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Nancy Grace
Missing 12-Year-Old Spotted on Wal-Mart Video With Presumed Abductor
Aired December 08, 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, Virginia, the desperate search for a 12-year-old little girl in extreme danger. Cops head to upscale Salem suburbs and a beautiful home complete with luxury pool on a quiet cul-de-sac to find the 12-year-old Brittany`s mom dead inside the home, the family car missing, the 12-year-old little girl gone.
As cops chase a dual investigation, homicide and kidnap, bombshell tonight. A credible sighting of 12-year-old Brittany. Grainy surveillance video emerges of Brittany and Mommy`s grown boyfriend at a local Wal- Mart 72 hours before cops even find Mommy dead. We learn the suspect, the two-time divorced live-in who Mommy meets on the Internet just months before she moves him into the home, now using the dead mom`s credit card at Wal-Mart. For what? A tent and camping gear.
Tonight, we confirm the missing girl and 32-year-old Easley spotted in Mommy`s silver Dodge Neon. Is someone actually helping Easley hide out with a 12-year-old little girl? We`re standing by at this moment for a live press conference. With every passing hour crucial tonight, where is 12-year-old Brittany?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Live, Virginia.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s been several days now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re six days into the investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s a dead body.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Forty-one-year-old Tina Smith.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her daughter.
GRACE: Twelve-year-old little girl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brittany.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) decisions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Brittany.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Consent is irrelevant.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Brittany Smith.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Missing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Missing.
GRACE: Gone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re confident at this time that Brittany is with Mr. Easley.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The boyfriend of the mother.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The video is not that good.
GRACE: He`s no stranger to a police cell, people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If they are together.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Easley acted abnormally around the little girl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And they`re walking together.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ve got to find this child.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They`re calling it a possible homicide.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hopefully, she`s still alive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is now a homicide investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are the most dangerous situations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are extremely concerned for Brittany`s safety.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, two Alabama toddlers, just 3 and 4 years old, vanish. We learn family, friends, neighbors, say they haven`t seen the children for months. But no one bothered to call police? And what do Daddy and stepmommy know? Just in. The search for one of the toddlers, 3- year-old Jonathan, ends, his tiny remains found about one hour due southwest of Mobile. As extremely upsetting facts come out about how stepmommy and Daddy treated the two children, tonight, the search for little sister Natalie still on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Search teams say they have found the skeletal remains.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The skeletal remains.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Search teams have found the remains.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of 3-year-old Jonathan Chase DeBlase.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 3-year-old little boy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police believe the children`s father.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now in custody.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said no, you didn`t kill them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the children`s stepmother.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now in custody.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Blaming the other one for the killings.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are responsible for their deaths.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Blaming the stepmom.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She told police, I feel like he may have murdered his children.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s blaming him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The father reportedly told authorities he buried his children, and he told them where to find them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They`re both going to be charged with capital murder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are still looking for the remains of his sister, Natalie, at this hour.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. Live, Virginia, The desperate search for a 12-year-old little girl in extreme danger, her mother found dead inside the family home. Just in tonight, a credible sighting of 12-year-old Brittany. It`s caught on grainy Wal-Mart surveillance video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twelve-year-old Brittany Mae Smith.
GRACE: Brittany`s mom dead inside the family home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And 32-year-old Jeffrey Scott Easley.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The live-in boyfriend suspected in this case.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dropped off the face of the earth.
GRACE: Homicide.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) the mother stood in the way.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kidnapped.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No one had seen her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s a very dangerous situation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This aunt tells us he would touch her hair.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know you`re taking care of Brittany.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He would touch her hands.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do whatever you need to do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stroke her hair inappropriately.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`ll help you work this out.
GRACE: Where is 12-year-old Brittany?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her mom is dead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alabama.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her car is missing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Florida.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police believe Brittany is in extreme danger.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: West Virginia.
GRACE: Contempt, 2002.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ohio.
GRACE: Threatening phone call. There was a charge. He was found not guilty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Or Kentucky.
