew and loved me and got through the week. They said they wouldn`t know anything until we had the surgery.

And my husband, David, was there that morning and I got to be with the twins that morning and then my mother and father, my brother and his wife came and my sister in California was praying. And they`d go off to get pancakes and play and I`m told to go to the hospital.

And I remember looking at them as I drove away. Little Lucy. But somehow I did not feel alone, Jean.

CASAREZ: You weren`t alone, Nancy.

GRACE: And I felt (INAUDIBLE) with me. And went into surgery, and of course, they want to sedate you so you`re not upset. But I told them I did not want anything, I wanted to see everything that was happening until the very last moment.

And I remember looking back at David going down the hall, and as I went under they said, think of your favorite place, where do you like to be? And I said, home.

And during surgery, Jean, there were various complications as a result of my caesarean when I gave birth, and it ended up being a really long surgery. Hours, hours, and in the end God answered our prayers and I`m out of the hospital and I`m back with the twins.

And it was not cancer. So I come away with two things. Not only do I miss everyone very much, my staff and the viewers who call in and watch every night that have prayed for me since I first got pregnant with the twins.

But here`s the two things I want to share tonight. One, please, ladies, go to your doctors. I was the lucky one. And number two, and most important, I had a great feeling of peace that everything would be all right and I was not alone. God was with me from the very beginning and throughout the night that night after I came out of surgery.

They were up all night. David fell asleep in the chair beside the bed. He was there with me in that room. And I appreciate everyone`s prayers. I felt them. And they told me I would be out for a long, long time, but I have great faith that I`ll be back next week.

And Jean, thank you so much for filling in for me.

GRACE: Nancy, Nancy, it`s my honor. And Nancy, you are helping so many people tonight. You said you went to a routine appointment, so you didn`t have any symptoms at all?

GRACE: No, Jean, I didn`t. I just kept having a hunch, a feeling that I needed to go back. I`d been in August.

Jean, it was not there in August. And the doctors were very concerned about the rapid progressive growth of this mass, solid mass. And --

CASAREZ: How did you keep it secret? Because you did.

GRACE: You know what --

CASAREZ: You knew what was happening.

GRACE: I prayed. I prayed. And I felt very strongly that it was going to be OK and that I also believed that worrying about it after I felt God speak, I felt that worrying about it was just giving into the devil. I really did.

I could not go through each day waiting for surgery, worried that I would not be with Lucy and John David and David anymore. I just -- I couldn`t. I couldn`t do our show, I couldn`t focus on the cases thinking that I had to believe that it would be OK. And it was.

I`m the lucky one. I`m the blessed one. And it was just a hunch, Jean. It could happen to anybody. And as I was being rolled down that hall, I didn`t know what was going to happen. I didn`t know how much longer I would get to be with my family.

CASAREZ: And you know, Nancy, knowing you as I do, you were worried about your family. You were worried about your mom and your dad and your husband.

How did your parents endure this?

GRACE: Well, my father didn`t take it very well at all. My mother is the strong one. My father, I think, one of the only times I broke down and cried was when I talked to him.

CASAREZ: Yes.

GRACE: My sister and brother, they`re very strong. I think what bothered me most was thinking about watching the twins on the other side of life and seeing them grow up without a mother.

And I think about it so many times on our show. Because we have stories of children that have endured so much and don`t have anybody to love them. And I just hate it, the thought the twins would grow up without a mother.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Desperate search to find these three little boys in Michigan.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Andrew, Alex and Tanner, the three Skelton brothers police say remain in grave danger the longer they go missing.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: This father who tells police he dropped these boys off with this woman to go kill himself.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Out of work, separated and a neighbor says depressed, he tried to hang himself Friday and told police he wanted his boys out of his home when he did it.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Now the police are saying this woman may not even exist.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And that he is right now being mentally evaluated and they have been talking to him a lot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any time you have children this old that are not with a caring loved one I think you have to assume they`re in some kind of jeopardy.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The last person to have seen these children was the father and that`s when investigators are focusing on.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And now I think really the question is, where are these boys and if they were harmed, who did it?

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: I`m Jean Casarez of "In Session" on the truTV Network in for Nancy Grace tonight.

There is a massive search going on right now as we speak. The Michigan state police, the FBI, they are looking for these three precious little boys that were so very much alive on Thanksgiving.

When we were eating Thanksgiving dinner, these little boys -- what were they going through and where are they tonight?

That is the question. The command post is open 24 hours a day. I want to tell everybody where this is. Morenci, Michigan, is where the little boys live. Law enforcement believes that they could have been taken to Holiday City, West Unity, and Pioneer all in Ohio. That is on the border between Ohio and Michigan.