GRACE: Assault, government official.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Call 911 or give me a call. Come to the house. I love you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Right now, straight out to Evan Jones, anchor, reporter, Newstalk 960 WFIR. Evan, what can you tell us?
EVAN JONES, NEWSTALK 960 WFIR: Well, what seems to be increasingly clear is that police are becoming increasingly frustrated by their seeming inability to learn much or see much. It`s been five days now -- we go back to last Friday -- since there`s been any sighting of them, I think Wal- Mart, that you mentioned, where they were caught on surveillance tape. At that time, Jeffrey Easley used a credit card of Tina Easley (SIC), the mother -- the killed mother of the woman -- of the young lady who has been abducted. But since then, they have found nothing. They have found no sign, no sign of charge cards, no cell phones. They`ve expanded the search. They`ve had 330 tips, and still nothing.
GRACE: Everybody, you are seeing the surveillance video from a local Wal-Mart. Take a look at this. Tip line, 540-777-8641. There you see the 12-year-old little girl, Brittany, and you see the 32-year-old kidnapper. That is Easley, who`s moved in with Mommy.
Let me go out to Sheila Ellis, reporter with "The Roanoke Times." Sheila, what more can you tell us?
SHEILA EVANS, "ROANOKE TIMES": Well, Nancy, we have gotten some interesting things from the social networking site FaceBook and MySpace. We do have information that says that Brittany`s last entry on MySpace read, Whatever. Nothing is going right in my life. F my life. Handcuff buddy, I love you. Now, she referred to Mr. Jeffrey Easley as "handcuff buddy."
Also on the same day, Tina Smith commented, Everything happens for a reason, Brittany. I love you. Then Jeffrey comes in and says, I love you, too. Trust me, everything will work out.
GRACE: Joining me right now is Alexis Weed, also on the story. Alexis, I want to get back to this Wal-Mart video. Give me a map, Liz. This is the closest thing we`ve got to where the girl is now, a 12-year-old girl. Her mother`s funeral is set, and the girl is with a 32-year-old man, Mommy`s live-in boyfriend she met on the Internet. And we can`t find them. They`re clearly still in Mommy`s car, a 2005 silver Dodge Neon, Virginia license X-K-Kentucky-F-Frank -- 2365. The car has a spoiler in the back. Every hour counts.
Go ahead, Alexis. What can you tell me about this location? Give me a map, Liz.
ALEXIS WEED, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Nancy, this is in Salem, Virginia. This surveillance image was taken at 8:35 in the evening on Friday. That`s the day that the mother was found dead inside of her home. Police are pleading tonight for -- as you mentioned, for Easley to recognize that this mother`s funeral is being planned as we speak. Police said today in a direct appeal at a press conference this afternoon, Easley, please bring Brittany home so that she can attend her mother`s funeral.
GRACE: Take a listen to Easley`s own mother begging him to turn himself in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SALLIE MARTIN, JEFFREY EASLEY`S MOTHER: ... you and Brittany. I wondered if you were hungry or (INAUDIBLE) cold. You know you can call me. And I just want you to come home and I want you to be safe. And I know you`re taking care of Brittany. If you would just take her somewhere and drop her off, call 911 or give me a call. Come to the house. Do whatever you need to do. We`ll help you work this out. I love you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Sharon in Michigan. Hi, Sharon.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. Oh, my gosh! I can`t believe I finally got through. I`ve been trying to call you for years!
GRACE: Thank you. Thank you for calling tonight.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are so wonderful. And I`m so glad you`re back.
GRACE: Thank you. You know, I appreciate that. I hated being out. I missed the stories. I missed the Zahra Baker story, and then the three boys went missing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s in...
GRACE: And now this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s in my city, those three boys.
GRACE: What`s your question about this case, Sharon?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can`t believe nobody has spotted them and turned in any kind of sightings.
GRACE: You know what? I think they`ve been spotting (ph). They`re hiding in plain sight. They`re everywhere. Look, here they are at a Wal- Mart. What could be more public than a Wal-Mart? Those things are huge! Thank goodness, at least they got surveillance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nobody didn`t (INAUDIBLE)
GRACE: Yes, you know what? I don`t -- I don`t think everybody knows about this because if you look at these two, you don`t think anything is wrong. See them?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) you are God`s angel on earth to do this!
GRACE: Sharon in Michigan, you know, my twins have just turned 3, and I know that mother in heaven right now wants somebody to find this girl and save her. I mean, let`s take a look at what they bought at Wal-Mart, Alexis Weed.
WEED: Nancy, they purchased a 2010 blue Ozark camping tent. Police are looking for that tonight. They have been searching in camp areas. There are a number, 25 camp areas in a 50-mile radius of Brittany`s home. Police are looking in businesses, as well.
GRACE: Let`s take a look at a map, Liz. That`s an example of the blue Ozark trail tent that they purchased. I want to look at all of the motels, you know, the stay-in (ph) motels where people rent for the week or the month, camping areas. Take a look around Salem, Virginia. In just two miles, there are seven motels. We`re talking about Brittany Smith. The tip line, 540-777-8641. Even his own mother begging Easley to bring this 12-year-old girl home. And can you imagine tonight, if they`re camping out in that tent, the weather in the 20s, only body heat, the warmth of bodies keeping them warm in a tent. That`s a fine how-do-you-do!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brittany and Easley in the sporting goods section of Wal-Mart.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What`s going on?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone out there knows where Brittany and Mr. Easley are.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five feet tall, 100 pounds.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone is hiding them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her mother is dead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) look out for the silver 2005 Dodge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brown hair, brown eyes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Months ago, this 12-year-old expressed deep fears that this was going to happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re six days into the investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is 12-year-old Brittany Smith?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We haven`t seen Brittany or had any contact with her in the last six days.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her mom is dead. And the family friend or live-in boyfriend suspected in this case is missing, as well.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They found 41-year-old Tina Smith deceased.
GRACE: She has been found dead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re extremely concerned for Brittany`s safety.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s 12, 5 feet tall, weighs about 100 pounds, brown hair, brown eyes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ve looked into about 330 leads.
GRACE: Every hour is crucial.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He has rage issues. He does have a criminal record.
MARTIN: If you would just take her somewhere and just drop her off, call 911 or give me a call. Come to the house. Do whatever you need to do. We`ll help you work this out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`d also like for the public to be on the lookout in any location, not just a camping ground but any location, for a blue Ozark trail 13-by-10 dome camping tent. And as I said, it could be in a camping facility and...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We`re taking your calls. You are seeing video surveillance taken from a local Wal-Mart there in Salem, Virginia. Take a look. Here is 32-year-old live-in boyfriend Jeffrey Easley -- got a criminal record -- with a 12-year-old little girl. This has just emerged. And from what we are calculating, he was in this Wal-Mart using the dead mother`s credit cards 72 hours, about 72 hours, before her dead body was even found there in her home.
And tonight, very disturbing revelations I haven`t gotten to tell you about. I`ve now learned that multiple relatives called family and children services just around Thanksgiving, telling them that something was going on wrong, bad, illegal between Easley and the little girl. And DFACS didn`t have enough time to deal with it.
In fact -- out to you, Alexis Weed -- isn`t it true that now that the little girl has been kidnapped and the mother is dead -- you cannot replace a mother! Her mother is dead. Now DFACS actually said, Oh, yes, when you called, we were having our office Christmas party and so we couldn`t take your call.
WEED: Right, Nancy. On December 3rd not only the grandmother, Brittany`s grandmother, but also the grandmother`s sister called saying, you know, there`s been some inappropriate touching of this little girl by Easley, and they reported it. They were told, We`ll get back to you. They called two different counties, both the county where they live, as well as the county where Brittany resides.
GRACE: Whoa! Whoa! Wait, wait...
WEED: And they were told, We`ll get back to you.
GRACE: ... wait, wait, wait! Uh! Uh! Uh! No! Who, what, where, when, why, Alexis? What counties? I want to know! I want to know now on national TV what family and children services were too busy, couldn`t look into it, had to go to their Christmas party. Who? Who?