Let`s go to the lawyers. OK? First of all, tonight, to Anne Bremner, defense attorney out of Seattle, Washington. To Mickey Sherman, criminal defense attorney from New York. Author of "How Can You Defend These People?"

all right. We`re going to play a little game tonight. Here`s what it is. I`m going to say the facts because we know some facts. And I want excited utterances to come out of you. Legally what just pops into your brain that you can think of. Legally as a defense.

Anne Bremner, here we go. Facebook --

ANNE BREMNER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I want Mickey to go first.

CASAREZ: No.

(LAUGHTER)

CASAREZ: Anne Bremner, first. And this is serious. Facebook quote comes from John Skelton, the father, whose three children are now missing. That he said he gave to a woman who doesn`t exist.

Here`s the quote that he wrote on Facebook on Wednesday. Quote, "I love my wife very much. May God and Tanya forgive me."

Anne, go.

BREMNER: Well, insanity, diminished capacity or he already killed himself at the point --

CASAREZ: How about a confession? How about a confession? He`s admitting something in that, Anne.

BREMNER: We`re defending him. We`re defending him.

CASAREZ: All right. Mickey Sherman, come on.

BREMNER: This is defense.

MICKEY SHERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, AUTHOR OF "HOW CAN YOU DEFEND THOSE PEOPLE?": Maybe he`s apologizing for killing himself. And by the way, as -- I want to elect myself the spokesperson for the beleaguered lawyers that get unleashed here, where Nancy seems to bully us or give us a hard time, we are on her side, our prayers are with us and -- or with her.

BREMNER: Definitely.

SHERMAN: We have nothing but respect and admiration for the fact that she`s allowing herself to get out in the public and do something so personal so that other people will be helped.

CASAREZ: Hear, hear.

SHERMAN: Just making a public service announcement --

BREMNER: Right.

SHERMAN: -- where we`re usually the bad guys. So I jumped out of the role for a second.

CASAREZ: You`re so right, Mickey Sherman. And I know how much she cares about both of you, too. So she will appreciate that. And I know that she`s watching. And so she appreciates it very much.

All right. Second fact, Anne Bremner, he lied. He told authorities he gave the boys to a woman and they say there`s no relationship between John Skelton and this woman.

He lied.

BREMNER: You know, I`m defending, right? Because what that one is -- remember the Latin that we all remember from law school? (Speaking in foreign language). False in one, false in all. Not true. Just because you lie about one thing doesn`t mean you lie about everything.

And finally I want to say, God bless Nancy Grace. You know, I can`t agree more with you and Mickey. She`s such an embarrassment of riches to us and we just learned a few more, especially in her conviction, to help other women in women`s health. She`s --

CASAREZ: That is right.

BREMNER: -- one, one wonderful person.

CASAREZ: With a lot of courage and a lot of strength. That`s right.

BREMNER: Yes.

CASAREZ: All right. Mickey Sherman, don`t see a lot of courage and strength here if you lie when you tell investigators where your children are. These are your kids.

SHERMAN: You know this is not a great defense, but how bad can this guy be if the mother gets custody for the kids if she`s got sex convictions? I mean --

CASAREZ: You know, Mickey, that`s the one hope that I had that these kids are alive.

SHERMAN: Yes.

CASAREZ: Maybe he`s trying to save them.

SHERMAN: Yes.

BREMNER: Right.

CASAREZ: The other thing is, two words, Elizabeth Smart. You know you can`t give up. She -- they may show up next week, they may show up six months from now.

CASAREZ: And you know Mickey, I saw her in a courtroom in Salt Lake City, Utah, a week before last testifying that she --

SHERMAN: Yes.

CASAREZ: -- had a survival strategy, that she was going to live and she was going to make it.

Let`s go to the doctor that we have tonight. Dr. Michael Arnall, board certified physician.

Let`s look at the grim facts. All right? It`s in the low 30s in that area of Ohio in Michigan. If these children were dumped to the side of the road, even to try to save their lives, can they survive?

DR. MICHAEL ARNALL, BOARD CERTIFIED FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: I`m afraid their survival is measured in hours. It is unlikely that they would survive an entire night at those temperatures.

CASAREZ: Oh, that`s terrible. That is terrible to hear.

Corinne from Florida. Hi, Corinne.

CORINNE, CALLER FROM FLORIDA: Hi, good evening.

CASAREZ: Good evening.

CORINNE: You know, watching this and seeing this mystery woman makes me think of the Casey Anthony case where the nanny -- Zani the nanny?

CASAREZ: Yes.

CORINNE: It just seems like lately, you know, these cases that are on the show, everybody -- there`s mystery people involved.

CASAREZ: You know, Corinne, when I heard that today, that is the first thing that entered my mind because there is such a distinct parallel here that Casey Anthony`s first story was about fictitious people that had her daughter.