WEED: Nancy, it was Halifax County and also child services in Salem.
GRACE: You happy now, Halifax County and Salem? The mother is dead. And tonight, police finally admit that it`s homicide. We still don`t know cause of death. And a little girl is probably in some tent in 29-degree weather with this grown man. Thanks, DFACS! Every one of you ought to be fired, at the very least!
We`re taking your calls. Unleash the lawyers. Gloria Allred, attorney, victims` rights advocate, joining us tonight out of New York, Daniel Horowitz, renowned attorney, San Francisco, Alan Ripka, defense attorney, New York. Weigh in, Gloria.
GLORIA ALLRED, VICTIMS RIGHTS ATTORNEY: There`s absolutely no excuse for going to a Christmas party and not investigating...
GRACE: (INAUDIBLE)
ALLRED: ... or least alerting someone else to look into allegations of illegal conduct involving a child, if, in fact, they received such allegations.
GRACE: You know what? Put Gloria back up. You know what, Gloria? I remember the district attorney`s office, when we would have our holiday Christmas party, we`d have it in the grand jury room. I would walk down to the party with my bucket of cases, stay for one hour, and go back to court. You don`t rest and kick your feet up when you`ve got a job like child and family services. And they actually said it. They actually told these people, Oh, we were busy at our Christmas party. I would be embarrassed to say it!
To you, Daniel Horowitz. Is there any advantage at all, Daniel, for this guy to turn the girl in and turn himself in now?
DANIEL HOROWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Oh, definitely, Nancy. I mean, he`s obviously guilty of a multitude of crimes. Probably, he`s facing life in prison. All he can do is beg for mercy at this point, and turning her in is the best way. If you`re out there, guy, do it.
GRACE: You know, Ripka, it may be the only way to escape the death penalty.
ALAN RIPKA, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It may be the only way. But if I represented this family, I`d sue these counties for millions on the mother`s behalf and the daughter`s behalf.
GRACE: Man, you`re not kidding, Ripka! You`re right on that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Twelve-year-old Brittany Smith now missing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last seen Monday, December 6th.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Easley and Brittany may be seeking refuge maybe in North Carolina, Alabama, Florida, West Virginia, Ohio or Kentucky.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jeffrey Easley. Police believe Brittany is with him and is in extreme danger.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: State police has issued Amber Alerts in all of those states.
GRACE: This 12-year-old little girl in extreme danger.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We simply do not know where they are at this time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are waiting to take you live to the Roanoke Public Safety Center where we are awaiting a press conference. We believe information leading to the whereabouts of this little girl will be announced at that time.
In the top box, you are seeing a 32-year-old man with a criminal history, the live-in boyfriend of the 12-year-old`s mother. She met him on the Internet just a couple months before she moved him into the home. Shortly thereafter, multiple relatives called child and family services and said, There`s something wrong going on between this 32-year-old and this 12-year-old. You got to investigate. They did nothing!
Look at them. These are not relatives. They are not friends. This grown man, this convict, has abducted this 12-year-old little girl. Her name, Brittany Smith. Help us. The tip line, 540-777-8641. And if you don`t think he won`t hurt her, he`s already murdered her mother. In fact, they are waiting to have the mother`s funeral in the hopes that this child can come to her mother`s funeral.
We are taking your calls live. I want to go out to Dr. Patricia Saunders, clinical psychologist in New York. Dr. Saunders, people think, Oh, he`s got this abnormal love for this girl. That won`t mean anything if he thinks she`s going to be a witness against him in a death penalty trial.
PATRICIA SAUNDERS, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Exactly. You know, a lot of kids, most kids, who are abducted, the primary reason is for sexual abuse. Kids know when adults are off. She had e-mailed a friend of hers that she was worried he was going to take her. She`s in danger. Her life is in danger. She`s a witness and a victim. And the numbers (ph) don`t look good for her, Nancy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: The desperate search for a 12-year-old little girl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cops say Brittany is in extreme danger.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone, if they`re still in this region, is hiding them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Amber alert. Virginia State Police on the lookout for 12-year-old Brittany Mae Smith.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police have issued a warrant for the man they think is holding her.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Here`s a surveillance picture of Brittany and her suspected abductor Jeff Easley. They were seen together Friday night at a Wal-Mart in Salem, Virginia.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For someone just to drop off the face of the earth, it is our understanding they had very little money at the time.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Cops say Easley used a credit card belonging to Brittany`s mother, Tina, to buy a tent and they believe he`s getting help.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: This 41-year-old mom Tina Smith dead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They dropped off the face of the earth. And I think someone would have to be providing them money or some other support for them.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: You are seeing a shot of the Roanoke Public Safety Center. We are waiting for Chief Ray Lavender to take the podium and give us the latest in the search for 12-year-old Brittany.
This as video surveillance emerges of the 12-year-old girl with her mom`s live-in. The mommy has been found dead in her own home. The girl gone. According to calculations of criminalist, this shot was taken -- they were shopping nearly 72 hours before the mom`s dead body was even discovered.
And tonight we learn DFACS, Family and Children Services was alerted by multiple relatives. They did nothing. They were too busy to even take the call. And tonight I learn that this little girl was so afraid of Easley, she would talk to her friend on the phone, her little 12-year-old friend, and go stay on the phone with me until mommy gets here. I`m afraid. I`m afraid he`s going to hurt me.
I want to get exactly what she said.
Alexis, what was it she was saying to her little friend?
ALEXIS WEED, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Right, Nancy. The "Roanoke Times" is reporting that her 13-year-old friend three weeks ago said in a phone call, Brittany, stay on the phone with me. I`m afraid of this Easley. I want you to stay on the phone with me until my mother comes home.
GRACE: I want to go back to Sheila Ellis with "Roanoke Times" joining us out of Roanoke.
Sheila, we are waiting for this live press conference to go down about the case. What do you anticipate?
SHEILA ELLIS, REPORTER, ROANOKE TIMES: I`m not sure, Nancy. Actually, we`ve tried several times to contact the family. We talked to the grandmother today. The grandmother was very short with us. She did say that she called child protective services and she said she just wants her granddaughter to come back home.
GRACE: Also with us, Evan Jones, anchor/reporter, Newstalk 960 WFIR.
Evan, you attended a press conference. What did you learn earlier?
EVAN JONES, ANCHOR/REPORTER, NEWSTALK 960 WFIR, ATTENDED POLICE PRESS CONFERENCE TODAY: Well, the most recent developments came this afternoon. They`ve been doing this twice a day. This had to do in part -- Chief Lavender himself directly appealed to Jeffrey Easley and said please let her go so that she may attend her own mother`s -- and help plan for her own mother`s funeral.
GRACE: Everyone, the tip line 540-777-8641.
To Dr. Titus Duncan, general surgeon, Atlanta Medical Center.
Doctor Duncan, at first police told us they could not tell the mode of death, whether it was homicide or not. Now I find that very difficult top believe. What mode of death could you not tell if it`s homicide other than possibly asphyxiation or poisoning? But I don`t see this guy doing a long, elaborate poising murder.
DR. TITUS DUNCAN, M.D., GENERAL SURGERY, ATLANTA MEDICAL CENTER: Well, they probably do know the answer to that, Nancy. And they`re just not going to tell it out because it may affect what happens later on.
But, yes, you really can tell what mode of death the child undergoes if they are indeed harmed. They have an injury to the skull. They have fractures. Or if they have any other evidence that the child was even drugged. You have hair follicles, you can still find drugs in the hair. If they were poisoned you could still find the poison.
So there are many, many ways that you can actually find the cause of death. So it is very unusual that they talk about if they`re not able to find the cause of death. They probably do know.
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Very quickly to Bill Majeski, former NYPD detective, Majeski Associates, Inc.
Bill, thanks for being with us. What do cops need to be doing right now? We`ve got them spotted using the mother -- the dead mother`s credit card at a Wal-Mart. How much more do you need?