To Paula Bloom, clinical psychologist coming to us from Atlanta. Why would someone lie just to authorities to give an answer? Why do they do that? Do they think they`re not going to be found out?

PAUL BLOOM, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST, WWW.PAULABLOOM.COM: It`s incredible. People lie for lots of reasons. The bottom line, you lie because you don`t want to get in trouble.

I mean, yes, it doesn`t look good. I have to say. And I have to say there`s something about this cases that`s kind of upsetting me which is there`s a lot of people in a lot of pain who are suicidal. There`s a lot of people who it`s not just a cry for help. They really need help.

CASAREZ: Yes.

BLOOM: And when there are these situations when potentially, if this was not a genuine suicide attempt, I have to say as a psychologist that really offends me because there are people who really need help and there are people out there who will ask for help and not get it because people will think, eh, they`re not telling the truth.

CASAREZ: Right. And we don`t know -- I mean it`s believed that it is a real suicide attempt that he did not succeed at, so he lived. He had an acquaintance take him to the hospital.

But to Dr. Michael Arnall, back to you. There is involuntary commitment which is going on right now under state law, but when will he be released? Because he can be released in a short amount of time, right?

ARNALL: He`ll be released when a physician certifies that he`s able to move about and not harm himself.

CASAREZ: All right. Which could be a short amount of time as we`ve seen in other circumstances.

Sheryl McCollum, you are such an expert and a crime analyst out of Atlanta, your thoughts on all of this?

SHERYL MCCOLLUM, CRIME ANALYST, DIR. OF COLD CASE SQUAD AT PINE LAKE P.D.: Jean, means, motive, opportunity. He had all three. He`s the last person to see those children. He`s going through a divorce, he doesn`t have a job. She gets full custody. He`s going to make sure that he gets those children or she doesn`t, period, bottom line.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: After some instruction from law enforcement, searchers filled school buses and were dropped off all around the county. Small groups spanned out to cover miles of land.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everyone is just -- just distraught. Nobody knows what to do with themselves or how to help. And just feel helpless and hopeless. And it`s very difficult.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s devastating to them to know that they don`t know where the boys are.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need calls, we need tips. Anything that`s out there, no matter how incredible you may think it is, call.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Bottom line, they don`t know what`s happened to the boys.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: A massive search is going on tonight all through the night, the FBI, the Michigan state police, looking for these three precious little boys. Tanner age 5, Alexander, age 7, and Andrew, age 9, so alive several days ago. And police want to try to find them.

Pat brown, criminal profiler, a lot of questions for you. You are the one that always has the answers. Are they alive? Is there any chance they`re alive?

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER, AUTHOR OF "THE PROFILER": Not in my opinion. I`m with Marc Klaas on this. I think he probably killed them at home. He dumped them, then he concocted this stupid story. Because he could have waited a day to kill himself and driven the children back to their mom`s house. He could have left them in a public location, ran his car into a tree.

But no, he calls a complete stranger who he`s lost the phone number for. And then he can`t even manage to kill himself properly. He wasn`t interrupted killing him. He apparently just failed to do it right and had to call a friend and let his friend know, I didn`t do it right. Can you take me to a hospital?

The whole thing is absolutely ludicrous. And unfortunately, that probably means the children are not alive.

CASAREZ: Do you think that the suicide attempt at all was part of the premeditated plan to develop --

BROWN: No.

CASAREZ: -- a defense strategy?

BROWN: Oh, yes, yes. I don`t believe he ever planned to commit suicide. I believe he planned to get rid of the children to get back at his wife, and then he concocted the suicide story for that insanity defense. And he also supposedly has some kind of a messed up ankle, some kind of a cracked ankle, some kind of damage to that.

I believe he --

CASAREZ: Right.

BROWN: Somebody told me he kicked out a chair trying to hang himself. I don`t buy that one either. I think he hurt himself maybe when he was trying to dispose of the children.

CASAREZ: All right.

BROWN: So a very sad situation. Horrible.

CASAREZ: It is a very, very sad situation. We`ll keep on this case. The search continues. But tonight, let us stop to remember Army Sergeant Michael Stokely. He`s 23 years old, he`s from Sharpsburg, Georgia.

He was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. His biggest passion in life was being a soldier. He loved his two dogs Patches and the pit bull and Pepper the German short-haired hound.

It was just 10 days before he left Iraq, he got married. He married his high school sweetheart. He leaves behind his grieving parents Melissa and Robert, his wife Nikki, his stepfather Bill and his siblings, Greta, Wes and Abby.

Michael Stokely, he is an American hero.

Thank you so much to all of our guests and for you, being at home tonight. We`re going to see you tomorrow night 8:00 sharp Eastern.

Good night, everybody. And good night, Miss Superstar. Bye-bye, Nancy.

END