BILL MAJESKI, FMR. NYPD DETECTIVE, MAJESKI ASSOCIATES, INC.: Well, I think one other thing that they might want to do is there`s a really possibility that he made her cut her hair so we may be looking for a 12- year-old with short brown hair or even may be bleached hair, or they may have moved to a little cooler climate where she`s required to be wearing a coat and a hat.
So, you know, the facial characteristics of the girl are very important in terms of trying to identify her. And in terms of him, he may have shaved his beard for all we know. So we don`t want to get fixated on a man with a beard and a girl with long brown hair.
GRACE: OK. Take her picture in full, Liz.
MAJESKI: We want to get fixated on -- yes.
GRACE: We`ll take a look at them. In full. OK. Yes, that`s not it. Let`s get a shot of them at the Wal-Mart in the video surveillance -- OK, still got a beard. Her hair is long.
MAJESKI: Right.
GRACE: In fact, it looks like his beard is actually growing. But you`re right, Bill. Go ahead.
MAJESKI: Yes. I was going to say, let`s start circulating pictures more of her face rather than trying to create an image in people`s minds that we`re looking for a little girl. And it`s a horrible situation. You know she was aware that something was going to be happening. He may have even told her that he did kill her mother and used that fear factor to make her comply with his wishes.
So hopefully she`s still alive. Hopefully somebody will see them.
GRACE: Right.
MAJESKI: The time is -- time is of essence here.
GRACE: We are learning -- as a matter of fact, when we put this question directly to police, that this little girl may not even know her mother is dead.
We are taking your calls.
Very quickly, Dr. Saunders, a lot of comments have come in about how it looks as if the little girl is not trying to get away. That is not unusual.
Liz, pull the shots of the Groene child. Do you recall the two Groene children, Shasta and Dylan Groene, that were abducted and finally -- there you see the little girl and the abductor, Joseph Duncan.
The little boy was killed after being molested repeatedly. And there you see her. She`s not trying to run away. This is not common.
Let`s go back to the shot of Brittany Smith. Why, Dr. Saunders?
PATRICIA SAUNDERS, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, kids are paralyzed with fear. Whether she did or did not see her mother murdered she`s been afraid of this man for a long time. And he`s 2 1/2 times her size, too.
The way she`s standing with her forearms clenched suggests that she`s trying to close in on herself. Kids tend not to run away from their adult abductors because they are frozen in terror.
GRACE: Out to the lines, Patty in Virginia. Hi, Patty.
PATTY, CALLER FROM VIRGINIA: Hi, Nancy. It is so good to see you back, honey. Prayed a lot for you.
GRACE: You know what? I felt it and I appreciate it.
PATTY: Well --
GRACE: Now I want you to direct those prayers to this little girl. Because you know what, even if she`s alive, what is she going through right now?
PATTY: She`s going through a lot. I have a John David also.
GRACE: Cute. Patty, what was that?
PATTY: I said I have a John David also.
GRACE: Oh really? You no know what? That`s not a very common name. That`s very unusual. So what is your question, Patty?
PATTY: Well, I`m here in Virginia. I`m just a few miles up the road from where this happened. If you will look at the video at Wal-Mart, what does he have behind his back?
GRACE: You know what? You`re right.
PATTY: He`s got something. And what I`m looking at is not his hand. His left arm is behind his back and I can see something hanging down. I don`t know if it`s a gun, it`s a knife, I don`t know what it is. But it`s right below his derriere.
GRACE: Well, I`m sure it`s not a gun because everybody in Wal-Mart would have seen a gun.
PATTY: Well, he may not have brought it out until he got out -- here in the foyer of the -- of Wal-Mart.
GRACE: You know I also wonder if that -- right behind them up on the wall behind them that round dark circle, I wonder if that is also surveillance and they could identify what he`s got behind him.
PATTY: Well, I hope.
GRACE: OK. Patty, point well taken.
Out to the lines, Karen in Iowa. Hi, Karen.
KAREN, CALLER FROM IOWA: Hi.
GRACE: Hi, love. What`s your question?
KAREN: Well, you kind of touched on it. I`m curious as to the fact of whether she knows that her mother is dead and maybe that is another reason why she`s not trying to get away of the situation.
GRACE: You know, Alexis Weed, is there any way that we can figure that out?
WEED: I don`t think so, Nancy. We put that question directly to police today. And they said that there`s definitely a chance that she doesn`t know.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Brittany Mae Smith is abducted.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone out there knows where Brittany and Mr. Easley are.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Brittany no where to be found.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Let`s go live to that presser, speaking is Chief Ray Lavender.
KIM STEVENSON, BRITTANY SMITH`S COUSIN: Hi. My name is Kim Stevenson. I`m Brittany`s cousin. She knows me as Sissy. I would like to send a message to Brittany.
Hoob loops (ph), remember when you asked me if I loved you unconditionally? And I said I have loved you from the time you were born and will love you forever. I pray for you every day since I found out you were gone and will continue to pray for you until you are found and returned back to us. I love you.
If anyone has seen her, please call so we can bring her home for Christmas.
CAROLYN STEVENSON, BRITTANY SMITH`S AUNT: Hello. My name is Carolyn Stevenson. And I`m Brittany`s aunt. She knows me as Nanny.
Brittany, I just want to say I love you and I miss you, and I want you to be home for Christmas so we can share our cookies and our punch, and open all of your presents that are around the tree. And then we can go out and look at Christmas lights.
All we want for you to do is to come home and we love you. Please remember that. We`ll always love you.
GRACE: We are going to re-rack for you what Chief Lavender said. But you just heard from two relatives who echo what so many families do at Christmas. Begging the little girl to somehow come home for Christmas cookies and Christmas punch, to open presents around the tree and drive around like we all do and look at Christmas lights.
Can you imagine your 12-year-old little girl out on the run with a 32- year-old convict? She has no mother to protect her anymore. The mother was found dead in the family home.
Now all that child has is you to help bring her home. She was last spotted at a local Wal-Mart, Salem, Virginia, using her dead mother`s credit cards -- the boyfriend was. The 32-year-old male, Jeffrey Easley.
Tonight we are asking for your help. The tip line is 540-777-8641.
We`re about to play back for you what Chief Lavender had to say. Just in the last few moments, a police presser. We`ve heard from not only the police chief but relatives as well.
We are taking your calls live. Out to Pauline in Tennessee. Hi, Pauline.
PAULINE, CALLER FROM TENNESSEE: Hi, Nancy. Welcome back, dear.
GRACE: Thank you. Thank you very much. What`s your question, dear?
PAULINE: I have a couple. Where is her biological father, Brittany? And has he come forward yet? Also, how long did this mother know this convict before she moved him into her house with that little girl?
GRACE: I think I`ve got the answers. The biological father is -- was in south Boston, Virginia.
Is that correct, Clark? South Boston, Virginia? And he has left and come to the scene and he has physically searching for his daughter. He is out searching for her. You know they were divorced. He had the son. She had the daughter. The son has passed away at age 14. Now he is out physically looking for his little girl. That`s where the bio-dad is.
As to how long she knew this guy before she moved him into the family home? Apparently they met on the Internet this summer. We don`t know June, July or August. But at the best it`s been June, July, August, September, October.
We know he`s in the house in October. All right. Five months. Met him online. And that leads me to his romantic background.
Alexis Weed, we`ve learned he`s got two wives and both of them filed protective orders against them -- against him.
WEED: That`s right, Nancy. He`s been married and divorced twice before ever coming into Brittany`s home and both of his ex-wives have court documents complaining, requesting for protective orders from him, saying that he has threatened to kill them. His most recent wife has gone so far to allege that he shot himself in his hand and in his foot.
GRACE: You are taking a look at their surveillance video that we luckily got from a local Wal-Mart just in a police presser where the police and relatives are begging for help. The tip line, 540-777-8641.
And now we take you to a search for two toddlers. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Live, Virginia.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: It`s several days now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are six days --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The children --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Three-year-old Chase and 4-year-old Natalie.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Here are their pictures.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Where are your children?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: An Alabama father --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Twenty-eight-year-old John Deblase.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: No? You said no. You didn`t kill them?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Breaking developments in the search --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the search teams found the skeletal remains of the little boy.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police say they believe boy killed in March.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: There`s that cute little guy.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Why do you -- why did the stepmother your children?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Little girl may have been killed in June.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Children`s stepmother, I feel like he may have murdered his children.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The remains of his 4-year-old sister Natalie have not been found.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: It is a sad development.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Tonight the search for one of the children, little Jonathan, comes to an end. His remains have been found. Still searching for the little girl.
With me in Pascagoula, Mississippi, Sheriff Mike Byrd, with the Jackson County Sheriff`s Department. Remains found in his jurisdiction.
Sheriff Byrd, thank you for being with us. It`s always a heartbreak to find remains of a remains of a child, especially when you think they should be in front of the Christmas tree and looking forward to celebrating with their family.
What happened, Sheriff Byrd?
SHERIFF MIKE BYRD, JACKSON COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI, WHERE REMAINS FOUND: Well, what we -- how we got involved in this, we were contacted by the Mobile Police Department. That we had a possible child over here that had been murdered and dumped into the woods on the side of Highway 57, which is in a rural area north of Van Cleave, Mississippi.
We searched for a day last week and we did not have enough information to pinpoint the area that we needed to search. So we regrouped and came back out and cordoned off about a five-mile area, 12 miles north of Van Cleave. We had eight search teams. Ten-man teams.
Went into the woods, into that area and team number six, about an hour and a half into the search, found the skeletal remains of the child.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s a difficult time for all of us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This area where the child was is like a needle in the haystack.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We found the skeletal remains of what we believe to be a small child.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s no tissue or anything, just bone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We all have children and we don`t like to see these types of things.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is something that is very evil.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Out to Cherie Ward, reporter with the "Mississippi Press", was at the search site today.
Cherie, what have you learned?
CHERIE WARD, REPORTER, MISSISSIPPI PRESS: Well, I can tell you as a reporter for the "Mississippi Press," we followed this story extremely closely. As has our sister paper, "The Mobile Register." And we`ve kind of tag-teamed it back and forth.
I can tell you that he was actually charged with two counts of murder tonight. He was in court earlier today and he actually pled not guilty to child abuse and abuse of a corpse. He`s expected to be in court again next week to answer to the murder charges.
Now his girlfriend or wife -- I`ve heard two different stories -- Heather Keaton, is expected to be in Mobile on Saturday. And I talked to the Mobile Police chief from the scene today and he said he intends to push to have her charged with two counts of murder as well.
The scene today --
GRACE: Unleash the --
WARD: -- was gruesome. It was horrific. You know there were officers out there who are used to dealing with stuff like this.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Gloria Allred, Daniel Horowitz, Alan Ripka.
Gloria Allred, what do you think about the stepmother being charged as well?
GLORIA ALLRED, VICTIM`S RIGHTS ATTORNEY, CHILD ADVOCATE: Well, I think that both of the parents or let`s say both members of the couple are pointing the fingers at each other, Nancy. But it may be that the pressure will be on one of the other to flip against the other. Even more so --
GRACE: Right.
ALLRED: -- give all of the facts. Or it may be that they`re both involved. I doubt that neither is.
GRACE: What about it, Daniel?
DANIEL HOROWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I wouldn`t -- if I was a prosecutor, I would let them both go to trial. If they`re both involved, you don`t want one testifying against the other because they won`t tell the truth.
GRACE: Alan?
ALAN RIPKA, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: If they have enough evidence to convict both of these people, they`re not going to give either one of them a deal.
GRACE: Let`s stop and remember Corporal Timothy Shea, 22, Sonoma, California, killed Iraq. On a fifth tour, served Afghanistan. Awarded Bronze Star, Purple Heart. An old soul. Loved history, traveling, dancing. Traveled to Spain to run with the bulls. Leaves behinds parents, William and Mary, sister, Sara.
Timothy Shea, American hero.
Thanks to our guests but especially to you. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, goodnight, friend.
END
